yupp i liked this picture very much..that's a piazza/campo aka 'big space' or big square in venice..yupp..these are locals..walking their dogs..bicycles..and to the right hand side..there's this street busker entertaining the kids..ahh..that's life.. 

venice part 3..i love this part of venice..its a scene out of a portrait..the life that i crave..the romantic gondolas and river walkways...the endless venezia ice cream..frozen artists...concerts held in chapels..their public water taps..venetian masks..floating fruit markets..gigantic pizzas..artistic graffiti..kids playing football at the many piazzas/campos..pple just chilling out...little italian kids..and our lovely campsite which is actually a cabin with our own ensuite toilet!! woohoo!! 

venice part 2..venice main river..pucci..gucci side by side..venetian alley..st marks sq!!!..with col at stmarks..st marks and its resident pigeons..st marks..st marks' cafe..peanuts man...hot french babes feeding pigeons..stmarks basilica..view from the bottom..the dome of st marks..cute baby and me!!..haha tomb of st marks.. 

venice part 1..venice riverwaterways..venezian kongbapao...cam alba doro..breakfast...venice water carparks..gondolas..nice bridge..venezia icecream!!..with julia..venetian buildings..more..little alley waterways..fish market!!...more gondolas..some dome.. 

its completely true. 

bitches at mad flemming's that's a whole pint of hoegaarden for u..would have two if i could 

love this pic man, the famous five..the world can't do without us 

argh

what a boring weekend it has been.
saturday was spent missing chicken rice at far east, followed by some walking around singapore's malls...xbox..can't believe we suck at it now..

well at least we tried some carl's jnr burgers...at jasper's recommendation i took the double western bacon cheeseburger..which was HUGE, and yes, juicy..but for $10 for a meal like that, rather ex man. ok, so u offer free flow of beverages..but who the hell can finish more than 2 medium sized cokes after downing that gigantic burger plus fries? i almost puked.

and sunday..waking up past noon..that was nice..followed by the rain..and off i am to meet POPeyes to do up our tags...and YES! voila we're done!!

oh well. and for u guys who grew up eating big breakfasts or filletofish lunches at the macs down at ymca..it's closed from tmr onwards. effectively, i was there for the last day it's gonna be open..and they ran out of garlic chilly sauce..rather nostalgic though..

i used to go to the nat library which has since been replaced and the history museum on saturday mornings when i was sec1/2..yeahh i had nothing to do on those mornings anyway so i just took a trip now by myself..have some time alone..and i would drop by the macs sometimes.. yup i was pretty much the loner..i liked being alone then..i guess im going back to those days..

its sort of good really, makes u less dependent on pple..and i think that's important. cos ultimately, in a coupla years time i'll be doing that again, and i'll be making big decisions all on my own. and i sort of like that. i wanted to live alone too, rent a studio by myself, and i reckon that i can do just fine. that day, i saw the houseman darren at sgh, and he was just rushing to places alone..i guess its true that as u grow older, your circle of frens tend to dwindle as well.. what may be that 4 rows of us sitting at the back of the LT, would soon be whittled down to just maybe 8 or 9 per cg, and as the yrs go by, u'll be alone once ure full fledged doc.

ah. cherish them now.

zits galore

when you start getting pimples for no reason...maybe its time to change the BEDSHEETS and pillow cases!!

on a brighter note, i just bought a usb bluetooth dongle!! just transferred the photos from hp to comp..hmm..not bad quality..but not good enough. im going to buy the 2MP k750i man!!

cheers

sidenote: fright night's gonna be a blast man!

those wretched terrorists.

london won :(

standing admist the crowd at raffles city really takes the cake man, i felt like i was back in europe all over again..surrounded by french-speaking guys and one or 2 cute chicks..cheering 'paris! paris!' all the way before the results were announced...it was awesome man. with the cameras and flashes all around..the atmosphere was just electric!

and being the singaporeans and siao on brudders that we were, jasp and i managed to ease , yeah i mean literally EASE, past everybody to enter swissotel, and waited at the escalator for the celebs to come flowing down...

celebs who just BRUSHED us literally by an inch:
jonathan edwards+colin jackson, lord sebastian coe, TONY PARKER!!! (he was really subdued, having pulled off his tie and all, we got a few words with him in private!! hahaa..he turned us down for a photo cos he wasnt in the mood) LAURENT BLANC!!! princess anne!! prince albert!!! marie jose perec!! AND I WAS STANDING NEXT TO ALEXEI NEMOV!!! wanted to take a picture with him but he was busy showing his OWN pictures to his russian fren..my gosh im taller than him but he's way buffer man..yeahh just the two of us at the door..wahlao, how exciting is that..and of cos, who can forget the hosts for the night, lovely vivian and her host..dunno his name but he was one heck of a funny dude..yeahh so only vivian was kind enuff to take a shot with me, really pretty that babe..who else did i see huh..no beckham lah..no raul oso..dam disappointing..but fuck!!! tony parker talked to us!!!

he squeezed past us into the hotel and both of us were like 'fuck, is that tony parker??' wahlao! btw he just won the NBA with spurs and he's currently bedding eva longoria from desperate housewives..talk abt that man..what a night, what a night.

