Friday, September 28, 2007

Checkpoint

It's been 16 days since I came to London. As I don't have to wake up early tomorrow and rush off to a 9 am lecture, I shall allow myself a bit of contemplation here.
These 16 days have been crazy, but in a good way. There's so much to say, but I feel that I've made the right decision to come to London. So far, I have been enjoying myself, feeling like a kid in a very large candy shop. Even now, although work has started and there are readings to be done, I'm still taking time out to explore a bit.
It was a bit daunting at first, with so many stuff to be settled, but thankfully there's Alvin and Nick around for advice and help.
I also just realised, that apart from that video call on that fateful morning my laptop gave up on me, I have not called home. All correspondence have been through emails and the odd msn conversation.
And somehow I don't seem to feel too much of home longing. Sure I miss the food (paid 4 pounds for average roasted duck rice, which was nice as I was damn hungry and the portions were HK sized), the warmer weather (the wind at the waterloo bridge this week has been damn strong, almost got blown off, i kid you not), and the more reasonable prices, but there's is no overt longing to be back home.
I think I have learnt to accept the fact that you should adapt yourself to your environment. So that means accepting cold sandwiches, slow and inefficient service, high prices for everything, cold weather with blustery winds, the works. After all, I chose to be here.
And over the course of the 16 days of socialising, I can't help but think of something. I administered a lot of DISC tests in my previous job, which made me think about some issues. Those who are unfamiliar with DISC, it's a personality test which allows you to see what is your dominant personality, with D standing for dominant, I for influencing (ie good with people), S for steadiness, and C for conscientiousness.
I realised that, when faced with different situations, we cherry pick the best personality that will best deal with the situation and assume that persona. For example, even though you may be a introverted person, when it is during orientation, you attempt to be more sociable to interact with the group. Sure, it may not be very effective, but you consciously decided that a more extroverted and friendly persona is better for orientation, and assumed this persona.
Which leads me to think that the only difference between people like that and the teens that I counselled in my previous job is that the teens do not know how to interchange their personalities like that. Thus, in a sense, "maturity" is merely knowing what kind of persona to assume in what kind of situation.
Just a random thought from me.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Phoenix down

The last week was 1 of the most harrowing of my life. My wife gave up on me on a sunny tues morning, which sent me into a very depressive state. In the end, after many exasperating phonecalls I did my own explorative surgery on her and after throwing a few phoenix downs on it she came back to life today. But she is now only surviving on 500mb of RAM until the transplant comes from singapore via yangqi.
I realised how dependent I was on my wife and how despondent I can get when she was incapacitated. Good thing I managed to load everything on the external hard drive before I reformatted. So now things are in a clean slate, hopefully it'll stay that way.
Otherwise, life has been fun. Playing ultimate frisbee in blustery conditions in Hyde Park, going to Ikea which is in zone 3, way out in the suburbs which is very unlike central London, queueing for 2 and a half hours for enrollment, going to the British Musuem and seeing a very nice katana blade (eat your heart out adrian) and remembering my sec 1 history by looking at the indus civilisation artifacts.
Classes started today, did myself no favours in the EU law tutorial by saying that Switzerland is an EU country. Not quite used to not having handouts for lectures, sometimes I can't get down everything the lecturer said and have to copy from the person next to me. I pity the person next to me though, she said she couldn't read my handwriting and I must admit my handwriting has really gone south.
Back to school after 3 years in the wilderness. The time of settling in is over, time to work the brain. At least at the end of the day, there's Jim's english (if you can call it that) to entertain me.
And poor Jose Mourinho. We were watching the match on TV and was shcoked that he left. And there were plenty of empty seats in the stadium! We did contemplate going to Stamford Bridge to watch but it was 36 pounds (x3 for SGD) a ticket. Super expensive. Let's hope we can get the 10 pound tickets for the Carling Cup match of Arsenal vs Newcastle.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Rebirth begins through destruction

