Monday, July 31
China Studies or Urban Studies?
The Pak - For a strange kind of fashion there's a wrong and a right.... says:
The Pak says up to you la. The Pak has no idea what china studies or turban studies entails, except that one involves chinese, the other singh.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
5:01 PM
I am so pissed off; so so so very.
My boyfriend is a freakazoid from Planet Geek who spends all his waking hours in school for conference (since it is now on its Singapore leg), 40-hour weekends in school preparing for some other consultancy competition, re-connects with old friends by asking them how much they are earning now (oh, the distastefulness of it) and observes a blind lady sell tissue and comments that it is a good business since the cost price of tissue is so low. Seriously. Even the fantastic satay I had couldn't put me off my bad mood.
And he flies off for Beijing on the 4th, returns on the 12th, flies off again to Bangkok on the 15th for the competition, and returns again on the 18th. Guess what - I. don't. care! And oh, good luck.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
1:17 AM
Sunday, July 30
I left a quarter of my accumulated wardrobe behind in Italy; to be donated away to the Gypsies. When I got back, I threw out another 1/4 of what-had-been-sitting-and-rotting-around-my-wardrobe-in-Singapore-for-7-months. This time, to the Salvation Army.
Don't get me wrong; donation's all good - but it did strike me that perhaps I might be happily throwing away too many clothes (and implicitly, money) with careless abandon. So here I am, taking my mom's advice and selling my used clothes. Drop me an email if you'd like to purchase any of these! [raszgoddess@hotmail.com] All of these are being sold for less than 50% of what I bought them for, which is a fair trade-off for me, as I've had so much pleasure from owning (and wearing) them for a while!
Topshop picnic dress which used to be one my feel-good favorites. I wore it to church, to picnics, to parties and even to Zouk. $36.90! Tagged UK size 6.
Zara floral-print chemise top, from Milan. I don't know if they were carrying it here in Singapore, but this adorable top was flying off the racks. Slightly sheer, it's perfect for Spring and I discovered the other day that it looks awesome with a brown fitted waist belt as pictured! The belt's not for sale, (because I adore it), but the top is going for $29.90! Tagged EUR XS. Inset picture shows the ribbon gathers at the side of the blouse.
H&M off-white skirt with flounces, ruffles, frills and what not. I loved its boho feel and eyelet-and-ruffles detail at the bottom of the skirt. I think I wore it alot at the beginning of Spring: in [
Bologna], [
Vienna], and [
Budapest]! (Click to follow the exciting travels of my skirt! Lol.) Tagged EUR 34 (which is the smallest in H&M) and going at $24.90.
Topshop retro tube dress, also one of my feel-good-dresses. Gathered at the waist with a shell-pink ribbon and prettily dotted with hearts and zig-zags. Something to wear when you feel like letting loose! Tagged UK Size 8 and going for $34.90!
Green shorts from Bangkok with mustard-yellow floral sash. A great steal, but unfortunately I never got much of a chance to wear it, and now it's much too over-sized for me :[ Cheap, cheap, cheap at $9.90!! Fits a S-M girl.
Chinois shrug with fixed embroidered collar. Not a shrug per se, but you get the idea. Got it from Far East, and looks really classy with a simple outfit! Oh, and this shade of maroon is amazingly vibrant :] Going at $24.90, and will fit a S girl comfortably.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
2:27 PM
My tattoo gets a lot of comments from random strangers. Thursday night when I was kicking back my (not heels, but) flats over an ice-cold mint tea, the couple opposite couldn't take their eyes off my feet. They later told me it was pretty! :]
But the strangest comments comes from fellow commuters on the train. Once this old man told me that if it weren't for my tattoo, he would have thought I was 12. That bit was mildly insulting, but nevermind. Today, on the last train back home, I sat next to this dude who, I couldnt help but notice, was writing a seriously long email on politics. He glanced down at one point, and noticed my tattoo - and struck up a conversation. Turns out he's one of Singapore's trusty civil servants.
And the strange thing was - 5 minutes into the conversation, which comprised of really random topics like Tung (my zen master of tattoos), how Chatuchak was a fire hazard and Oxford's IR programme, this complete stranger looked at me in the eye, and asked me if I was from GEP.
"Yeah, are you?", I asked.
"Why do you ask?", he responded.