and jasp and i ended the night, some heart to heart talk there..man, what a blast tonight was. fuck! tony parker and sebastian coe!! princess anne!! unbelievable man.

in a few hours' time, the race to host the olympics will begin..and the front-runners london will showcase just how worthy they are..i love the history and culture of that place, the gloomy weather and their awful food..yes i do love them..

but brits today happen to piss me off so bad, i wished paris won. it can't be worse really. after watching the allblacks runneth them over, the brit + irish lions resorted to dirty tramping and stamping on their opponents, scenes enough to start a war. it was typical british bulldog behaviour, bite when u lose.

and i was on my way back after a good nights out with weijia, jasp, cktang and dehan when on the train, this psuedo-londoner starts cussing abt 'surviving in singa' and can't wait to get his ass out of the country and back to london..'fuckin' policemen..can't stand it..too many rules in this fuckin' country'..and it was a half-fucked london accent littered with bits of malay slang in it..yeah this fucking malay, who probably stayed 3 or 4 years in london starts cussing abt my country..i wished this scum was back in london that very moment.

and while watching chang from taipei finish off valentine from scot, who is admirably dressed to impressed with his scottish kilt, our dear brit actually pointed a middle finger at the camera..showing how typically uncouth a brit can get.

as much as i love the UK, its this bad apples that ruin it for me. the french, though snobbish, have a reason to be, and they are no where near as bad as they are..i mean, hey, they DO clear their trays after eating at macdonalds u noe!

so that's paris for me.

carter evades 

schmucked

the british + irish lions finally set foot in new zealand down under, only to lose all their test matches against the allblacks..and set a record by conceding 40points, most ever by any opposition.

can't blame them, daniel carter, my new hero, was in top form, taking 33 out of 48 points..
another reason to be knighted, sir clive woodward.

shopaholic

in order to rediscover what goes on around in the minds of women and what tickles them, i've resorted to reading this series of books entitled 'shopaholic and *'..

as with war of the worlds and many literature thats been reviewed by me, the aftermath was just a stunned/bored 'OK...'

right, its a good book to read, i love the settings, from rural england to the big cities of ny and london..and really finding out for myself what girls actually do and buy when they shop..but its strenous on the mind as u trudge thru items 1 to 10345667 from page 1 to 300...because yes, that's what the book's about..just uncontrollable shopping shopping and more shopping.. still, with its quirky twists and funny letters from banks/credit card companies makes it a good, brainless read..

if you like surfing this certain babe's blog which is all about escapades and pictures of shopping and herself, you'll definitely like this book.

becky bloomwood! 

ioc 2005

hai..im so upset with myself..but i noe i couldnt have helped it anyway..
what turned out to be a 'to-do' before i left never materialised...because i couldnt commit the time to it..even though i really wanted to..to volunteer at the ioc 2005..

face it, singapore will never ever host the olympics..at least not in our lifetime..and its just once in this lifetime that they decide on where to hold the olympics right here on our very soil..and a chance for a commoner like me to be part of the fracas..its all too late to get involved. well..lets just enjoy what's to come den..hopefully can see beckham in flesh guffaws.

success!

i hate signing in to blogger to blog, can't they be more efficient and userfriendly like msn or something!?

hmm. YES! i think ive successfully tuned back my body clock. cos im feeling sleepy now..and i went for a 6km run just now..hmm. took quite long actually..i didnt time but by the time i bathed and watched some tennis it was oredi 12..and i started at 10.45..hmm.

yeah man, gonna wake up for some ogl briefing tmr..after a 5week hiatus frm nus, time to go get involved in sch..

new sem resolutions:
- attain average grades (was below average)
- join more clubs, get to know more pple hah! (i was in medsoc..how exciting)
- GET FITTER!!
- that's abt all for now that i can come up with. OH!!
- get a job man.
- keep on dreaming.

glitzy buzy

movies week! its barely been a week since i'm back and i've oredi caught 3 shows..
initial d...great show with cool dudes..really a brothers' show man. with all of us 'ooh'ing and 'aah'ing at the same moments..
war of the worlds with brudder jasp..and after some footie before waking up really seh..overhyped lah, just great effects but stupid show i think..and wtf, tripods!??
and finally, batmin begins, with brudder yk..who graciously treated me with his free ticket..ahha..but it was a good night out man..with some booze to top it off..fwahh..refreshing as it trickled down my throat..

yeahh..successfully tuned my body clock back..just woke up at as-per-normal time 12noon to read some crappy news abt nus' centennial achievements..just keep talking abt yourselves lah guys, what with all your apru or isit apfu conferences i dun care..i think probably covered more on the nus president and his fellow profs rather than his students..
think maybe shud do a special edition on the IOC coming up instead..haii..if not for europe probably wud have volunteered for it oso..

hmm..zara here i come..alone

i'll settle this once and for all

and so there i was, fighting insomnia and jetlag..its european 8.30pm now..i can't sleep..
so what better to do than to indulge in some oc finale..boy.
it was fantablastic man.

