Life of Thadii

Of love and friendship...

2010-06-27T22:37:00.002+08:00

So you have a really good friend that you used to hang out with all the time. Spend hours at dinner and coffee, drive around to crazy places at night to chat and chill, and basically confide in one another...and then...that friend gets attached...

Voila! Now you find it difficult to get you friend out. Your friend is perpetually tired or drained when alone, and if not, he either has work, family or other friends to slot into a busy schedule. And the last time you actually met was when it became a weird, compromised "one-and-a-half date".

What's that you ask? Oh that's when it's a supposed double date except that you don't have a +1 to bring along while your good friend hauls the significant other over...

So hands up people, those of you who have experienced this. I think I see some hands...

Now I've always told myself I would never be one of those guys who would abandon my pals for my gal...because gals come and go, while friends are forever....but then, why do some guys put their gal over their pals?

I look towards myself and think. Why would I abandon friends...and my personal take on it, based on personal experience is...convenience.

I myself have been in a fair bit of relationships to ask this question introspectively. When is it that I end up spending more time with my other half and regrettably, ignore my friends?

It's when there's a place to go after the dinner and movie, a car to ride around, a room and bed to lie in and hold your loved ones in the arms...at any hour and anytime...

Face it, but who doesn't like to indulge in the warm embrace of a loved one? If you could stay in the arms of a loved one for an entire day, wouldn't you? If I had the right person, the right time, and the right place...why not?

When it becomes too convenient for couples to meet and stick, something else gives.

And in this case its friends.

And no, I don't think my good friend is any less of a good friend...and neither do I think there's anything wrong.

He's just in love, and blessed with convenience.

And I, am a hypocrite, for actually trying to believe that I would put my friends first before my love, when the truth is that I probably wouldn't, if given the chance to...

On a side note, Germany just raped England in FIFA WC2010. Blitzkrieg.

Pastor Kong Hee is noble for not drawing salary? Hmm...

2010-06-01T11:20:00.000+08:00

Wow my friend just called Kong Hee noble for "not drawing salary from the church". And went on to defend the stance by saying "anybody who gives up their salary although they are entitled to it is certainly noble, because it's a noble act.

Gosh...PR is amazing. Now I know why I kinda enjoy the work i do.

I hope people realize that Kong Hee is earning a lot from his businesses to live comfortably, and by giving up his church salary he actually isn't making his life any less difficult, but in fact is buying positive PR for himself.

I don't think he is noble...context people, context. Situations make a BIG difference. I agree that the act is noble. I disagree that because the act is noble, Kong Hee is.

Biggest irony? My friend is in the PR industry. Scary isn't it? How when we are supposedly media trained, but can still fall into the very same strategies that we are well-versed in?

Feel free to disagree.

Quick update!

2010-01-25T21:50:00.003+08:00

It's been 3 weeks at the job and I can say I'm officially loving it.

Not so much the job per se, but the fact that having no readings and nothing to study officially beats the crap out of anything. Maybe I've been studying too much and too hard, for too long. Yes I like what I'm learning and doing here, and I have to thank my fellow interns for entertaining me greatly at office.

Much of the stuff that I learn in school has appeared along the way, much of what was not taught has been shown to me as well. The fine art of PR is indeed a tricky one, but working from the bottom up is a tiring and tedious process indeed. But I'll persevere and rise up!

1 month is almost here and the compulsory PI monthly logbook has to be done soon. THinking back, the one thing that I learn about that was most meaningful in this first month?

Honestly, it has to be TGIF. Brought a whole new meaning to it for me. The Friday feeling is absolutely something that a student can never comprehend compared to an office worker. I wonder if that actually counts in my PI logbook haha...

In other news, I applied for the Citi Associate Program...hopefully my application gets shortlisted, then I'll worry about how to settle clashes in timing.

For now, it's 9 to 6 till June peeps!

First Day at the Big O

2010-01-04T22:42:00.003+08:00

So today's the first day of my first real and proper job. First in my WHOLE life. Yes, I kid you not. I've never really worked before.

I've got to say that corporate life might be for me. I felt great. I felt smart. I enjoyed walking down the CBD. I like the smart and crisp look that I wore, and that everyone was wearing around me. If there was a complain I had to make, it would be about squeezing on the train to get to work.

Nevermind, I'll aim to get a car as my first item once I graduate so I'd have my own personal space. I'd rather kept stuck in traffic than get stuck between 6 other people!

That aside, the Ogilvy PR office colleagues seem rather nice, the culture is friendly, and there's an inhouse "cafe" with a barista-aunty to serve us coffee and tea on demand, all on the house. Seems like a pretty conducive work space.

Meh, perhaps some downsides would be the tedious bureaucratic procedures that a large firm like Ogilvy has, such as detailed timesheets and billing accountability to clients. Every fax, print, copy, and scan has to be carefully noted and recorded to each client. Every hour spent on doing something for a client has to be recorded as well.

I guess some clients appreciate such accountability when being billed, or perhaps this is just how large PR firms like Ogilvy earn their big bucks! Everything also charge! Scan charge. Print charge. Fax also charge ahahahaha...

Looking forward to the future. I'm sure it'll be a heavy job with the many accounts that I'll have to help out with. Let's hope this positive spin on corporate life stays!

爱情秘诀...

2009-12-29T14:33:00.002+08:00

最近突然悟了个道理, 其实成功美满的一段要好感情是有秘诀的. 而秘诀非常简单, 就是 "知足" 两个字.

我知足是因为: 我不要求英俊的样貌, 只在意个人的整洁. 我不要求模特的身材, 只在意个人的健康. 我不要求荣华富贵, 只在意个人的上进心.

而以上的这三点你各个齐全, 所以我愿意选择与跟随你陪伴度过这一人生.

这么简单的秘诀, 你怎能否认呢?

You finished us...

2009-11-28T18:03:00.003+08:00

It was simple, clean, but I can't say it's short...

Nonethless, you finished me, us, everything...

But we'll live life with a new perspective, I'm looking forward to it!

爱我还是他...

2009-11-25T23:19:00.005+08:00

突然间又想起了你.

你说你了解, 但你了解却少了体谅, 又有何用?

你问我为什么情绪突然那么消沉.

你又要我怎么回答呢? 明知故问, 答案我好难说出口.

说了也不过只是敷衍彼此罢了...

就让歌来代表我心里的无奈, 心里的确默哀...

黑暗中的我们都没有说话

你只想回家

不想你回家

寂寞深的像海太让人害怕

温柔你的手

轻轻揉着我的发

你的眉眼说

你好渴望我拥抱

你身体却在拼命逃

但欲望在燃烧

你爱我还是他

是不是真的他要比我好

你为谁在挣扎

爱我还是他

就说出你想说的真心话

你到底要跟我还是他

爱爱爱......

这是不是命运对我的惩罚

爱你也没办法

恨你也没办法

陷在这个漩涡只想挣脱它

拉住你的手

却让我也被拖下

你的眉眼说

你不渴望我拥抱

每当爱变成了煎熬

你就开始要逃

你爱我还是他

是不是我可以做他的好

你不再挣扎

爱我还是他

我宁愿听到残忍的回答

也不要再被耍

你爱我还是他

我为你找了一百个理由

我就是那么傻

爱我还是他

是否沉默代替你的回答

我应该明白吗

爱我是他噢

你都已看不到我们的好

我还会心牵挂

你爱我还是他

是否沉默就是你的回答

我们都别挣扎

去爱他

我好累...不再渴望完美结局了...

你也别再道歉了...我听闷了...这种道歉起不了任何作用. 这点你也非常明白.

只有了结才能结束这一切心酸痛苦.

但这点, 你办得到吗?

A SWOT Analysis on 401

2009-11-25T01:36:00.002+08:00

I think that I will not see any returns on my investments for 401. The input is definitely not going to be equitable to the output.

Social judgment theory is when we marked APH down during teaching evaluation, a perfect combination of actuarial and human analytical methods to arrive at a decision.

I would love to use Porter's 5 forces to analyze any potential substitutes or competitors to 401 as a module, but I don't think any other module can come close to the league and likes of 401.

If I had to use the decision wheel now to decide how to go about solving the problem of 401, I think I would be stuck at identifying goals. As far as I see it, 401 is aimless.

401 is far from scientific, since there are no cold and calculated steps to study and score for it. It has definitely omitted the lessons of the human relations school since it fails to achieve any of my needs according to Maslow, or motivate me according to Herzberg. I am far from empowered upon learning 401. Neither is there any emphasis on quality in this module along the way.

Assessment methods are nebulous at best and difficult to measure. The moderators of this module could do well to take a leaf from the chapters on leadership and management, and realize that this course does not inspire, influence, or solve any problems.

There is nothing strategic in 401, and intermediate planning does not work for a module which is only taught within 3 months. Therefore I turn towards short-term planning, and the way I see it, I'm screwed within the next 24 hours.

Random is the way to go!

2009-11-23T18:41:00.002+08:00

Someone once told me that friendship takes effort to maintain. I shall do just that.

Exams are making me so random. Breakfast at 645 with Jason at CP? Done it!

Next on the list, crazy marathon jog from my place...date unknown...event, CONFIRMED! :p

Wisdom!!!

2009-11-13T22:27:00.001+08:00

Damn...my wisdom tooth just erupted...no wonder my top left jaw felt so sore and bled the last few days...

But it's only half erupted...hope it erupts fully...feels like it's aligned properly though...hopefully I won't need surgery...

The most piss off thing? I just went for my dental checkup 2 weeks ago...how the hell did my dentist not detect this??!!

That time of the month

2009-11-12T01:32:00.002+08:00

It really is...it's not just me, but so many of my friends...as the days go by towards the end of the semester...exams creep close, assignments peak to a finale, presentations never seem to end, and internship troubles us like a whiny bitch...

STOP.

Let's not slide into emoness and stress. We gotta stay strong for each other and see each other through this trying time. I've seen way too many stressed and mild depressed...put aside your insecurities and stand tall.

The more we emo and stress, the worse it gets for all of us, in a domino effect fashion. I too have had my own fair share of disappointments, stress, and insecurities during this crappy period, but I know I can pull through. Why?

Simply because I know I have friends out there. Friends who I can count on regardless of rain or shine.

Let us all start believing just a little bit more and keep the smiles coming.

Nearing the end of a hectic semester...

2009-11-10T02:36:00.002+08:00

Someday you'll know, that I was the one for you...

As this semester trudges by, the thought of you always keeps me going.

But that aside, life is looking great with all the projects being crossed off the calendar slowly...

PI is a piece of shit...but somehow I think everybody is looking forward to it as a much needed break, even if we're not going to companies of our choice.

I'm glad to have friends who really do care...I felt it over the last few stressful weeks as everybody straddled and supported each other...the genuine concerns, sensitivities, friendly banter...

Did you?

If I could ask God just one question...

Why aren't you here with me?

Monstrous Mania...

2009-10-23T12:47:00.003+08:00

Tonight is the night I've worked so hard for...let's hope it works out...

This has been nothing short of a whirlwind journey. Whatever happens, I stand proud knowing my team and I have put in our best given the time and resources to give to you the most fantastic film festival ever.

Trust me, I know.

www.monstermaniafilmfest.com

Glad You Liked It...

2009-09-15T23:13:00.000+08:00

I'm so glad you liked it and that it has safely arrived in your hands. Let those etched initials mean something more to you one day...

Blue is cool =)

It's Insanely Difficult...

2009-09-07T23:08:00.005+08:00

It's insanely difficult to keep smiling and going strong when you know inside you're crumbling.

It's insanely difficult to live wanting that warmth and closeness but getting torn into shreds by the knowledge that the dependence isn't good for you.

It's insanely difficult to see you frantically waving to someone else and secretly wishing it was me.

It's insanely difficult to juggle school, studies, a silly film festival practicum, and a broken heart.

It's insanely difficult to survive on a sliver of hope when there's a mountain of tribulations ahead.

It's insanely difficult to call out to you and smile when I know I will eventually be cruelly led on by my own imaginations.

It's insanely difficult to go on loving you, but foolishly I still do.

Sometimes honesty really isn't the best policy.

But if you think that lying to a broken heart is bad enough, then how does one go about lying to two broken hearts then?

I can't do it...

Hurts so Bad...

2009-09-05T18:27:00.003+08:00

It hurts so bad...as usual, as always...the biggest fool...me...

I think I hurt myself so much in the process I numbed myself to pain.

There's a certain zen-like feel to it now, but I know it's not the feeling of moving on or letting go, just the feeling of being empty...emotionless perhaps is the best way to go...

Time to go away...

Death of the HDD

2009-09-04T15:55:00.003+08:00

It's been ages since I last blogged. Pardon my absence. So surreal that school has begun, I'm back in Singapore, and everything that happened in USA felt like a dream.

Sigh...I miss America.

Still WKWSCI has been good. Year 3 ushers in a whole new level of stress, with assignments and project deadlines cluttering my calender.

I'm stressed. Worst still, my HDD died on me with a hefty 520 buck recovery bill. I'm probably gonna go ahead to recover it, as all my America trip photos and videos are in there.

My fault for not backing up.

Then you have a sucky GV lady who's screwing up your film festival due to a lack of professionalism ("i'm sorry, but you're not the only case I have right now, and I can't keep reacting to your changes in request"...wtf, isn't that your job as marcomms manager?)...

Thanks all who were there for me, you know who you are. I wanna be in America now...really...

People Should Learn to Mind Their Own Fucking Business

2009-06-16T02:35:00.002+08:00

Sorry if the title of this entry sounds extremely uncouth and rude...especially after a month-long hiatus.

"Friends" should learn to respect privacy. Thanks to your actions, my life just came crashing down. Whoever you are, you know who you are (although I don't), you fucker.

P.S. America was fucking great, if you wanna know what happened, look at Facebook or just ask me out for a catchup session...too lazy to blog everything that has happened.

I <3 NYC!

2009-05-03T09:57:00.009+08:00

Ok, I'm now blogging from my hostel in 320 49th Street on 8th Ave in Manhattan...it's really near Times Square...and it's awesome! I hope I'll be able to blog every night...but I think I might end up being too tired eventually haha...but we'll see! Anyway, click here to view pictures on Facebook!NYC is what I really call a city. It's alive, the people are impatient, taxis drive like drunk drivers and there's honking and jaywalking all over...I LOVE IT!Yea, lots of adult shops with hot hot movies that I've never seen or heard before wahahahaha :D

Nothing seems to be out of place here in NYC. You can do anything and everything here and get away with it, besides touting (which is everywhere lol)...yea I saw the NYPD arresting an illegal tout on the spot...from afar I thought the policemen were administering CPR onto a man...but on close, they were actually pressing him onto the dirty roads (yes NYC has dirty streets haha) and handcuffing him! And equally ironic was that emblazoned onto the police vehicle was "CPR", which was an acronym for the NYPD's motto "Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect". ROFL!

Speaking of NYPD...their headquarter looks awesome like a freakin's castle...and looks ESPECIALLY familiar for those who play RE2...omg...Love the architecture and buildings...here's a view of Times Square...just feels so cool to be standing there...one day I must come here during a New Year's Eve countdown!World of M&Ms and Hershey's!
And this is for Ah Bear (many more bear pics on Facebook for you btw!)
The Toys"R"Us here pwns...1000101001 times better than any branch in SG...well decorated...great variety of toys...and feels like a mini Disneyland/Universal Studios...with staff greeting customers at the door and taking pictures, mascots walking around to pose for pictures...indoor Ferris Wheel ride that works!!! (WTF?!)...and look at this Jurassic Park stuff that's better than Universal Studio (in my opinion)...GG!Look at what I mean by one can get away with anything on the streets of NYC! Naked cowboy!
And a bunch of "pirated" cartoon characters...I think these are handmade costumes...and the characters are just like touts, charging tips for pictures lol!And kids busking as a street band...and they really sucked at it...the drummer was playing a repetitive beat that was off sync with the guitarist and the singer...the singer was just going "ya-ya-ya-ya" and the guitarist was in his own world...but they were cute...lol...and that's how they earned tips haha...Mingfeng caught a video of their performance here, on Facebook! Watch it haha!

And a wtf MOST WEIRD BATMAN WANNABE EQUIPPED WITH BATCYCLEMOBILE ROFL in the middle of nowhere on Broadway...NYC is so random I love it =)

And the night scene is great. Can't wait to try it tomorrow...but for now I'm too tired...although I would really love to blog more...tomorrow the exploration continues, and soon I'll be visiting the big attractions like the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty and more. Definitely I'll want to catch Le Fantome de l'Opera if possible, but it's kinda ex...70USD...oh well...but it's Broadway baby! And visit the Meatpacking district...and Stanton and Ludlow in Lower East...so much to do...so little time

And wtf...the United States Post Office in Manhattan...looks more like a supreme court...NYC rocks...P.S. a view of Empire State Building from afar, below...isn't that nice actually for some reason hmm...we'll see...

Leaving with a Heavy Heart

2009-05-01T12:54:00.004+08:00

I really can't believe it...I'm packing my luggage now and it just seems like yesterday that I was here...I'm leaving this place with a heavy heart...yea...Atlanta wasn't really a big deal...but when it's time to go...somehow all the memories and emotions come flooding back...it's hard to pinpoint what exactly it is that is making me feel the way I feel now...no idea really...

