Sippening

Swedish Meatball for me...

2006-03-10T19:26:00.000-08:00

And the allocation of the colleges for NOC is out!

Dang dang dang dang!!!

Val is posted to Silicon Valley (SV).

Vincent and Gerard are going to Bio Valley (BV).

And I am allocated to Stockholm, Sweden.

For the whole of 6 months, Val and I have pinned hopes of going to BV together and now it seems that we will be far apart. ~Sob~ VAL!!! Haha. At least she's nearer to her darling boyfriend now. And it seems a pity that I cannot go with Vincent and Gerard as well, if not we can have a little Flag team there.

Well, it seems like I just have to be contented with Sweden. And it might just suit me better, with all the beautiful landscapes and cold weather. Brain said I have European features and would be able to blend in, although I feel that I look every inch like a true yellow Chinese. Well, it will be World Cup season in Germany and Sweden is pretty big on soccer as well, so I guess it will be fun too. And there will be chocolate and ice cream and meatballs for me.

Sounds like I'm still trying to convince myself. Some self-consolation there.

Let's hope that I can get a job placement to go over.

P.S. Juan Rubiano, can I go visit you?

Have you Youtube today?

2006-03-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

I sure have! And I do it everyday. The first thing I do when I switch on my laptop.

Ever since I found out that there are korean dramas on Youtube, I have been watching not 1, not 2 but 3 korean dramas! On top of that, I have watched countless hilarious videos, so just stop at plain stupid.

Here are just a few series that I have watched. I have watched at least 10 videos in each series, so that is a mightly lot of videos that I have watched! (Series not in order because I tend to watch them simultaneously)

1) My Name is Kim Sam Soon (kdrama)
Watched this show from episode 1 to 9 and the rest on SCV. Quite funny, with handsome guy and fat lady. Very unbelievable story, coz if I were the guy, I would definitely choose the prettier girl.

2) My Girl (kdrama)
One of the best kdramas I have watched. It is really hilarious, entertaining. The guy is good-looking and the girl is pretty. This show is super addictive. I watched from 12am to 7am for 2 nights and managed to complete the show in 2.5 days. Ah Dot and Joann were addicted to it too.

3) Goong (kdrama)
My current obsession. I didn't think it looks great at first, but it is actually an interesting show. Think "Da Chang Jin" in modern world, add one tall crown prince, another pretty crown-prince-wannabe prince and finally a not-pretty-but-act-cute-commoner-turned-crown-princess girl, TADA! And you have Goong. The OST is nice, but consists mainly of instrumental music. It is currently showing in Korea and the english subbed videos are only up to episode 14. Nonetheless, I have watched up till episode 18 because I could not wait any longer.

4) Monty Python
Watch the guys sing and dance. Not exactly very funny, but they sing well.

5) Whose Line Is It Anyway
Colin and Ryan are my favourite! They are hilarious with superb improvisation.

6) Mad Tv
Introduced to this by Yong Chuan. Here you can find parodies of many shows. My favourite is the one on Sesame Street and Big Bird has bird flu. Classic.

7) X Man
A korean tv gameshow. Most of the time I have no idea what they are talking about coz there isn't any English subtitles. But the games are real fun and MC Yoon is super funny. I am convinced that koreans can dance real well. A must watch is the video of Andy vs KHD.

8) Other hilarious videos and others
This ranges from the photobooth to the crazy korean girls dancing to korean Banjun drama. There are probably other videos that I have watched like MTVs.

So it seems that I am hopelessly addicted to Youtube. It is a powerful website, no doubt about it. But when you have tonnes of work and tests are looming around the corner, Youtube is a big evil. And I am sorry to those who I have spread the evil to. May you rest in peace.

So...have you Youtube today?

How To Catch A Monkey?

2005-12-07T09:13:00.000-08:00

Ever wanted a monkey to be your pet, but found out that it is illegal and you don't have the big bucks? Now we have come up with D.I.Y. methods of catching monkeys yourself, at super low cost too! And you can catch many more to sell them too...

Location: Along the road towards Upper Pierce Reservoir

Method 1: Courtesy of Uncle Yam
Step 1: Find a coconut and dig a small hole in it.
Step 2: Put some peanuts inside. (think it will be too messy to squeeze bananas in)
Step 3: Place the coconut near the monkeys and wait patiently.
Step4: Once you see a monkey putting its hand through the hole, you can start chasing the monkey and catch it. (Net sold separately)

Rationale: The monkey will be too greedy to let go off the peanuts inside the coconut, so it has to carry the heavy coconut and run along with it, allowing you sufficient time to catch up with it.

Success rate: Quite likely, unless the monkey is very clever or the hole is too big.

Method 2: Courtesy of Yar Ah Gong
Step 1: Find a coconut and dig a big hole in it.
Step 2: Put a crab inside the hole. The hole must not be so big that the crab can be seen easily.
Step 3: Place the coconut near the monkeys and wait patiently.
Step 4: Once you hear the screams of a monkey, you can go catch the monkey at exactly the place where you have placed the coconut. (Crab sold separately)

Rationale: The monkey, being curious, will put its hand into the hole. The crab will bite the monkey. The monkey will not move, having fear that the crab will bite harder if it moves. So you can catch your monkey without having to run after it. Very easy.