somehow the show has nv lost its charm on me. i was hooked ever since the first episode, of cos i have you to thank. i dun think the show's gotten worse or better, but its certainly stirred up those emotions and feelings deep inside of me.. its endless depression really, the show, it just gets more dramatic and exciting..and it leaves me with a sense of..i dunno what it is..guilt? somewhere along the way we must have done something wrong in our lives, there's never a perfect day. its just the severity of our crimes that will strike us..
i think after watching the last episode..im gonna have nightmares or a fitful sleep for sure..

hmm well...strange, how everytime i watch it i seem to think of you..and meeting you that day, really made me, or rather, still makes me, realise how poor a person i am..think i have still some long way to go..yeah that's right, i'm not there yet. you didnt have to say or do anything..just your mere presence alone reflects how inadequate i am.

chocolates arent good enuff, and vodka is just a tad too strong for me now..beer's a tasty poison, but certainly not potent enuff. alas, what am i going to do?

and den we leave for venice treviso on board budget air line ryan air..quite a comfortable ride...cheap summore..but not before having delayed trains at the tube, before rushing to find where the terminal for the greenline is, and having the greenline picking up the previous bus cos it broke down..and having to go off the expressway on a detour thru the small towns of luton...and finally reaching half hour before the plane took off..phew..what an experience man. WHAT TOUGH LUCK. that's all for london..... 

garang kailun moving out of notting hill to heathrow with his baggage!!!! haha..really king man he.. 

their lifestyle..at hyde park..feeding swans and ducks and piegeons... 

hyde park!! pigeon lady feeding those damned pests..now u noe why there are so many of them there..other than that..hyde park is pretty much gigantic and lots of fun..lots of cute kids around..and their toilets are all underground..i ran past many without noticing..and its so dry and cold there that u dun even sweat...when i was totally covered..ahh..weather's perfect. 

snakebite with qy at lse bar!! its a potent mix of beer, cider, raspberry juice and what not...only 1.5pounds..basket, if only beer was that cheap in singapore..summore their college have their own bash right at their doorstep...complete with a college bar..thanks alot, NUS. 

overcast skies with attacking pigeons at trafalgar square..nice place to chill...but gotta dart that occasional pigeon flying straight in your face..and dam cute kids going around with banners and scaring pigeons and shouting 'pigeons are pests!' 

cleopatra!! at the brit museum...some mummy showcase..they actually have more nonbrit stuff like artifacts from egypt greece..turkey..blahblah..so much for being the british museum.. 

chocolate making barrels at harrods' chocolate bar..their krispy kreme totally rocks man 

view from the top of st paul's catheral, london's grandest church..very very windy up there..brr 

towerbridge! the fake london bridge.. 

erm..forgot what this called..their parliament house? 

buckingham palace! 

tube at earl's court on our way to nottinghillgate 

dinner with the babes qiuyun and fern at misato..ultra large serving..jap food..not v cheap though! 6pounds! k lah..cheap by london standards i guess... 

at st james' park, one of the finest gardens in london..nice green grass with pretty wild flowers 

where we stayed in london..kailun's room..with his roommate russian boxer euvgeny and peter..haha that's kailun with his mother big backpack 

jet lag

yes..down with jetlag, slept at 3am and woke up at 5.30pm...new record..its 4am right now..think i'd better get up earlier..

just came back from initial d, its way cool man. real biggie stars, jaychou edison and shawnyue.. but abit sad though, a must-watch.

and batch reunion yesterday..was pretty alright..got to see faces that i wanted to see..and it was a blast talking to everybody and abt everything..just like back in the rj days again..sigh.
yeah everybody misses it.

supper with izac and shiwei and serena..and we just talked abt stuff..
and today, while at the playground, with yk and kianleong..we talked abt it again... me and liana..hmm yeahh its been a really long time guys, lets just forget about it. im all over it man.

back to the trip, man, yeah there's lots of pictures that i want to upload, but its almost impossible with 1 gig of pictures..and that's just mine alone havent touched colin's yet..and the quirky stories too..like meeting pple and the weirdest places..haha. and the fantastic food.

thought abt a lot of things, i think the trip really accomplished what i set out to think abt.

im going to be a better person.

paris..amsterdam..brussels..brugges..london

finally back to london after like what, i dunno..10days?
havent got a chance to blog yet..no internet access..last night in london now..we tried to make the most outta it...

had lots of things to eat..think today we splurged our budget like mad, spent 20pounds on food..crazy man..i sound tired don't i?
yeah, i am, quite.

think this is probably enuff for now..i'm gonna miss europe..its been hell of a trip..lots of sights, lots of action, and lots of thinking.

just need sleep, and fooood..chilli sauce...yumm..will post up some pictures soon..but yeah..pictures dont tell the whole story..nor does it really give the whole 'picture' u get my point..really gotta go see it for oneself..

yeahh its been a bumpy and tough ride along the way with my brudder, but we survived man. all those scares and joys..ahh..and the friends we made, the pple that we've met and talk to, really takes the icing of the cake. nothing else beats that...where my memories belong..

