Thursday, May 31, 2007
So yesterday, I'd just finished cycling back from the gym, sticky with perspiration, when a nice old lady got into the elevator with me.
Nice old lady turns to me and says: "I hope you have a good evening, and remember to keep cool!"
Me: "Yeah I really need to take a shower."
I wanted to follow it up with a "You have a nice evening too!" But it came out as:
"You too!"
Oooooooooooops.
he rocked the party at 8:04 AM |
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Oh yes, I can tell that our place is going to be THE pregame pad for knocking back shots before parties. Last night was just the start, baby, just the start.
he rocked the party at 9:07 PM |
Friday, May 25, 2007
So as the pace of life slows down just a bit this summer, finally have some breathing space to bum around, to stone, indulge in time-wasting activities like TV and hanging out, and maybe squeeze in a little reflection.
On the whole interaction with people thing.
So I guess sometime along the way (i think it was in december) I decided that I should really make the effort to talk to people I dont know and am not comfortable with. I've come to the conclusion that forcing myself to be uncomfortable is a frickin difficult thing to do. Its so easy to fall back on the usual singaporean/asian social circle, with their Wharton-ish ambitions and high GPAs and hiphop parties and chinatown dinners. Which isnt a bad thing really, I love 'em. But being here has made me realize that there's so much more to life here. This whole exciting world of good conversations, euro trance music, crazy drunken nights, beer pong and high fives, picnics on college green, liberal arts discussions, Greek cultures, and perhaps, just perhaps, not planning it all from the start, but to make it up as we go along (to borrow a line from Pirates of the Caribbean 3, which sucked, btw)
I know friends who have broken out of the social stigma, and I've seen how they have completely assimilate themselves into the culture. Yet, its weird how, after years of having no problems talking to complete strangers in Singapore, I find it takes quite some effort to break out of that circle of comfort over here. I believe the clash of cultures/slangs/beliefs, the very basis for breaking out of the social circle, are also the same barriers to maintaining long term, lasting, diverse friendships.
There is hope on the horizon however: this summer, with so much less to worry about, I finally told myself to not think so much, and to just "f*** it". I've started talking to more americans, making random friendships both in and out of school. Perhaps, with a little more courage, and a little more effort, I could make this permanent, and I just might achieve what I came here for.
On the education
With every passing day I get more and more convinced that my decision not to do a dual degree with Wharton is the right thing to do. My GPA is sufficient to satisfy my knowledge that I could have gotten in if I had wanted to. But I came to college hoping to gain opinions, to learn how to converse, and to be a whole lot more interesting as a person. With every day that I'm here, its becoming clearer and clearer that a liberal arts education is the way to go.
A sit-in in an Intro to Comparative Politics class this summer opened a whole new world for me. I discovered readings on economics, on market reform, on revolutions, on developments.. it was like reading the basis of what forms up every Economist issue that I receive in the mail but never have time to read. Seriously contemplating a political science major along with my Economics major now, seeing how many of the classes interest me (and double count too!). Am also halfway through working my way towards a math minor (I know, right? Its absolutely crazy. I hope I know what I'm getting myself into)
But, to do a double major and a minor in 3 years would entail a sacrifice of many classes I've really wanted to try: figure drawing, photography, pottery, communications, pop culture... the whole works. Am I willing to give those up in return for a possibly hidden passion/thirst for knowledge?
Aragh, too much to think about. Am going to sleep now, maybe i'll think about it some other time. Doodoodoo..
he rocked the party at 1:25 AM |
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Sorry for not keeping my promise of uploading photos of the new place 5 days ago, but summer school's been more chill than I expected. More chill? Yes, more chill as in, "i have work to do but i spend my time watching tv and bumming at friends' places" kind of chill. Been too lazy to even drag myself to plug my camera into my computer. Perhaps the california chill stayed with me (whoohoo!)
I humbly ask for your forgiveness.
Anyways, as promised: pictures of the brand new revamped Club 709! (aka Meeting Place 709 aka Gambling Den 709 aka Restaurant 709 aka Pasar Malam 709 aka Luggage Storage Facility 709 aka Refugee Camp For Ladies Afraid of Cockroaches 709... just some of the functions our place has served for the past week)
Pictures!