Success rate: Quite unlikely. A big crab requires a big hole and a small crab does not bite hard enough. You might also end up with monkeys that have swollen hands and have to bring them to the vet, who will expose you and call the police. Higher cost is involved.

Suggestion: Eat the crab and go to method 1.

Welcome to.........

2005-11-21T05:05:00.000-08:00

suddenly, i have a thought of transforming my house into a hotel...or haotel as pronounced by my ah gong...

HAOTEL HAODEBUDELIAO

Welcome, welcome! We at Haotel Haodebudeliao are pleased to serve you, our valued customer!

At Haotel Haodebudeliao, you will have the opportunity to stay in our one-of-a-kind PRESIDENTIAL suite that is so exclusive, that it is the only room in our famous Haotel. Our amiable and EVER READY staff are capable of providing the highest quality service and their potential can reach even greater heights upon seeing this sign: $. Bored? No problem. You will be entertained by our wide variety of facilities that will keep you ccupied for the whole day.

Now for a brief introduction to our staff and facilities (part I):

Service Department

Housekeeping & Meals:

The head of our housekeeping and meals departments is MAMA KWAN, who also happens (is by coincidence you know) to be the only staff in those departments. A caring and kind lady, her promotion was quick (and by default) because of her special powers, "Kuan Shou Kuan Jiao". With that extraordinary ability, she has cliched the prestigious awards of "The Fastest Ironer/Mopper/Sweeper" in the annual Tri-housework-athalon. There is no doubt regarding her ability. The Haotel is kept spick and span and all the staff is stuffed with food. So much so that 1/3 of the staff is overweight and half is obese. On top of the great housekeeping and culinary skills, MAMA KWAN is also known as the self-medicate expert. Should you fall sick (touch wood), you can trust that you will be in good hands. Herbal tea, po chai pills, panadol, ointments, creams and other bitter chinese medicine is in abundance#.

Purchase and transport department

Have a craving? Yearning for rock melon or grouper? Our purchase department will take care of it. Going somewhere? Need a lift? Our transport department will send you there. GONG GONG AH GONG, our ever reliable purchase and transport manager will answer your every need. Having 50 years of driving experience and uncountable number of years of marketing (going to the market) experience, GG AH GONG is our oldest staff at the age of 73. Once you have informed him your personal preference for certain food, you can expect to get it immediately the next day, and everyday for the rest of the week until you are sick of it. GG AH GONG will stop at nothing to provide great service, even to the extend of spending every last penny in his pocket. And he will be pleased to buy you I-K KLEAM (meaning ice cream) too!

#Please remember to check the expiry date before using, we are not liable for any health problem arising from eating or applying expired medication.

-end of part I-

the AH family...

2005-11-19T04:04:00.000-08:00

daddy: ah hong
mommy: ah kwan
aunty: ah gek
2nd uncle: ah thong (who oso called himself robert thong, even though his surname is yar)
3rd uncle: ah yam ( but i call him sua gu)
grandpa: ah gong (yar ah gong)
grandma: ah ma ( i call po po coz is maternal side)
cousin 1: ah di
cousin 2: ah ming
cousin 3: ah bee (short form of babeeee)
cousin 4: ah ti (as in pig in hokkien)
me: ah mei
my bro: ah bui

the exception: deh gu (as in field frog in hokkien)

tada...that's the ah ah ah.......tschoo!!

the sad stuff...

2005-11-18T05:58:00.000-08:00

after 17 years, after repeating it for 1786 times, my mum still talks about it.
about him in actual fact. about her brother. about the lost sheep of the family.

17 years after my uncle has committed suicide, my mum still hates his secondary school principal. the one who expelled him over some minor offence and indirectly caused his downfall. and that happened 30 years ago. a very long grudge indeed.

but mainly, i think my mum hates the white powder the most, that sinful stuff that put my uncle behind bars and forced him to take a road of no return.

she never fails to describe how he looked and acted after taking the drugs and when the withdrawal symptoms kicked in. or that he was actually a very filial son and kind person, just that he could not resist the devilish temptation. and even though he was addicted to the drug, he did not steal from the family or take drugs at home, but he broke the hearts of many anyway.

i still remembered the white pills he took from the drawer and the tattoos on his body. other than the songs and lessons he taught me, he left me something else too. a scar on my forehead. i tripped over a drain outside changi prison after visiting him and had bout 4 stitches. i was 2 then, but the scar is still visible now.

looking at my family now, i could have never imagined that we had such a history before. not just taking of drugs, but also being bookies and money lenders. but that are all in the past and i'm glad that my cousins, brother and i have turned out to be fine.