"Takes one to know one, doesn't it?"
"Haha, yes."
:] Yesss, I am gifted and it shows!!!!! Ha-ha. But aside from that, it really was an interesting encounter.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
12:49 AM
Friday, July 28
Ways to kill time before school and my competition for the highest cap (against Kenneth) and for the first dean's listing (hypothetically, of course - against Zh) commences.
Go read up on scintillating current affairs around the globe so I can hold my own against Xinhui when I finally meet up with the lady herself and various assorted intelligent people for her birthday on the 5th! Happy Birthday Xinhui!
Go practice my appeal speech so when I meet up with the Spinsters' Club at Yanying's party on the 6th, I can have another shot at joining this esteemed association. (10th time applying already, at least.)
Go do rag dance. Yay; I have something to do before school starts, and it happens to be something I like doing too!
Move into hall. Finally. After months of waiting, I can finally smoke in peace without having to freeze out on the balcony, like in Italy. Or climb out of my brother's window and perch on a flower pot ledge, like at home. FINALLY.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
8:19 PM
Haha; I went to The Picture House to see The Lake House today. How rhyming can it get. It is sooo Korean-drama-esque, where only the most impossible of situations can conspire to test the most patient and persevering of loves. Are all koreans this dramatic and romantic? I think yes; I have yet to watch a Korean drama that is sweet and simple or in any case, a Korean without maudlin tendencies. But this Hollywood remake of Il Mare now boasts Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock of Speed fame, and the very Asian notions of imagination, waiting and slow romance portrayed in the film becomes somewhat hard to believe.
Speaking of hard to believe, I smelt marijuana today! Outside the cinema! In Singapore!
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
3:06 AM
Thursday, July 27
i havent thanked miss chan for having breakfast with me and then sending me to the airport, with my baggage nicely squeezed between her and me, balancing precariously on my lap on her lovely phantom. eh lynn, maybe u can consider upgrading from phantom bike to rolls-royce phantom! hahaha, that way i will have more space for luggage plus we can forever da-pao truckloads of breakfast. a little off topic, but miss chan doesnt have the same ring as 'miss tan' or 'mr yee'. it reminds me too much of toto-chan.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
4:39 AM
Wednesday, July 26
im officially depressed.
someone's heartbroken that i went to hk and took many shinyhappy pictures. someone's contemplating a future ahead with much doom and consternation. someone's (okay this one is me) sick and tired of being depressed and mooching around the house. I. NEED. TO. GET. OUT. NOW!! bah.
im still officially depressed.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
10:17 PM
Monday, July 24
i know its a bit of a hoot to summarize a week's worth of neon signboards, decrepit casinos, cantonese ladies, fried chinese streetside snacks, crowded bazaars, funky permed hair and leggings into 20 thumbnail-sized pictures. nonetheless, i'll try.
:: macau ::
1st row: macau by night. 2nd row: porridge eatery in the wee hours of the early morning, portugese tiled walls, macanese suburbs by day, macanese goodies!! 3rd row: our scratched reflections, seal of a yummy pastry house, wern&isaac, heart of macau, ham chim peng. 4th row: food hunt for authentic portugese fare on taipa.
:: hong kong ::
1st row: mango drinks to beat the heat, temple street market by night, zh&me and our favorite street-side big-fire chinese fare!!! 2nd row: nice shades(?), wern&isaac at sun wah, liwern and i playing navigators around admiralty and its nice big skyscrapers. 3rd row: view from the peak, making our way down, hitting lan kwai fong's
twentyonetwentyone bar because liwern was turning 21. 4th row: drinks and nonsensicals. 5th row: thai food for dinner, and we go shopping after dinner again.
1st row: taking the train over to jordan for some authentic beijing lunch complete with peking duck, after lunch we hit stanley market which was ridiculously touristy. 2nd row: kowloon by night (yes, we shopped again), all ready to hit the felix bar at the hotel peninsular over at tsim sha tsui. 3rd row: happy 21st birthday liwern dear, her champagne cocktail was a daze-inducing 160hongkongyuan! 4th row: view from the ladies - liwern & i were drooling over the toilets. 5th row: food hunt again! old-school dimsum house frequented by locals, and the island-wide famous egg tarts. YUM.
for a whole host of other pictures, click
here. xoxo.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
6:24 PM
Tuesday, July 18
'tis a very good day indeed!!!