Lots to pack...as I pack up, and decide what to discard and what not too...I realized how many relics I brought over from SG to keep me company...my dear friends...you were always by my side...I have Ah Bear's X'mas card and magnet, Jac's collection of photos given to me during X'mas as well...Mok's Vacuum cleaner duck, Bear and Jac's "I Will Not Obsesss" notepad, the Nike hoodie from The Six, A/X cap and threadless tee from Jared...

I think I'm too sentimental for my own good...I really want to bring back the blanket that I brought even though my mother told me to abandon it...but how can I abandon the blanket that has hugged me every night to sleep on cold and unfamiliar beds? The blanket from hall...to America...and now...left behind?

I can't do it...but I know I have to...because sometimes, you just have to let go and look forward to the new stuff you could get in Singapore...

Anyway, there's insufficient space...I only brought 1 miserable suitcase here...it's going to be a challenge to squeeze everything back in to bring back to Singapore...how can I possibly pack everything...

Memories included...

P.S. swine flu and all hasn't really fazed me yet...New York City, Toronto, Boston, Washington DC, Yellowstone, Sand Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, San Francisco, Yosemite, here I come! 1 month to conquer them all!

I Gave Away 2Mil!

2009-04-27T01:28:00.001+08:00

The only way to stop my poker addiction on FB...was to give away all my assets hahaha...

So long Zygna Texas Hold'em, I'll be back one day kekeke...

P.S. had to...if not I'll be stuck on it all day long without studying!

Almost there...

2009-04-25T07:39:00.003+08:00

I can't believe it...my term is almost ending...1 week more...today's the last day of school...next week is exam and final paper submission week...

16 weeks in America...5 more weeks to go traveling...last leg...2 final exams and 3 term papers...of which 2 have been completed...1 last philosophy essay assignment to finish on free will and determinism...shouldn't be too hard I hope...

I'll miss this place for sure...sigh...

Whitewater Rafting

2009-04-19T09:19:00.003+08:00

Whitewater rafting is awesome! I wished I had pictures to share but...you don't take pictures when doing such activities...at least you can't take it yourself lol.

Anyway, my friends and I visited the Ocoee River in Tennessee today and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I just love the warm sun here in America, coupled with the cool air and soft grass...simply Spring at its best.

When I look up here, I see clear blue skies mottled with some white fluffy clouds and lined with trees and mountains...

It's kinda sad that Singapore really doesn't have such stuff...when I look up I see HDBs and smell nothing but exhaust instead.

The water was a pretty chilly 45F (8C) perhaps, and we were literally inundated by it as we went through the many rapids, which btw, have interesting names such as Tablesaw, Slice and Dice, Powerhouse, Double Trouble...I wonder why they give such treacherous names...guess the activity is hazardous haha...and yes there were people who fell overboard, but thankfully no real injuries happened.

I have to admit I fell overboard once, and while I didn't panick since I'm a comfortable swimmer, when I tried hauling myself up the raft, I almost got dragged under! Scary! Why? Because the water is sometimes pretty shallow...where I fell, it was around my chest level, and although we were told never ever to attempt standing up in the water unless instructed otherwise, I thought I had the strength in me to pull myself up the raft...

WRONG!

To pull yourself up you gotta stand, somewhat at least, and when I thought I was standing, the slippery rock bottom threw me off balance and the current took control. Thankfully the current wasn't too strong and I'm not a bad swimmer, managed to avoid being dragged...phew...

So folks, never try standing if you ever fall off while doing whitewater rafting! And yea...be prepared to get really, really wet, and cold.

The experience best summed up by Cedric, "Man, this is like a Universal Studio ride, but we're powering the adventure". You guys gotta try this really. I know I'll want to do it again if the chance arises.

Man and nature at its best, truly.

Try as I May...

2009-04-16T10:40:00.002+08:00

My heart still bleeds involuntarily...

4 panadols, a beer, and 2 hours?

I hope all turns out fine. Lord, hear my prayer...

Tornado Warning, COOL!

2009-04-11T19:27:00.002+08:00

It's 7.30am and I finally finished my essay...and just sent it out to my prof via email and saw this...

=======Emergency Communication Message from GEORGIA TECH=======

Dear Member of GEORGIA TECH Community,

You have been sent a new message through the Connect-ED system.

GEORGIA TECH
Message sent - 4/10/2009
Tornado Warning

===================================================
Message
===================================================

GEORGIA TECH ATLANTA CAMPUS, EMERGENCY WEATHER ALERT. Georgia TECH is under a tornado WARNING. Seek shelter in the basement or in the interior corridors, stairways, or rooms of the lowest floor of the building. If time does not permit, move to the bathroom area or closet and take cover. Stay away from windows. Individuals should remain inside the protected areas and refrain from going outside to watch.

Tune to local media for additional information and updates. Updates may also be posted at alerts.gatech.edu.

Oh damn...no wonder there was a howling wind and crazy thunderstorm at 3am. Imagine if a tornado actually struck when I was doing my assignment >< Lol...

There's Not a Difference...

2009-04-11T16:46:00.003+08:00

Why the hell am I still awake at 4.46am on a Friday night? No it's NOT partying...funny how I'm always up till 6am at least when exam period is coming...even in America...

Except that I'm not mugging but rushing out term papers and assignments now...essays here are the norm here...I'm actually counting down my days here in terms of number of essays left...

This sucks balls...I can't wait for the end of semester to come so I can commence traveling...OK my microwave pizza is ready...time to hit the essay again...

Oh yea, good luck to all the peeps back in Singapore preparing for the exams next week!

Six Flags and Six Knights...

2009-04-05T11:16:00.018+08:00

First of, I want to warn you guys that this is gonna be a rather long entry because there will be 6 videos to watch!

I'll start off with a big shoutout to Alan.

Happy 23rd Birthday Alan!

Alan's birthday was on the April 4, and to celebrate it we decided to go to Six Flags over Georgia and then do a dinner show at a restaurant called Medieval Times. But even before then...I baked a "cake" of sorts for his birthday...time to showcase my culinary skills again wahahaha...presenting to you my first attempt at Key Lime Pie!I handmade the crust once again...this pie was rather easy to do...the hardest part of was hand squeezing half a cup of fresh lime juice and grating lots and lots of lime zest...

Still it was a great first attempt...my pie was a success!Taste test passed with flavorful colors as well =) I'll make this pie when I go back to SG for sure...it's really delicious and relatively simple to do. There's a decorated version of this pie but the pictures aren't on my cam...lookout for it when my friend tags it on Facebook =)

Anyway, we headed down to Six Flags on Saturday morning, and boy was it fun! I really loved the rides, and must-do in Six Flags over Georgia are Superman...where you ride in a semi-prone position...like this! It's totally scary when it raises you up to like 13 or 14 storeys high and your face is staring right down at the ground due to your position!Goliath, which is a really long ride with 2x17storey (about 220ft/70m) drops at 70mph (112km/h)! BTW, Goliath has to be the best ride in this park...simply amazing...See how freakin' steep that drop is...it's almost vertical...and the best part of this ride...is that there are NO harness or shoulder locks! You sit on the coaster and the only thing separating you from a death-by-fall and extreme thrill is just a piece of oval plastic wedged and locked over your lap! There's no harness, no strap, no manual clasp locks, no grip and no hand bars of ANY SORT!

Talk about thrill! When one hurtles downwards plunging 17 storeys...without a shoulder restrain...oh man...the feeling is crazy! You entire body and all your organs just lurch forward as well!That's the Ninja. Pretty boring ride IMO despite the imposing look. Still, it's worth a queue.

Another really good ride to take is Mindbender. THREE, FREAKIN' AMAZING LOOPS. And it's the world's first triple looping coaster ride. No pics for that though cuz we were rushing off.

And another ride that is a MUST-try is the Georgia Scorcher, which is a standing roller coaster. I must admit I've never tried a standing coaster before, and the experience was fun! Standing up and experiencing loops gives a new sensation since your entire body is straight up.That's the view of the Sky Coaster and American Scream Machine...the American Scream Machine is a wooden roller coaster...

I've never been on wooden roller coasters till today...and I must say it's deceptive! It looks relatively "boring" as wood doesn't allow you to make loops and extreme turns and all...so it's just up and down and little curves...

Boy was I wrong. Wooden roller coasters are light and flexible...you almost feel like you're floating when you go hurtling down and around! No wonder these coasters are classics! Oh, and they hurt really bad too...

Here's a video clip on Facebook recorded and uploaded by Mingfeng on the American Scream Machine...the view is nice...and listen to how painful they sound nearing the end of the clip when the fall started...

The reason why it hurts? Because wooden roller coasters are FREAKIN' bumpy! It shakes and rattles like a mad machine and your head just keeps banging into the seat...really really painful...and your legs bump into the coaster car and get bruised all over...

Of course there are lots of other amazing rides to try, but I can't possibly blog them all. I really love roller coasters now...I would love to try Six Flags in other states now...

And Six Flags is not complete without Looney Tunes characters! So damn cute! Tweety! Sylvester! Bugs Bunny! Daffy Duck!I really love Sylvester a lot! He's damn damn cute!Anyway, after the Six Flags experience, we headed down to a dinner show called Medieval Times at Discover Mills. This is definitely a first for me. We were served like Lords and Ladies of ancient times...and made to eat with our bare hands! No forks, spoons and knives! We ate like "barbarians", drinking soup from the bowl and ripping apart our chicken and pork haha...And seated in an "arena" of sort...much like what we often see in medieval-era shows...where the Lords and Ladies sit around!We were made to wear paper crowns that represented the Knights we supported in the dinner show...my table was assigned to the Yellow Knight, hence the yellow crown! Looks like a BK crown right? Haha...
Anyway it was a fantastical experience...watching a medieval "game"/"drama" of sorts...of how the Prince got waylaid during war and went "missing", a grieving princess, and 6 Knights battling it out to rescue the Prince...and like all good ol' medieval stories you need a betrayer...and that's the Green Knight haha...and you need a hero...and that's the Yellow Knight!

Whee! My table got assigned to support the hero haha...
See the 6 Knights and their colors? There's Blue, Yellow, Black and Red, Red and Yellow, Red, and Black Knight!

And yes, you saw it right! It's sand in the middle and real horses! That's what I meant...the dinner show was fantastic...we even saw jousting happening with the Knights! Lances, spears, javelins and all! And jousting looks really cool, even though this probably isn't the most REAL of all deals haha...

I was thoroughly entertained throughout the 2hours of excitement!My camera is really sucky...either that or most of the action was too fast to be captured...here's one of the scenes of 2 knights jousting! I think you can still see the lances despite the blurred effect right?

Anyway, the knights eventually fought it out in death-duels, utilizing all sorts of weapons! Maces, swords, axes, poleaxes, flails, morning stars, double swords etc! Talk about cool! I mean I always wanted to see such weapons used in real life! And horseback sword fighting too!Ok...so my camera sucks...and I had a more brilliant idea...video! It took me like 3hours to upload these 5 videos, but I'm sure it'll be entertaining! Watch these medieval duals to the end! Especially for people like Ah Bear...I'm sure you'll be entertained! Fantasy at your dinner table!

And all the cheering frenzy and all! I mean...this is like WWE but medieval version man!

Anyway...check this cool shit out!Can someone buy this for me as a birthday present? I will love you long time ahahaha!Picture taken with the Prince and Princess!
And last but not least, with the Birthday Boy! Hoped you enjoyed every bit of the celebration we planned for ya!

Ok peace out all till my next adventures!

Joey Yates, My Life Would Suck Without You

2009-04-02T08:27:00.004+08:00

I'm gonna do a little advertisement for a really talented piano singer-songwriter, Joey Yates. I chanced upon him while surfing youtube for covers of Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You"...

His voice is absolutely amazing...great piano skills...and he has the looks for a star...and bod to put many guys to shame...

God is unfair lol...but anyway, check out his other covers and original songs on youtube, and his myspace .

Joey Yates...I'm totally hooked to his voice now! I haven't heard such good vocals from a male singer ever since Buble and Groban...Guys and gals, try it too! I hope he'll be able to find the right contacts to make it big...good luck Joey!

Most Random Award!

2009-03-31T00:14:00.002+08:00

So maybe some of you already know that I'm intending to turn my current MSN nick into a Slogan/Graphic Tee...but that's not the point of this blogpost...this is for James...

Dedicated solely to my dearest Ah Bear, who never fails to put a smile on my face with his most random comments that just ooze tons of PWN and WIN!

Here's the short excerpt of our msn conversation that made me chuckle.

-thad-: faithbook...will you add jesus as a friend? 12:12
yeaaa
12:52
ok
12:57
i'll endeavor to make this real
13:00
if i dun do it in usa
13:03
i'll do it when i go back sg

[bear - dómine deus!] 12:13
alright
13:29
haha
13:33
a man with a purpose
13:34
that is good
13:38
better than a man with a porpoise

Bah...

2009-03-27T08:42:00.002+08:00

Jacqueline just called me to ask for the title of a Mambo song...and much to my dismay, I realized I'm pretty rusty...couldn't give her the answer until 5minutes of brain-wrecking recall..."Don't You Want Me" by The Human League!

Anyway, that aside, she's eating Nasi Lemak and Carrot Cake in a Singaporean cafe called "Singapore Cafe", located in lower east Manhattan...BAH!

Now I'm missing SG food...damn...Jac, Xu, Mad, you people make me jealous!!!

And on a side note, I'm so damn charred from my Florida trip now everybody is commenting about it lol...I think I'm darker than I ever was in Singapore lol...maybe as dark as I was in NS? Haha...regardless...love the sun...

Feels so surreal that Spring Break is over...I'm trudging through neverending readings and assignments are piling once more, but I'm still stuck in 2nd gear...arghhh, why must Spring Break end!!!

And WHY DOES GEORGIA HAVE ONLY ONE FRIGGIN' MISERABLE PUBLIC HOLIDAY IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR? Martin Luther King Holiday and that's it? Not even Easter or Good Friday? WTH...and I thought the United States of America was Christian...

So while Jac, Xu, and Mad will make Easter plans to hit the sunny south, I'm left here moping in Atlanta, waiting for my end of sem to come...damn, time really flies. It's almost 1 month left before term ends, then 'll be back in Singapore soon...

I really don't know how I would feel when that inevitable day comes to board the plane and ride back East...but I guess this is not the time for such mulling...work here I come!

Spring Break!!!

2009-03-23T22:55:00.011+08:00

Ok, so I'm back from Spring Break...and all I can say is that it was damn bloody awesome. I'm back with a whole slew of new experiences, deeper friendship, and a great tan haha...

I don't know how I am going to compress in 9 days of wonderful memory and experience into a single blog post, but I'll try anyhow. This Spring Break has had many firsts for me...first snorkeling, first deep sea fishing, first surfing, first Disneyland experience, first roller coaster experience (extreme ones)...the list simply goes on...

Let's start with a trip summary.

Day 1: Daytona Beach, view pictures here.
Day 2: Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, view pictures here, here, here, here, and here.
Day 3: Universal Studios
Day 4: Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, view pictures here.
Day 5: Miami
Day 6: Miami, Biscayne Bay National Park, Coral Castle
Day 7: Miami, Everglades, Biscayne Bay National Park, view pictures here.
Day 8: Key Largo, Key West, view pictures here.
Day 9: Home...

Ok, all the pictures are up on Facebook (so go view it if you're interested), and I'll only feature a few nice pictures that I love in the following day-by-day summary. Words really cannot express all my experiences and I'm sure there will be some fond memories left imprinted in my mind that I will fail to manifest in this blog...still here it goes!

Day 1, Daytona Beach

Highlights: Surfing, Ponce de Leon Lighthouse

So we left Atlanta at 1130pm and finally reached Daytona Beach after a gruelling 8 hour drive, just in time for sunrise, which was freakin' beautiful.

We had a ton of fun at the beach, playing in the sand and waters, chasing the seagulls and basically enjoying nature. The waves at Daytona were pretty good, and a bunch of us decided to rent surfboards and try surfing.Surfing is NOT EASY. Snowboarding (which I picked up during the North Carolina ski trip) is a piece of cake compared to surfing. Surfing is hard. You literally fight the elements and 90% of the time, you're desperately trying to paddle and fight the waves to get out to the "surf" zone. 101% shag. Every inch of my muscle could feel the strain.

Every time you paddle out 5meters, a wave comes and pushes you back 4meters, and that's assuming you don't get dragged under and flipped over! Yep, lots of sea water was consumed on this day haha...
We didn't manage to ride the waves like pros, but after 4 hours of wild thrashing and determined attitude, most of us managed to stay standing on smaller waves for a good whole 5 seconds or so =)

And here's the view from the top of Ponce de Leon lighthouse...the oldest lighthouse in Florida...nothing much to be said besdies the amazing view...and meh...a 5 bucks entry fee lol...
Day 2: Disneyland, Magic Kingdom

Highlights: Dreams Come True!, Kennedy Space Shuttle Launch

I've never been to Magic Kingdom before, and when the idea was first proposed during the planning stage of the trip, I thought it would be too childish for me. Boy was I wrong.
Disneyland brought the kid out in me. All my childhood started flooding as I went through the fantastical theme park...Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, The Little Mermaid, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves...the list goes on...
Dreams Come True.