Spanish tags

2005-11-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

After replying that i'm not a hello kitty fan, i got a few more tags...in Spanish!!!

so i have to take the trouble to go to altavista babel to translate them. i realised that these free translation websites are not dat great, coz the translations turned out to be funny.

all courtesy of Juan Rubiano.

a) Hola Amiguitos, estoy muy feliz, porque tengo a Hello Kitty cerca de mi. Mis baticas rosadas y mis moños son parte de mi todos los dás. Hello Kitty gracias por ser mi mejor amiga.

translating: Hello Amiguitos, I am very happy, because I have to Hello Kitty near my. My pink baticas and my moños are part of my all dás. Hello Kitty thanks to be my better friend.

b) Amiguitos, estoy triste porque han perdido el interes en esta página, debemos compartir nuestro amor por Hello Kitty, espero compartir con ustedes mis aventuras con Hello Kitty

this translates to: Amiguitos, I am sad because there are lost the interest in this page, we must share our love by Hello Kitty, I hope to share with you my adventures with Hello Kitty

c) Hello Kitty, nunca me alejare de ti, siempre podrás contar conmigo, porqeu que estaremos simpre juntos.

and this means: Hello Kitty, never will move away to me of you, always you will be able to have me, porqeu that we will be simpre together.

d) Hello Kitty, Gracias por existir, me encanta ponerme mi batica rosada y mi moño

this says: Hello Kitty, Thanks to exist, enchant to me to put to me my batica and my pink moño

e) solo quiero saludar a todos mis amigos y en especial a mi mejor amiga HOLA HELLO KITTY!!!!!

meaning: single I want to greet to all my friends and in special my better friend HELLO HELLO KITTY!!!!!

after spending 10 mins to translate the tags, cut and paste the translations here, i would like to express my thanks to Juan Rubiano for writing the tags, so that there is no lack of activity even though the owner of this page hasn't written for a month. and also for making my blog more colourful with Spanish.

but may i request that only english, chinese and german tags are accepted. ok, hokkien also can. plus singlish too. it's quite mafan (translates to troublesome) for me to go translate the tags...and i don't think i wan to learn Spanish now...

and y do i have the feeling from the last tag, that my blog has become a gathering for hello kitty fans, that Juan Rubiano is saying hi to her frens thru my blog. did i get the meaning wrong or is the translation bad?

and i'll like to reiterate that i am not a hello kitty fan. the hello kitty club from nus german class is made up of pple by the names of najib, clarence and uncle gin. i tink siwei is in too. is a DIFFERENT HELLO KITTY CLUB!!!

Again i would like to say: No soy realmente un ventilador de Hello Kitty.

for the benefit of those who dunno Spanish, that means: I am really not a fan of Hello Kitty.
courtesy of Altavista Babel...

Translation...

2005-10-09T03:50:00.000-07:00

yeah...i got the spanish tags translated...so this is wat it says...

sonia charris: soy una fanatica de hello kitty

translation: i am a fanatic of hello kitty

Juan Rubiano: Hola queridos amigos, soy fan número uno de Hello Kitty, me encanta ponerme mi batica rosada y mi moño

translation: Hello dear friends, I am a fan number one of Hello Kitty, I love putting oneself on my pink batica and my bun

Juan Rubiano: algun dá quisiera conocer personalmente a hello kitty

translation: some dá wanted to know personally to hello kitty

the translation online it's a bit weird but i tink it's something bout wanting to noe me personally coz she tot i'm a hello kitty fan and somehow i'm in a hello kitty fan club. so i would like to say this to Juan Rubiano and sonia charris...

no soy una fanatic de Hello Kitty...

Finally after so long...

2005-10-09T03:02:00.000-07:00

i think that i'm updating my blog so infrequently, that it might juz become a monthly or bi-monthly blog...buden i can understand how sian my frens must be everytime they come to my blog hopping to read smth interesting but are disappointed again and again...pai seh lah...too busy to write and i tink u all come to my blog more often than i do...haha...

so wat has happened recently? pls bear with me coz this blog gg to be pretty long...a lot of things have happened within these 2 months u see...

1) i've joined eusoff hall dance production as marketing co-head. joann is the other co-head and jeremy is the vice-head. with so many heads around, i sure hope we can raise enuff money for DP. it's gg to be a busy and stressful time ahead...

2) we have just finished our eusoff hall bazaar. xilin said it wasn't as exciting as last year. i felt it wasn't as fun as last year. although there was a constant stream of crowd and many more stalls this year, most were clothes and accessories. having a bazaar seems like it can shorten our lives. joann and i din get to sleep on monday nite coz we were doing the duty timetable and every nite after dat we were making changes coz someone won't be able to make it. wat was worse was dat some pple didn't even turn up for their slots. so pissed. i'll personally chop ur head off if i noe who u are. there were juz too many to keep count and i hope u all are feeling guilty bout it. on the whole though, i still tink the bazaar was quite successful.

3) i've manned the stall for the HP refill ink and i tink the ladies are really nice pple. they bought drinks and a handicraft work of my name for me, charged me lower for buying the ink from them and gave me a hipclear solution for free. they have also offered me a part time job after exams. furthermore, jeanne has let me be the agent for their product in school. so the next few sentences will be in caps. FOR PPLE WHO WAN TO BUY CHEAP AND GOOD QUALITY HP REFILL INK, PLS CONTACT ME. FOR PPLE WHO NEED EPSON AND CANON INK, I HAVE COMPATIBLE INK FOR THOSE TOO, AT CHEAP PRICES AS WELL. U MAY CONTACT ME TO CHECK THE PRICES. U CAN PICK UP THE INK FROM NUS. CALL ME AT 97371473 OR LEAVE A TAG. THANKS!!!

4) i've been conditionally accepted into NOC. i was really thrilled when i received the email, because i thought i had made a mess out of my interview. the idea of working for a year overseas is really exciting and i've been daydreaming about it ever since the result has been out. val got in too!!! so hopefully both of us get to go to usa biovalley so that we can stay together. but gg for noc means that i'll have to break the bond dat i made when i went for immersion in germany and dat means forking out an extra 3k. boooooooooo...