thanks loads to e pple who've been kind to us, not very least the singaporeans we've met!! they're fab. joseph, and kai, and all...u guys been great!

nice is nice

im in nice ville now, leaivng for paris later..
can't say how much i love nice man, its really NICE.

the waters are pretty clear..but a tad too cold to dip in..and the beaches are all pebbly..hardly anysand..

antibes was great, but not cannes..
so was eze, super beautiful..medieval castle town perched on top of the hill now filled with shops..so its a quaint little town with a great view from the top..monaco was pretty ok, the aquarium was pretty fantastic.qite like underwater world..but i guess more species? and i spun e jackpot at monte carlo too!! too bad cudnt bring back a token..cos i spent them all! nv win lah.

hah..and staying at villa st exupery is great..the bossman's nice, so is his yandao tall son arno..and kirsten too! i like her..very sweet..

well anyway, leaving for paris now..along the way, have some regrets on this trip..like not doing this and not doing that..realising only when i've left the place..like buying one too many glassware and masks from venic.e.now i gotta lug them around..
like paying 5euros for supermarket seafood rice with poulet(chicken)..when i could have eaten a whole macs meal for that price..
and of cos not having a coin back from monte carlo..
not having bought anything from florence or rome..or nice for that matter...

so from now on, i'm gonna enjoy myself and do whatever i want! money's not an issue at this point now..though im gonna suck my savings dry..keep drawing money..its alawys not enuff..but the experience is worth it all..

and zhongyang, if ure gona book trains from florence to rome or vice versa..check thie reservations price first..cos it costs 12euros for mine..dam ex..if u can, from rome go to pisa(dun need to book), spend an hour or two there, trust me there's nothing to see except the tower, den from pisa go srtraight to florence (dun need to reserve either) unless its a sunday or something..that way u save buying return tickets to pisa which cost 10euros and also the reservation fee of 12euros!! think abt that.

cheers, mates. oh yes, i miss u too :)

romaa wooo roma!!!

so we checked in at guy's paradise, sister hostel of firenze inn!! GREAT PLACE MAN!! rachel from canada runs the place, and she's a sweet and friendly lady. its soo much cosier and stable here..i slept like a baby the last 2 nights man. and despite being dam hot in the morning, rome's chilly at night..really like aircon. and the breakfast here is 10times better, with ham and cheese and loads of CROISSANTS and pastries..yummy yum!

so its been 2 days, 1st night we just checked out the city..rome is just beautifullly fantastic..its really the eternal city, and if u have just one city to visit in life..this is it. i havent been to paris, but im quite sure about this. paris wud be the if-u-had-a-milion-bucks-to-spend-in-5-days kinda place. haha.

so we met patrick from alabama, he sleeps above me..haha and he's freaking tall and funny..AND GUESS WHAT!! HE'S A MED STUDENT TOO!! just finised first year like us, and he learns EXACTLY THE SAME STUFF, SAME TRACKS!! how cool is that..just sad to think that everyone else is shocked singaporeans speak english as our first language..

yeahh we checked out trevi fountain and spanish steps at night..trevi is just beautiful. one of the 3/4 things that define rome. u gotta check it out at night. no shit. i just wished YOU were here with me. but who the fuck are YOU?!?! please appear soon...here, france, anywhere...yeahh u throw coin with your back facing the trevi and u re bound to visit rome again, 2nd time, ure marrying a italian wife/make a wish. i made a wish la.

got back to some BOOZING..yeahh free unlimited booze at guy's paradise..really paradise man..dam siao.
so last 2 nights ive been dam seh when i went to sleep..

k shall update on my exciting trip to the vatican city with the pope and colossal colosseum tomrr...cos i have only 3 minutes left on the internet..hahahahhaa woohooo

FLORENCE. 5th to 7th.

i didnt wanna leave venice!! good thing we booked our accomdations in florence plus booked train tix. cos pple kept getting chased out when they have no reservations.

train ride was pretty good, with a pretty conductor! rest of florence pretty modern/industralised. nice hills. loved it.
train ride was pretty comfy amazingly. florence pretty diff frm venice..quite well developed. first thing was find our way to hostel. gotlost. hahaha as usual. great duomo.but not v impressive.maybe cos venice was too nice. italians are v friendly pple, so was our hostel! col and i both love it...LOVE IT.
great pple, great food! we had pasta and salad for dinner...they cooked it themselves!!

lots of asians around in florence though.
met fabio, a brazilian enginner..he's dam funny lah!! but dammm nice...so is blur brian from US..always sleepy..like colin..haha..and jared from canada ontario, who's spent a record 12 nights there..cos he loved int so much..i think he's a doctor though..rather punkish one..basket..haha..by the way havaianas in brazil only cost 3euros..thats like 6 bucks..i asked him to ship a crate in for me..anybody interested?

i guess where ure staying really makes a difference. highlight: hostel raided!!! license expired!!! THE WHOLE HOSTEL EVACUATED IN ULTRA QUICK TIME!! even the beds were moved..how cool is that!!! luckily i packed all my stuff..so didnt lose anything..colin almost lost its $140 mask from eyes wide shut.