This is the tagline for the new Gundam series, Gundam OO (double O). It looks good and hope it doesn't disappoint like Seed Destiny. But looks like the only way I can watch it would be on a certain website.
Am now doing a Corrine May marathon, haven't felt anything yet, looks like her ability to induce an emo mood does not work in a foreign country.
Met Crystal for tea on Sat, prior to that I walked down oxford street. Bad mistake, as the main shopping artery was like orchard road during GSS times 10. Fought my way through, managed to get to Primark, which was worse. The place was flooded with people. I just went in and checked out some of the prices, before getting out and caught a bus to Notting Hill as the central line was down for repairs over the weekend. Went past Hyde park, which was very nice in the sunshine. Had tea, then Crystal let me loose in Portobello market, which I felt was Chatuchak, only more expensive and it went only a straight line, something like HK's ladies' market. Saw a few interesting stuff, plus the prices were not as crazy as it is in central London. Hopped on the tube back to hall. Was quite bucked with myself as I managed the whole journey without getting lost or getting off at the wrong stop.
Spent Sunday at the Thames festival, saw a lot of stuff, like peregrine falcons on the top of the Tate Modern, interesting architecture, and other stuff. Had vegetarian Pad Thai noodles for lunch for 3.50 pounds from some riverside stall, and it was the nicest meal I had, as I haven't had asian food ever since I came to London. The highlight was the fireworks display. They shot fireworks from barges in the middle of the river between 2 bridges, which was really breathtaking. I was at the centre of 1 of the bridges, so I could see everything well and was left slack jawed.
Nick finally flew in today. Spent today helping him settle in and bringing him and his MOE entourage along, which somehow took up the whole day. We wanted to watch football in the TV room, but sadly they didn't have the channel.
It's going to be a week soon in London, and it sure doesn't feel like it. And so far, one of the things I wanted to ensure when I get here was not to be too relaxjack and make an effort to know my way around without relying on someone else navigating. I had it with horlan-ing because of me not making the effort to check out the route before I leave.
And yeah, I shouldn't focus on the dream. She's back in Singapore and fighting the good fight, while I'm here doing the same.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Flicker

Strange. Why of all the things I left behind at home, I dream of her?

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Living it up

It feels like a whole week has already passed me by, but it really has only been 3 days! So much has happened, and everything is so new and exciting that it's rather exhausting to list everything out. Shall be brief and to the point then.
Orientation is fun, it's nice to meet people from other countries and listen to them tell me about themselves. They seem to be quite interested in the fact that I served NS before I came over, and most of the undergraduates are younger than me. Also they do have many different mannerisms and things about them that makes it so fascinating. Although it's hard to get over the initial inertia to try and get to know a person, once you get into the groove of it it's quite easy.
One thing I don't quite get is that everyone speaks with an accent, even the Asians. I found it quite weird at first, then I subconsciously speak in an accent as a result as well.
Went on the boat ride, saw loads of sights, felt very much like a tourist. Also the walking around is actually quite easy, apart from the fact that it's a big city with many lanes and things to see and it's easy to horlan, which alvin and I did on the 1st day due to an inaccurate map. Their MRT runs everywhere and it's so expansive that you cannot just try to whack, as that may result in you ending up in the countryside.
The worse thing is that everything is damn expensive. Many people warned me about this, but didn't realise how bad it is until I got here. As a result, I end up eating a lot of cold sandwiches from supermarkets, but ongbak is more pro than me, he bought a loaf of bread to keng.
I guess that's all from me. First weekend in London, but I have no idea where to go. Shall go check out on where to go.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Surreal

Still can't quite believe that I'm actually typing this in London. My mind is still quite overwhelmed, and my body, which was running on adrenaline for 2 days straight, is finally spent. So a more detailed entry will come later then.
So this entry is to let everyone know I'm safe and fine in London.
I guess I shall let this blog still record Singapore time, but shall end all my posts with a London time.