5) uncle gin read my blog and insisted dat he din pray to use the washing machine and i promised him dat i'll rectify this mistake in this blog. so yah, uncle gin was not so desperate k, coz he's a free thinker, so he might have wished and hoped and craved to use the washing machine of his host family's, but he sure din pray for it. understand? uncle gin can a not?

6) i met zhijia finally...after a year of not seeing her coz she's studying in UK. it's weird how we dun tok much while she was overseas, buden we still feel comfortable in each other's presence. and this xiao mei mei actually passed her 1st driving test. kudos to her. and i've also met bel once with siwei and zhija. but i've missed the chance of meeting rach and shujun. oops. so terrible.

7) i've failed my 1st test in nus! terrible score for organic chem. luckily it's only 10%. time to work harder.

8) i'v lost my bet. the bet of losing 5 kg in weight in 2 months time. i lost 2 kg within the first 2 weeks and it was stagnant ever since. guess i've reached a bottle neck. so i owe amoeba weijie a big mac meal and lao ge some big treat. booooooo....and on top of dat...they still calling me fat...lucky lao da jie's bet was one-sided and so i dun owe him anything.

9) some pple have left a tag on my blog in some other language, tink is spanish or smth, i'm still in the midst of translating it online. guess it's smth to do wif hello kitty. but the hello kitty club does not refer to hello kitty fans!!! they are made up of clarence ong te lun, najib and uncle gin!!! i really can't help luffing when i saw the tag, which was brought to my attention by uncle gin too...hahah...but this only shows that some other pple have been reading my blog other than my inner circle of frens...

so rem to buy ink from me...they are cheap lah...so don't worry...and hopefully i'll update my blog more often.....haha

Recently...

2005-08-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

It has been more than a month since i have updated my blog and the usual lazy me has contemplated to abandon this blog, much like what happened to my previous blog after 6 entries...but since i'm bored and vexed with school...i've decided to continue with this blog!!!

Some of the interesting things that have happened during my bagpacking trip...

1) i lost my uncle's camera in Austria, along with his 512 CF memory card and over 400 photographs! i dunno how, when and who did it...it just disappeared into thin air! sorry uncle, this is the 2nd time i've lost your camera...somehow i'm not fated to be with your camera...can only blame destiny...sigh...

2) making a police report in Vienna on my camera was not pleasant when the policeman doesn't speak good english and i couldn't speak good german...somehow i felt he was mocking me too...i'm a victim leh! wat's ur problem...and i hope ur report get me some money from my insurance company...den i'll forgive u...

3) yingshi and i hiked 2.5km with 14 kg of bagpacks to a farmhouse...almost died under the sun...and it was an upward slope!! even more crazy was when we went for another hike after an hour of rest...this time we tried to hike up to Riemann Haus which was 2100m high...we were 2 idiots who only carried a bottle of water each and wrapped a jacket around our waists, with lousy shoes on our feet...while other hikers carried bags and walking sticks and wore hiking shoes...wat was worse was that the other hikers were on their way home at 4pm and the 2 idiots were just starting their 3.5 hours hike up...and if u tink dat was the end...u r absolutely wrong!!! i went the wrong way and we ended up on the wrong slope, which was covered with ice...so the 2 idiots decided to slide down the ice instead of climbing down some rocky path and returned to the farm with muddy butts and one hell of an experience...did i mention dat we never made it up to Riemann Haus? it din matter because butt-skiing on ice in summer is so much more fun!

4) because it was a sunday, the bus was not to come till noon and we were stupidly waiting at the bus stop at 6.45am. the feeling of being stranded was quite scary i must say. fortunately, we found a boat that could sbring us to a train station. the scenery during the boat ride was magnificent...remember those films that u'v watched of towns, mountains and lakes shrouded in mist? mysterious yet captivating...dat was the scene dat we saw...magnificent and unforgettable...too bad the photos i took were lost...crap...

5) i dunno how we do it, but yingshi and i survived on very little food during the trip. i remembered there was a day when we had only half a loaf of bread between the both of us and it lasted us from morning till dinner. considering that we walked at least 10 km a day with hardly any rest, i'm really amazed by how little food we need to get by...

6) walking in the rain is really not that romantic...both yingshi and i were shivering as we were both drenched from head to toe...no umbrella...juz a piece of windbreaker...on top of that, we could not have a good view of the attractions...there was a trick fountain dat we went to, where visitors were supposed to be wet by the cleverly hidden pipes that would spurt spring water...imagine how dampened our moods were when we were drenched already even before the tour...instead of getting amused, we were more pissed when any unexpected spurt of water landed on us...so never visit the trick fountain in salzburg when it's raining...

7) we saw hail! dat was in prague and luckily we were in a shop selling bags...seeing little ice dropping on the floor was amazing and i was screaming in the shop...i tink the shop employees were not dat amused...

8) i dunno how we did it, but yingshi and i survived on very little food during the trip. i remembered there was a day when we had only half a loaf of bread between the both of us and it lasted us from morning till dinner. considering that we walked at least 10 km a day with hardly any rest, i'm really amazed by how little food we need to get by...

