Sweet Sweet Baby!!

It was another boring day of classes yesterday, but the good news is that my IS 044 class on Wednesday is cancelled; my Prof. has to attend a funeral. This week is turning out to be a sweet week, I have absolutely no Chemistry classes to attend as my Prof. is away at a convention. I got back from my last class today and went to the front desk to check if I had mail. I had more than mail alright! I had 2 packages and a card in total. I wonder what was in those packages? Hmm....


I opened the box! It was rather empty don't you think?


I dug among the filler bags and found...


My newest addition to my gadget family! The gorgeous 5.5G 80GB Ipod in Black! I've been wanting one since forever and I finally decided to buy it online over here after procrastinating for so long. Since I've been hitting the library very often these days, I decided that I needed a little music to accompany me when I study. Also, this will accompany on road trips and on flights here and there. It took me less than 30 mins to sync the whole of my mp3 library to the Ipod, which is considered very fast as there is currently 2758 songs in there. Yes, I had to download iTunes to make it work...but then again, Apple Inc. know what they're doing. However, I don't really like iTunes because I can't delete multiple songs at once which is a pain. Or maybe it's because I haven't figured out how to do it yet...


The other package contained the casing and DioFilm I ordered for my Ipod. I wouldn't have the heart to use it if I knew that it could be scratched easily. I like the casing as the flap is magnetic, it helps keep my earphones secure. It's cheaper to buy on Amazon than from the Apple Store. Also, I got $10 discount because I used Google Checkout for the first time or else I would be paying $17.83 for the accessories. Total damage to my bank account...$332.49 + $7.83 = $ 340.32. It was worth it!

Mid-Term Symptoms

It's that feeling again that always hits me in the middle of the semester. Everytime it is the same thing and no matter how hard I try to look out for it, I never notice it until it is too late. What is it? Laziness!!! Gah! I've been feeling rather de-motivated this past week and I finally decided to slap myself out of it today. Why today? Well, I have a class that I'm taking that does not have any exams; we're graded on our assignments. Let's just say that my assignment grades have been less than satisfactory...meaning I have to buck up or face the prospect of doing horribly this semester which I will not fail to regret. So if you find out that I've been wasting my time, do not hesitate to hit me on the head and remind me that I'm supposed to work hard. Anything less than that is unacceptable!

Motorcycle Drive By

Summer time and the wind is blowing, outside in lower Chelsea.
And I don't know what I'm doing in this city,
The sun is always in my eyes,
It crashes through the windows, and I'm sleeping on the couch,
When I came to visit you,
That's when I knew that I could never have you,
I knew that before you did,
Still Im the one who's stupid
And there's this burning, like there's always been,
Ive never been so alone, and Ive never been so alive.

Visions of you on a motorcycle drive by,
The cigarette ash flies in your eyes, and you don't mind, you smile,
And say the world doesnt fit with you.
I don't believe you, youre so serene.
Careening through the universe, your axis on a tilt, you're guiltless and free,
I hope you take a piece of me with you,
And there's things I'd like to do that you don't believe in,
I would like to build something, but you'd never see it happen
And there's this burning, like there's always been,
I've never been so alone, and I've, I've never been so alive,

And theres this burning, ah ha, there was this burning...

Where's the soul. I want to know, New York City's evil.
The surface is everything, but I could never do that,
Someone would see through that.
And this is the last time, well be friends again.
And I'll get over you ,you'll wonder, who I am.
And there's this burning, just like there's always been,
I've never been so alone, alone, and I've, and I've, I've never been so alive, so alive

I go home to the coast. It starts to rain, I paddle out on the water alone,
Taste the salt and taste the pain. I'm not thinking of you again,
Summer dies and swells rise, the sun goes down in my eyes, see this rolling wave, darkly coming to take me, home,
And I never been so alone, and Ive never been so alive.

Spring Comes Softly

I step in puddles everytime I take a walk and birds are up and about...along with squirrels and bunny rabbits. Large patches of greening grass is showing through the blanket of white that I was so used to for over a month. Spring is finally kicking in!