Fantastic tag-line. Amen. Watching everything in Disneyland simply made me want to believe so badly that dreams would come true. The way Disneyland can lull even adults like myself into unexplainable irrationality and happiness puzzles me even till now.
The place is obviously unreal, yet everything is carefully engineered to create a warm and fuzzy feeling within you. From the staff, to the life-size characters, to the rides, and the decorative details, nothing here is a mistake. I thoroughly enjoyed myself immersing myself in the exciting and fantastical shows, parades and rides.

On hindsight, it seems so silly to queue up just to take pictures with the various Disney Princesses and Fairies, yet I did it and actually felt happy to get a picture with them. I have to admit that the various actors were so well-trained and played their roles (be it princess, fairy, mouse etc) so flawlessly that it tapped into the recesses of a forgotten childhood, and dragged an unsuspecting me into the capitalist construction of fantasy.

Here's me and Fairy Tinker Bell in a candid shot when she was entertaining me with questions and jokes...more "mini-stories" can be found on Facebook as captions =)
In the evening, just before night fell, we were treated to a special sight that wasn't engineered by Disneyland...

The Kennedy Space Shuttle Launch! I have to admit it was pretty cool to watch a space shuttle launch. It was a pretty sight, akin to seeing a fireball streak across the dusk sky. Here's a short video clip for you to watch it too!

After which...it was the infamous fireworks and Spectromagic show at night!
This is by far my favorite firework picture...not because it has been excellently taken (obviously it's out of focus, I'm a noob photographer remember?), but because of the shape of the firework...
Day 3 and 4: Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure

Highlights: Great Rides and Attractions!!!
Lots of great rides and experience here. Lots of great thrills. I do pity the "tour guides" of each attraction somewhat though...I salute their professionalism and ability to entertain each batch of endless tourists...without them, most of Universal Studios would probably have been boring.

There's a dearth of photos for this leg of the journey partly because of the nature of the activities. Water rides and high-speed roller coasters do not make a good combination with a camera.

Most of the pictures are with Angeline, hopefully I can get them soon...I took really awesome pictures with mascots such as Spiderman, Rogue, Storm, Simpsons, etc.Now I'm going to give a mindless list of ride/attraction recommendations. Bear with me.

The Hulk (roller coaster) is INCREDIBLE (pun intended haha), but Dueling Dragons is even better...so for people who wanna visit Universal Studios soon...do take note haha...the Spiderman ride is very good as well...Revenge of the Mummy is a MUST-TRY, MIB is helluva fun, and The Simpsons is extremely good too. Jurassic Park Water-Ride is pretty amazing, Ripsaw Falls is a fantastic water ride (but get ready to be wet!)...and don't ever try Pop-eye unless you enjoy being showered by water for no good reason (which I did actually haha)...
I love crazy roller coasters, free-fall, and weightlessness!

Day 5, 6, and 7: Miami, Everglades, Biscayne Bay National Park

Highlights: Coral Castle, Snorkeling, Trekking, Clubbing, Shopping

So we hit Miami, the infamous city for entertainment, shopping, and night life...and South Beach! But those stuff you guys already know...so I didn't really take any pictures of those. A couple of quick comments...I got a pair of really beautiful Fred Perry Berms for 20USD and clubs in Miami are really wild...there are poles on every podium (no prizes for guessing for what reasons!) and there was even a girl who took off her top and poured alcohol down her cleavage...the bouncer let her stay up there for a good whole minute before getting her to come down and put on her top haha...

Now let's hit the nature stuff instead (but hey, isn't a woman's breasts a, literally, natural topic? wahahaha)...I went snorkeling for the first time in my life at Biscayne Bay and it was simply beautiful to watch the coral life...the underwater view is simply breathtaking and it was rather amusing, chasing the pretty fishes. Many times I reached out and tried to grab the fishes, but in vain. I have to admit that snorkeling might be my new favorite outdoor activity. I definitely will want to try snorkeling during short vacations around Malaysia, Thailand (and hopefully Australia) when I return to Singapore.No pictures though...I don't have an underwater camera. Alan did manage to see a Nurse Shark though...lucky bugger!

We also visited Everglades National Park...which was pretty much a swamp. Cut the long story short, we wanted to go on a canoe expedition but missed the timing. Thus, we decided to trek instead. Boy, trekking through a swamp's nature trail brought back days of BMT. Mosquitoes and all sorts of insects would swarm you the the moment you stopped moving for 2 seconds. We had to suit up and wear jeans, long-sleeves, and covered shoes despite the sweltering Florida heat (btw, did I mention, but being so far south in Florida, the temperature actually gets hotter than Singapore!).

I have to admit that doing the trek was rather rewarding. It was experiencing another side of sunny Florida that most people probably would not enjoy doing for Spring Break. It did help that Alan was a Commando in SAF and he related lots of stories and knowledge of swamp/jungle survival. Certainly, it made the trek a lot more interesting, coupled with Cedric's craziness haha...Now check this out. Coral Castle.
In brief, it's a castle carved out entirely of coral by a single man, Edward Leedskalnin in the 1960s (I think). Till this day, it's a mystery how he did it with simple tools, and moved the corals as well to create such an intriguing piece of architecture. The story goes that he wanted to marry a 16-year-old girl, Agnes, but the marriage was foiled due to reasons of parental objection due to a 10-year age difference. Heartbroken, he eventually made this castle in memory of her...and lovingly refers to her as "Sweet Sixteen".

This is a really enigmatic place. The details of the structures astonish me, especially knowing that they were all handcrafted. Some of the stones in this castle weigh even heavier than the ones found in Stonehenge, and he single-handedly moved them and nobody knows how!

Rumors have it that Edward is a Freemason and had arcane knowledge of artistry, architecture, and engineering that helped him created this castle. If what the tour guide tells me about Edward is true, then this guy is a freaking genious by beating Nikola Tesla to the AC motor, understanding harmonics and magnetism, and for crafting this structure.

Somehow...it almost feels occult...with all the astrological and afterlife references that Edward has littered the entire castle with due to his supposed Freemason status. There are carvings of planets, many 6-sided stars, obelisks, astrological observatories, the "π" symbol (that represents afterlife in Egyptian mythology I think) etc...and this is a functional castle too...there's a cooker, beds, fountains, thrones and chairs, living quarters etc!
Simply fascinating!

Day 8: Key Largo, Key West

Highlights: Deep Sea Fishing, Southernmost Point of Continental America

We headed down to Key Largo for deep sea fishing...yet another first for me. Although the day started dreary with a heavy rain, the boat ride out eventually rewarded us with a beautiful rainbow across the open sea where the sun was shining. We saw a couple of sea turtles along the way too, coming up to the surface for oxygen. Sadly they dipped down really quickly. There's simply no telling when these magnificient sea creatures would appear, thus no pictures =(

Deep sea fishing is HARD. Unlike prawning (which I think I'm quite good at haha), it's hard to feel whether the fish are biting due to the moving waters. Thus, it's hard to hook anything. I did eventually manage to start "feeling" the bite, but still didn't get a single catch haha...what did happen though was plenty of lost-bait or half-eaten bait...

Damn fish! Weren't they supposed to be dumb? Grrr...but it was certainly fun chatting with other fishers around us and learning more about fishes, fishing and their catch. One fisher even managed to catch, not just one, but TWO Barracudas!
Cool eh? They have really sharp teeth and can bite themselves free if a normal fishing line is used, thus wire lines are used to catch these nasty creatures instead. When the barracuda bit the bait and got hooked, there was a REALLY audible snap.

Sadly it wasn't the season for Sailfish and Marlins...damn...wished I could see how anglers reel in those nasty buggers as well.

After deep sea fishing at Key Largo, we drove further down south to Key West, the southernmost point of Continental America. This is gonna get hilarious, but nearing the street that led down to the above marker monuement, everything was marketing themselves as "southernmost". There was the "Southernmost Inn", "Southernmost Restaurant", and even "Southernmost House".But this one cracked me up big. It was a house nearest to the monument, and after the house shown in the above picture.
Certainly, it takes the cake hahaha...oh and the dinner we had here at Keys? Seafood. VERY VERY VERY FRESH SEAFOOD. YUM!

Random fact: "Key" is believed to be an anglolization of some language (I can't remember), and means "Island" in its native tongue. Thus, Key West and Key Largo literally mean "Island West" and "Island Largo"!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This more or less sums up my Spring Break...besides the crazy 13hour drive back up from Keys to Atlanta...there is much that hasn't been blogged that will probably stay in my memory forever and ever...

But to help remind myself if I should one day forget these fond memories and good companionship and camaraderie...quick shout-out!

1. Cedric, your trashtalk pwns. "Cock-fee?" Wahahaha...

2. Mingfeng, for being able to spin the most interesting stories out of the most inane facts in the MOST UNCLE fashion.

3. Alan, for rolling all over me during the first 4 nights in Seralago when we shared the bed...zzz...your comfortable sleep was my nightmare lol...

4. The Great Universal meal plan exploit! Wahahaha...you guys know what I'm talking about

5. Cedric, Angeline, and Alan, for being the best travel-mates for a roadtrip. Let's hope things stay that way, and even better for end of sem!

P.S. this blog entry took a whooping 2 hours to finish! OMFG!

Sunny South, Here I Come!

2009-03-14T02:03:00.002+08:00

I'm going on my Spring Break holiday tonight...10 days...Florida...FINALLY!

Hitting up Daytona, Orlando, Miami, and Keys.

List of activities include: beach, surfing, suntan, orange plantations, deep-sea fishing, snorkeling, shopping, Disneyland, Universal Studios, clubbing...whee...

Lotsa fun...and lotsa driving to do too >< 12hour drive anybody?

P.S. lotsa cash too...about 1k USD goes to this trip...

The Fast and The Furious!

2009-03-10T12:01:00.002+08:00

Ok...now I've time to blog what I did during the weekends. Me and my mates headed down to Hampton for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Think of NASCAR as the F1 of America.

Looking at the amount of people around the motorway attending the event, I suddenly thought of those epic zombie outbreak movies...and I figured that America would really be scary if an outbreak occured. The amount of people that turned up for just a race event was phenomenal...
Neverending stream of cars parked...it took us 10minutes to walk through the carpark to the motorway, and that's just ONE of the SIX carparks!

It was an extremely sunny day anyway. I'm so happy that Spring is here. On a sidenote, I'm sunburn even before hitting Florida next week haha. Sunburn in America! WOOO! LOVE IT! No more cold winters =)
Here's some hot babes for the pre-race event shows. Apparently sponsors of the race cars will set up booths all around, selling paraphernalia and giving out freebies such as lanyards, posters, keychains, tee-shirts etc.Anyway, I got to admit that watching these cars race at 200mph gave a huge kick, especially when they were tailgating like nobody's business in order to overtake one another. Of course there were crashes and collisions, and what started out as a 40-car race ended with 33. How's that for casualty haha...

And this was the winning car no.2, driver Kurt Busch, doing the victory lap (driving the track in reverse). He was totally awesome and literally dominated the race. Nobody was a real match for him. It was pretty exciting watching how he would lap and overtake others.

There was a point during the race where he committed a foul and was placed in the middle of the pack for a restart. It was sheer exhilaration watching how he climbed back from the middle to lead again through the mass of middle-pack cars!

He's so freakin' fast...he finishes the entire lap in 34seconds! No kidding man...During the 322 lap (325 laps in total), a car crashed...and after all the pit-time adjustments and all...Kurt Busch was placed to start in 2nd position...and with 2 laps left...it was a crazy race to the finish.

Mingfeng took a much clearer video of the final 2 laps on Facebook. Go view it here. It was freakin' thrilling and everybody stood up yelling and cheering!

Now after watching this race, I feel like saving up money for this year's F1 race...guys, cars, speed...it really adds up...And here's a video of the cars doing a lap after a restart...love the sound of the engines as they pick up speed! Enjoy!

Alright...I would love to blog more but I have another essay to complete before Spring break comes...so take care all!

Crawling Along...

2009-03-10T08:29:00.002+08:00

Philosophy 1101: Mid-term Essay (30%)

Where does politics come from?

I've spent the last 4 days laboring over this and so far 1000/1500 words. If somebody has an answer, tell me. Because all I'm doing is writing senseless stuff in circles.

And there's still a 0/1500 essay waiting for me due this Thursday on Amniocentesis and its critical appraisal...

Somebody save me.

When I finish my philosophy essay tonight (hopefully, or give up and stop for the night), I'll update the blog with yesterday's totally fantastic NASCAR race.

Spring Forward, Fall Back!

2009-03-08T14:01:00.003+08:00

So what does the cryptic title mean?

Well, it's DST! Daylight Savings Time! I guess in Singapore, since we're so near the equator, we're not affected by seasonal changes. But in other countries where seasons do matter, spring and summer experience longer days, while fall and winter experience shorter days. The further you are to the pole, the more extreme the situation gets, leading to the phenomena of polar nights (everlasting night, where the sun can never rise above the horizon), and polar days (everlasting day, where the sun can never go below the horizon).

Pretty cool stuff eh?

Anyway, in 1hour's time, I'll be officially 12 hours behind SG time, instead of the 13 hour, because the clock is going to jump forward to 3am, when it hits 2am.

Confusing? Yea I know...it confused the hell outta' me too when I first learned it from Matt (a local friend).

Apparently, "hell freezes over at 2am" =)

Also, if you ever hit Atlanta, do visit this burger place called Vortex. It's fucking awesome. Period. It's like a "biker-gang" place, where you can smoke, drink, and be rowdy, and enjoy terrific burgers all in the same place, indoors! The servers are cool as hell, wearing biker clothes and sporting tattoos, and the management has more power than the customers.

Their menu has a page-long disclaimer that says they have the right to refuse serving "idiots", the "customer is not always right", and a "no whining" policy for customers. Yes, I kid you not! And when we decided to test the system by asking our server to allow us to change tables, she told us curtly, "look I sat you here. You either stay here or get out."

Talk about customer service! It's non-existent (in conventional sense), but yet totally awesome since it suits the entire feel of the place! And the server chicks are hot hot hot...svelte figures, leather, and sexy tattoos...did I tell you guys I have a thing for tattoed chicks? Haha...

Anyway, I didn't take any photos due to the "nature" of the place, being so cool and hardy...cuz taking a camera out would seriously make you look like a damn pansy in there. But their burgers are to die-for. I had a "Double Bypass" burger. No prizes for guessing why it's called that.

The burger is made up of 2 cheese sandwiches as the top and bottom "bread" (so that's 4 slices of bread with lots of cheese) of the burger, a beef pounder, 5 slices of bacon, and a heckload more of cheese.

It guarantees to shorten your lifespan and send you for a heart bypass surgery, not just once, but twice!

And yea, I'm pretty sure I just shortened my lifespan having that absolutely sinful burger.

P.S. there is a burger called the "Coronary Bypass", which is half of the "Double Bypass"...haha...

Spring is Finally Here...

2009-03-05T13:46:00.002+08:00

The final cold spell has ended and today marks the first day of Spring...judging from weather reports that is...it'll never dip below 45F anymore...

But if Spring never comes, can Winter still end?

Can the absence of Winter ever be taken as Spring?

I don't know...I don't think so...

But then again, who knows?

Deep, deep, down, I'm still waiting for Winter to end...no matter how it ends...

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

2009-03-02T09:13:00.009+08:00

I woke up at 12pm today and was greeted by snow flakes at my window. For real.

I mean I saw snow and played with snow during my ski trip...but that was in North Carolina...I'm in Atlanta and it isn't supposed to snow at all.

I repeat, Atlanta isn't supposed to experience snow. Global warming? Freaky weather? Who cares? I love it!

Meteorological reports are in and apparently this is one of the heaviest snowstorms Atlanta has ever seen, since 1993! Talk about being lucky! And to be more precise, it's a "Thundersnow"; there was loud thunder accompanying the strong howling winds and raging snow!

Talk about cool =)

The view from the outside of my apartment...And on the ground... Oh boy...anyway...like bumpkins we are...us Singaporean kids went out for a bout of snow fun! The campus is usually dead on Sunday afternoons...but today...it was ALIVE.

This has to be by far, one of the prettiest scenes (and photo I've taken haha) I've ever witnessed. The juxtaposition of winter and spring. Spring is supposed to be round the corner and the trees have already started flowering...look at all the pink blossoms, rudely drenched by the sudden snow!
A silly, dirty, mini-snowman...And another variant!Tons of people were around, engaged in snow fights and snowman building. The Lacrosse field was beautiful (random nugget: we kick soccer on the Lacrosse field most of the time haha). An entire vast expanse of flat, white, snow...and people all around...wheee!
Some of the black guys were horribly irritating though...they kept smashing snowballs at everybody else...and some "cheated" by firing off snowball from the top deck of the multistory car park 3 levels high...and it HURTS like hell! And there's nothing we could do about it because there's no way to fire back snowballs up 3 levels..hmph...damn cheaters!