9) and u noe wat is the most amazing of all?? despite being on the verge of starvation during the bagpacking trip, i've gained 3kg in weight...while dat yingshi had lost a spectacular 6kg...wat happened?? this is very wrong...and clarence ong te lun insisted dat i've eaten yingshi's food...come on, i'm yao gui but i would not eat my fren's food and leave her to die ok...i ate only when she offered me the food and dat was after much confirmation...and dat includes almost all her meals on board the return flight...haha...

The end marks the beginning...

2005-06-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

so my immersion has finally ended...

after a month of german lessons, great wurst, bread, ice cream, chocolate, swims in the lakes, excursions to other cities, visits to chapels, hundreds of walks around the stadtmitte and thousands of visits to the penny markt...i must now say goodbye to Freiburg...

it's really sad coz i really like this city, for the people, the scenery, the culture and even the food...i like my NUS friends too...

this trip has not only been enjoyable, it has also been an experience in which i had a few first-times...first time i drank so much beer, first time i like beer, first time i swam in a lake, first time i saw naked pple sunbathing, first time i had italian and french friends, first time i got to hear so much german, first time i ate bread for almost every meal, first time i ate 3 cones of ice cream in a day...and yes, even the first time i smoked a cigarette...

and with the end of my immersion, my own backpacking journey is just about to start...
tomorrow yingshi and i shall embark on a new trip on our own, without the help of any god or goddess, cross-eyed lion or uncle gin...tomorrow...

to say the truth, i think we are not that well-prepared for the trip...we have booked all our hostels except for a night and i am not sure whether we can get an accomodation at all...we might lose our way, we might sleep on the streets...but it just makes everything even more interesting...

i feel that at 20, my life is just beginning to be exciting...good luck to the both of us...

Ice cream

2005-06-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

becoz i've been eating ice cream almost everyday and becoz the ice cream is so good...i've decided to rank all the flavours i've eaten so far...

in the 3rd place is........hazel nut with cornflakes from Eis Mariotti!!!

in the 2nd place is........after eight from Eis Rossini!!!!

and the first place goes to......bacio from Portofino!!!!

clap clap...
the ice cream is so so good here...
i tink i've tried about 10 flavours already...
each time i have a different one...
and it's good ice cream for a cheap price too!!!
a scoop on the cone is €0.60 at Eis Mariotti and €1 at Portofino....

Unglaublich, aber war

2005-06-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

the first couple has been paired up from the group in Freiburg now...
interesting and quite surprising...
not dat i totally dun expect them together...but to be together is really quite unbelievable?
and so who is the couple? i will keep mum bout it till their relationship is real stable...
like pregnancy...the early stages are the most vulnerable...
ok, dat might be some bad analogy there...

i drank beer again!!! 1 mug of it...0.5 litres...
is a house beer called Inselhopf and i tot it tasted quite good...
i was all rosy and getting light headed and was really in the mood to go to some club...
but apparently dat Agar discotheque is for losers and they din allow us to bring water in...
even though those water was in bottles kept in the bags...
so u see 5 jokers trying to finish 2 bottles of water outside a disco...
and in the end walked away from it...we are not losers leh...

hot hot hot

2005-06-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

it's been real hot these few days...with temperatures hitting 33 degrees celsius and the sun was very strong...

so wat's the best thing to do on such hot days???

option a:
eat ice cream...
u can choose from Eis Mariotti to Portofino to many other ice cream parlours...
flavours range from tiramisu to after eight...from bacio to orange...
and they look just as good or even better than those from venezia...
but one thing for sure...they sure do taste better...

option b:
go swimming...
where? in a lake of course! unless u would like to pay €3.30 to swim in an indoor swimming pool.
although yingshi has brought up the concern of parasites in the lakes...it is really not a major problem...u get to swim in cool waters...be near nature and animals such as swans...see many pple sun tanning and some of them are topless and u can join them as well...in proper swim wear...

option c:
hide in a shady place...
such as the münster in Breisach where the thick walls blocks out the heat and gives the cathedral natural air conditioner...sit there to enjoy the coolness while admiring the beautiful paintings, sculptures and artifacts that date back to centuries ago...

option d:
do all of the above...

answer is option d!!!
although the options were not completed within a day...

booooooo

2005-06-18T10:41:00.000-07:00

i'm not calling boo but i'm booing....so boo dun get offended here...

a glass of coke cost €1.90...dat's 4 bucks...and i probably drank it in 4 gulps...booooooooooooo

the weather today was so hot dat i started perspiring in the car...boooooooooooo

the highest temp on monday is going to be 34 degrees celsius...boooooooooo

i havn't read the next chapter of Sonnenallee...a german storybook which we are going through for german lesson...booooooooo

saying something

2005-06-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

because lao ge complained that my blog is boring...i decided to entertain him with the next few sentences...yes there are pretty girls here...some hot babes too...wear revealing clothes, dress real nicely and put on make up...hot hot hot...even if the weather is cool, they are still hot...

ok, so i hope my blog is now more interesting...and hopefully dat horny and pian tai lao ge won't have dat many complaints now...

i finally understood y my aunt felt her life has changed after coming to europe for a month...it has been amazing so far...seeing how friendly pple are...how much they enjoy their lives...how well traveled and knowledgable they are and just how beautiful the place is...it makes me want to be like them...to make the most out of my everyday...even though i am very tired by the end of the day...i felt dat each day spent was fulfilling as i have not only learnt more german but have also seen more new things...