i went shopping with cheryl; our last-get-together-session-before-she-flies-back-to-wintry-melbourne-until-whenever. did hell alot of damage to the credit card before surrendering it tomorrow morning, before i leave for hk. (cunning daddy doing some pre-emptive damage control? hurr. sighss.) bought so many pretty little things. then met up with kenneth for dinner, drinks and divertimento (i was trying to find a synonym for the noun 'laughs' that started with d, but i couldnt - so this is the italian semi-equivalent. lol!). and then met up with deb and jiaying for our last-get-together-session-before-deb-leaves-us-for-mexico-until-the-year-2007. boo. goodness either time flies, or people are flying around too much. and now, i have 2 hours to kill in the wee hours in the morning before i meet lynn for breakfast!! my 2nd breakfast date with her! only breakfast is a misnomer cos it's more like a supper thing, taking into consideration the fact that we sleep only after eating the said breakfast. myself; im planning to crash out blissfully on cathay later on. too busy to beautify my pictures on photoshop, so i leave you with an almost digitally un-altered picture of us. (which will please kenneth, cos he says my nice swirly-flowery pictures make his head spin. hmph.) cheers to our beauuutiful friendship!! xoxo.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
4:08 AM
Sunday, July 16
cheryl's cam can make any sick girl look super duper happy. good schtuff!Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
4:29 PM
its not really a good time to fall sick.
when i need to stock up on overdoses on my girlfriends before they wander off into the deep recesses of the globe again. like cheryl before she leaves for melbourne. like deb before she leaves for mexico. like jiaying before she leaves for...shucks, i cannot remember where she's going! australia? china? vietnam? and all this to be accomplished before i leave for hk on tuesday, because most of them are flying off before i return.
so its not a good time to be puking out everything you eat. gastric flu - gahhhhh!! nothing depressed me more than walking past glutton's bay last night and wanting to eat everything but simultaneously knowing that i wouldnt be able to stomach it.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
2:54 PM
Saturday, July 15
CHERYL IS BACK!!!
FINALLY!!!!! :] :] :] xoxoxoxo.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
1:06 AM
Friday, July 14
i've come to realize that being drunk and being broke are mutually exclusive events in singapore. there is so no way i think i can afford to ever get wasted again unless i land myself up in the middle of a birthday boy's drinking table again. let's not talk about wasted; i wasnt even remotely buzzed. haha. mos with austen, jiaying and her old man. highlight: partying with jiaying again after such a long hiatus and remembering all the good and silly times the three of us used to have at hendrix and wu bar. cheers to good company! :]
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
2:13 PM
Thursday, July 13
i made cocktails for me and my sister this afternoon. perfect for beating the heat. even better if you're in a bikini; doesn't matter if they dont match, or if you dont exactly have a pool in the house. 2 ponds maybe, but no pool. nat says it was delicious; maybe it can rival the gorgeous cocktail last night! the bartender told me it won awards. (cue: 'wahhhh..') ha-ha. if you look closely, the both of us have our mouths wide open in the middle pic because we wanted to cross arms and look classy and kinda spilled our drinks in the process, and the timer captured our dismay. lol, priceless.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
1:33 AM
Wednesday, July 12
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
5:09 AM
Tuesday, July 11
warning signs
that i should not use as reasons to distance myself, he says.
on msn today,
zh -- says: heh
zh -- says: met up with the vice deans just now
zh -- says: had a great mtg
amanda says: good 4 u.
zh -- says: anyways our vice deans are really nice pple
zh -- says: im sure ull love them
zh -- says: damn cute..both of them
amanda says: indeed
amanda says: very cute deans indeed.
and meanwhile in my inbox...
Wang Zhenghao FW: Internships Jul 10
Sebs Lee Ti Voglio Beneeeee Jul 7
Sebs Lee I Miss You! Jul 6
Wang Zhenghao FW: Invitation to Jill Lowe Marketing Cam... Jul 6
Sebs Lee Un bacione to u! Are you safely home? Jul 5
****
quite cool ah. i know i know what i want; and what i need to do to make it work again. but everything is just so... off-putting.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
3:15 PM
i should stop being the third wheel.
hanging out with liwern and isaac in town..
simultaneously msning gracey and zx online..
or i could just totally expel all wheely notions.
and give in to what he expects.
so that life becomes less strange;
a beautiful routine to sink into again.
why does my heart have a mind of its own,
then.
if i could, i would train it to listen to me.
or to be less allergic to mindless pretence.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
2:49 AM
Monday, July 10
i didnt even imagine that i would be leaving the world cup champions behind when i left exactly a week ago. FORZA ITALIA!! TEMPO PER UNA FESTA! yaaay. i wish i were there; the atmosphere would have been so incredible. and i am absolutely positively in lurve with fabio cannavaro! he looks like such a nice boy!