Me armed and ready to engage in snowball fighting!

And a crazy local who dressed up like a King for the occassion! By the way, see the snowman in the background? Haha...Anyway...even in the snowy weather...I had to camwhore hahaha...but this has to be, by far, one of my favorite camwhore shots due to the unique situation and background!And here's a short "video tour" of the snow as I headed back to my apartment...

Even though the snow was pretty and everybody was having fun...just before I returned back to my apartment, fate had it that I had to see the darker-side of Mother Nature's beauty...Beautiful yet deadly snow...it claimed the life of a pigeon. It was frozen solid beneath chunks of snow...slowly left to be covered and buried in an icy tomb...

When we finally kiss goodnight
How I hate going out in the storm
But if you really hold me tight
All the way home I'll be warm

The fire is slowly dying
And my dear we're still goodbye-ing
As long as you love me so
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Michael Bublé, "Let it Snow"

Oreo Cheesecake...SUCCESS!

2009-03-01T15:00:00.003+08:00

Taste test passed. Flying colors =)

I'm just back from Cheryl's birthday celebration. Cutting the long story short because I'm tired and have no photos on me anyway. Italian restaurant. Bar. Cheap booze. Profit.

Anyway I did final decorations on the cake using M&Ms and multicolored sugar bits. Looked awesome...I think haha...

I love America. And I love my Oreo Cheesecake. Happy 22nd birthday Cheryl!

Oreo Cheescake!

2009-02-28T12:14:00.007+08:00

Cheryl's birthday is tomorrow (Saturday). Cheryl Cheong.

I had to specify, because there are so many Cheryls in CS, and my life too haha...

Anyway Cheryl's an old friend I've known since JC, and by some stroke of luck she's here in GATech for exchange this spring semester as well, even though she's from NUS Architecture. Talk about coincidence =)

So I decided to use my new-found skills to bake an Oreo Cheesecake as a present instead! I hope it turns out fine! Preliminary tasting tells me it's super sweet and nice hehehe...

Special thanks to Yuexiang who helped out tremendously by answering my frantic msn SOS with great patience ;)

The recipe from Yuexiang...thanks!
The ingredients...btw our "digestive biscuits" are called "graham crackers" here...The crust...painstakingly handmade...had to crush every single cracker to a crumb!The cheese and oreo mix! An entire cup of sugar was used in the making of this cake haha...The baked cheesecake!I purposely overbaked it slightly for a slightly brown surface because I prefer a more solid/crisp feel to my cake.
Finally, I grated some Hershey's Extra Dark Chocolate onto the cheesecake for added flavor and decorative purposes. You can see my newbie mistake here...grated the chocolate when the cake was still warm...hence some melted.

I promptly threw the cake into the fridge haha...oh well, if too much melts I'll grate a new bar tomorrow before serving :P

Let's hope the birthday cake will be a success tomorrow haha...alright peace out all!

Random Bunny!

2009-02-26T10:31:00.003+08:00

So I was bored and surfed youtube for mindless entertainment...

Oh man...so damn cute...which rabbit gulps down their medicine like that? Haha...I don't even see such zeal in people lol...

I miss Jamie now...arghhh...

So now I have two reasons that makes me want to leave America right now and fly back to Singapore...

Flora de la Muerte!

2009-02-25T01:03:00.004+08:00

Hmmm...wondering what the blog title means? Wonder no more!

Tada!

Front
Back
Front
Side left
Side right

A pair of Oakley boardshorts I eyed online...for only 25USD! I'm so excited that it finally got here today...and I was worried it wouldn't fit me because size 30 was all they had left! Turns out it fit perfect =)

Ok.../ego hahaha...take care ya'all!

Mardi Gras!!!

2009-02-24T06:35:00.010+08:00

For the first time in my life, I attended a Mardi Gras parade. Literally meaning, "Fat Tuesday", Mardi Gras is a carnival celebration originated by French Catholics (I think?) held just before Ash Wednesday. Anyway, putting history and culture aside, my mates and I decided to endure a gruelling 8-hour drive down to New Orleans in Lousiana for the famed Mardi Gras over the weekend. Although the highlight of the festival is on Tuesday itself, the days preceding the event have plenty of revelry as well.

We arrived in New Orleans early on Saturday morning, like at 7am. It was too early for the party so we ended up touring the city. New Orleans, despite being hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, seemed to have rebuilt itself. We didn't visit the famed Super Dome that sheltered the many refugees back then during the natural disaster, but we saw it from afar. It was HUGE, like a nuclear reactor. Too bad we didn't take pictures because we were cruising by it on the interstate.

The architecture found in New Orleans (besides the usual cityscape that is) is very unlike in Atlanta, probably due to the French roots of the city.
Walking in the streets of New Orleans reminded me a lot of walking in Melaka/Bugis Street. The residential areas had lots of quaint houses while the city district had lots of shophouses with grocery stores a lot like those "mama stores" we have in Singapore! Well, except that the stores were ran by blacks.

During the tour of the city, we learnt that New Orleans, besides having a rich French Catholic history, was also a good spot for ghost tours and voodoo tradition. Yea, New Orleans has a RICH voodoo culture due to the slave trade, and most of the voodoo practices were introduced by West African slaves and syncretized with the French Catholic traditions. It was really surrealistic to tour an American city littered with French architecture and artefacts, and peppered with Voodoo and occult practitioners and stores! It didn't even feel like America anymore.
We visited the French Quarter market, and bought some beads for Mardi Gras. During Mardi Gras, people in the float procession throw random stuff out, primarily beads. Random includes toilet paper, soft toys, toilet pumps, sweets, lingerie etc, all marked with Mardi Gras. It's up to pure luck if one lands in your hands. Also apparently, if you gave beads to a girl in Mardi Gras, she would be obliged to show her breasts to you! YEP! So Alan and I decided to invest in some beads before the parade proper hahahaha...
Sadly, we couldn't take pictures in the market as it was strictly prohibited. Besides the party-gear and cheap clothes, there were crazy voodoo stuff in there like REAL alligator heads and claws, and voodoo dolls! Freaky stuff!

We proceeded to visit the oldest cathedral in America, St Louis Cathedral. An interesting point to note is that New Orleans breaks the "Protestant-belt" of the southern states by being a predominantly Catholic city. Protestant churches are almost absent in this city, or even if they are, the many cathedrals overshadow them.

As a Catholic, I felt very proud to visit the cathedral and explain much of the traditions, rites, and various artifacts in the church to my friends. The French level 1 I took last sem came VERY handy too...hahaha...I managed to decipher some of the stuff written around the church!
Saint Joan of Arc...After visiting the church, we had an "interesting" afternoon-snack...square French doughnuts served at a place called Cafe du Monde. It was supposedly famous and had a really insane queue. I would show you a picture of it if only our hands weren't so dirty...yea...the icing sugar on the doughnut is insane. Imagine half a bag of shaker fries...now remove the fries and put in the square doughnuts, and fill HALF of the bag up with sugar. Yes...it's that insane. Every bite we took, icing sugar flew into our face, hair, and clothes. The ENTIRE street was WHITE!

Anyway, the doughnut wasn't spectacular. Square dougnnuts = Hum Jing Peng. I kid you not. The Cafe was ran by Asians and what they were making were really Hum Jing Peng + Insane amount of icing sugar. Period. Nothing spectacular...I think I'll try selling You Tiao with icing sugar next time and call them "long doughnuts" haha...Americans will fall for it for sure!

Now for the parade proper...pictures! Note the out-stretched arms for the freebies! :p
It was crazy fun jumping around and reaching out for the random stuff the floats threw. The crowd went wild snatching, and everybody would proudly deck themselves up with whatever they grabbed, much like medals. The carnival atmosphere was awesome, with everybody yelling, dancing, and screaming on the streets half-drunk or otherwise in the middle of the DAY. It was really awesome to see couples, youngsters, teens, elderly...you name it...break out into song and dance in the middle of the streets.

There was even a procession midway during the parade-break, where someone was yelling dance moves out and people danced across the entire parade area. "Left, right, turn around, do the twist..." and the dance crowd grew and grew as more and more people joined in! From a mere 5 to 10 people...it soon became a swirling mass! What an experience!

Pictures of the party during the mid-parade breaks...people "leave" their seats...look carefully...lots of foldable chairs!The party lasted way into the night, and by then my camera was out of battery. Not that it would matter either, since at that point of time the streets was filled with puke and trash, people were insanely rowdy and nobody was taking pictures. Flashing a camera out at that point in time seemed...out of place. We finally returned to our hotel at 4am.

I gotta admit that Mardi Gras totally blew my head off. I don't think I can ever behave the way I did, decking myself up in beads, dancing spontaneously on the streets, grabbing for random useless stuff against hundreds of other people, drinking alcohol rampantly in the middle of the day on the streets...except at a carnival like this!

Our net total grabs after 4hours of grabbing fun!
Alan and I did end up giving most of our beads away...but whether or not we saw breasts...hehehe...that's our little secret...go give Mardi Gras a try for yourself folks!

P.S. check out more photos via Facebook here and here.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2009-02-20T13:57:00.005+08:00

"Some people were born to sit by a river, some were struck by lightning, some had the ear for music, some are artists, some swim, some mold buttons, some know Shakespeare, some are mothers, and some people dance."

It's films like these that sometimes make you want to put your life on pause, and then rewind it back to pivotal moments...and this familiar feeling of re-visitation...they call it kismet don't they?

Critics say that it's a freakin' film with lots of greeting card messages, filled with cliches on how to live life, weaved into a fantastical story of reversed aging...strip that fantasy aside and the film is nothing special.

But strip that fantasy aside, and you're also left with the stark reality that no matter how cliche the adages that "Benjamin Button" are, they still, are. There's no denying the truth in them, and that's why this film is so great for it's time. The critics can critique all they want, but the average man down the streets need a reminder.

This film certainly isn't inspirational in itself, but watching it will remind us where to turn to for inspiration in our own lives. While the film might not qualify as a lesson in life, it surely is a handy memo; for when life starts to narcotize us through our everyday fortunes and misfortunes, then just once-so-often, a marvelous film like "Benjamin Button" comes along to jolt us out of our stupor.

And sometimes when a person is alone in a foreign land, on a cold and late night...all he needs is a gentle reminder on how to live life....

Just so to make the times I miss you more bearable...slightly...

"We're meant to lose the people we love; how else are we to know how important they are to us?"

MLK Promised Pics...

2009-02-17T13:06:00.004+08:00

Here are the pictures from the Oakland Cemetery as promised...I really love them a lot...too bad these are the ones I lifted off from Facebook...the high res ones are still on Mingfeng's laptop...

Man versus God...A Valentine message...(literally..check the name on the epitaph!)I love these emo shots...really...Confederate War Memorial!And the Confederate lion of Atlanta that guards the unknown Confederate war dead!And I totally love this random photo that we posed for...really cool...Okay, peace out!

Farm Fun!

2009-02-17T08:10:00.024+08:00

This entry is a day late due to the fact that Sunday was so fun and packed that it only ended at 3am and I spent the whole Monday sleeping haha...anyway me and my mates decided to visit a nearby farm, and then head to Lake Allatoona nearby for a BBQ. And thus...the adventure began!

I realized how deprived we were as city kids, as we went all gaga over the various animals. But I have to admit that it was a really cool experience to see, touch, and feed all these animals that I've only seen on TV before. The farm reminded me so much of Babe! Baa-Ram-Yew, Baa-Ram-Yew!

And the animals are really fun to feed. You stick your hand out, palm out-stretched flat with feed and watch them come! Some animals are REALLY slobbery, like the llamas and camels, while some kinda hurt such as the emu (who just pecks with great gusto at your hand!). Others were plain cute (the baby goats and lambs) as they squeezed through the fences and poured towards us for feed. Awww...it reminded me of prison break...the way they could come breaking through their perimeters haha...and some were really mischevous too! They would "jump" onto us with their forelegs...and end up dirtying our clothes :p

Yes I saw sheep, rams, lambs, goats, pigs, donkeys, mini-horses, horses, ponies, cows, camels, llamas, dogs, chickens, roosters, peacocks, cockatoos, parrots, porcupines, doves, pheasants, zebras, ostriches, emus...damn...I think I lost track! Haha...I'll let the pictures speak for themselves and introduce the animals one by one =)

Camels! The one on the right is called Marlene I think...
And I kid you not...but the camels loved me a lot...they kept trying to lick me when I got close...no idea why...until the farm lady touring us asked me if I had a milkshake...which I did for lunch...camels love milkshake! The smell attracted them...Hahaha...so I went to the car and grabbed my empty cup :p Mmm...chocolate-dipped strawberry flavor!
Chicken feeding! And what's more pretty than a peacock?One whose feathers are opened! Just fyi, peacocks only open their tails when intimidated or to attract peahens.And what's coolers than a peacock with opened feathers? A white peacock! Of course...this is an albino...but it's really beautiful...never seen those before even in books!Cute little Daschunds! I would love to own my own dog one day... Did you know, camels go to school! No joke! According to the guide, these camels are training how to pull carts.A ram! Damn nice horns...he looks a tad sad tho...
An emu from Australia! Did you know that an emu's egg is green in color and can make up to 6 omelettes? And he's a really rough eater...pecks your hand fiercely for the feed!Sheep...but I think they are kinda small...so probably it's more accurate to call them lambs. Reminds me of Babe...More Babe! This pig is called Bacon! I kid you not hahaha...the farmer sure has a weird way of naming his animals :pMini-horses! They looks so pretty!Ostriches...and contrary to popular believe...they do not hide their head in the sand...according to the farmer anyway...lol...but they have a mean kick! Look at those leg muscles!And zomg llamas!!! I love llamas! Did I tell you guys that? They look really intelligent and pretty to me. Anyway, check out this cool link that made me addicted to llamas!
And now presenting to you...ladies and gentlemen...Prison Break (Farm edition!)
Love feeding the baby goats...so freakin cute...And meet Bucket, the friendly donkey. He's really really friendly and isn't camera shy, unlike the other big animals where you have to tempt them with feed and wait for the opportune moment to capture a good shot.An idyllic pasture...horses and cows grazing...The horns of Diablo!!! Nah...just of a ram that used to live here...And this is a horny pair...a rooster and a chicken in the act of f**king hahaha...Porcupines! They look really cute and their quills make them even more awesome! Did you know, their quills are actually made of similar material to hair? And it's strong enough to pierce through rubber boots!Meet Snowball the cockatoo. This bugger can say "hello" really really well...and respond to the question "are you a good boy?" To which he'll nod haha...smart fellow...

And this is a dove. It's really nice to touch...soft and smooth. It's down has some sort of coating I think...it really feels like the shower foam...no joke! And according to the guide, doves are set free during events like weddings...and these doves are actually well-trained! They WILL fly back to the farm after being let go! So farmers actually can make good money out of these doves for events haha...we witnessed this "homing intelligence" first-hand as the tour let go of the above-shown dove and it came back onto the perch after circling above the farm for about 2minutes!

Anyway after the farm visit, we wanted to head to nearby Lake Allatoona for a BBQ. We headed Walmart and got all the stuff...but ended up getting lost :( What a drag! We spent 2hours driving around in vain and when we finally found the grill/campsite...it was closed!!! We could have trekked in and BBQ, since only the road was closed, but it was really dark already and didn't seem scenic or wise anymore...so we headed back to school and did our BBQ at our apartment!

I think many locals thought we were crazy or something. Apparently in America, you don't BBQ at 9pm at 40F (5C)! It was funny. We set up the pit and laid the food...then we ran into the comfort of the apartment building...waited for a few minutes, ran out to turn the meats around...and ran back in! Hahaha...it was silly...and here's a short video clip to show you how to start a BBQ fire in the cold!

And here's us dressed in ski-gear for a BBQ. The irony haha...
Okok gotta admit this picture was orchestrated...they purposely pulled the hoodies up :p

Signing off, with love from America!GT-GIP group who went to Cartersville =) Great mates!

P.S. for a more photos of the animals...visit my Facebook albums here and here.

MLK Memorial Visit

2009-02-15T15:15:00.010+08:00

I'm going to describe the visit with an oxymoron: boring fun.

Ok, the boring bit starts here...

Admittedly, I'm not a big fan of history but being in Atlanta, birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr, I felt compelled to go on an MLK Memorial tour organized by the OIE (Office of International Exchange). The tour itself was horribly boring, with the guide Rebecca droning on and on about black slavery, who the first black millionaire was, how resourceful and business-minded the blacks were in the late 19th century yada yada yada...

Don't get me wrong. I do care, but I also do know about the history and have heard enough about discrimination in America. I mean, just about 50 years ago, blacks weren't allowed to sit with whites on the public buses, or enter the main doors of office buildings. That's how bad it was. But yea, what's new anyway? I wonder how MLK feels knowing there's a black President...hmmm...so anyway, instead of fully listening, I took lots and lots of pictures =) I'll let the pictures do the touring/talking instead =)

Self-explanatory nugget for you journ freaks/interested people...