and so finally i have bought my tickets for my backpacking trip...i'm thankful to sonni for helping us get the tickets...it is really not dat hard...so my plan is as below:

30 june: leave freiburg to salzburg (austria)

4 july: leave salzburg to vienna

5 july: take night train to prague

10 july: take night train to frankfurt

11 july: take plane back to spore...

i'm trying to find a farm to stayover for a night or 2 in salzburg...which i tink would be fun...probably have a day of cycling or hiking as well...i'm hoping to go to the alps but yingshi and i only have 2 sweaters each and i tink we will just freeze...

and i found special edition of ritter sport!!! with liquor in them...cognac and dunno wat...i'm gg to buy a lot a lot of choco back...yes, each of my friend will get choco from me...and dun expect it to be one big block...

Summer?!?!!

2005-06-11T12:09:00.000-07:00

summer isn't summer in freiburg when...

it is 2 degrees at night...
it is 6 degrees in the early morning and about 10 later...
yingshi has to wear a super thick winter clothing to school, courtesy of her host...
u have to wear 3 layers of clothes while studying in the classroom...
u have to wear 3 layers of clothes to bed and cover yourself with 3 blankets and still feel cold...

this is not summer...this is winter...
hopefully the weather will get better next week...

the Hello Kitty Club

2005-06-09T13:34:00.000-07:00

tot i should introduce some interesting pple from the group that is in freiburg now...

*put ur hands together for...deng deng deng deng...the Hello Kitty Club*

The Members

the hello kitty club was started by uncle gin, who is supposedly afraid of everything from the cold to long distance walking. he is joined by 2 other members, clarence and najib. there is also a ranking system within the club, but it is not strictly enforced. clarence is the officer kitty or OK, najib is the specialist kitty or SK (we waiting for a SKII to come along) and uncle gin is man kitty or MK. yingshi and i have been cordially invited to join the club and we will be civilian kittys or CK. yingshi would be CK Tan (not tang) and i would be CK Huang. but we havn't decided whether to accept the invitation.

The Activites

the members of the hello kitty club like to tell jokes and has a special preference for army and dirty jokes. (dat is why yingshi might not want to join the club) they have recently mastered the skill of counting from 1 to 12 in poses for the camera. (courtesy of joan) on top of these special talents, the members also have the ability to put across sarcastic remarks and use vulgarities. (much to yingshi's disapproval) najib has participated in the anti-rabbit-eating movement because he has 8 rabbits at home, but siwei the german god thinks otherwise. (unwise of najib to go against the ever hungry german god) he is also a temporary nanny who likes playing with young children. clarence enjoys cutting grass in the garden, but hates unfriendly cats to the core. (kitty and cats are not best of friends) he is a party kitty that goes dancing. uncle gin prays everyday to be able to use the washing machine. najib and uncle gin are in the escort team which escorts girls home after the sun has set.

The Characteristics

you are likely to spot a member of the hello kitty club by the following traits:

fun-loving
humorous
sarcastic
hokkien-speaking
vulgarities-speaking
gentlemanly (must say some good stuff lest they kill me after reading this)
has a phobia to almost everything
likes to make funny face or make funny actions
likes to look at pretty girls
likes to give pretty girls his name and asking them for theirs (rejection is another thing altogether)

the Hello Kitty Club is an exclusive club and membership is by invitation only.

membership fees is a kebap or a pizza a day. other donations like nuts and cakes are also welcomed.

the Hello Kitty Club pledges to let its members have maximum fun, while still being nice people.

Wat is happening in singapore??

2005-06-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

so although i am miles away from singapore...i am still up-to-date wif current affairs in spore:

my good frien is attached!!! again. shall not named names here coz i dunno if he or she wan to be named. but i share in his or her joy anyway and wish him or her happiness...now i have one less person to hang out with...lonely...haha

boo has 2 blisters on her toes!!! now so u tink wat's the big deal with the 2 blisters...those 2 blisters are ugly!!! her toes are no longer pretty!!! but i'm sure the 9 bucks she earns per hour is suffice to pay for plastic surgery for her toes...

yu ying has left for france for immersion...i hope she has as much fun as i do now...woo hoo...

val misses me...haha...

a few days in Germany

2005-06-06T13:24:00.000-07:00

as u can see...i am getting lazier at writing my own blog...

some of things that have happened between the 4th to 6th days in germany:

on saturday we went to the marktplatz to look at the weekend market...
the wurst is fantastic...oh man...so much better than those sold in biz canteen...
i'm gg to buy some back if possible and organise a bbq or smth...
u can sign up with me now to my bbq...haha...
then we went to najib's house and played with the kids...
both yingshi and i lamented dat children in spore aren't as happy as the german kids...
they have so much childhood...unlike pple like val or ldj if i rem correctly...^hee
and i ate the best strawberry strudel ever!!! so so so so good!!!

on sunday we went to heidelberg...a university city with a beautiful castle...
yingshi and i...in a bid to save money...survived on 60 euro cents of bread for lunch...
while the guys ate kebab and pizza...boo hoo hoo...
and if u r wondering whether sip will get fat wif all the food dat she eats...
i will tell u not...
coz we walked so much juz to get to the castle...
then we walked so fast to the station coz we were going to miss the train...
that i tink all the food dat i have ate wud have been used up for energy...
besides, the food here is very healthy and not oily at all...