The living room, featuring: convertible futon-sofa (for potential refugees), nice big TV, coffee table (aka footstool when watching tv), bartable (which, at the moment, only has shotglasses on it), minifridge filled with ice cold BEER, and my very own egg chair. Excuse the messy clutter of lamps and random luggage, the whole world has been using our place to store their 'barang-barang.'
Our very cool dining table, totally expandable and convertible into poker/beer pong table. And my closet in the background. I tell you, no matter how big my closet space is, I never have enough. The roommate's room is on the left.
My brand new room!
My absolute favorite QUEEN SIZE BED.
Inverted photo of the new desk (sorry, still dunno how to rotate it), and notice the pictures of council bruddas/dancers/cool clique on my wall!
Very ugly kitchen filled with 10,000 boxes that we're storing for friends over the summer. And yes, we actually cook in here.
Melvyn and I have decided that our place will be THE social centre, the venue for chillouts, for poker nights, for beer pong, for reunions, for birthday and CNY celebrations, for home cooked dinners, for meetings, for parties, and everything else that makes Penn the social Ivy.
Oooo. Its gonna be an exciting year! (provided we dont trash the place before summer is over)
he rocked the party at 7:51 PM |
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Yes, yes.. i know i havent been following my own advice, but redecorating Club 709 (aka my new apartment) for the past three days has been crazily busy. I've slept an average of 3-4 hours a night, waking up in the wee hours of the morning to meet sellers of old furniture or to rent a U-Haul van, long afternoons spent shifting books, assembling furniture, dragging heavy shelves around with the roommate and a certain FAVORITE korean (ah ha, i know you're reading this)
I have to catch a good night's sleep tonight before school starts on monday, so just give me one more day to tidy up the room, before i post the pictures! (hooray!)
he rocked the party at 12:26 AM |
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Now seriously, people have stopped blogging.
My daily online indulgence involves, in this order:
1. Email
2. Facebook
3. Blogsurfing
and now #3 has ceased to be interesting anymore because PEOPLE HAVE STOPPED BLOGGING. Why???? Its such a waste. Seriously. A blog is a beautiful thing. You dont have to sound interesting, you dont even have to make sense. (have you read the crap i post on this blog?) You dont even have to update it every day, even once a week's good enough.
And yes, you're blogging for an audience. You know that. Your readers know that. You dont necessarily have to please them. Your future employers are probably going to read it when they google you. But as long as you dont say anything stupid, that shouldnt stop you from blogging.
Please keep on blogging, my fellow bloggers. Its the only way I get to read about a nice slice of home. :)
he rocked the party at 6:24 PM |
Monday, May 14, 2007
Driving down to Santa Cruz yesterday to visit Ivy in her hometown left me with one impression:
That ultimately, at some point in my life, I'd like a secret little beachfront alcove to go to when I want to be alone, to sit there and read, to stone, to tan, to work out, to collect fossilized rocks, and let my kids play in :)
I could seriously consider moving here in the near future.
he rocked the party at 10:36 AM |
Sunday, May 13, 2007
So today is mothers' day, and its surprisingly cold even though the sun is shining really brightly outside. May have something to do with me wearing my skimpy running outfit. So while waiting for yinwei to finish showering so we can go run (yes, suicidal, i know.) I decided to blog.
Random thoughts:
1. Happy Mothers' Day Mum, I love you :)
2. Happy Birthday Dad, I love you too :)
3. One of the most shiok feelings in the world is to drive down the 101 freeway, with hills and plantations on either side, and Ne-yo blasting on the speakers. Well, its shiok for maybe the first half an hour. The other 1.5 hours are just brain numbing, and I woke up with an aching back today, but at least i'm still alive.