visisted PISA. the tower REALLY LEANS.amazing to just see it man. and visited the DUOMO too..4th largest cathedral in the world..quite impressive..alot of michelangeloàs works.
headed down to PIAZZALE MICHELANGELO..zy read: MUST GO. don't ask why..just go there and u'll understand.
was so overwhelmed man. i didnt go to the pubcrawl this time, though last night i made alot alot of friends..mostly americans..describing cinque teres to me..5 little towns..ONLY americans noe about it..

so it was a quiet nite back at firenze inn...where we met boss lorenzo..and the next day, we just packed and left for the ACCADEMIA...where michelangeloàs most famous work, DAVID was housed.
my god, its really a splendid structure. so BIG in real life. have been wanting to see it all along..he's so good, u can see every detail..i wonder if he studied anatomy..cos the surface marks of the EJV, long saphenous vein, basilic veins, serratus anterior were SOO ZUN. its really worth the 8 euros to go in an just see man.

missed the uffizi. fuck.

ZY, READ: queue early for the uffizi and accademia, maybe around 8 plus am to 9 am. bloody long queue and DONàT BRING ANY BAGS. i had to wait outside with our stuff till colin was done seeing.

so we headed off to rome onboard eurostar italia, which is superb. dam fast, dam quiet. but fucking noisy americans on the train all around us..sleep oso cannot..and make fucking stupid comments summore...and most of them are just OBESE. when they got up, just blocked the whole damned aisle. but at least they're not racist..or they just dont show it.

VENICE. 3rd to 4th june.

comfy flight on ryanair.

reached treviso airport, super no frills airline, just straight from the plane, out u go into the tiny airport, maybe the size of my 5rm hdb flat. abit disappointing, no proper seats, only arrival plus departure halls.

took turns to shou3 ye4, hahah luckily got thai airways blanket and pillow we kopped... its a wonder how they can abandon us just like tthat, only 2 venezian soldiers guarding the airport, no staff at all. so its just 4 of us at the airport. bloody hell dam uncomfortable, keep waking up maybe 20 plus times. haha.

in the morning, finally the shuttle bus came, and we took it to camping village alba d'oro, fantastic place! not to mention getting lost before that..thereàs a swimming pool, supermarket ..great cos ive beenstarving.
abit ex but still cheaper than london.

haha and colin was in a dam jiao mood again, for reasons i shall not mention.. he jiaoed the counter person when we were booking our railtix, and questioned his work. wtf right haha.

VENICE WAS FANTASTIC!!
3gelatos in a day..can u believe it? strawberry flavoured, limone, and casato!! woohooo!! its dirt cheap lah..and their servings dam BIG.i mean like HUGE. only 1euro a cone. will post up fotos of it soon..

MET JULIA AT VAPORETTO STATOIN!! vaporetto is like their water taxi section..as u noe venice has no roads..just little canals and big canals..hahaha..wad am i talking about.. oh yeah, she's someone from salsa at xenbar, kinda danced with her a few times...just found out she's a doctor leh..doing PhD at Nus. dam impressed. she travelled for 3 months oredi, egypt to turkey to greece to italy. dam garang sia.

on the vaporetto, took in all the sights, SOOO BREATHTAKING. every building is a wonder by itself. gondolas, small canals, fantastic. like a faity tale coming alive infrnt of my eyes.
it's just GASP all the way man.

ST MARKS
gasp x 100!!!!!! the piazza is soo splendidly beautiful..and the basiclica too, which i got in for free...and paid for the pala doro, which is like crown jewels...really amazing. gotta see it for yourself.

and of course..we got lost..but it was a wonderful feeling to get lost..ure SUPPOSED to get lost in venice...it's amazing when u see how everything is intricately hand painted or crafted. a miracle too that they lasted so long.

it amazes, rather bewilders me, that such great artists only exist centuries ago, yet, today wiith our modern technology, weeàre unable to come up with antyhing as splendid as that, not even architecturally wise. replication is also near impossible.

how these structures are able to withstand time and still shine with colour against the weather elements is beyond me. where have all the geniuses gone?

not surprisingly, venezia is slowly becoming more and more touristy. shops selling the same things sprout up at every corner, competing for customers. im glad to have seeen it in its original, unspoilt, i hope, state.

remember all the storybooks that weàve read_ itàs coming alive right now before my eyes. eveyrthing seemed surreal. until u've touched it. the red flowers blooming from each window,little alleys, women screaming italiano from one window to another window while hanging laundry, im glad to have seen them all. the romantic gondolas, street kids playing soccer in the piazza, pple walking their dogs (poo not withstanding) street buskers.
and not forgetting the pizzas, magnifique. cobbled walkways alongside the river...sigh, wished someone special was here.

fantastic food, culture, sights and weather! not too hot, just right..no sweating! friendly and sometimes beautiful pple..but i wudnt wanna stay there..itàd take away all the charm it has. a holiday home, perhaps. see the 10day carnevale with all the pretty masks..i hate piazzale roman and the train staion. they are spoilers. it s a wonder how despite all the canals, only venice and amsterdam successfully thrives.at times, the piazza at stamarks get flooded too!i hope it neversinks.itàs really one of the wonders of the world man.