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
3:39 PM
first thai on purvis street; always my first love. next comes my sister.
the young lady is all grown up, and how blessed we are all to have met her! my apologies to all those at the back; blame it on bad lighting and my sister's lousy camera.
eh, my first time at loof. ten million light years after everyone else. it looks like the bar at the standard in l.a.! cheers to the longest double date ever in hongkong. hmmmmmm.Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
1:50 AM
Thursday, July 6
distance is the greatest reality-distorter ever. i felt normal when i arrived; felt like nothing changed when i was gone.
deb was still here with ansen, both of them blissfully in love. jiaying was still tall and still somewhat secretive whilst being a great friend. liwern was still dragging poor jason around to do the most sai-kang things.. my mom was still neurotically lovable and obsessed with organic products - i brushed my teeth with a charcoal toothbrush and tea tree oil toothpaste and washed my hair with a asian-pear-and-red-tea shampoo formula. my dad was still the funniest and sexiest man alive. my sister was still good ol' nat, only now she's - gasp - taller than me!!! my brother was still beng and bringing strange girls back home in the middle of the night.
only my relationship with zh was tossed and tumbled and distressed in the winds of time. and failing miserably only to have its remnants drift fatelessly into the miles of oceans between us. so now it is repair time, or death-knell time. depending on.. - i dont know. sigh.
fitful and fitless sleeps, weird periods of drifting in-and-out of slumber. bushy-eyed at weird hours in the early morning, and a complete zombie come daytime. tons of people calling me, only to have me miss their calls because i was in lala-land. dreams about italy, dreams about him. uttering nonsense to whoever wakes me up, because my brain is still severely jetlagged.
then the clouds cleared, and i called everyone on my missed call list. it is SO GOOD to roar in laughter at kenneth calling me a pig for sleeping so much and hear his voice on a phone. it is so good to whine at ito again for making me go all the way down to hollandv to have lunch. it is so good to yell and shriek with lynn over the phone - even though on hindsight, i think we never did use to talk on phones much. hurhur. and actually i dont think she was on my missed calls list even; she just gave me a msg. lol!
and i realized that it really is fucking good to be back home and that i've let the blear and haze of jetlag and a very expectant boyfriend somehow made me a little unexcited.
one complaint though: WHAT IS UP WITH THE STUPID GOVERNMENT AND THE ANTI SMOKING THING AND THE YELLOW BOXES AND THE NO DABBING OF ASH ON THE STREET WALKS.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
8:55 PM
im finally back!
but not before having dinner at milan's fanciest panciest chinese retaurant because sebs had once concocted an insipid deal that van ended up coming out tops on.
but not before making dumplings ourselves using flour and a makeshift tin-can rolling pin, a 4 hour long ordeal that required labor from not less than 4 persons.
but not before seeing van off for perugia.
but not before hitting vivienne westwood because tingting needed to buy something nice to wear to the airport. (lesson learnt: imperative to travel in style.)
but not before having a divine indian dinner at rangoli to showcase my personal efforts: the thoughtfully-personalized and well-structured 'edification of sebs with regards to ethnic foods 101'.
but not before having a titanic-proportionesque farewell early in the morning, complete with promises, thankyous and reminders.
but not before having a massive cleaning-up session for the house. van and ej: you owe the both of us a mega super duper huge kick-ass treat. he says he has never seen sooo many boxes and plastic bags and paper bags and receipts in his whole entire life and basically implied that our living conditions were completely disrespectable. lol.
but not before hitting the famous via montenapoleone one last time and finally purchasing my first branded item ever (not counting furla; furla is shite.) at iceberg! its a lovely wallet that matches my brand new pink razr. tee hee. me is a happy bim girl who is living a roller-coaster dream life. i so desperately wanted a miumiu bag, but ofcourse i shall return to milan next sales. or in sebs' words, who cares about sales; just come!