today we went to Schlossberg in freiburg...it means castle mountain...
it was raining but we went there anyway...
after nearly 2 hours of walking...in which yingshi and i were drenched because we refused to seek shelter under umbrellas...
we stopped to take pictures...
we were all expecting to see some ruins of a castle...but coz of the rain...
we were unable to climb this slope to see the ruins!!!
so we walked like 3 hours for nothing...no castle...nothing...pui....
but after that the guys (cept for yixiang) and i (only girl...and i can juz imagine lao ge saying dat i'm a guy too wat) went to a cafe for a drink...
i ordered cappucino which cost 4 bucks...xin tong...
but the guys were good company and very entertaining...
it was real funny to hear their army stories and about their host families...
i juz came back from a lecture (yes lecture...for the public) on colours in films...
it cost me 10 bucks and i understood only like 2 percent of the lecture...and dat was with the aid of slides...boo hoo hoo...
but it was interesting nevertheless...and i thought that spore shud have more of such lectures too...but at a cheaper price...

some other stuff:

the comp i using now is anti-hotmail...i can't do anything at all with hotmail...

i sleep real early and wake up real early everyday...i sleep at 11pm and wake up at 7pm...and dat is only becoz i force myself to sleep after waking up at 5am...

ritter sport chocolate is from germany and is a lot cheaper than in spore...who wan chocolate? i'll sell u at 50 cents cheaper than in spore...and don't tink dat i'm a cheapo...coz 50 cents a lot of money...u save 50 cents here and maybe u go to a store and save another 50 cents...u get a dollar...then u can go to the dollar store to get smth else...haha

we are gg to colmar in france for excursion...i might be going to basel in switzerland and milan in italy with the group when we have free days...plus yingshi and i are going to austria and prague in czech republic...dat's like 6 countries including germany...schöne!!!

if u wan to come to europe for exchange...u better save up money now...things are expensive here...like a meal in the mensa...is 2.40 euro which translates to more than 5 bucks...so i've decided to sell ritter sport chocolate for help-sip-go-to-germany-for-exchange fund...

i really wan to learn to cook!!! especially their superb cakes...wah...and i could sell them too in spore...hmm hmm...money face sip...

3rd day in Germany

2005-06-04T00:04:00.001-07:00

and some other things which i have learnt, realised, noticed or found out:

1) Luka's name is actually spelt as Luca and he is an IT manager...

2) i don't like to be kissed on the face...Luca kissed me farewell and i thought it was awkward...

3) rain in freiburg can be heavy...there is also lightning and thunder...

4) no plastic can be used in a festive party...which is bad because when it started pouring during the Annafestival, Luca ran off with the beer mug in his hand and so it has now become a souvenir for him...

5) i reget not learning cooking from mum...both Luca and Alice have cooked, so i am obliged now to cook too...where is mum when i most needed her? i wonder if i can fry maggie mee and call it singapore noodles, they won't know it because as a singaporean, i don't even have any idea wat singapore noodles is...and yes...there is maggie mee here...

6) there is pantene, head and shoulders, dove and nivea here...

7) all the bottles are made of glass so that they can be recycled...that applies mainly to drinks...
not stuff like shampoo and soap...can u imagine ur shampoo in a glass bottle?

8) it cost 1 euro to buy a 0.5 litres of coca-cola from the school canteen and u will get 15 cents refund if u return the glass bottle...

9) the coca-cola is more gasy than those in singapore...

10) the university canteen is called the mensa...so u can tink of urself as a genius because u r IN the mensa...is it any wonder that it is an university canteen?

11) 3 months of courtship can translate to 30 years of blissful marriage and 3 children...frau sonni and herr man met when they were in their 30s...see the magic number 3? is that y there are many shot gun marriages? but it seems that many have back fired...

12) it is really attractive to see Alice smile, because she is an ice queen...now i understand y an emperor can do stupid things just to make his concubine smile...i'm waiting for alice's smile again...

13) there is a man from switzerland who is coming to study under frau sonni next week...but he is 40 years old...

14) if u wan to add water to ur wine, u shud only add sparkling mineral water and not normal tap water...so i have wine with sparkling mineral water for dinner every night...

15) the rhineland is the warmest place in germany...it is on top of a faultline...so there are earthquakes and a thermal swimming pool...

16) it cost 1.70 euro per entry to the swimming pool...and even more for the swim suit...

17) german kids work for allowance...like teach children to ski or swim...like frau sonni's children...

18) i finally know how to switch on the big light in my room...it was the same knob which i turned on the first day i came...but it fell out and so i did not dare touch it again...

19) the keyboard here has y and z interchanged...and also addition keys like ü ä ö...so if i tzpe and mz words become like this u will understand whz...

