where thoughts materialise.

So we're into the sixth version of my blog after the last version hung around for a year or so.

Now, a bit of info on this image. This photo was taken one lovely spring afternoon, featuring the iconic Old Well from the UNC Chapel Hill campus. I would like to think of this image as a tribute to my time in UNC Chapel Hill, the awesome friends I made and the memories I now hold dear.

A milestone in my life indeed.

I've dropped the tagboard cos its useless and taking eons to load. But thanks to Angela who helped me set it up, I still do like and will miss the pink interface.

So yeah, it's the sixth one you fellas!

Yours.

27 April 2008

you know you miss my older entries

October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008

Sunday, April 30, 2006

It's pathetic that most, or if not all, of my entries are conceived and written in YIH these days. But I guess this is as happening as studying can get. Study for half an hour, then go shopping in Cheers, then study until the green tea runs out, then go shop in Cheers again, this process repeats indefinitely until the canteen opens at 7am the next day.

Its 11.19pm as I write this and YIH is, man, full. So full that potential muggers have to be turned away and end up studying in the canteen below. This is mad. And very good to know I am part of this maddening phenomenon.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 11:18 PM

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Saturday, April 29, 2006

Many thanks,

Winston - for the T-shirt from Korea. and for the lovely photo card with an accompanying smaller version of it so I can pin it up on my notice board of people I love. and for inviting me and vic to the gala premiere of MI:3.

Jackie - for the bday card, and for delivering me and vic a pack of exotic teabags to keep us awake at YIH.

Nev - for probably the most one of its kind bday gift I've ever received.

Many thanks, once again.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 8:31 PM

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Saturday evening on campus, and you probably already know where I may be seated tap tap tapping away on the keyboards, in a room filled with subnormal air temperatures and chao muggers.

I digress. Saturday evening on campus and my day has just begun. This final stretch that would bring me to a place I not know, a different environment, a non-campus life that is. The final stretch does not smell much like freedom for me, and sometimes, freedom stinks. Freedom from campus stinks, and I know I sound totally absurd saying this, but I really do like the hustle and bustle of the AS1 corridor every even-numbered hour of the day. I think I even sound masochistic when I say I love the dread of waking up early for lessons and the anticipatory rush for the school day to end. I love the choice of skipping lessons, I love bearing the consequence of mugging in YIH to make up for it.

I am politically apathetic. I mean, I do know what is happening in the political scene, but I just do not take enough interest in it. Do I really care if the ruling party dominates parliament yet again? Do I feel moved to support the opposition for political diversity? Not exactly. I feel comfortable in the shell the ruling party has placed us into and do not feel compelled to step out of it for now.

But seriously, of all the talk we are having about the GE, at least at the level of friends and relatives, I suspect much of it comes and will die out with the election fever. Underlying the talk about having a choice and political checks, I cannot help but feel that minds are already fixed on a clear mandate by the ruling party, and all other signs seemingly politically un-apathetic are simply a farce of the moment. The fact that talk about political diversity surfaces only every five years is telling. We are simply not convicted to political vibrancy.

I digress, again. But summer vacation presents a freedom of a whole new kind. We get out of town. Almost everyone I know is vacationing overseas somehow. Summer plans are somewhat confirmed, catching up with friends in May, appreciation dinner, saying goodbye to Vic, backpacking SEA, driving lessons (ok, finally); but there remains lots of planning to be done, which I almost cannot wait to dive into doing.

Sometimes I wish the semester never had to end.
Sometimes I wish I could see more clearly into my future.
But of course, we do not see best when our eyes are filled with tears.

"'We do not truly see light, we only see slower things lit by it, so that for us light is on the edge - the last thing we know before things become too swift for us.'"
- C. S. Lewis

nimgnoy let the night fall at 5:24 PM

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Tuesday, April 25, 2006

I'm quite addicted to making these collages.
So here's more.

brissie

These are just a whole load of random shots.

brissie2

I bet you didn't know we cooked. In fact, we cooked a lot. All in the bid to save money. Each day ended off with a visit to Woolworths to grab stuff to cook for dinner and breakfast for the next day.