but not before hauling 40kg worth of baggage down the 6 flights of stairs for the last time ever, and handing over the keys to the landlord. a chapter of life, over.
but not before making a mad dash to the airport. again as usual, we were late.
but not before having to clingwrap my baggage in hideous lime-green because it was threatenin to explode. when my baggage arrived on the wheels at changi, i could spot it a mile away.
but not before shedding buckets of tears as i left. sigh. life is random and fortuitous or not, all in the same blink of an eye. sometimes you meet people, cross paths and whether your destinies lie bound ahead, is up to you and a little bit of happenstance.
and when i got back,
i got overwhelmed by my friends; i'd never thought they would come down at such an ungodly hour to pick me up.
i got momentarily confused; from metres away, i thought liwern was my little sister, and wondered how come nat lost so much weight and how come zh suddenly was so chummy with her.
i got to come out and frighten everyone because apparently im too skinny. im sadistically glad though; im just twisted that way.
i got to hug everyone and realized i was truly bluely glad to be back home! even the lovely chauffeurs/escorts ansen and jason are greatly appreciated. haha.
i got to finally kiss zh after eons and for a split-second there, thought it to feel strange, and new. but it was good to see him still; all nice and tall and solid.
i got home to be presented with a GORGEOUSLY decorated room with ethnic bohemian swirls and balloons, all artfully balanced around the poster bed. i love you deb and jiaying. the both of you are nothing short of awesome :] :] :]
i got a new mobile from my parents; however i already just got the razr - whoops.
i got a sense of deja vu as my brother skipped the niceties and pinched a fag off me right away.
i got a sparkly shiny diamond ring from zh plus bits of stuff that i guess are remnants from my 21st birthday presents; perhaps parts ii, iii, iv and v.
and im glad to be back.
even though its kinda hot.
and even though i kinda wish i were back in milan when italy beat germany.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
7:25 PM
Saturday, July 1
"The idea of hell is not like what it used to be. Fire and brimstone and all. Instead of physical pain, it's more mental. Like if you got married to this gorgeous guy only to find out he really married you for reasons other than love. And suppose that in order to marry this hunk you gave up someone who was really in love with you. The pain you'd feel knowing you picked the wrong guy is supposedly what hell is like."
"Mercy" by Jodi Picoult.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
11:07 PM
when your heart tells you to stay.
when you want to uproot all your loved ones and haul them over the oceans instead. when you experience a current fixation with mohammed and how he moved the mountains who refused to go to him. when you cannot wait to graduate and grasp the future firmly with some semblance of control.
when you're leaving the day after tomorrow. bah.
the little pink mink on the most beautiful island off corsica. photo whoring only seemingly ego-centric to those who dont understand.
Swirls and whirls
and butterflies.
10:35 PM
cheryl's cam can make any sick girl look super duper happy. good schtuff!
i've come to realize that being drunk and being broke are mutually exclusive events in singapore. there is so no way i think i can afford to ever get wasted again unless i land myself up in the middle of a birthday boy's drinking table again. let's not talk about wasted; i wasnt even remotely buzzed. haha. mos with austen, jiaying and her old man. highlight: partying with jiaying again after such a long hiatus and remembering all the good and silly times the three of us used to have at hendrix and wu bar. cheers to good company! :]
i made cocktails for me and my sister this afternoon. perfect for beating the heat. even better if you're in a bikini; doesn't matter if they dont match, or if you dont exactly have a pool in the house. 2 ponds maybe, but no pool. nat says it was delicious; maybe it can rival the gorgeous cocktail last night! the bartender told me it won awards. (cue: 'wahhhh..') ha-ha. if you look closely, the both of us have our mouths wide open in the middle pic because we wanted to cross arms and look classy and kinda spilled our drinks in the process, and the timer captured our dismay. lol, priceless. 
first thai on purvis street; always my first love. next comes my sister.
the young lady is all grown up, and how blessed we are all to have met her! my apologies to all those at the back; blame it on bad lighting and my sister's lousy camera.
eh, my first time at loof. ten million light years after everyone else. it looks like the bar at the standard in l.a.! cheers to the longest double date ever in hongkong. hmmmmmm.