i wanna own an apartmentin central venice, with windows overlookkng the canlas, and doors opening to a small street or alley. of course, a bicycle and a gondola or a sepeedboat wud be nice.

italy

didnt have time to blog cos everyday's a whirlwind by
itself!!

cant believe i spent the whole day at vatican city
today..
yepp from venice to florence to rome today..

vatican city rocks!! so does rome!! i love my hostel,
guy's paradise..its cosy, beds are nice and the pple
are great!

was at the papal audience with the pope today..nice to
visit sistine chapel and everything..and posted a card
to myself from vatican city ahhaa..

so surreal man..yeah anyway, boozing alot now, l3 cans
of beer in all, so thats 1.5litres in an hour..piangz
not even so much water in that time man..
ok will blog soon, pple need to use the itnernet too,
dun keep them waiting..

london now...so far...before i forget.

yes, that's right, before i forget. was wanting to keep a journal..photo journal perhaps? but its pretty troublesome..okay im just lazy..perhaps im more cut out in front of the comp..so well..here it goes!

day 1

sights:
- touched down in heathrow, nice warm weather..tubed down straight to st james park! to catch the change of guards at buckingham palace.. st james park is a beautiful place, so picturesque, and like lynn, i really wanted to jump onto the grass and lie there, baking in the sun, cept that it was pretty chilly YET VERY sunny..until col reminded me that pigeons are aplenty and so are their shit.

oh, stopped by earl's court to change trains, buy an all powerful day travel pass.. and the funniest announcement ever..brits are really funny..

"we are going to conduct an emergency drill. please disregard the following announcement"

ok..just go ahead and do your stuff lor tubies..

"THIS IS AN EMERGENCY, WILL EVERYBODY PLEASE, LEAVE THE STATION IMMEDIATELY"

and u hear a burst of laughter from every sounding soul at earl's court underground...

"the drill is now over. please disregard the previous announcement"

yeahh and around st james park, was my first taste of london residential houses..in fact every single house is pretty much a monument by itself..each is like a shophouse, with its quaint designs and structure, yet all fitting into place..like a nice piece of mosaics..and buckingham palace..wonder how the queen can put up with so many pple outside her gate everyday at 11am. the change of guards was just normal..pretty boring actually...guess as colin said..its prolly just the costumelah..and the high hats..which looks abit like lum's hair i gotta say..

so we headed off to imperial's after that to meet kailun, where we dumped our stuff at alvin's first..lotsa singaporeans i gotta say, lots of asians..very little...if not no pretty girls...haha..and food was..pretty ex...i paid 4.7POUNDS..that's maybe about 15sing dollars? for a bbq chicken drumstick rice with corn and apple juice. that's steep man, that's steep.

so while sebas and kailun and their counterparts sawed their gclamp at the workshop, col and i decided to take a walk around london's famous sights..

- BIG BEN..big clock..nice. the parliament house was impressive. will postup pictures
- london eye, cute, ferris wheel. saw from a distance..abit ex, so wont take. not worth it.
- westminster abbey!! very chio...queue was long to get in..reasonable at 6pounds..the architecture..is just breathtaking..so was the parliament house..will post up pictures.
- 10 downing street.. blair's place, actually can't see his house, just the street..cos its warded off to the public by a gate, with police guarding the place with machine guns..but being brits, they're pretty friendly and funny..
- trafalgar square..nice!! went there today actually
- picadilly circus.. sort of like their city hall maybe?

oh, its not worth it to call from the public fone..paid 30pence for it..and it only lasted 15seconds..so we called fern and den met her at holborn, where she stays..and we took a trip down to LSE, where we met anand and yvette and choong..headed down to leicester sq, like their orchard road lydat...china town, covent gardens..

fern's really great, brought us all over..

- HAMLEY'S!!! cool toys aplenty, but steep.
- topshop...BIG
- regent street...where all the things are at

fern, lun col and i had dinner at this place at SOHO..reputed gay street..cheap nice food..ok lah actually 5pounds..but as kailun puts it..cannot think like that.. and we had superb desert as recommended by fern..yoghurt was like towering..

it was really nice to catch up with both of them, as we talked about old times..rj, actually just about EVERYTHING! yeahh it was really fun..

by the time we got back to kai's place from fern's so shacked, col and i fell asleep watching russell peters...haha but he's freaking funny lah.