110907 2155

Monday, September 10, 2007

10092007 2255 BA 0012 T1

And the day has arrived.
I really don't know what to write here.
Maybe I'm just forcing myself to be emo, to write something that can describe what I'm feeling.
In truth, on one hand I'm still coming to terms with the fact that yes, I'm finally leaving, and yet excited by the future ahead of me.
Those numbers and capital letters in bold may just be that, letters and numbers, but they represent something pivotal in my life.
What Mogilan said on his birthday is really right, it's the people in your life that shape your life. And I'm glad to have met great people in my life.
My family, especially my parents who gave me this chance to go overseas to study at their great cost without hesitation, is something I'll miss. If I had decided to study here, I could have just used home as a safety net where I can come back and relax, but there's no such luxury over there. My siblings, whom are now all grown up, have their own lives but still have dinner and lunch together and start chatting about everything. I'm really glad that they'll all so sensible, so much so my parents can hands off on their parenting. And my grandparents, who have watched me grow up, I'll miss them a lot, for they have been such a big part in my life since I was a small boy.
As for friends, the Guys, with whom I have been friends with for a good part of my sec school, JC and army times. All the times we hiked, camped, cooked, played, talked cock, organised stuff, went for random entertainment activities together, is just a testament of our friendship. How many people who met in sec school meet up so regularly (about once every 2 weeks) until this day? And how about that funny tradition we have of waiting for everyone before we start a meal? I think these two things themselves speak volumes of our friendship.
Fencers, somehow this year we met up a lot, and we had a great time as well. What with going to Hong Kong, or having a chalet, or just meeting up for mahjong or watching VCDs, it's been great knowing and hanging out with you guys. There's always so much fun and laughter and good natured teasing when we're together.
To my 4D classmates, I must admit I didn't really make an effort to keep in contact in JC and army, but now I realise that it was a very bad mistake. We had some memorable times in RI, all the times playing football, copying homework and basically being 16 year olds. Even now, although it's only a select bunch of us, but we do still meet up and laugh at each other once in a while. Was with them when we sent Barney off, he very nearly teared, I could feel he was holding back. He thanked everyone for coming, hugged everyone, and went off through those gates. The others were joking about, saying things like "hey he's finally gone!" but I know deep inside they are just coping with it by cracking jokes. I wondered then, what will I feel when I walk through those gates, I guess I'll find out tomorrow.
To all the other people I know, thanks to you. Unknowingly or knowingly, you somehow shaped my life and values. I wouldn't be the person I am if not for your contribution. I am truly, truly, truly blessed to have all of you in my life. Although I know a majority of you won't read this, but I will still say it. Thanks, from the bottom of my heart.
Leaving isn't going to be easy. But I'm ready.
London, here I come.
To all that I'm leaving behind, don't worry.
I will be back.
See you again.
Till then, all the best.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Impending

The last few days were a real blur, filled with frantic packing and buying of stuff, all in preparation with my date with that aeroplane come next mon.
Hit the IT fair on thursday, checking out all the good stuff without buying much at first, trying to get the best deals. Walked from 1330 to 1830, before dinner with Nick at Carl's Juniors.
Friday we went trekking again, from upper peirce to lower seletar. Wasn't as exciting as the previous one, but it was as usual filled with nonsense chatter and nice sights.
Saturday had lunch with a old classmate, who said I have levelled up haha. But ate some dodgy lunch, thus had a very queasy stomach for the rest of the day. Had tea with the King's Law people, had a lot of fun talking to them, getting to know each other. Dinner was good stuff at canton wok with my grandparents.
Sunday, hit the IT fair early with my dad to buy all the outstanding stuff. And that started a whole packing frenzy, what with my obsession of putting all the clothes in ziploc bags ala ikea flat pack style, to the frantic buying of essentials, washing and sunning of stuff, making rounds at various places for various reasons, my life being governed by pieces of paper with scribbles on them and a whole of stuff strewn all over my floor in my desperate attempt for order. All this left me with little energy or time to really blog, and even less time to mull over my impending departure.
Thus I shall spend some precious time here to do so now. 1 suitcase has been packed, most of the stuff I've got already, and all that's left is admin, and all the farewell gatherings.
I'll miss a lot of things here in Singapore, the food, the sun, chinese radio, the greenery, the early morning chirping of birds, the busy road next to my home, the libraries and their abundant books, the friends, the family, the home.
When I decided to go UK, 2 years back, I remember saying to myself, "I can leave everything behind." That is still true, all I need to do is to just forsake all thoughts of my island home and move on.
But "can" is not the same as "will". I'm sure that there'll be a freezing winter night where I'm cold and having a running nose feeling hungry trying to mug something and everyone else in hall has gone home for Christmas. These nights are the nights your mind will start to wander and miss home, but I know they'll pass. After all, this is the path I chose to trod, and I'm determined to see it out.
Still, there are things I'll definately miss. Friendship, especially those who have lasted so long already, and family members, who are so important to me. I guess it's hard for me to articulate what I feel on a public blog, but you know who you are la (if you actually bother to read this blog you probably fall under this category) Thanks for the good times, the laughs I've shared with you, the times you laughed at me, or the times I was laughed at by you guys, the times when I kaobehed to you etc. You get the drift.
If you want to send me off, flight details are 100907, BA0012 2255 T1.
Wonder how I'll feel that day. I told myself not to get emotional, as there will be 2 girls on the same flight as me and I don't want to lose face, but who knows what will happen then. We'll let it see how it goes then.
Till my departure then. Let me make this last 5 days in Singapore memorable.