4. Been eating and sleeping and eating and sleeping and eating and sleeping for the past week. This is by far the best (and most unhealthy) holiday I've been on. Every meal we've eaten this week costs an average of US $15-20, and you can imagine the ridiculous sizes they serve the food in. And then we drive home, 'nuah' on the bed for a couple of hours, eat instant noodles, watch a movie, and flop into bed where we snooze for at least 10 hours. THE FAT IS TAKING OVER ME. I need to hit the gym everyday now when I get back to Philly, or no one is going to recognize me when I return to Sg (which is in like, 7 weeks!!!!)
5. Plans to redecorate the new bachelors' pad are ever so exciting! Been buying shotglasses from almost every noteworthy place I've visited on this trip. Plus the activity of furniture buying has some sort of underlying anticipation/creativity to it, although its very sobering to see the bank account deplete ever so rapidly. Keep telling myself that its "worthwhile investments.. worthwhile investments.."
he rocked the party at 9:36 AM |
Saturday, May 12, 2007
On one hand, watching the Stanford kids do their thing inspires me to do the whole social thing, to meet and to flirt, to place friendships and experiences over the silly mundane daily grind of my studies, and to live the dangerous, fast tracked, exorbitant, extravagant, and true blue college life.
On the other hand, I am still thinking about you.
This is ridiculous.
he rocked the party at 2:40 AM |
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
A short travel update, because I spent so much time typing that previous post that its now 1.20am, and Nadia and Yinwei want to get up early to run, so that means I should have slept 1 hour ago.
Boston was as picturesque and pretty as I imagined, though Harvard was a little disappointing. I honestly think Penn's campus is much better looking, although granted we didnt get to truly experience the life since we were only there for a day and stayed with a grad student. It was absolutely fantastic catching up with my wonderful, respectable and sophisticated council teacher again though.
Boston city itself would have been better if we had more time there, though we did manage to sample some excellent seafood (mmmm... clam chowder!), follow the Freedom Trail, and meet future SIA marketing hotshot Rachelle for dinner!
The next stop was Brown over at Rhode Island. Perhaps it was because we got an entire day dedicated to touring the campus, but Brown is really beautiful. It reminds me of a chalet of some sort. And because its located in the middle of a housing estate, on top of a (tiring) hill, the essence of the city barely touches it, leaving an atmosphere of distinctive Ivy League-ness to it. Yummy breakfasts, quirky erotic festivals and Yinwei's hospitable friends completed the experience.
And yep, we are now in Californ-i-a (as eminem says), and the weather is enough to make me want to transfer to Stanford. Add in alfresco dining, the easygoing demeanor of californians, the luxury-condo-lookalike-yet-cheaper-rent-than-what-im-paying house that we're staying in, and I start thinking about retiring here already.
Aragh, why did a wonderful school like Penn have to be in a place like Philly?
he rocked the party at 1:19 AM |
As I type this on my first night here in paradise-y, beautiful, sunny California, I figure that I should do my requisite end-of-the-year reflections before the holiday mood, the life-giving Cali sun, and plain laziness get to me. (It has already begun). Though technically I still have 6 exciting weeks of summer school ahead of me when I return to Philly (oo.. i can hardly wait. Notice the sarcasm), I figure that with the end of the supposed official school year, the time is ripe for a little post mortem. So, in no particular order:
I backpacked through Mexico and Guatemala and survived on $1 a day. I helped to organize a breakthrough kickass speaker series for Singaporeans from all over the US. I tried out twice for Strictly Funk, tasted bitter failure, and got back on my feet again. I choreographed, performed and praised God in Overflow. I choreographed for a musical. I fell in love (okay, like), pulled the craziest, corniest romantic stunt ever, failed, and came out happier. I repaired houses with white people over Spring Break. I learnt how to swing dance from old people. I went outdoor rock climbing. I went for back to back parties. I studied like crazy and pulled all nighters. I got drunk more often than I'd liked. I vowed not to get drunk again. I did laundry and ironed my clothes. I kept track of my phone bills. I went to the gym, slacked off, and went back again. I picked up salsa. I took Chinese for two semesters. I rejected Wharton, embraced a liberal arts education and can say I'm studying what I truly want. I was held at US immigration. I was almost robbed in Mexico. I went to Church every Sunday. I learnt how to appreciate contemporary art. I had my first blackout. I got to have lunch with an ambassador. I rushed for a business frat. I climbed a mountain. I went on dates. I planned a scavenger hunt. I converted to Apple. I wrote essays about God and art history. I acted 4 different roles and accents in a play. And above all, I made some true lifelong friends, who would go for long walks and listen to me whine, who would see a shirt that said 'i'd fcuk me' and buy it for me, who would give me korean ziplock bags for my travels, who would invite me to church, help me move my belongings for 3 blocks, give me surprise birthday cakes...
