Back in NY

i have so many things to say. so many photos to share. but they are not with me. and i have shitloads of things to settle. it's amazing how traveling, more specifically backpacking is a lot of admin work.

and i have to admit, the mindset we began with was not really in sync with wat's necessary. but as we go along, i tink we might just get better at this.

from this pt on, it's will b NY, NY, NY.

SF, Vegas and Cville are done. And, as of now, we haven't planned to venture out of NY. We think about it sometimes, but nothing is planned. Now various themes are swimming in my sleep-deprived mind. Rockefellar, Empire State, Ground Zero, SOHO, Broadway, Times Sq, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim, 5th Ave, Madison, Statue of Liberty, Staten Island, Central Park, the 2 toy shops. Oh my, wat else did i miss?

of course, the shopping. we've shopped so much it's not funny. i return to Singapore with the fate of a slave. Even if i eat nothing, i need a few months to repay my debts. But for wat's it's worth, i'm pleased.
Purchases include:

1 Kenneth Cole shoes
1 Kenneth Cole boots
1 H&M coat
1 Nine West party shoe
1 Gap pants
1 Benetton suit
1 Gap beanie
1 Abercrombie slippers (free)
1 Polo Ralph polo tee (free)
1 "i'm naughtier than i look" tee (free)
1 J Crew singlet
1 Puma gym bag
1 UVA tee
1 H&M jeans

Not a lot hor? And it's not even Christmas. I still have the post christmas sale to go. Cool beans. Listing my purchases made me a bit happier.
Now i can go on to plan my NY trip. Pray for me. thanks.

things

my favourite bf bought a curtain, 70 tee-shirts, among other shirts, pants, jackets, laundry basket, etc. and yes, all of them are going back to Singapore.

Charlottesville

Well, the fact that i'm able to blog everyday is rather telling i have to say. Cville is a nice place. A nice cosy place that i suppose if u stay long enough, u can find urself calling it home. It has a quirky kind of character to it. But i do miss the pace of city life. And it doesn't help that everyone who's here is studying for exams. I feel rather intrusive. Too touristy for my own good.

I miss things being within reach. I miss being a little warmer. Though i tink the sights are very beautiful. Even if they are just trees outside the window. The skies are very clear and i love the mornings. Nice.

3 days isn't enough to judge a place. But from a 3-day pt of view, well, let's just say i'm ready to go. It's nice and all. And i'm glad to c Jem's life. At least i can appreciate some things better. Not all.

i bot myself a UVA tee to remember my visit here. got the white one. nice?

Now, i have to pack. The train leaves at 7.07am tm. Can u believe that i came here with 4 plastic bags of clothes? i just need to put them back into plastic bags, and then into my bag.

Thus the need to shop. SF here we come. =)

The most exciting things

The most exciting day of my life would have to be today!

Well, to begin, i had my first meal in Cville today. Indian buffet. for US$6.95. It was ok. i mean, it's not uncommon to find pple complain about the quality of Asian food abroad. This place certainly doesn't get this kind of feedback. The locals like it and the foreigners find it cheap enough.




I also attended church in the morning. 2 services, 2 different styles but 2 identical sermons.

ok, i have a bit more to say. but the speed of the com i'm using is amazing. It's bothering me. so yea, another time when i have more patience.

=)

Reached, finally.

my first time travelling alone. ok. i'm tired. i'l blog later. but i'm safe. and sound.. and all my money is intact. Thanks Dad.


the post-34-hours-of-traveling face.

Nervous Traveller and her clueless brother.

I'm nervous.



yea. And i noe it sounds crazy. But i'l really miss my dad n mum n sis n bro. Esp my bro. It's the cross-roads for him. And i've really not done anything to help. I've sure given him a lot of pressure. Sigh. He'l always be the little brother. my little brother.

I tried asking him for his waist size so i can buy stuff for him.

Me: aye, gimme ur waist size le.

bro: for what?

me: then i can buy stuff for u mah.

bro: erm... just buy L.

me: what? i'm going to America le.

bro: oh. Then M lor.



sigh. He doesn't even know his jeans size. He thinks they all come in S, M and L. and he's 16.

Packing in progress

So i've started packing. And in the process, it's absolutely necessary to try on the clothes. Cos most of it (actually all) are borrowed. So i don't noe if i fit/look ok/feels warm. I guess it's hard to judge the feel warm part. Well, i had to switch on the air-con. Like seriously. Even tho i was just putting them on for a few seconds.