I swear I almost thought it was "Sailor Moon", lol. On and did you know, the first recorded black millionaire in America was a barber! How the hell do you cut hair to a million dollars...especially 100 years back?!
For all disbelievers out there...here's ANOTHER (oh-so-familiar) warning for ya'all!
I love this Church...I think it's pretty beautiful...not the European cathedral of course...it's only historical significance is that it's the biggest church for blacks in Atlanta I think...Big Bethel Africian Methodist Episcopal Church...what a name!
Nice graffiti-art on the walls of the black district...told ya' I wasn't focusing on the tour :p
First black stonemason's guild! In case you didn't know...stonemasons are extremely skilled craftsmen who have their roots back to building the Egyptian pyramids...the guild and their trade is shrouded with secrecy...no wonder the existence of this guild is history...considering the whole black slavery and emancipation context...

Freaking random...but I thought this picture was an interesting juxtaposition of words, wordplays and signs...
Another freakin' random shot...of a "I don't know who the f**k is this"...just a totally weird, big, face...of some famous black guy I think who emphasized on the importance of learning a trade to gain freedom in society as a black or something...Dodds was his name?
WTH. America is not secular. I mean come on...we all know that Obama's victory was race politics...and now this...(okok, you guys already know I'm not a fan of the Democrats and Obama :p)
Awww damn...I realized I didn't snap any photo of the Ebenezer Baptist Church that MLK used to preach at!!! Argghhh...

And here...
Need I say more? Haha...and here's an emo shot at a historic site...I HAD to do it :p
The remains of the great MLK and his lovely wife...it's actually situated between the church and the Memorial center...and in the middle of a "river"...if I'm not wrong it's called the "river of reflection" or something? Really beautiful...and do read the inscriptions...I freakin' love these inspirational quotes...especially the first one...
Oh, and it is regrettable that my camera batt died midway into the trip. So the pictures of the fun part of today's trip aren't on my camera! Sadly...but I promise I'll grab the photos from Mingfeng ASAP and upload them here for your viewing pleasure! Oh the irony of it all...the FUN part and I have little-to-no photos argghhh...

So what kinda fun photos, and where did I go that made it fun? After the MLK tour, the tour group had lunch at a municipal market, and boarded the coach back to Tech. However, 7 of us decided to abandon the itinerary and walk to the nearby Oakland Cemetery instead!

It's a historic cemetery with lots of famous people (besides MLK) buried there, and houses many of the Confederate war dead (Georgia was a Confederate state during the Civil War). Some famous people include Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind, one of the greatest golfers of all times, Bobby Jones (his grave had lots of golf balls all over, and even a golf hole!), and Pemberton, the creator of Coca-Cola.

And yea, it was really beautiful. There were some really pretty tombstones, statues, obelisks and mausoleums. It's interesting to note how a cemetery can become a tourist attraction. Yes, there was a freakin' visitor house in the cemetery, fully-furnished with souvenirs and paraphernalia.

I guess in Singapore, or "Asian" societies...cemeteries are seen as "dirty", taboo places. Going into cemeteries unnecessarily is a big no-no, much less taking pictures with artefacts. Here in America, the cemetery I went to was so peaceful and tranquil (like it should be, duh). The air's fresh, weather's cool, and atmosphere's calming...it was so surreal...almost romantic I swear!

However, there WAS something I managed to snap in the cemetery. For some reason my camera batt squeezed out some juice for a short moment. That was when the 7 of us were walking through the cemetery halfway, thirsty, and suddenly out of nowhere...
A water fountain stood by a tombstone! At first we thought it was a tombstone, then I realized it wasn't a solid stone structure, but a real metal contraption with a pedal. Whoa...zomg!

And yea, we drank from it! The water was refreshing (definitely not filtered through the corpses haha) and nope...it has been almost 12hours since I drank from it...and no side effects whatsoever. I'm not turning into a zombie, or anything of that sort =)

Oh and I have to mention, along the way to the cemetery, we did lots of crazy stuff. Basically since we were in the "black" district of the city, there were lots of graffiti and derelict structures everywhere. I guess discrimination still exists, whether we like it or not. But anyway, we took lots of crazy pictures in poses meant to parody high fashion...too bad most aren't on my camera...but I swear they ended up looking really awesome and cool. Do stay tuned on my blog or facebook for them...when I grab it from the others!

And as always...I never leave my blog readers disappointed...here's an X-rated shot to fulfill your (whatever) desires =)
I LOVE ALAN!!!!

Nah... XD
This is the REAL shot before I "did the dirty" hahaha...love emo shots really...alright folks, take it easy till tomorrow...gotta sleep now. It's 3.30am, and I have a long and early (10am...zzz) day ahead with lotsa activities again!

Random BJ!

2009-02-14T06:28:00.003+08:00

Those who know me should know how much I absolutely adore BJ =)

Ben&Jerry's! (were you thinking something else??? =p)

Funny how I'm only mentioning it after being here in America for over a month, but a pint of BJ ice cream here is dirt cheap. 3USD ONLY! And they have a much wider variety of flavors in the supermarkets here.

For the record, this is a totally random musing that I'm typing as I enjoy my BJ on a Friday evening. Cheers!

Apple Pie!

2009-02-12T13:21:00.005+08:00

Coming to America has unlocked the Iron Chef restrained within me! Having an oven in the kitchen helps too haha...

Anyway me and my apartment mates decided to try and bake an apple pie. And no, it wasn't a disaster! It turned out really delicious, except that we put in a bit too much cinnamon spice so it got a bit tangy.

The hand-written, SEKRET RECIPE!!! (from the Internet lol :p)
First you must pare off the apple skins...

Then you must chop and slice...
Then you prepare the flour, sugar, butter and spice mix...
Glaze the top with egg white...

Bake!

Tada! Looks good?

It smelled heavenly...super fragrant and tastes a lot better than what it looks! In the first place it doesn't even look THAT bad...right? XD

I leave you now with what I call a picture of "Happy Apples". Can you see why? =)
And that concludes tonight's cooking escapade. Take care all of ya!

Like John Dewey...

2009-02-11T23:12:00.003+08:00

OMFG...after 22 years of my life, I realized that I can write philosophy essays!

My professor returned the essay that I dreaded the most...Philosophy...and I got a freakin' A even though I had no idea what I was writing about. Half the time I thought I was offtopic and I didn't quote or reference any of the class readings as recommended...

In verbatim, "I liked this essay. It reminded me both of John Dewey and the natural law tradition in ethics."

/ego. Yea ok I know it was pretty ego...but if you know me, I don't care! This is a blog-worthy achievement when 90% of the time in class you're asleep and 100% of the readings are alien to you...

What Nanyang Chron Can Never Do...

2009-02-11T09:18:00.006+08:00

No, the blog post isn't meant to be interpreted pejoratively to Nanyang Chronicle.

This morning, while enjoying my usual breakfast coffee, I decided to read something alternative to complement my morning spread. Instead of the usual New York Times, I picked up a copy of GATech's campus newspaper, Technique.

Ok so they have the usual campus news. I learnt that GATech was gonna get a new President...and that their equivalent of NTU's (ineffective) Student Union runs much more effectively, like a mini-government, with a House of Representatives and a Student Senate. They can actually make changes! Then there was some cultural stuff on the recent CNY...and...oh boy...there was a section called "Campus Crime" that caught my eye...

And no...it's not about panties thief...gonna type out the stories found here...cuz they aren't on the online version of the newspaper and I think it's imperative that all my friends out there read it!

The standard of the writing definitely isn't up to Chron level of course (Technique has a pretty confusing style of journalism that describes unnecessarily IMO)...so forgive them! But there's simply certain news that Nanyang Chronicle cannot possibly deliver...

Assault on Hemphill

A police officer observed a student laying on the sidewalk on Jan. 28 at 10:13 p.m. When a police officer approached the student, he noticed that the victim had a bloody nose and abrasions on his chin and forehead.

Another student was with the victim when the police arrived. The other student told the police officer that the group of four guys that had harmed the victim had walked off toward the CRC (my insertion: crc=campus recreation center, i.e. like our SRC).

The officer put in a call for an ambulance and notified police dispatch to be on the lookout for the group of males. As another officer arrived on the scene, the first office left to search for the group of people. Soon after, the group of male subjects were found and detained. One of the males admitted to the police that he was one of their persons of interest.

The students stated to the police that while they were walking down Hemphill Ave., the victim bumped into one of the male suspets. The victim continued walking past them without responding to the suspect's verbal complaint. At this point, he grabbed the victim's backpack, and he fell to the ground face first onto the sidewalk.

An ambulance arrived for the victim and transported him to Crawford Long Hospital. The student victim stated that he would like to press criminal charges for battery against the offending male. The male was then handcuffed, booked and transported to Fulton County Jail.

At the hospital, the original police officer spoke with the victim again who acknowledged that he had several alcoholic beverages earlier in the evening.

During the questioning, the victim acted confused and asked repetitive questions but denied using any drugs.

From his account of the incident, the victim stated that he was called from across the street by the group of males. Upon meeting up with them, the one male suspect immediately punched him in the face. The victim didn't recall anything after that. The on-call dean of Students was notified of the incident.

So ok...maybe the victim was just bullshitting and drunk...or maybe he really was assaulted. Nobody knows...but gee..Hemphill Avenue is where my apartment is...such stuff happening in campus right outside my apartment doorstep?

Packing Heat

On Jan. 28 at around 12:50 a.m., police were notified regarding a person pointing a gun at another person. The police arrived on the scene near Towers residence hall and met with a male student from Georgia State University (GSU) and two other male witnesses.

The GSU student stated that as he was walking up the stairs between Towers and Harrison dorms, two white males ran out past him toward a vehicle on Williams St.

The student proceeded to follow the males, at which point one of the males now on the passenger side of the vehicle turned and aimed a silver semi-automatic handgun at him.

The student quickly ducked behind concrete for fear of getting shot. No shots were fired however, and the two suspects jumped in a late model Ford Explorer and drove away.

According to the student and the witnesses, the armed male appeared to be around 18 to 20 years old and was wearing a purple LSU sweatshirt. The other male also looked similar in age and wore a green shirt and a brown hat. The police dispatch chain of command was notified of this incident.

Wooo!!! Gunpoint! On campus! Even the campus newspaper in America is so happening! Despite the bad journalism (trust me, I spotted a few errors on my own and had to correct them when transcribing them onto my blog), their content clearly rules.

Damn man...I love this country...it's thrilling to know you could be shot dead any moment! Give me my rights to bear arms!!!

What I Really Miss...

2009-02-10T06:25:00.004+08:00

Praise the Lord! After slightly over a month, my white Esprit berms have finally seen the sunlight!

This was what I wore out today for class, completed with my green Havaianas. =) Quoting Siqi, one of my GIP mates, "wow, you look like you're in Singapore again!" Hell YEA!

It was a really warm day today. For the first time since coming to America, the sunlight actually felt hot, and I could feel the rays of the sun piercing onto my skin, much like in Singapore! Still, it isn't humid here, so one won't sweat under normal circumstances! The combination of sunshine, fair weather, and low humidity...ahh...

Now I truly understand why the "ang-mohs" love sunshine and summer so much. After a few months of freezing temperatures and cold sun, it is no wonder why warm weather is a luxury. It was so good that I decided to go for a jog after lessons. Slipping on my army singlet (haha, yea SAF singlets in America!) and Nike running shorts, I equipped myself with my trusty Ipod (blasting Mambo music :D) and headed out!

I don't know if it's the dry air, or the fact that I have turned fat due to American diet, or that I haven't been running since sem 1 exams ended...maybe it's a combination of all 3 haha...anyway I found it incredibly difficult to complete a simple 5km jog (something that I used to do rather effortlessly when I stayed in hall).

I went from out of my apartment, made a turn up Ferst Drive to North Avenue and into the city center towards the Centennial Olympic Park (advantages of being in a capital city campus!) and back. Half way through, although I wasn't really sweating much (because of the weather), my lungs were totally dry and each breath I took assailed my chest with sharp pains...

Thankfully I still managed to complete the jog in 1 piece. I'll try again tomorrow and see if I get better!

And just when I was about the get back into my apartment building after my jog...I stood out there for a good whole 15minutes...absorbing the sun...

I realized I missed the warm sun...ALOT!

P.S. In truth, the average temperature in the day today was 64F (about 17C, less than most of your air conditioning back in SG)...pretty ironic to call that "warm-weather" in Singapore context haha...

TGIF on a Saturday...

2009-02-08T11:39:00.005+08:00

TGIF on a Saturday!!!

I'm going to blog about what happened on Friday night...on Saturday...because I woke up at 4pm today! Yea, yea I know...I'm a pig...but sleeping is good...especially when you sleep at 5.30am the night before :p And I needed that rest after one stressful week!

Look at how being overseas can train one's culinary skills...presenting to you...猪肉河粉!

I never imagined that we could have cooked that...haha...but we did!

And after that I went down to Blue Moon Pizza, thanks to Matt (a local) who drove us, to try my hands at a good pizza joint + trivia! What an awesome marketing concept for a pizza restaurant, to hold a trivia every weekend with cash incentives as prizes.

Well the drawback was that it was hard to find a table, since most patrons would stay till 10pm when the trivia finally ended...we had to sit out in the cold for about an hour before we finally managed to get a table inside! Still, it was great fun.

Some questions that I can still remember included stuff like:
1. In "Lost", who helped Kate give birth on the island?
2. Who's the President of the Confederacy during the civil war?
3. What patriotic song did Aretha Franklin sing during Barack Obama's inaguration?
4. Which are the top 4 men's basketball team in NCAA basketballthat have won the most championships?
5. In descending order, arrange these deserts by size: Gobi, Sahara, Kalahari, and Takla Makan.

Can you answer them?

Anyway the pizzas were to die for...that's a "Meateor" pizza.

Nice name isn't it? It's sinful with lots of meat all over, as the name suggests, haha...we had a "Grandmother's Pizza" too, but my hands were too oily by then for pictures to be taken...I think I might be able to find some pics from Justin or MingFeng's camera...

Why don't they make pizzas this good back in Singapore? I swear I'll do something like that when I come back to Singapore...

And that's their specialty "Blue Moon" beer...brewed using Belgium wheat I think...it was rather sweet but went well with the greasy pizzas.

Crazy night it was...horfun, pizza, trivia, and it ended with a few hours of exciting Texas Hold'em at John's apartment and won a nominal 5usd...covered a third of my pizza meal :p

Gonna run now, take care all!

P.S. Yes Wenxu, I'll play poker with you once we meet up!

Whoaaaa...gimme a break!

2009-02-06T14:49:00.005+08:00

[ycube] you can't live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. 12:06
do u know tt ur blog is becoming one possible article for newsletter prac????
LOL

-Thad-: feeling crushed... 12:06
wth
??

[ycube] you can't live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. 12:06
HAHA YA

...

[ycube] you can't live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. 12:13
sorry, dun mean to be offensive but my 1st reaction was WTF when i saw it

-Thad-: feeling crushed... 12:13
hello my 1st reaction was wtf too
when u told me haha

WTH? And yea, throw in WTF too for good measure!

That short msn convo with Yanyi stopped me dead in my tracks, in the midst of furious mugging for tomorrows pyschology quiz/exam (all quizzes are like mini exams here btw...20% weight!)...

Lol...so apparently Juleen Shaw (the chief editor of ConneXscions, WKWSCI's alumni newsletter) suggested to this semester's newsletter team to consider my blog as a possible feature? Whoa...how did she even find this blog?

Well, at least this little news gave me sufficient reason to apply some brakes on my midnight mugging session. I admit, I am stressed here. Forgive me, but I'm going to do some academic ranting now. You may close the browser if you do not wish to be subjected to my whining.

Even though everything here is S/U, the way assignments, readings, and quizzes pile up onto you is frightening. The American system is deceptively easy. On paper it looks simple. In practice it's a nightmare.

Imagine yourself having quizzes every 4 weeks, with each taking up 20% of your final weightage. Next imagine a module where you have an essay to submit every 4 weeks, each about 10%-15%, and a final huge ass research paper which is only worth 30% at the end. Now, combine these two together with reading reports and class presentations. Good.

Finally, multiply this workload by 6, which is the number of subjects I'm doing. Sweet life isn't it? Let's not forget the fact that each subject has a close-to 100 page reading per week on average...I swear in this mere 5 weeks I've read more than what I've covered in 207 last sem, NO JOKE!

Give me back my final exams please, I want to live the whole sem and mug at the end...not mug for the whole sem and not live at all...

Philosophy readings are dreadfully convoluted and long while my Biomedicine class (which I really enjoy) simply employs journal article after journal article...and we all know how long those get...

Anyway here's the current body count:

1x1500 word Biomedicine and Culture Essay on Ingestibles
1x1500 word Philosophy Essay
1xFundamentals of Management Quiz
1xCinema Studies Quiz
1xPyschology Quiz

Upcoming next week:

1x1500 word Biomedicine and Culture Essay on Incisions
1x1500 word Academic Review on an Oscar nomination
1x Biomedicine and Culture Presentation

Honestly, I never had such a workload in NTU before. Maybe I was just lucky back there. Dear friends, I really hope you guys are fairing better. It's only week 5...isn't it too early for stress and grief? =(

Oh and just when I'm about to return to mugging...the plot thickens...according to Keax who just msn'ed me a moment...