Was it a good year? Yes, it definitely was.
he rocked the party at 12:36 AM |
Friday, May 04, 2007
On livin' it up after the exams:
So I hosted the biggest party I've ever thrown in Penn last night in my room. Amazing stuff. I had like 50 people squeezed into my tiny little space of a room (with a much expanded space, now that my roommate's gone and I've packed my stuff all to Chestnut Hall - the room's so bare and depressing now, without the photos and the requisite Singapore flag). Basically everyone who hadnt moved out yet and wanted to finish their stash of alcohol for the year came by. My table was COVERED with alcohol bottles, random Russians I've never met were blasting Euro trance from borrowed speakers and a thumping subwoofer, and good friends who called and warned me in advance when she found out the RA was coming to bust us. Ahahahahh. I love nights like these; the rolickin' good college times we'd reminisce about when we're old and grey.
On moving:
Period of transition seems to have fallen upon Penn: All day long I hear moving carts being dragged across the street; parents arrive in droves and take away their sons/daughters' rooms away in their cars; my neighbors' rooms, once warm and welcoming, now stand bare and empty as life in the halls slowly trickle away. I'm typing this by the light of a dim, lone Penn lamp I found in my room and never used, while the corridor outside is quiet. Very quiet.
Most people have left this morning, with the token few staying to volunteer for graduation around, but hardly seen. I am no longer able to say 'hi' to 5 people walking from my dorm to the front desk. Its kinda sad really, knowing that i'll probably never see some of these people again, given how humongous Penn is. Could I have made the effort to get to know some of them better? Probably. Will I miss those whom I've been close to? Definitely. And though promises have been made to come visit each other in our new (and improved) housing conditions, they will most probably trickle away in the 4 months of summer and the lure of an exciting sophomore life. Very sad, very sad indeed.
Oh, and moving my life's possessions to Chestnut hall is no joke. It took me three trips just to get everything there. Try dragging a moving cart with lamps and other shit sticking out across the uneven pavements and cars zipping by. No joke.
On Spiderman 3 (warning: spoiler ahead)
Well, no doubt that it was corny at some parts and hilarious at others, but I wouldn't say it was disappointing. The very fact that Venom made an appearance and the new Green Goblin didn't look half as ridiculous as the old one made me very happy. And with Venom being my all-time favorite villian in the entire world, I was very pleased to see the accurate portrayal of his origin (in the bell tower) as well as his weaknesses (sonic/sound waves). Loved the green goblin fight scenes with the pumpkin bombs too! And the introduction of Spidey's stingers! (though technically they should belong to Scarlet Spider instead) Goodie goodie. I like.
What REALLY irked me was Venom's appearance: The dude is definitely too skinny to play him. Eddie Brock's supposed to be really bulky. And the scene where Venom holds Spidey down while Sandman pulverizes him??!! Please! Venom DOES NOT DO THAT. He has far too big an ego and too ruthless a personality to be frickin holding Spidey down like some playground bully's sidekick. Ugh. Disgusting.
Hahahaha sorry, as a true Spiderman fan since I was 12, (i have like a billion comics) these issues are very important to me. Am such a nerd, aren't I?
On the next 10 days
I will be heading to Boston tomorrow, followed by Providence, flying to San Jose, and exploration of Santa Cruz and San Francisco! All this with (who else but) fantastic Singaporean pals Yinwei Yexiang Melvyn and Nadia. Yay yay. Happy is me.
Might not have time to blog till I return on the 16th, but I promise to do so with loads of lurvely pictures. A new life at Chestnut Hall awaits.. my life is changing, and me loves it.
he rocked the party at 3:12 PM |