Well, now i'm overwhelmed with winter clothing. I have so much now i shall choose so they mix and match and have the most possible combinations. Cos as u noe, i'm not bringing so much clothes. Match as in with my beanie and gloves and muffler. ha. i'm mad. Anyway in the end also look the same. Once the jacket goes over, most things don't matter really. And if it rains, even better. I have this really thin, black windbreaker. I'l just look like the flasher in the rain. ha.

ok, back to packing. I'm startin to feel sleepy. argh.

Procrastinator

Sigh. since the last day of exams, i wanted to pack the rooms. Well, i did start. but the task got too daunting. i really can't see how i can ever finish it. unless i heartlessly decide that the entire pile is to be thrown away. cannot la. very waste.

I only managed to get through one year's worth of notes in SMU. At first, i told myself i was goin to dump them all. Since i wouldn't need them, will have no time to look through them and they will become outdated. However, when i saw those pages and pages of handwritten notes, doodles, and colours, i couldn't help but feel sentimental. So i made a compromise. I'l keep all the handwritten stuff and powerpoint slides. I'l throw all the articles and thick sets of journals. In end, i only managed to throw out a little bit. The pile of junk hardly diminished, after like 3 hours of work!

then i gave up.

cos on the other hand, i have so much research to do. with regards to my trip. like from the airport, i need to find the train station, and from there, the route. i need to map it out. and boy, it's hard work. now my neck is aching from staring at my lappy.

i really need to pack my room. cos when i return, i don't wan to come back to a junky room. and most of all, i don't wan my mum to go thru everything and i won't b able to find anything. arghhh.

i leave in 36 hours? and i'm not packed. i haven't even collected my air ticket! help. yes, tt's me.

ok, i tink i better get to work now. or i'l really really be coming to home to a junky house.

other than this, i'm most pleased about travelling. I can't wait to feel the plane take off. I can't wait for the landing. As for the in between, i'l just have to entertain myself. But i tink i'l knock out.

movie premiere and cafe iguana

this is a few days back actually. just thought that my blog is gettin a bit picture-less. that's my sis by the way. we don't look alike. and her bf with her. =)

the SMU graduate

ha. so that's me. assuming i pass everything this term. obviously i don't hope to just pass. anyway, everyone was in high spirits even before the paper began. I think it's cos everyone was equally clueless about what should have been prepared and were discussing how they are goin to do badly. u noe la. the usual, modest pple.

smart me lugged the world to school cos it was open book. in the end, i only refered to 2 pages. sigh. i guess tt's the way it is. i'm home now, having lugged everything back. ha. i actually want to sell my textbooks. argh.

many many of my frens are employed. in fact, some of them start work in 2 weeks! can u believe it. sigh. i'm not that much better. talk about SMU trying to cultivate students who are different. i'm really not one of those different ones.

i had gone about dreaming, wishing about a different future. yet, here i am, already one foot in the conventional door. Coincidentally, B is also in my AMA class. She was in my kindergarden, primary school and now uni. Our parents are friends. And as i told her about my plans, she told me hers. Of course, hers are waaayyy more prestigious. (she beat me at my PSLE ok!) ha. but i felt so grown up. suddenly it's like i have to be independant.

i tink i'l miss SMU. like a lot a lot. not the building. but the life. i loved it. I can only take pride in that i have no regrets. I'm very happy with the stuff i've accomplished and by how much i've gained.

yay! now my exams are over! so my post-exam plans can materialise. But i'm so sleeeeepy. i didn't sleep much last nite. I was so jittery about the exam. coupled with the fact that i drank ginseng tea in the morning. that really killed it. I lay in bed, listening to my roomie cough her lungs out. She's sick la.

Ok, i'm actually goin to clear my room. and my sisters. but after i cut my hair. But i'l go n cut hair after i have my lunch. so yea. since my maid's cooking, i'l blog. ha.

exams.

tomorrow is my last paper. yea. wat am i doing bloggin rite? well, i deserve to ok. i deserve a break. i hate reading AMA. eeeks.

anyway, i'm so looking forward to tomorrow. ha. i've already planned exactly what i'm goin to do. And i'm SO EXCITED!!!

argh. except that i have to get past this. pray i can ok.

today is another really nice day. i woke up promptly at 8am. without the alarm ringing. i tink i'm excited to study. i didn't want to disturb my roomie, who has completed her exams, was ill, and was snoozing away.

so i took all my books, and went to the dining table. And it was breezy. so breezy that i didn't need the fan. my papers were flying all over the place. And i was feeling cold!!! cold! can u imagine that?