[ sakuya ] vintage patriot in a city held hostage 12:44
and ...
XD guess what
i think there is a big chance that

-Thad-: feeling crushed... 12:44
it isn't? :D
it won't? :P

[ sakuya ] vintage patriot in a city held hostage 12:45
some, if not most of the SCI faculty people are reading your blog
XD

-Thad-: feeling crushed... 12:45
bull!
crap!
no

Zzz...give me a break damnit...

I'll bitch another day...for now, sleep is calling...

BUT PSYCHLOGY IS CALLING EVEN LOUDER!!! RARRGGGHHH!!!

Shopping Spree!!!

2009-02-02T12:33:00.008+08:00

I'm a very happy but poor, man today. Shopping is indeed therapeutic. I start to understand why AnF is such a crappy brand. I've yet to buy any AnF stuff (contrary to my initial plans of buying lots of AnF). Why would anybody shell out 40USD for a polo tee or 60USD for a shirt when you can get better brands at cheaper prices?

I think I'm turning into a shopaholic. On the good side of things, I think I'm developing better fashion acumen, and trying new styles. This shopping trip taught me that everything is "in the details". I'll explain along the way.

Now, allow me to run you through my purchases. BTW, please let me know if you find my buys good =)

Calvin Klein:
CK Boxers, $7 + CK Leather Bracelets, 2x$8 = $23
I've always wanted nice CK boxers...and this one is really nice...now, let's look at the finer details...
The checkered boxes on the boxers reads "Calvin Klein"...and the color scheme and design looks like a toddler's building blocks! Really sweet!

And the bracelets...I'm gonna try wearing bracelets with casual wear to hype-up my look =)

Tommy Hilfiger:
TH Berms, $10.50, + TH Basic Polo, $6 = $16.50
These were a steal. The polo tee is slightly oversized, to match the baggy berm cuttings. It looks good together, trust me.

Polo Ralph Lauren:
RL Custom Fit Polo, $30 + RL Polo Bear Series Tee, $17 = $47
I love the color scheme on the polo tee...and the RL Polo Bear series! I've never seen it before in Singapore...not too sure if this is a new series or something. Anyway, I'm damn sure Ah Bear will want it. (Bear, if you want it, you better let me know!)

Let's take a closer look at the bear.
See, damn cute right? And the finer details...the bear is wearing a white RL sun cap!

Guess:
Guess Graphic Tees, 2x$13 = $26
It's no secret that I love graphic tees. These have a rough-style that is a new and welcomed addition to my wardrobe. While the red tee's design stretches down to near the bottom of the tee, the white one only takes up the top half of the tee. Just when you think it might be a little "boring" due to the emptiness...
See? The back right corner of the tee...awesome isn't it? Love the finer details!

Nike:
Nike Graphic Tee, $13 + Nike Ankle Socks (3), $8 = $21
I figured I needed some "attitude" tee...and what better way to send a message across than to get them in BLNL ("Bright Like Neon Love" for the uninitiated)colors? Thanks WKWSCI! You made me dare to try wearing BLNL colors!

Converse:
Converse All Star Ox Optical White canvas, $18
Basic canvas sneakers to expand my shoe inventory.

Puma:
Puma Munich CC Sneakers, $20

This is a pretty damn awesome buy. Looks cool right? It's black, with army green threading, and a small dash of lime green near the soles, and on the "PUMA" logo. It's sleek (like all Puma sneakers) and the lime green catches attention, but sufficiently subtle to avoid drawing away too much attention from the rest of the outfit I'm wearing. Now for the finer details...

"CC" stands for "color change". Yes, these sneakers change color on heat! The texture of the sneaker is "leathery" and "bumpy", much like a chameleon, to match the theme.

Freaking awesome, I tried it. My sneaker changes from black to army green when heated. Watch the Youtube video here !

Oakley:
Oakley Flak Jacket Jet Black shades, $150

The mother of all my buys, taking about 50% of my entire shopping expenses. I've always wanted a pair of standard Oakleys. Love it.

After buying my Oakley shades, I had an epiphany. Shades are to guys, just as what bags are to girls. I shelled out $150 for my Oakley shades. The girls who went shopping shelled out $150 for their Kate Spade and Coach.

I'll never think that girls are being "silly" for splurging on bags from now on. AMEN!
Grand Total: $321.50USD

I'm satisfied. REALLY SATISFIED! I think I'm done shopping for a while, but there's a good chance I'll be hitting more stores because I'm the driver for my friends here, and they are not done shopping haha...

Do place orders with me if you have interest in any American brands. Watches, bags, shades, clothes, accessories, shoes...etc. Let me know the brand and model and I'll scout it out for ya' and buy it if it's within your specified budget.

P.S. big big shoutout to all the CS peeps I met via Danielle's webcam! Cheryl, Tehping, Siti, Zijie Tim, Iqbal, Rikesh and DANIELLE of course! Miss ya!

The Closest "Real Deal"

2009-02-01T15:26:00.005+08:00

Tonight was the closest I had to celebrating Chinese New Year "Singapore-style". Cut the long story short cuz I'm tired and gonna drive up to North Georgia tomorrow for more factory outlet shopping...鱼生, steamboat, good fun, and 麻将!!!

Like finally...mahjong in America...and in USD too whooo!

Anyway the CNY event was held by the GT SAMA (Georgia Tech Singapore and Malaysia Association). I had fun helping out in the preparation...made lots of meatballs by hand...

See our dirty-hands from the labor of rolling meat balls? :p
Preparing the 鱼生.

The customary MESS WE MADE!
The good food we had...

We had a bunch of nice performances.

Josephine's an aspiring musician, and a pretty good one too!

I must say this celebration was really festive. The mood was right and homely. I got to mix around with other Singaporeans and Malaysians who were here in GT. Quite a lot of them were Ph.D. students! Wow, talk about smart :S

My luck was pretty good today. Managed to win 10USD in mahjong. I did a 花上自摸 in my first game, and from then on everything started rolling in :D
Anyway, wishing all of you, a long overdue 新年快乐！

P.S. Steamboat is delicious in this cold weather!

WREK 91.1FM

2009-01-30T08:49:00.007+08:00

http://www.wrek.org/

So it's official...I'm now a trainee DJ for WREK 91.1FM, Georgia Tech's student-owned, student-ran radio station. Unlike Radio Fusion that we have back in NTU, WREK actually goes live on air across the city, boasting a 40,000W ERP signal...making it among the ten highest-powered college radio station in the United States.

This is definitely going to be one of my dreams fulfilled at long last. I've always wanted to learn to be a radio DJ and go on air live...gotta admit, listening to Perfect Ten 98.7FM since I was a teen inspired that dream...

Perks of being a radio DJ here, besides free training and experience? We get unlimited access to their entire music collection...wheee...time to buy an external HD and copy every freakin' song!

P.S. the radio station has been around since 1968...so that's really A LOT of songs I could potentially steal haha...

On Hoodies and its Ilk...

2009-01-28T23:42:00.004+08:00

Totally random musing here, inspired by this morning's rain/drizzle, while waiting for my psychology class to begin...

America seems to be the perfect place to put the hood of a hoodie up, zip up jackets and windbreaker right to the top, and make your collars stand erect, WITHOUT looking
1. weird
2. wannabe (ah beng, maybe?)
3. retarded

Oh and this is a shout out to Jac, Wenxu, and Mad who finally made it in one piece to America. Hope you guys will enjoy the weather and the place! See you guys in Elon (if I ever drive up to NC again, btw which city is it nearer to? Raleigh or Greensboro? Can't really tell from google maps), or see you guys in Atlanta if you come! It's only a 5hour drive via I-85 N/S.

Anyway, maybe I'll stop being so self-conscious when I return to Singapore and pull up that hoodie when the weather calls for it.

P.S. Umbrella? What's that? A decorative accessory? People here pull up hoodies unless you get a tropical downpour =)

Bison, Hawks, and Phoenixes!

2009-01-26T13:14:00.015+08:00

So you're wondering why this blog entry reads like a combination of foal and fowl? Read on!

Well it's Chinese New Year today...by right...but since I'm in America, no such thing really exists. Thus, instead of visiting relatives and stuff, we visited Phillips Arena for an NBA game, between Atlanta Hawks and Phoenix Suns.

But before that, we decided to hit a burger joint called Ted's Montana. The food, service, and ambience there is superb for its price. For a mere 12usd we feasted like Kings. The portions were huge and tasty. We all ordered Bison Cheeseburgers (what they are famous for), and boy, it hit the spot! The food is so filling that even now at 1230am, I do not feel the LEAST bit hungry even though I had the meal at like 3pm. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Note how high the ceiling is. It's actually 2-storeys high!

Damn good salad topped with blue cheese dressing.

Soup is good, but the onion rings has to be THE BEST I've ever eaten in my whole life. The batter is simply perfect.

The fries are delectable and are probably house-made. The burger...oomph...words can't describe the delicious taste of bison meat (ok, PETA is probably gonna kill me now haha)!

After the meal, we realized that we didn't have time left to tour CNN building. So we made-do with just the gift store in CNN instead, and the Atlanta Hawks gift store. BTW, an authentic NBA jersey costs a whopping 195usd!

These pics are for Ah Bear (see, even in America I think of my friends!).

Pretty cool "hawk claws" eh? Watch out, I know wicked kungfu!

I gotta admit that watching an NBA game live was pretty awesome. The Atlanta Hawks mascot was really cool though. It's this big red hawk. Sadly, from where I was seated (far, far, up), I couldn't get good shots of it. Oh, and during the opening ceremony, a REAL hawk was taken into the court as a symbol of the home team. How cool is that?

The commentator was pretty anti-Shaq and Suns (but that's to be expected since the home-team was the Hawks), and it was really hilarious when Shaq did a foul that made a large outcry in the crowd, and the commentator went in a really sarcastic voice, "Shaquille O'Neal, that foul is offensive!" I got to admit, the cheering fever caught on to me, and many a times, I found myself chanting "De-fense, De-fense", "Let's Go Hawks!", and boo-ing the Suns. Steve Nash was a delight to watch as well. I guess the only reason why I cheered for Hawks was because I was in Atlanta haha...the Suns is definitely a more well-known team to me...

The time-out, quarter, and half-time shows were simply hilarious. We had the good, where hot dancers and cheerleaders strut their stuff, kiss cam where random couples caught on the big screen had to kiss (and yes there were guys kissing lol!), dance cam where random people caught on the big screen were made to dance; the bad, where a bunch of junior school teams played a short match (bad because it was boring, although the kids were certainly good for their age); the downright ugly, where people competed in the silliest games for sponsor prizes, such as racing across the basketball court and back...on a COOLER with 4 wheels...hahahaha...what a spectacle it was!

See, cooler race? How silly!

And people playing "The Price is Right" during time-out! WTF? Lol...at least the girls were hot kekeke...

And you saw it right! 2 guys kissing during Kisscam!

Anyway the game ended with the Suns winning 104-99. It was a rather tight match throughout, with the Suns and Hawks both taking the lead at different quarters, till the final 4minutes of the 4th quarter. I would say the Hawks have pretty poor accuracy when compared to the Suns. While the Hawks had plenty of opportunities to score, most went to waste.

Oh and it was really exciting to see slam dunks happening live. I think Mingfeng managed to get some good dunk shots. Gotta grab those pics from him!

The opening ceremony of the game. See the mascot there?

Cheerleaders doing their stuff!
Whee...look at the view from above, haha!
And now for some mandatory shots with the good friends of GIP!

Now it's time to return to my mundane world and finish up my biomed and culture essay on caffeine and coffee...damn I think I need some of those...arghhh...

Mini Reunion Dinner

2009-01-25T09:58:00.006+08:00

I miss CNY goodies. 'Nuff said. So to make up for it, we decided to cook a relatively more scrumptious dinner. Kudos to Yongxiang, who even managed to make 三层肉 from scratch!

Well, it's really not much but I guess we had a good meal. Took quite a bit to prepare for it...while the meal has to be the simplest CNY meal I've eaten so far (no duck, no prawns, and none of the yummy 五香 that I like), it has to be one of the more meaningful dinners...

Oh well, better stop thinking about home, before I get too emo and can't finish my assignment. Take care all of you still in Singapore, I really envy the CNY stuff you guys are having there now!

Well, I'll be looking forward to tomorrow. We're gonna go watch an NBA game at the stadium, Atlanta Hawks versus Phoenix Suns. Let's hope it'll be fun!

Becoming Girls???

2009-01-23T12:13:00.008+08:00

As I'm contemplating the existence of God and the immortal soul through the convoluted writings of Descartes (yes Philosophy stinks ><), thoughts of Lunar New Year goodies are creeping into my mind...I miss the bak kwa, pineapple tarts, lup cheong, chocolates...haiz...

I guess there are perks to staying in Singapore... So I've decided...instead of going down to Chinatown to buy sweets and treats for the Lunar New Year, I'll bake pineapple tarts (or at least will try to convince some mates here to do it with me)! Hahaha...I guess being overseas makes you do crazy stuff.

Then the best part of this...I thought I was the only one going insane in a foreign land. Here's an excerpt from Adium chat after I suggested the idea to a mate here...

neo ming hong 11:09
omg
09:33
we r becoming gals...
09:39
nth to do bake cookies.. den take fotos
09:41
hahaha
09:51
juz nw we were saying abt how we can spend our weekend
09:56
bake cookies den take fotos
09:58
like gals

-thad-: 5month holiday 11:10
wtf
10:06
who is this "we"
10:06
lol
10:11
so genius!!

neo ming hong 11:10
justin alan n me lo

GG! So that's it. The verdict is out: We're becoming girls now hahahahahax...

The Sun, the Snow, and the Ski

2009-01-20T14:37:00.008+08:00

Wheee, many milestones in the last 3 days of the long weekend holiday (Martin Luther King). Let me summarize them in short before I start attempting to recount one of the most fantastic episode of my life. (Which is pretty long too...you've been warned!)

1. Drove left-hand drive continuously for 6 hours at an average of 90 to 110mph (1mile=1.6km, speed limit = 55-65mph, go figure how much I was speeding!) on the Interstate.

2. Experienced and played with snow! (I know I'm ill-traveled...)

3. Snowboarded and skied for the first time in my life!

4. Drove in snow...it isn't easy at all...had a near-crash incident...

5. Camaraderie and friendship =)

Ok so the long journey started at an unearthly hour of Saturday morning, 5.30am. Destination: North Carolina. I was the slated driver, with Alan being the backup. Anyway, here's some nice pics of the journey when we first started.

We took a pitstop at Chesnee for gas and breakfast. Believe it or not, it's the first time I've eaten Mac's in America. Their muffins are interestingly called, "biscuits", and taste really superb. It's like fried bread but more oily, delicious, and thicker.

The drive to North Carolina took about 5hours, and we headed for Sugar Mountains to ski. However, the crowd there was massive and the cold thwarted us. Realizing that most of us were ill-equipped for skiing, we headed down to Walmart for cheap buys for ski clothes. With a 25USD budget, everybody managed to procure good pants and jackets for skiing. Walmart is simply awesome for cheap and good stuff!

Then the real stuff began...skiing! But first we had to check into our resort lodging.

It's a quaint little cabin resort called Willow Valley located high up in the mountains. Getting there was a challenge due to our screwey GPS. It brought us up impossible slopes in the mountain and I went up inclines as steep as about 40 degrees!

It was the first time I really had to change to the lowest gear in an auto car and jam down on the accelerator just to get up! Friggin scary! And the worst part was when we realized it was a dead end at the top of the steep slope, and had to reverse back down...freaking scary! The experience is something words just cannot describe...literally at the edge of my seat, grabbing the wheels as much as I can, trying to counter-steer and control the wheels, while pressing down on the brakes for our dear lives...

I dare say my driving skill has improved tremendously after this trip. It's really hard to describe the perils of driving in America sometimes. I had monster trailiers swerving into my fast lane at 90mph without any signal warning; I lost control of my vehicle on the way back on the 3rd day and almost crashed; I drove into a shallow ditch and had a hard time reversing out...drive in America at your own peril!

Oh a word of advice for fellow friends coming to America soon for exchange, although I was a real speed demon, emulate me at your own risk. Along the way I saw MANY vehicles caught by the police/sheriff for speeding. I was just EXTREMELY lucky to escape these speed-gun ambushes. Don't ever think you can outrun their police vehicles...it's not possible lol.

Anyway, snow makes driving a hazard. I experienced extreme counter-steering and had to wrestle hard with the wheel just to gain control. The wheels can literally swing to the right even when my steering wheel is fully-locked at left! That's when you know you're screwed and have to jam the brakes (lightly!). Lane markings vanished, covered by the snow. Ditches too became invisible. Go slow in snow people, trust me!

Anyway, we eventually found our way to the lodge. Here's some pretty views of the mountain from our lodge on the first day before the snow fell.

Note the white in some of the pictures...those are frozen ponds!