I have a Nasi Bryani craving now.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 7:30 PM

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I have been thinking of a particular day we lived in last year.
We were residents who lived within this day, and like homecoming, I revisit, and it sets me in retrospect, like visiting an old friend you left behind in time.
mooloolaba day2

Thursday. July 21, 2005. Mooloolaba Day.
After travelling almost 3 hours by bus from Gold Coast the day before, we arrived for the second part of our Brisbane trip in Sunshine Coast.

This day we decided to explore the region by ourselves, and after breakfast made our way to the bus terminal and checked out the public bus services available. (Top left pictures)

Alighting where ever we see shopping malls or life in general, we dropped at Mooloolaba and had a moment figuring our how to pronounce this town's name.
Anyway, it should be: Moo-loo-la-ba = unstress-stress-stress-unstress

Having figured that there was nothing worth seeing there, we decided, according to our maps, to walk to Maroochydore (Top Right Pic), where the acclaimed Sunshine Plaza stands.

We walked for miles I am sure, along the coastline, which took us well over 2 hours to get there. Lesson learnt: Maps are superbly deceiving. What seemed like 2cm on the map appeared to be God-knows-how-many miles which we trekked.

But it was good, we took in the sights of the coast, the strange street signs (all other pictures), and found the perfect fish-n-chips/fried-chicken-with-chicken-salt shop of the whole trip where we had lunch.

Sunshine Plaza (Centre pic), where we shopped and bought lots of chocolates for you guys back home. Evening, it quickly became dark, at 5pm and we made our way back by bus. The bus took eons to arrive as we froze our butts off at the open air bus stop as temperature quickly dropped in this winter night.

We made a slight detour to grab dinner from our new found eating outlet and continued our journey back, where we were relieved to reach the warm comforts of our heater-blasted apartment and gorged on soggy-skinned fried chicken with chicken salt.

* *

It was all a very nice day. Lovely mild weather and cool-cold nights. I miss those Brisbane days as four of us vetured out entirely by ourselves. The chilly wind on our cheeks, the afternoon sun offering us some comfort and the experience ruminate as I sit here in the cold cold YIH, a very different cold indeed.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 9:40 AM

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Sunday, April 23, 2006

And before this day ends, I just want to thank everyone who made me feel blessed and damn right lucky just to be around.

For your kind messages, thanks to
Winston (for the funniest bday msg I've ever received and for being the first),
Jon (for missing the first place by 2 seconds! but i appreciate everything, and you know.),
Neville (for both the call and msg),
Yvonne (for calling me and also the msg),
Vic (for being by my side at the midnight hour and giving me the bestest hug),
Lewis (for being the first to call, and for remembering this day when I least expected it),
Weifa (for always msging me each year without fail),
Pei Jun (for missing each other so much),
Yifang (for conscientiously remembering each and every year, for 13 years)
Jeff (you were the black horse),
Jia Xin (for the msg, the bday card and the concern),
Hani (for everything lah, the call n sms)
Wai Siong (for being a great buddy and that sms),
Geraldine (for remembering this day and putting me to shame cos I cant remember yours. Sorry!)
Kenny (you surprised me),
Jovan (I told you my bday? haha),
Ms Lee (Its simply amazing how you were my teacher and now a friend, and I can't believe you remembered),
Shu Jun (for just being the bistest and choosing that lovely chicken jacket i.e. Le Coq),
Pee Wee (for quietly spending bdays with me each year and effort with the card),
Rohai (Get well soon!),
Jess (for calling all the way from Melbourne and sending me the collage),
Jackie (for calling and opening your hearts these days, I am grateful),
Joe and Junhan (for taking time off studying for the lunch).

And also to my family, my aunt who baked me the most sinful cheesecake, my parents who whipped up a great meal, and my sis who telepathically heard my prayers and bought me a iPod speakers and dock.

So thanks. And I am grateful beyond words.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 10:28 PM

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Thanks, jess, this collage sure brings back memories.
And as I've told her, she is prolly the only reason I wanna go back to Australia again.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 5:08 PM

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Saturday, April 22, 2006

Thanks guys. I didn't exactly expect this.
And special thanks to vic who whipped this up.Anyway. This special day of the year is marked with what I like to call an appreciation dinner coming up soon, right bout mid may. Invites would be sent out after I get through the exams and survive unhurt of course.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 7:48 PM

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Wednesday, April 19, 2006

We almost always never get to appreciate one's worth until its almost certainly too late.