And i'm goin to NY. ha. i have clothes from 4 different people. how kind of them. ok, i'm obviously blabbering. it's practice for my AMA exam. ha. ok, i tink it's time for the end of my break. i should go n mug. yucks.

One more to go

One exam down. and one more to go. I felt ok about today. And i know it's not me at work, as usual. Thanks Dad. Ya so real.

And thanks bf, for those prayers.

I'm home now. Not zonked out entirely. Just v lazy to start. Which is bad. cos AMA needs a lot of work. But i need to sleep first.

After an exam, i have to sleep. It's like something that clears my mind and i can start again. It really works. Try it. Even if it's only for an hour or so.

I can't wait for friday. My last exam in SMU. I'm saying in SMU cos there's a nagging feeling that in my work in the future, i'l need to take some exams. I have no idea why i have this feeling. But i do.

Oh, and my flight to New York? it's materialising, along with a probable stop-over in London some more. Think i got time to run to the Harrod's in the waiting lounge? ha.

Can't wait. Perhaps i should really go n sleep now. Before i while away all my time again.

Exams!

yea. faster come faster go.

here's the dreaded timetable, plus venue. so if u c me hanging ard at the following times, pls gently remind me that i have to be somewhere, doing an exam. thanks ar. tt's wat friends are for. hee.

Tuesday, 29 November 05
Intro to Psychology, close-book. 2 hrs, 100 MCQs.
makes up 40%.
venue: SOBiz NSR 2.2 or 2.3 (am i G1 or G2?)
time: 2pm to 4pm.

Friday, 2 December 05
Advanced Management Acctg, open-book, 2 hrs, 3 essays.
makes up 30% (? i can't remember)
venue: SOA NSR 1.2 (i'm G1)
time: 9am to 11am.

what's most impt is what/how i feel after 11am on Friday:


to prevent a sense of defeat n desire of kicking myself,
i shall return to work. ha.

Home, truly...

Been going to school too much lately. Especially since there are not lessons. I go in hope of being more productive since in the lib, where there isn't my SATC, chippy, TV, bed, piles of magazines, novels, etc.

However, it's not working. Even without my lappy, i'm awfully distracted. By what, u may ask. U won't believe it. My own thoughts. Daydreams, worries, plans, the list goes on. I say my mind is well-developed. ha.

SO, today i'm staying home. My roomie went to school. I have the whole room, plus toilet to myself. And i feel so good. Yes, i'm blogging, not v productive. But i feel happier. And i tink that helps. in any case, if today turns out to be bad, i'l return to the City tm. ha.

Things Cheryl will do after her exams:

1) go gym with P.
2) go ____ with the other P.
3) clear my room.
4) sell unwanted stuff on Auctions.
5) sell sister's unwanted stuff on Auctions.
6) Plan US trip. Like seriously. At least have an idea of the things i wan to see.
7) note the sizes of pple i wan to buy things for. (if i don't ask u and u wan something, ask me.)
8) note Dad, Mum and bro's sizes.
9) meet Emily, P and S to borrow winter stuff. when my pics come out and my clothes don't fit, u noe i don't own them that's why. ha.
10) get backpack from A.
11) eventually pack.
12) trim/colour my hair


i'm sure there's some more. i will add later if need be.

For now.

1) read my psycho text.
2) prepare AMA stuff to print. (can u imagine? i haven't even printed them out!)
3) note my exam timetable
4) exam venues.
5) mayb bathe chippy.


sigh. lots to do. but not stressed. is that bad?

Norah is singing soulfully to me. the weather is good. I feel better than i did yesterday. I tink this is home. truly. heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

The Anal Character

I like Freud. Even though i don't profess to know all about him, from whatever i know, i really enjoy reading about his awfully quirky ideas and extreme views. I'm beginning to admire extremists.

Freud sees childhood development very important for understanding the adult. According to him, the newborn goes through a few stages, namely the oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic and genital stage. Every stage is characterised by a unique set of conflicts and when not resolved properly, will result in a troubled adult.