DAY 2.

we woke up pretty early, just after kailun left..
had breakfast at TESCO's, a student's shopping haven, sort of like NTUC..funny thing is they dun allow more than 5 schoolkids in the shop at one time..

cheap breakfast, about 1 pound:
- 2 cinnamon rolls
- 1 pint of semi skimmed milk
- 1 strawberry yoghurt

yummy stuff! and VERY filling too..

headed down to:
- tower bridge..famous bridge, like what u see in the story books..and today was blustery windy too, so i was dying from the cold lah..so much for summer man..
- tower of london..didnt get to see.
- london bridge..nothing like tower bridge..just a normal bridge, disappointingly.
- ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL...had holy communion service there, architecture is superb..and we visited the underground crypts, where alexander fleming and florence nightingale are buried. very cool place. pretty holy too..lots of tiny chapels in the cathedral itself.

we climbed about 530 steps..up to the higher parts of the dome, to the whispering gallery...its like a corridor around the circumference of the dome, and when u whisper from one end of the wall, the person right opposite about 70m away can actually hear u clearly!yeahh..no surprise, was eaves dropping alot..

and we climbed further up to the tip of the dome! where the winds were strong..and the view, splendid. as good as the london eye. just not higher. in 1705, THAT was the best view of the city of london..

- harrods..jianhong didnt get my msg! so we didnt meet up in the end. OOH KRISPY KREMES!! best donuts in the world..original glazed that melts in your mouth..and gues what! ITS BUY ONE GET ONE FREE EVERYDAY AT HARRODS!! its an unspoken rule, but the krispy kremes pple give one donut free to anyone who buys it, even those who don't pay, they'll just give it to u for free! yeah..cos harrods are too rich. and their luxury bathrooms..its really called luxury bathrooms. some guy there waits on you and cleans the toilet before u use it..everything is sensor automated, even the flush. talk about luxury man. eau de toilette used to spray STRAIGHT after u shit, and there's even a water cooler in there. now how cool is that.

- went to sebas place at gloucester street, OMG, its a rich street man, BMWs, mercs, ferraris and mini coopers line the street. yeahh..his place was very nice, very cosy. very rich district.

- headed to this steak and ribs place, i forgot its name but its really cool..cost us 8pounds, but WAY WORTH IT MAN..shud check out the ribs, gigantic portions, the chicken breast as well..and lots of chips..great company, great food, what else can u ask for???

- had hoegaarden at sebas' place before we headed down to MOS!!! much awaited..it was FANTASTIC MUSIC OVER THERE MAN, and the vodka mudshakes all were one for one..superb! nice atmosphere, but the crowd just wasnt right. so we left pretty early..dam tired,

met fern and qiuyun, who finally made it here man..nice to see her, she had this 3week roadtrip at california..finally touched down but couldnt join us at MOS..but still looking good!!

conked out totally when we reached back.

DAY 3.

that's today boy. we woke up and had tesco's breakfast again. this time i had raspberry yoghurt which sucked, but treacle tarts and semi skimmed milk again..super yummy the treacle tarts..

cold again, so we decided today would be museums day...haha dam boring right it sounds..yeah pretty boring.

-sir john soane's museum...he's this architect who worked for the banks of london, and he's a collector of art pieces..the museum's actually his house at 13 lincoln's inn fields..and i would die to stay in a house like his..preserved since 1837..but everything looked splendidly well maintained..the really solid english house.

- british museum..it has everything that's NOT british. haha..the highlights were the egyptian mummies exhibition...met CLEOPATRA!! ahhah..in person..literally.. its split up into different cultures the museums..hardly anything british..the reading room is this splendour of books..and pple actually study inside..actually that's what i expect british libraries to be like...very old but VERY GRAND.

- national gallery..a showcase of art pieces from the very best, davinci, monet, manet, nothing like the louvre or italy..but it had the virgin on the rocks! like in da vinci's code..but we didnt have time to see that..only caught monet's sunflowers..nice. haha. like i can appreciate much like that. but it's really VERY VERY different seeing it in real and from pictures..the texture is totally different..like caneletto's venezia paintings...its almost 3-d and like sunflowers, its pretty obvious, those strokes, could see everything pretty clear. defintely will wanna go back there again.

we sat at trafalgar sq after that, enjoying the sights and watching the world go by..quite a few babes..and LOTS OF PIGEONS..haha..these bunch of kids were protesting around the sq "pigeos are pests" dam cute.

met fern, qiuyun, nolly and choong for dinner at misato's, a jap restaurant. basket, the servings were really HUGE man!! think i was the only one who managed to finish all my food..hahha..but it was dam nice lah!! headed over to fern's place cos they wanted to change out of their skirts..too chilly..before we headed to LSE again to show qiuyun around...

we had snakebites!! qiuyun and i ordered one each from the LSE bar (YES THEY HAVE A BAR!! AND A WEEKLY PARTY IN THE BASEMENT COMPLETE WITH DISCO LIGHTS!!) which is a cocktail of alcohol but its only available in the schools' pubs..u can't find it anywhere else along london! something like booze plus cider plus raspbeery and some stuff...sweet stuff, quite potent. gulped down mine and qiuyun's leftovers...and almost puked haha in the end i just burped a large one..

headed over to noelle's place..finally got to meet nolly today proper!!! and got to know her too, she's really a funny and cool chick man, that girl. yeah so we chilled at her place and just talked..before i headed back here..leave them to enjoy themselves..hahha..again, dinner was fantastic food and great company...nothing more that i can ask for..i just wished it was like that everyday...gonna leave them tmr...and kailun's over at sebas for mahjong...tong xiao man..cannot lah, must come back keep colin the sleepyhead company..he's oredi asleep btw.