2nd day in Germany

2005-06-03T05:16:00.000-07:00

and so i have learnt that:

1) Germans can really drink a lot...wine and beer...
2) having a birthday party in the garden can be real fun...since my host did it...
3) u r likely to get a kiss from a German if u give him/her a present...i got mine from frau sonni when i gave her a bday card...
4) Italiens can eat a lot...to the point that NS guys will be shamed...
5) the italien hand signal that russell peters did for his standup comedy, is not necessarily a vulguar gesture...it can mean - what u want to eat...just like what the hand gesture will mean to an indian...it all depends on the circumstance at which it is used...
6) half a glass of orange juice mixed with wine is real delicious...
7) German ice cream is nice but expensive...a 2 plain scoop cost 4 sing bucks...
8) having German lesson in a cafe coz the classroom was locked is fun, but that will set u back 4 sing bucks becoz u want to eat the ice cream...
9) there is an ice cream flavour called after eight and i tink it is made of the same brand of chocolate...real nice and highly recommended...
10) Nino the Georgian girl is an aerobic instructor, but she is not exactly very slim...but i tink she is real funky...
11) Alice the French girl smokes...a lot...
12) Freiburgers really enjoy life...the pace is so slow...sometimes it makes me want to sleep...
13) the cafes have wonderful atmosphere...there are musicians playing beautiful music and sometimes river flowing by...
14) being a German that is lactose-intolerant is pretty sad coz u can't eat all the delicious cakes and cheese...frau sonni's daughter, Sophie can't eat cakes, but makes delicious ones all the same...
15) the computers in the Freiburg University library uses a different program which i dunno how to use...so i can't upload my pictures...
16) it is of utmost importance to have rechargable batteries and charger if u wan to use ur digital camera often...i don't but thankfully yingshi has...so the advice is...if u don't have them...make sure ur friend has...
17) the house i stay in is about 100 years old...a little rickety...but still in good condition...no amityville horror here...
18) Bayernstrasse where i stay in...is somehow colder than other streets...no ghost...just lots of shade...
19) Bing did well for her exams...yeah!!! but a lot of other pple got killed including me...
20) my results did not dampen my spirit despite not being too good...
21) i lost every bet dat i've made with lao ge regarding our results (i tink)...i'll be broke when i go back to spore...ARH!!!!!!!!

1st day in Germany

2005-06-02T01:30:00.000-07:00

woo hoo........
so, after a mad rush for the plane and realising that it was not going to fly yet, after delays of the plane and the train...we finally made it to FREIBURG!!! safe and sound, albeit tired and worn out with almost 24 hrs of travelling and waiting and travelling...

yeah.......
my host is frau sonni, a german teacher who teaches at home. the house is old and looks like a very typical european house. and y is sip not going to get fat during the trip? on top of the reason dat she is going to carry a load of 11.4kg on her back. because she stays on the top floor of the house...the 4th storey!! no lift...juz the staircase. but what's interesting is that she's not alone on that level. there are a few more other girls staying there as well. there are frau sonni's daughter Sophie, the 16 yr old girl Alice, the Georgian lady Nino, the Bulgarian girl whom i tink is Anna, a Poland girl who i havn't met and another girl who i dunno where she is from or what she is called. besides them, frau sonni has a 36 yr old italien man staying wif her till friday. he is learning german under her. is really a united nations over here...interesting...

yum yum yummy........
regarding the food...it is really not bad. there's a bakery down the road where frau sonni always buy the bread from and the pretzel is real nice. frau sonni makes wonderful strawberry cake and Luka the italien man makes some very good strawberry dessert which has wine and ice cream too. so yes, i'm eating lots of strawberries and i just had strawberries for breakfast. there is also lots of salami and cheese which i like too. the only thing which i don't really like, is the mineral water. they don't drink boiled tap water as we do, instead, they drink mineral water from a glass bottle. but the mineral water is sparkling water!! so now i have resorted to drinking unboiled tap water which frau sonni said is safe to drink.

over hills over dales.....
the adventure begins with alice showing me the way to the city central. we walked past beautiful houses and a large cathedral. i realised freiburgers cycle a lot too. on the waz, i tried to communicate with her in german, often lapsing into english. dat is how atrocious my german is. after the walk, frau sonni, Luka, Nora the dog and me went to the Black Forest. Contrary to what i had previously thought, Black Forest isn't a land with barren trees that are killed by acid rain. instead, it is a mountainous region. the view is breathtaking. there are many tiny flowers along the hill side and i plucked some of them for my study table. frau sonni said she would bring me back again. after dinner, i went out wif Luka to the city centre. we saw the cathedral in the city centre and went to the city garden. freiburg is a small city, beautiful and quite peaceful. before heading for home, we went to maria, a pub, for a drink. i did not take any alcohol coz i had some wine wif water during dinner.

an exciting and fun filled first day. i hope there is more to come.

tschüs!

time for sip

2005-05-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

yes...
I have finally started my own blog again after the first one was a failure. This blog was started so that I can document parts of my life while I am in Germany and other parts of Europe. All 6 weeks of it. I will be leaving in 4 hours time and my mum seems to be quite worried. Come on, I am already 20 years old. Yes, it is my first time going backpacking (for 2 weeks after the immersion) and yes, this is going to be the longest trip ever from home. But there's always a first time and I am sure it is going to be a great experience for me.

wow...
I think my bagpack weighs at least 7kg, according to my rather screwed up weighing machine. It sure does look huge on me. Hopefully my height wouldn't be shortened. ~hee

sucks...
I am going to take Thai airway and there is no personal screen for economy class. *groan* How am I going to survive 14 hours of flight? Yingshi, I hope you will provide some entertainment or I will be so bored. *groan*