Of interest, as my entry title suggests, is the anal character. In fact, i was just wondering whether the 'u r so anal' originated from the Freud idea.

The Anal Character:

Stage in childhood: when the child attains bowel control. This is the time when toilet training begins. According to Freud, when a child is inhibited from defacating, as in the case of a parent who gets very upset when he accidentally loses control and is generally very rigid, will result in an adult who is compulsively clean and orderly, or stubborn and obstinate. in modern words, anal.

Seems crazy to you? well, a lot of his theories (to me) make sense. While i agree that they are sometimes groundless and often lacking in scientific evidence, i find them very creative. And very encompassing. and very extreme. ha.

The Oral character:

the Oral stage happens directly before the Anal one, taking place from birth to before attainment of bowel control. Pleasure is obtained through the mouth (thus the name), as in feeding. When it comes to the time for the child to move to the next stage, but the child refuses to give up the previous, some lingering attachments remain. A manifestation is thumb-sucking.

A resulting (conflicting) adult is one who has mouth-related problems, including smoking and bingeing. The character of the person is one who is often dependant on others, having a 'please feed/love me' kinda mentality.




do u fall in any of these? ha. don't worry. they are really not scientific. just interesting stuff only. in any case, if u buy Freud's ideas, it's really quite a pessimistic view. Cos then there's nothing u can do about someone who had a difficult childhood. Which i don't believe la. To a certain extent at least. =)

at Lao Jiu: The Musical. Behind us is the new Drama Centre at the Central Lending Library. nice. Very high ceilings. enhances creativity. ha. =)

Lao Jiu: The Musical

It was nice. Really. I love the artistic bits and i thought they did it really well.

The story's about this boy, Lao Jiu. His name means 'number 9' in the family. The show begins with his parents pining for a boy, after giving birth to 8 females. And when he comes along, everyone's so happy and loves him loads. No one feels any jealousy and all his sisters hope to see him succeed one day. (in this aspect, i feel that the characters of the sisters are rather flat)

So u noe, all these expectations.

To add to it all, he was a very likely candidate for a prestigious scholarship.

And then he falls in love with the art of puppetry. And hopes to pursue it full-time. To heighten the urgency of learning it immediately at the expense of the scholarship is that the puppet master was about to die.

so yea. u noe la. this is how it goes.

The best bits were the times when he was supposed to be studying, but he daydreams instead. These are the 3 daydream parts (characterised by flashing disco lights):

1) 3 dancers appear with a fitness ball. Lao Jiu sings about atoms and physics. And the ball is bounced about him. And when he sings about waves (remember those things from physics class), they try to make the ball oscillate. It was a nice representation.

2) Lao Jiu sings about mathematics. U noe that lessson of inequalities? U draw this graph, then there are constraints provided for like y>4x + c then u have to elimate that area? then got a number of equations then in the end u have a small little area bound by the contraints?

yea, so the 3 dancers had a large piece of cloth. They used it to show shapes, like squares and rectangles. Then later as Lao Jiu ran about the stage, they held him back (like constraints). This is all done as Lao Jiu chanted about how he felt repressed by all the expectations on him.

3) the final one used steps that are on wheels. At first, he jubilantly steps from one to the other. And he sings about his studies. Then when he begins to describe art as an abstract thing, one that cannot promise a future, he starts to slip off the steps and clings tightly to them.

The representations are creative and not difficult to interpret. I was impressed by the artistic direction.

If anything, i felt the musical is very Singaporean indeed. nice. And to add to the pleasure, P watched it with me. whoo hoo.

In wait of a miracle

I believe in You.

dedicated to the 2 Ps

The 2 Ps in my life are very important to me. You noe who you are. You don't noe each other but i noe u both. And you have no idea how similar u are.

ur names start with P

u both are blur.

i tell u secrets that i can't bring myself to tell others.

and recently, something good happened to the 2Ps.

yes, i'm definitely your gushing partner. i'm honoured to be.

go on. I'm all ears.

Oh my

I'm on an emotional rollercoaster!! (jumps around, screams, feels like bursting into joy as i wipe the tears from my face)

i just watched 3 episodes of Sex & the City Season 4. My goodness. i tink it's the best season. And i haven't watched 5 and 6. But i have them. And i'm going to savour them. Just in time for my New York trip. I love love love them all.

whoo hoo. *sniffs.