Seeking advice from the locals, we decided to head to the Appalachian instead of Sugar Mountains, as Appalachian was a lot easier for beginner skiiers. I decided to be a daredevil, and try snowboarding instead of skiing. Along with Cedric, Alan, Angeline, and Justin, we took a "twilight hours" package and braved the slopes and started falling like idiots all over, our feet stuck to a snowboard. It was hilarious.

It is insanely difficult to snowboard and learning how to control it was a tall order. Lots of falls were involved and I think all of us ended up with really sore muscles. But eventually Alan, Cedric and myself got the hang of snowboarding. At the very least, we managed to board down the beginner slopes without falling.

And boy it was awesome! The adrenaline rush! There's no easy way to learning snowboarding except falling and falling.

Now I would LOVE to show you guys pictures of the skiing and snowboarding, but unfortunately I didn't bring my camera in because I was snowboarding and didn't want to smash my camera. Some of my fellow friends did though, and the ski pictures are all with them. I'll upload them ASAP once I get it. All I have is this ticket left behind from the 2nd day of skiing that I'll be holding on to as a keepsake.

Here's some R&R in our resort at the end of the first day.

Yes note the copious amounts of beer we had. It keeps you warm and sane in the cold weather, and is awesome for helping recuperate our tired bodies from snow sports =P

BTW, America is awesome, besides the good food, friendly people, cheap cars, etc, I've found another advantage. You don't need a fridge in winter. Just place your beer out in the cold for about 15minutes and you get nice, chilled beer!

This is one of my favorite pictures that I took in the morning of the 2nd day.

Anyway it started snowing on the first night and from then on everything became really awesome. We did a 2nd bout of skiing/snowboarding the next day AND night for a whole 8 hours, had really delicious Greek food (Gyro and Greek Fries, go wiki, it's late and I'm tired haha!), and more or less, mastered the basics of skiing and snowboarding! Yay!

It's really thrilling when one zooms down the slopes, and even more satifying when one can come to a proper stop without stumbling along the way =)

I guess we were too crazy-high after the 2nd night of snowsports, and we ended up doing a snowball fight at the carpark of Appalachian Ski Resort after it closed! You can see how thick the snow is anyway at this point in time...

and it got even thicker when we got down the mountain to get dinner/supper!

No prizes for guessing what we did that night too! (Besides the drinking, cooking, and camaraderie chat...)

Somehow this GIP doesn't feel like a study trip but an extended holiday. I think none of us have done our tutorials/readings yet and possibly pretty screwed...but oh well, S/U rocks! We left early in the morning of the 3rd day, heading back to Atlanta. It was a really surreal feeling of return.

To add to the feeling of the "holiday", we stopped by a factory outlet and shopped. Here's my purchases for the day, coming up to about 120USD for a pair of CK Jeans (27usd), a CK belt (29USD) and shirt (23USD), RL Polo tee (22USD), and TH tee (15USD). Talk about cheap haha...I'm definitely gonna buy more labels! I love the CK shirt (electric blue rules), and the RL polo has a really unique/rare green that convinced me to get it (I'm normally not a huge RL fan).

Well dear friends, some of you might have remembered that I kept mentioning about buying CK boxers when I came to America...well I didn't manage to this shopping trip, because the only one boxer design that I thought was nice, Alan wanted too. Buying the same boxers would be too gay so I guess that will have to wait for the next CK factory outlet!

Now I pray that my brother doesn't blow up when he sees the credit card bill...besides the shopping that is...the car rental (about 200usd for 3 days) was charged to his card too >< I'll pay him back when I return lol...

Time to sleep...it's 3.16am and there's class tomorrow...but I had to blog this wonderful journey before I head to dreamland...I'm really tired but thank goodness my professor cancelled the 9.35am class due to Obama's inauguration...guess that's the one good thing he has done so far for me...that lousy, full-of-fluff liberal Democrat...

P.S. sorry for the dearth of photos...I'll try to remember that I have a camera...

Left-Hand Drive

2009-01-17T11:56:00.002+08:00

Ok so I got a rented car today (Chevrolet HHR), and Alan and I took turns to drive, with the very unfortunate passengers Cedric and Angeline seating behind. Why unfortunate?

Being new to left-hand drive, we both kept steering dangerously close to the right side of the lane, sometimes even getting out of it! This perspective thing is really tricky! Wide left-turns are easy and posed no problems. Right turns...hmmm...we both striked the kerb while doing right-turns about twice each. Alan reversed at the entrance of the Interstate 85 (think BIG expressway) at Peachtree Street thinking we lost Morgan (a local friend who we were supposed to tail), and I did some Singapore-styled lane switching on the Interstate highway garnering my first honk.

What exciting car-ventures!

Oh boy, and now I better catch some sleep (ok who am I lying to...probably won't sleep soon haha) for the 5 hour drive coming up in the next 6hours (we're leaving at 5am-ish).

Also, maybe cars here don't come with reverse sensors. At least mine didn't. It was helluva scary doing parallel parking (pretty common here) without reverse sensors. No freakin' idea why. Seriously when you're new to left-hand drive, driving a large vehicle, and you're still new to the dimensions of the car...

Stress!

Static Fried my Apple!

2009-01-16T23:41:00.004+08:00

Now I know a total advantage of Singapore's humidity. The lack of static electricity. The cold and dry weather here has left me shocked pretty often when opening doors and touching metal chairs/tables. Blankets and clothes crackle when you touch them, and my hair "naturally stands".

Cool...so what does this morning's record low of 10F do for my mac? The static charge build up (because I put my mac in my bag) screwed my trackpad. It's totally unresponsive now. At least that's what I believe is the reasoning for preliminary findings. Either that or I'm extremely unlucky to have contracted some sort of software glitch, which is another diagnosis.

Regardless, I hate this static business. Every morning my blanket sticks to me, literally. And it's not like you guys reading this blog don't know how hairy I am...

Anyway, my mac was working perfectly fine in the morning, and I didn't knock it or whatsoever...damn it man, hope I can save my apple from being totaled...and this has to happen just before I drive off for my ski trip...arghhh!

Hot and Cold!

2009-01-14T23:26:00.002+08:00

Cause you're hot then you're cold.

Pretty weird weather here nowadays. Probably sums up how I'm feeling as well inside. Sometimes when the nights are cold and lonely, or the sunny days still chill my core...

Anyway, how can the sun be shining so brightly for the last few days but the temperature has been below freezing 27F (-3C) for the last few days? And the best part is that it's going to dip to as low as 11F over the next few days.

I'm in a south-eastern state! GG to global warming.

P.S. anybody has the song by Katy Perry, please send it to me via email or msn, thanks!

Skiing?

2009-01-13T12:57:00.001+08:00

Keeping the blog entries short now because of the colossal amount of readings and some planning stuff to settle.

Jac, Wenxu, Mad, I'm sorry to inform you guys, but I'm going to North Carolina before ya'll.

http://www.skiwolfridgenc.com/rates.htm

Ski trip planned for the coming long weekend (due to Martin Luther King's holiday on Monday, whee!). Stay tuned for updates when it happens!

Coke and Culture?

2009-01-12T05:17:00.002+08:00

Consumer Culture and Participatory Democracy: The Story of Coca-Cola during World War II

I'm reading that 20 page article now for my Biomedicine and Culture class. I love the little ironies of life, considering I just went to the Coke museum yesterday haha...ok back to muggin!

World of Coke!

2009-01-11T13:00:00.012+08:00

Jac is going to love this entry since there's coke involved. Bear will love this entry EVEN more =) Read on!

Did you know that Atlanta is the birthplace of Coke? In 1886, chemist John Pemberton, founded coke. The poor dude died 2 years later in 1888 and never enjoyed the fortune. In fact, he SOLD the secret formula and rights of coke to Asa Chandler for only 1 freaking dollar! And look where the brand is now...

The brand of Coca-Cola was created and designed by Frank Mason Robinson, Pemberton's first partner in business and also his bookkeeper. Robinson felt that using 2 "C"s would make the drink more marketable and savvy in advertising. Indeed, how RIGHT he was! Skilfully, using the Spencerian typeface, Robinson designed the Coca-Cola brand by his own penmanship. How talented!

There were so many beautiful coke "artifacts" (if you could call them that!) such as the original coke glass bottles, bottle caps, paraphernalia, posters, advertisements, and even clothes! The coke museum treated us to a visual and historical feast of the amazing drink that we all love.

We got to see all the memorabilia (and I even got to hold the Torino 2006 Olympic torch!), learn the history, tour a REAL (albeit scaled-down) manufacturing/bottling plant, experience a 4-D show of Coca-Cola (which was totally mindblowing), take pictures with the infamous Coca-Cola polar bear (yes Bear, you'll love the pictures!)...and THE best of all...taste 64 different types of drinks that Coca-Cola company manufactures around the world, split across 5 drink stations (Asia, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Africa)!

Besides the usual Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, etc that we have here, Coca-Cola company also creates all sorts of beverages around the world. (BTW, I wonder why Singapore doesn't have Coca-Cola Cherry, and Cherry Zero...they are DAMN AWESOME!) And me and my friends sampled them all. Some were really good, and some were downright funny/bad, especially a green drink from Djibouti (Africa), called Sunfill (green), or something.

Sampling all the drinks from around the world just made me want to really travel round the world even more...sigh. I have half the mind to apply for an overseas PI in year 3 now...and I'm not alone. Some of the dudes in GIP want to do that too...I can smell another plan cooking...

Anyway, less talk, more pictures! (Lots of pictures!)

This is Pemberton. His statue that is!

Told you the poor guy sold away a fortune for a dollar...

And now for some mandatory camwhore!

Hmmm...I wonder if the old vending machine accept AMEX?

No freakin' idea what I'm pretending to kiss...except that it has really kissable lips and it looked damn cute in the video documentary we watched earlier about Coca-Cola.

Torino 2006 Winter Olympics torch!

At the Europe drinks station. I'm about to try Beverly from Italy (which is really bitter but damn nice if you gulp it down like a shot of vodka!).

Bear is gonna love this photo. I'm damn sure. It was really cute!

The infamous Polar Bear from Coca-Cola!

Pseudo coke-can glass cups me and my mates bought as souvenirs.

Oh and before leaving the souvenir shop, we saw this poster that said "1.99 for a small surprise". So Alan and I both got one...

And jeez...

A pen...lol...but at least it has "Coca-Cola" and "Atlanta" on it, and the surprise pack is funky!

The 2 of us, trying to make a loser-ish situation cool =)

And something slutty to end the night!

Alright I was kidding (not about the slutty bit though, lol). That wasn't gonna be the last picture for today's entry.

TAKE THIS ALL OF YOU! THAT'S THE SECRET FOR AWESOME GPA!

Euphoria...

2009-01-10T14:56:00.006+08:00

I'm blogging now at 2am, right after returning from an 80s-party at Frat-house Alpha Epsilon Pi, or AEPi for short.

The title of the post describes it best. I can't say for obvious reasons, but definitely, this party goes down in my life story as a milestone.

The music was awesome. It was 80s rock-and-roll with a LIVE BAND performing throughout! How damn cool. Some of my mambo favorites from the 80s were played. And it sure as hell sounded awesome with a live band doing it. Oh and American's don't mambo. Haha...

I would post pics but I think I didn't really care taking much. I didn't see anybody taking pictures anyway. Seems like nightlife parties and pictures don't mix in America.

This was like a pic of the outside-area of the frat-house that was used for smoking and chill-out (only pic I took at the party anyway). Oh btw, now I know why people use the term "chill-out". Because when you stand outside there in that courtyard in winter's night, it's a REAL CHILL-OUT.

This is the paper band tagged around my wrist by security. Even for a house party, security is hired. I think it's the federal law or something. Because the party was an open one, anybody and everybody could come. To prevent underaged drinking, you have to prove that you're 21 before you get the tag from the security. The colorful band allows you to get alcohol from the counter.

IMO, it's silly illogicality. America allows guns. You only need to be 18 to buy cigarettes. A driving license at 16. But alcohol at 21? Ridiculous!

Oh and this was the tacky outfit I wore to the party.

It was dirt cheap, got most of the stuff from a thrift store at Decatur.

Reminds me of Bright Like Neon Love actually...

Mambo?

2009-01-09T11:37:00.003+08:00

Works a-piling. I'm loving the in-class discussions. Philosophy is giving me a headache. But, if nothing goes wrong, I'll be going for a 80s-costume party tomorrow night. Oh boy, it's gonna be mambo music. I wonder if Americans know what mambo is haha...

Time for some real cultural exchange!

P.S. i'm gonna hit a thrift store for a costume. I hope I get something that isn't stupid.

Happy Birthday Yongxiang

2009-01-08T12:40:00.004+08:00

Happy 24th Birthday Yong Xiang!

Pictures coming soon. Just celebrated one of our roomie's birthday. He was sleeping when we woke him up with a birthday song, brownies and candles.

His reaction was phenomenal. I wished I video-ed it down. I can't describe it with words. All I can say is that he yelled and covered his head with the pillow. No idea what he thought we were. Maybe a sudden shock of being awakened in a dark room, 2 candles, and 5 silhouettes was too much for him.

Now all of us can't stop laughing. This probably goes down into the annals of 2009 as one of the funniest things that has happened. Heck, it's probably the funniest surprise birthday prank I've witnessed in my life.

Stress Starts Here

2009-01-07T09:49:00.004+08:00

I am blogging early today only because I'm bogged down by readings. The LCC modules I'm doing are crazy on readings...real crazy. Think COM207 but worse. Why worse you ask? Lemme tell you.

1. A lot more pages. If you thought the 60 page pdf files we got were the bomb, you ain't see nothing yet. Here, you get 3x60 page pdf a week, because each week has 3 lessons and there's one reading per lesson, NOT week!

2. Missing your readings is NOT an option due to the emphasis on continual assessment and participation. The 15% for participation is real. Class dynamism in America is at the level where students cut professors off mid-sentence to contribute. Yes, it's that scary. I guess I have to try my best to adapt and be more vocal in lectures. It really will show if you don't do the readings.

Philosophy is crazy on the readings. Biomedicine and Culture is insane. Not only do you have to read them, you got to do a blog entry (300 words) on T-square (their version of edveNTUre) critiquing every week's reading that WILL eventually be graded >< Film Studies...well I'm waiting on a positive reply from Wenxu to mail me the ISP textbook over. Over all this, every course requires a presentation/show and tell of sorts, and about 4 essays each, over the semester.

In comparison, I feel that even Singapore's university education is spoon-fed to students. You have no idea how easy and lucky we have it in Singapore I guess, until you try somewhere else. There are no lecture notes here. Lectures are really just a time where the professor throws the floor open for discussion about the topic and the readings. And that's it. No powerpoint slides, not bullet points, and no nothing. You read your readings, you discuss them in class, you take your own notes, and that's it.

The only consolation I'm getting out of this is that everything will be counted in small amounts to the final grade, and there's NO final exams to do. This has to be the most unique semester in my university life.

Ever heard of a semester with 6 subjects and NO final exams? I've done it this time...

On a totally random thought here before I leave, American drivers are a lot more courteous. People cross the roads at amber because nobody ever beats the traffic light, and there are many uncontrolled junctions. Apparently, the American version of "zebra crossings" are called crosswalks, and they exist almost everywhere, especially at uncontrolled junctions.

The moment a pedestrian steps onto the crosswalk, all traffic stops. No joke. It's super safe to cross roads in America. And after the crosswalk is clear, the cars magically give way to one another in slow, courteous fashion. No honking or insane acceleration etc.

I bet this system will never work in Singapore. Cars will probably attempt to speed past or inch their way through such junctions. And everytime we reach an uncontrolled junction, you will get all the horning and near-accidents.

I'm loving this country, really.

P.S. I just might attend my first American party this Friday if nothing goes wrong. Some dudes from my Biomedicine and Culture class invited me over to their fraternity party. I wonder how's a frat-party like...

EZ EXAMS!

2009-01-06T11:24:00.003+08:00

Wow, talk about easy. It was the first day of classes today and just like NTU, the first lectures were crap-ily short course syllabus introductions. Now what's really easy is this...listen up. I'm doing a management module here to match my GERPE-Biz requirement back in NTU, and a General Psychology module to match HP101. Guess how the final grade is calculated?

4 exams of 50mcqs each, every 4 weeks. Add them up and tada, that's 100% of your grade. Like WTF?! No wonder Asian international students excel in American universities. With an exam-system like that for their modules, I could probably play World of Warcraft everyday and still get my A without problems.

Tomorrow I'll attend my LCC (COM equivalent modules) and we'll see if their exams are fashioned in such similar pushover fashions. I'm praying it is!

Oh and for the first time since arriving here, I wore just a tee-shirt out for class. The temperature was a whooping 67F (19C)! Talk about major temperature fluctuations! And according to forecast, it's gonna hit 29F (-2) by this Saturday. I'm literally experiencing both summer and winter at the same time! Talk about weird weather and global warming ><

I wasn't the only one dressed in just a tee though. I spotted quite a few locals wearing berms and some even slippers. I think Georgia is a great state for having such an awesome weather. I mean, I want to see snow, but I don't think freezing everyday is a good idea, such as NYC. This Georgia-ian weather is just perfect for my needs.