I'm not talking about anyone per se, but my room, which I am moving out from in about 2 weeks time. I will miss the independence and I will miss my windows.

My windows are amazing. Large shards of glass extending from the ceiling to floor coupled with blinds that allow the sun to pour in the morning, filling up and dousing my room with warm rays of light. My trusty blinds never allow too much light in, but a steady stream which tickles my eye each morning. Nothing better than a natural wake up call.

It is a beautiful sight and feeling, trust me. Almost like the movies where the sun trickles in and form straight equally-spaced-out patterns on the walls.

Often in a pensive mood, I look out of my windows. And it is in this melancholy thoughfulness that many of my interior monologues take its form in words and expressions.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 9:25 AM

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Tuesday, April 18, 2006

If I wrote about our lives, and the times we've been through, I guess I can write a whole book about us. The words flow endlessly. Perhaps there is just so much to say, or perhaps no amount of words can fully describe what you mean to me.

Or perhaps I just do not want to stop, knowing someday I have to.

Really, I could not have been happier. It is winter celebrating the arrival of spring, where the frosts give way to fresh mist in the morning, against a backdrop of green, green life.

I guess nothing sums everything up better than the word "gratitude". Not love, not happiness, but a simple thank you for just being there and the little things we share and hold true.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 8:23 AM

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Friday, April 14, 2006

This is probably the longest hiatus I have taken. Ten days? Okay, nine.

And the best reason I can give is the uneventful days at the YIH study room, furiously trying to mug for the exams. Operative word here, trying. A good amount of time is however, spent on surfing the net, talking cock to Vic, heading for teabreaks, watching Mariah perform at the Grammys, talking cock to Vic, staring into space and then watching Mariah do the same thing at the Grammys again.

I would not say that the past nine days had been unproductive. Afterall, work DID get done. But just not to the level where I am confident to walk into the examination hall.

I wonder if I have enough time to work out the details for the SEA trip after my last paper on the 2nd. I am reading horror stories of a friend's journey to India being stalled by maxed out flights and overbooked train services. And worst of all, I have to compromise sending Vic off to LA because I will probably still be in the middle of Laos while she jets off for summer school.

But thank goodness we can pack light, cos the weather's mild and not cold. I have no idea what goes into a backpacker's bag, but I am sure I will figure as I go.

I am trying to live on less than SGD30 a day, which includes decent food and accomodation. Comfort is not an issue for me, I wonder about Jon, but I am just praying I do not fall ill of food poisoning of sorts.

Besides that, I am utterly prepared for the world that I am about to see. The myriads of cultures and the reality of the lifes I have never known or experienced before. The overnight train rides, the long bus journeys, the decent sunrise, the simple life and the beautiful people that I am sure will teach and touch me in more ways than one.

I intend to come home with a better perspective of life. To get out of the comfort zone, battle the unknown and emerge with a better sense of my place in the world.

That's travel.

And travelling through five countries, thirty odd days and thousands of miles with your best friend cannot be better.

But for now. I have to get the exams done. And make sure we get our train schedules right.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 5:47 PM

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Thursday, April 06, 2006

I think I've had, or rather I'm having, a rather fortunate semester. While the fellas on my msn are displaying their word counts and counting down to the end of essays and assignments, I am here, here being YIH study room, smelling the flowers and looking out into the sky.

My essays and assignments for the semester have long been completed eons ago, less the engineering one, but that should be done in a jiffy. So, I've had time to mope and dawdle around, and even had the time to fall sick and be well again. All in time to start those gears for the final rush.

AY 2005/2006 Sem 2, I'm gonna race you till the end.
Good results sold separately, happiness not included.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 11:44 AM

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Saturday, April 01, 2006

Zouk presents Very Fashion featuring FCUK

Jackie getting hair done by the people from Passion. Make up by the lovely people from MAC. The dance floor became one huge backstage.

The attendees.

Finally, the show. FCUK presents Spring/Summer 06

The finale.

The show was done in a cheeky fashion. Fashion vs Style. Fashion embodied by the pro models. Style embodied by the street models who are less than beautiful. Very cheeky. Lots of cat calls, boos, laughter. And yes, that is Jon Johnson. And yes, the last female model is my fav.

And it ended off with a gratifying supper.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 2:06 AM

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