tmr's gonna be hyde park and some portobello market? probably camden too..good night peeps. my london journey ends tmr.

oh..i almost missed the tube after getting back from nolly's..walking down london streets..finding the tube..it was so surreal. the whole feeling.

i didnt feel threatened or anything like that..london is actually pretty safe. nothing like muggers jumpiing out from the bushes or dark alleys like that..just alot of drunkards at night..
but just walking down the street with the wind blowing in your face, but with your hands tucked warmly into your sweater..seeing all these victorian houses along the way, the red buses, red postboxes..london cabs..underground signs..quirky shops with bright warm lights illuminating out..it's really a dream come true for me. it's like the mecca for hanboon. nothing beats this feeling really. and to top it off, having great friends around to share it with you.

the cool weather that doesnt allow you to sweat, the friendly pple with quirkily funny slangs, the fantastic food, when darkness falls at 10pm and light shines at 5am, this is the place to be man.

LONDON!

it's only been a day, but oredi i'm taken in by the sights and sounds of london..

its really such a blessing that u guys get to study here..my god...i shall upload the photos once i get back..mean while..after the whirlwind trip around london yesterdayy...MORE TODAY!!!

yeah man and food is really crazily ex..basket..hahha..everything singapore price in british pounds...so a BK meal...4 pounds...is 12 bucks sing..wonderful!!

but as kailun said...cannot think this way lah guys..haha..one bus ride oso S$3...

but well, it was a dam good time catching up with kailun and fern...as they brought us around the whole place...

wassup for today man...tower of london!! harrods!! hmm....MOS!!!!!!

woohoo!! arghghhh..

okay, this post is dedicated to andy chong kien yoon..at least for the first part..sorry guys cudnt make it for the match this morning!! but i know u guys enjoyed the field right..haha..best turf every played on..okay u'll know why i couldnt make it after scrolling downwards..

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wooohoo!!!
centennial staff students games are finally over..by some miracle, my fellow batchmates managed to conjure up enough pple to form a team to face the oldies..hey man by oldies they are no means slowies..
kinda got creamed by them in some sports..and we lost narrowly 3-2!! basket...lost the racket games, table tennis, badminton and tennis..but tennis was close though..and eunice's such a dear for calling the tennis pple..even a houseman!! yeahh but we won bball and soccer..these we totally creamed them man..
4-0 for soccer!!!

yeahh..so the first shield went to the staff...after netball was cancelled..which i felt wasnt really fair since the old ladies bangseh us instead..so shuda been a walkover...but. give them chance lah. anyway, they did most of the work..and the after games dinner was FANTASTIC MAN!!

sorry didnt take much pictures..but the buffet spread was...my gosh. heavenly man. im sure all of u who came down really loved it..and thanks for coming too!! sure, nothing like the pizza and beer with the dean, but the dean was there, along with the booze minus the pizza..
but hey man, crayfish, baked mussels, tons of chicken wings, KEBABS, ONE WHOLE ROASTED LAMB, lotsa fish and crispy you tiao...WOOHOO!! and BOOZE TOO!! and dean sponsored a bottle of red wine, NOW IS THAT SHIELD WORTH IT OR WHAT!! that dinner was a total killer man..really..my gosh..that soft tenderly sweet lamb taste still lingers in my mouth..

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BY THE WAY, IM SUPPOSED TO BE PACKING NOW, but im typing away on my blog..dunno what im doing..but i know i'm not gonna sleep tonight man hahahaaaaa...still got some things to buy before i leave..yeahh...HAVENT EVEN CHANGED MY POUNDS AND EUROS YET...

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right, and that was last night, so u can guess..im more than shacked out after i reached home..so sorry guys, couldnt wake up for the game..but well. if u thot it was just an evening of fun that tired me out..ure so wrong man kienyoon...

that's cos...the night before, or rather, the morning earlier...was a disaster..

went for zhi's 1970s party..where only yk and i kept to the theme haha! and i left my shades there amidst the drunken stupor...yeahh..so it was just the few of us, ruggers, swimmers and us hanging out at zhi's place...mixed up a great cocktail..and then the party began..with shots.....after shots...............after shots.........
till the whole party ended up in the garden...out of the house...around the neighbourhood...yeahhh u get the idea....

one moment i was shooting baskets in his garden, next sprawled on the trampoline, before you know it..im charging down his lanes...

and puked out all the all-u-can-eat-chickenwings-contest with sarah (i lost btw, by a large margin) before stumbling into dongdong's car where he dropped nyen and i at bishan..took the nightrider..when i woke up, nyen was oredi gone..so i alighted at yishun..before i merlioned another 3 times...and ended up sleeping at the kopitiam tables...buying a gulp at 711...and stumbling home at 6am..where i snoozed till 2pm...oh, interrupted intermittenly by calls and sms regarding games later..and trooped down, with a terrible hangover to NUS for the games.

YES. that's all i have to report. i need to go back and pack now, before i meet ekin kailun at london..hahaha..

NO PICTURES FOR NOW. maybe tmr.