Textbooks are insanely expensive. The management module uses a textbook of the same thickness, size, and paper-quality (paperback), as the COM201 textbook that we used in year1. And it costs 141USD! Like OMG! I'll NOT buy it. Who needs a textbook for an mcq-exam module anyway lol.

So far only my Philosophy module scares me. The only few names I recognized that the professor was mouthing off were Socrates, Plato, and Descartes. Everything else was Greek (pun intended). And on a sidenote, my Philosophy professor locked me and a fellow student out of the class for 10minutes because we came late. He bolted the classroom door tight!

Talk about weird. Or maybe it's the most effective way to embarass students and correct their late-coming behavior haha.

Lazy Sunday

2009-01-05T12:26:00.005+08:00

For the first time since I reached America, I slept-in. Sunday is really a lazy day for Americans. Malls open at 12 and close at 6. The Tech Trolley (shuttle bus) only starts operating at 3pm. Oh and here's the hilarious pictures of us and the trolley that I promised the other night.

Anyway I purchased my first "expensive" personal item today - a GATech Hoodie for 42USD. I figured it was a worth-it buy since I definitely would want to bring back some GATech souvenirs to Singapore, and hoodies are actually immensely practical in this climate.

I love the bee mascot of GATech. I think it's awesome.

I got the hoodie at Barnes & Nobles, GATech's bookstore. The bookstore beats the silly "Popular" we have in NTU hands down. B&N has 2 levels, a cafe in it, sells more than just textbooks (think mini-Borders), and offers reselling and buyback of used textbooks! Besides that, it has a heckload of GATech clothes and paraphernalia, such as caps, mugs, soft toys, cufflinks, earrings, and even vehicle license plates!

I wonder if Singapore universities can ever build up such strong college/varsity spirit. Did you know that some of the GATech hoodies, sweaters, and polo tees that are made by labels such as TH and RL? Talk about marketing! I'll definitely procure a GATech TH/RL polo or tee when summer comes around!

This is the picture of the biggest pizza I've eaten in my life so far, and maybe not the biggest yet. America never ceases to amaze me with their super-sized food. This is a 21inch pizza that 5 of us barely could finish.

The slice of pizza is bigger than my hand! And it comes with a complimentary free drink (choice of coke, sprite, lemonade). And watch the size of that cup. It's as big as my 750ml Nalgene bottle!

And the price? A mere 5USD per person! And the taste of the pizza is just divine. Americans definitely are NOT stingy with their sauces, cheese, and meat. Now I empathize with American exchange students in Singapore. They definitely must feel cheated and perhaps even traumatized when ordering Canadian Pizza here. Then again, my friends were traumatized when they had Asian cuisine a few days back at the foodcourt. Still, I cannot possibly imagine the sheer horror of eating Singaporean pizzas any longer, after feasting on the American delicacies.

While we struggled to finish the supersized pizza, the table of 3 (2 guys 1 girl) beside us ordered 1 21inch pizza, 1 18inch pizza, and 2 salads. And they finished it! The amounts of food Americans eat is truly intimidating. No wonder they grow to such huge sizes and trump us Asians in sheer physical strength in general.

Anyway school begins tomorrow. It feels almost surreal. I'm camping OSCAR now for subjects and I'm proud to announce that I managed to grab a slot in "Principles of Management" that just free-ed up! Whee!

I guess there's no running from STAR-wars even in America. And definitely, there's no running away from school too. As much as I would like to believe that this is a long holiday (by the way, I'm probably going to go skiing next week, planning-in-progress!), my timetable says that I have a Philosophy class at 0905.

Sigh...gonna make a sandwich and pack it into my bag for lunch. Yes, home-made sandwich lunches are common here. I can't eat pizza and grease for every meal. Even if my wallet doesn't suffer, my health will.

Singaporeans at Heart

2009-01-04T12:05:00.000+08:00

It was a rather warm first night I spent in my apartment room. I actually surprised myself when I woke up with a little sweat in the middle of the night. I'm going to try leaving my window slightly open and see if the room feels cooler tonight.

Anyway the weather was great today. Not too cold and foggy! It's my first time experiencing the "fog" weather. And no, fog=/=haze. It isn't irritating on the throat or eyes. Visibility was rather poor at times and tall buildings were literally covered near the top with thick fog.

Here's a picture taken when the fog was a little less thick.

We were on the way to Chinatown in Atlanta, via the MARTA train system. Chinatown is a 5 minute walk from Chamblee station. And wow, talk about culture shock when we hit the place. The first and most obvious sign was that we started seeing Chinese characters all over! The next was the food court.

Yes, it's a "Singaporean"-style foodcourt with lots of authentic Chinese food. Finally! I guess that every single 24 of us miss Chinese food, whether or not we are willing to admit it. We were pretty ecstatic over it and the elation manifested in our actions. Everybody rushed to get lunch, most of us snacking on favorites such as 豆浆, 油条 and 葱油饼.

The one thing we realized was that the portions here are huge. A plate of rice comes in a mountain! No joke! We bought 4 dishes (here, each dish comes with a complimentary plate of rice) of 煮炒, and realized that we were tucking into a pseudo reunion dinner.

BTW that's 4 original plates of rice that we split into 7 plates, and we couldn't finish the last plate! That's how much rice they give here!

After the sumptious meal, we headed to the Chinese supermarket and picked up cooking essentials such as rice, meat, vegetables, and condiments (that's another 150USD flying ><). We also made a trip down to Publix, an American supermarket near the campus and bought a whooping 300 bucks worth of food (mainly breakfast and lunch supplies) and snacks. Ok I admit, the snacks was mostly mine and I paid a whopping 80USD for my own supplies and snacks, compared to my friends who paid an average of 40USD instead. But any of my good friends will know that I'm a junk food whore who can't be stopped regardless of price.
Now my room looks a lot nicer with the snacks. YUM!

Transporting our groceries back was really hilarious though. When we checked out, we realized that we bitten off more than we could chew, and that 6 pairs of arms could only carry so much. Guess what we did?

I wished I had the picture to show you, for dramatic effect, but it's with a friend's camera. We pushed the supermarket trolley back to our apartment! The uniquely Singaporean innovation has proved itself to be useful even in the US of A! I'll upload the pictures once Siqi gets it out of her camera.

It was really hilarious to push the trolley all the way back and Americans were staring at us through their car windows. At one point of time when pushing it back (it's a 15minute walk), a police car honked at us too! But apparently pushing the trolley on the streets isn't against any federal law hehe. Oh and a random fact: did you know that in America, not giving up the priority seats in their trains to the disabled and elderly is against federal law! I guess even America has her own draconian laws.

The trolley is now resting in my apartment. We'll go for a jog (yes, no joke, we're getting accustomed to the climate) with it to the supermarket tomorrow, and back.

Anyway, tonight marks another milestone in my life. For the first time, I cooked a proper dinner. And not just for myself but for my 5 other friends too! Mom, if you're reading this, I want to thank you for teaching me lots of "theory" about cooking that really helped me cook this simple dinner.

I cooked eggs with onion, and stir fried it with pork marinated with black bean sauce. 蚝油菜心 was the vegetable dish I tried cooking. I then cooked a can of sardines for good measure, in case my other dishes were bad.

I really hope you're reading this mom, and feel proud and happy. The food was good, really. They turned out more or less as how I expected. The biggest problem with the meal was the insufficient portions of rice and meat, and not the taste. I underestimated how much 6 people would eat, and cooked a tad too little. But I guess I'll learn!

I had a lot of fun cooking, and realized how difficult it was to even whip up a simple homecooked meal. Mom, I really understand your difficulties now. I'll really appreciate everything you cook when I get back to Singapore. Today, I ate the bits of meat, egg, onion, and even vegetable stalks that were left behind on the plate.

You know why? Becuase I felt that throwing away the little scraps were a waste of food. I finally understand what my mom always says by "不舍得丢掉". When you put in the effort to cook the food, it feels like nothing should go to waste.

After cooking and cleaning up ONE dinner, I'm exhausted. Still it's satisfying to know that I can actually cook. Anyway I think I'll be doing most of the cooking for my friends for the next 5 months and they'll probably do the washing instead. I hate washing up. It's a dreadful chore. But in America, things are a lot of easier due to the existence of the dishwasher. It's awesome. PERIOD.

Now I'm starting to miss Singapore slightly, but just certain stuff (besides friends and family) such as the Chinese food that I've been taking for granted and mahjong.

Maybe we'll bring out 4 laptops during Chinese New Year and mahjong the night away. Just maybe =)

Heavy Weights

2009-01-03T12:33:00.007+08:00

I always thought that academic advisers would try their best to aid exchange students in getting subjects relevant to their majors. Georgia Tech proved me wrong.

The adviser for STAC (Science, Technology and Communication), the college that I'm attending in Tech, is one bloody fat bitch called Reilly who introduced herself with "I wasn't told that I would be getting visitors". Before continuing, I would like to clarify here that "fat" isn't a sarcastic, malicious insult. It's actually high praise, because a more apt description of Reilly would be "obscenely obese". To give some meter for comparison, she occupies 2 chairs and still has some spillover.

Besides being immensely useless and throwing her weight around, she was incredibly negative about foreign exchange students and our capabilities and priorities for subject registration. Insisting that we were probably unable to fulfil the pre-requisites for many of their courses, and that we were of the lowest priority, she wanted us to approach professors individually for approval.

Just my luck, considering that the academic advisors from other schools like Management, Engineering, and Psychology immediately overwrote the prerequisites without even looking at course descriptions or transcripts for my fellow NTU GIP-mates. I think I might consider doing 3 management courses here and end up doing a biz minor when I return to NTU.

Anyway, today was an awfully long and tiring day where we attended FASET, which stands for "Familiarization and Adaptation to the Surroundings and Environment of Tech". Basically a fancy name for academic orientation. It was dead boring. I hope my lectures won't be that bad.

And if you thought STARS was bad, Oscar (the GATech equivalent) is not much better. I'm starting to believe that university subject registration is all about mad rush, a great deal of refresh-camping, and luck.

The other heavy weight that I had to deal with today was moving into our apartments, i.e. "halls". Apparently, I'm the only one with just ONE luggage. Everybody else has 2x23kg of luggage and lots of hand carry. My moving isn't heavy, but theirs is! It's insane. Some even brought textbooks over in their luggage! I'm rooming with 3 other Singaporean guys. Basically we each have a room in an apartment, where we share 2 toilets, a living room, and a kitchen. Pretty sweet.

This is my room before I unpacked.

And this is after.

Oh, notice that their bed is really high (note the height in relation to the dresser and desk)? No friggin idea why, but thankfully my legs are long enough to get up there easily. Shorter girls will probably find getting up the bed an ordeal. Oh and I've no idea about the weird lighting difference in both pictures...

I really think I underpacked. One of my roomies is already complaining that he has insufficient wardrobe space. Apparently he brought half his home. And I'm not kidding, he even packed army rations into his luggage! Like WTF?!

SAF army rations in America. MINDEF should feel proud. Their rations are going REAL FAR.

Oh and to end off, here's a picture of me and my roomies (the other guys in the picture, clockwise from me, Yongxiang, Qifeng, and Cheeyang), and Si Qi and Jia Ni, the 2 other NTU-GIP girls in the same apartment building as us.

This was taken at Firehouse Subs, a place that's like Subway but better, during dinner. BTW, I'm in Crecine building. Apparently it's awesome due to it's convenient location to diners and the Recreation Center (their version of our SRC).

Tomorrow we head to "Chinatown" in Atlanta for our much needed cooking supplies. Meals here are taking a toll on finances. 7 to 8 bucks for a meal isn't going to leave me much for travelling at the end of the semester.

P.S. I think I'm getting used to the cold climate here. Now, sweaters are only really required at night. Tee-shirt and a hoodie is perfectly OK in the day. And yes, we emit "smoke" with each breath. Whee!

The Great Compression

2009-01-02T11:14:00.000+08:00

Ok, I'm gonna try compress everything that has happened in day 1 and 2. Bear with me.

First, I wanna thank all my dear friends who sent me off. Fast forward, I'm now in Georgia, Atlanta. I've experienced my first New Year Eve in a foreign land and all I can say, is that it's awesome. I've been squeezed to to death at Peachdrop in Atlanta.

Singapore is NOT squeezy. I repeat. Singapore is NOT squeezy. NOTHING in Singapore comes close to what I've experienced in America during the countdown. If I had to headline a news report of the countdown I experienced, it would read,

"3-2-1 PUSH! Giving Birth to 2009."

That's how things worked that night. The Blacks are really loud and have a really amazing laidback attitude. They push and shove and they yell and scream and to get through the crowds you make, or hop onto and hitch, human trains that plough through imaginary tracks.

And here's a picture of the bunch of us at Peachdrop yelling Happy New Year. After that night, we have been physically bonded by force =) This was taken after the crowd miraculously dispersed within 3minutes (no joke!) at the end of the countdown. The squeezy pictures and fireworks shots will have to wait since I couldn't get my camera out. I think Ming Feng has them.

BTW Georgia has lots of blacks. It almost feels like they are the majority here from what I've seen so far. Oh and I've seen more limousines in my 2 days here than in my whole life in Singapore. Limousines are common. Mustangs are like Honda Civics. Lamborghinis aren't too difficult to spot and I've seen an Aston Martin. Singapore's really boring.

And I think my parents might read this blog, so if you are, don't be worried. Your son and his friends aren't stupid. We know what to do and how to avoid trouble, and most blacks are actually friendly if you smile at them first. We've already chatted with a couple and some have even invited us to their homes over the weekend and given us their numbers, or given useful information and tips. Of course we've met a fair share of homeless ones, or those who suggest dubious propositions. Relax mom and dad, we KNOW.

America is a fast food nation. Fast food IS food here. And it's good. Hell GOOD. There's way too much to describe about how much better it is here. Just take my word for it. Oh and they love coffee. And most of the Asian food is cooked by Mexican chefs, and trust me, I can cook better Asian food than them. Some friends tried a stall called "Asian Chow", which stands for Asian "炒", and it was really awful.

There are a few nice things about American culture I've observed so far in just 2 days.

1. Americans are awfully friendly. People greet each other on the streets and chat you up pretty often. Their service staff at retail outlets go beyond just product knowledge as well.

2. Americans clear their own tables at diners and food courts (btw their food court is basically a chain of fast food/greasy food put together!)

3. Americans do not have the ugly habit of "choping" seats. They buy their food and then look for one.

4. Meat is the veg here. Meals have lots of meat and little veg. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a program called "Ask for more meat" here, akin to the silly program we have in Singapore to "Ask for more vegetables".

5. There is no chilli sauce. It's just ketchup and mustard. Not that I'm missing chilli anyway; I was never a big fan of it anyway.

So far I've been practicing no.2 religiously, and attempting no.1 with my friends, achieving varying degrees of success. Smiling and greeting random strangers actually feels good! I wonder if I'll return to Singapore and end up doing that and turning into a nutcase. With luck and some determination, maybe me and my friends will start observing no.3 ourselves too. It felt quite odd today at the food court when we left 2 guys behind to reserve the seats when all the locals were going around looking for empty seats with food in their hands.

Oh and I probably forgot to mention it, but we went to a nearby shopping mall, Lenox Square (that's where the food court experience was). Branded labels here are a lot cheaper. For example, I want to kill myself for buying TH polo tees in Singapore for 130SGD when it's only 49USD here. So are their shirts...I swear I'll burn my credit card buying clothes.

I've also stepped into AnF, and yes, it's helluva gay as they described it. Dark and lots of half-naked guy posters all over haha. But still the clothes are nice and cheap (winter clearance). In fact winter clothes here are a lot cheaper, too bad I burnt a small hole in my parent's pocket to buy lousy and expensive winter clothes in Singapore =(

I'm VERY VERY VERY tempted to procure a pair of really nice Oakleys at a really reasonable price. Mom, dad, bro, don't kill me please, thanks. But relax, so far no impulse buys have been made...yet =)

The weather here is great. You don't sweat. It fluctuates between 32F and 50F (0 C to 10 C) and if luck has it, I'll see snow. The coldest is yet to come - the end of the month.

P.S. I think the weather is making me eat a lot. I seriously have been eating tons of the greasy, unhealthy food. Honestly, I don't know if the weather is just a sorry excuse for my sinful indulgence. Maybe I'll come back 20lbs (~10kg) heavier and 10 years off my life record.

The Birth of The Blog

2009-01-02T11:08:00.000+08:00

Every blog needs to have a history, and history has to begin somewhere. And THIS is where the history of this blog will begin.

The existence of this blog can be attributed to an umbrella of factors, of which the greatest importance is the need to record and account my experience in America.

The spark that ignited this blog, and it's moniker Thadii, has to be credited to my dear friend Jacqueline. Apparently, I have multiple personalities.

Finally, the title of the blog, Life of Thadii is inspired by Yann Martel's Life of Pi. Go read it to get a clue for relevance.

Yea pretty lame bullshit I know. But take it or leave it, that's me.