Gone will be the snow and the harsh artic winds chilling me to the bone. Gone are the days when I have to wear layers of clothing just to keep warm. Gone are the days when waiting for the bus seem like endless hours. I can walk around now in a t-shirt and a light jacket. It's a balmy 7 degrees Celsius outside during the day and it drops to about 0 to 2 degrees at night.

I haven't posted in a while I know but last week was a real lazy week for me. I had nothing much to do so I was really bored. My roommate went away to Colorado for the weekend so it was nice to have the entire room to myself for a couple of days. Nicole and I rented DVDs and started our own movie marathon, complete with popcorn, chips and candy.

Last Saturday night, the Malaysian Students Association (MASA) at Drake organized a Chinese New Year Potluck dinner. I got together with some of my friends and we whipped up some chickuteh. Needless to say, it was all gone. The Chinese really know when Spring comes because the next day (Sunday - CNY) the weather improved and has stayed that way ever since. Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Valentine's Day

To all my friends out there and to everyone who is in the same boat as I am, Happy Valentine's Day! This original song by David Choi is dedicated to each and every one of you.

Valentine's Day

This is the first year that I had so much fun on Valentine's Day although I am single. I went to the Valentine's Day dinners on both Saturday and Sunday night. I was right! The one on Saturday turned out to be a blast! I got all dressed up for a fun night out with my friends. I didn't expect to see so many other girls who turned up for the event. There were about 150 girls in total and everything went smoothly as the limo and luxe SUV sent us to the church hall. Yes...you heard me right...a limo! I met some new friends and caught up with others.


This is me with Emily. As you can see, I look really good in that cheongsam (lol!) but it was really cold outside at -8 C. I practically ran (in stilettoes) all the way from Grace's dorm to Olmstead Center. I only had that dress on and my winter coat but my winter coat is only knee length.


I was dancing around from the cold while waiting to get into the limo. I managed to take several pictures before we got in.


The limo was the longest one I've ever seen and it was so cool to be able to ride in one for the very first time. They really packed us in. I think there were about 15 of us in that limo.


Ally, myself and someone else whose name I forgot. We were sitting by the door so we were the first ones to get out. I know I look really scary in the makeup but it's the lighting. The guys were really nice, once we reached, they escorted us one by one out of the limo into the building, made small talk and took our coats for us.


Once we got into the building, we basically went photo crazy. Both of us (Grace and I) looked really good that night. Actually, all of us looked really good!


Nicole and I


We asked a friendly gentleman to take a picture of us and he was more than happy to oblige. He took this one of us while lying on the floor to get the right angle...haha.


There was this little arch at the entrance where people stood to take pictures. It kinda reminded me of prom and since I didn't have prom in school, this one made up for it. While we were waiting for the guys to serve us, they put up pictures of us to see and this one came up on screen several times.


Nicole, Kerry and I. Kerry is a really nice guy...one of the first few Americans I met over here. He was waiting on tables and was involved in the performances later on.


Nicole, Andrew and I. I've been over to Andrew's place for dinner once (check history) and he was also involved in performing later on that night. The guys served us salad, baked chicken wrapped in bacon with pasta and a choice of cakes for dessert. It was nice to see the guys being so courteous, accomodating and entertaining all at the same time.


The theme for the night was "MTV Made". The audio and visual crew prepared weeks ahead for the event. They made episodes/parodies of various MTV programs such as "Real World", "Cribs" and "Pimp My Ride" and showed them on the big screen in addition to all the live acts. This was supposed to be TRL-Total Request Live and Kerry was no other than Carson Daly.


A bunch of guys pretending to be Blink 182. The surprising thing was that some of them really did look like the band members and they sounded pretty good too.


These two were supposedly two members of Nsync. They sang "God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You" but Andrew forgot some of the words in the middle of the song and made some up instead. That drew some laughs. :)


A guy in a pink tutu...not something you'd see everyday.


Another cross-dresser! They were really sporting enough to make fools out of themselves to entertain us girls.


Kerry and 2 other guys dancing to boy band pop music. I'd have to say that their performance was the best one that night. Everyone could tell that they practiced and I was rather impressed at Kerry's pirouetting skills!


The other guys who weren't involved in the actual performances helped out by being enthusiastic audience members. I had a blast that night, and so did my other friends.

At the end of the night, we were provided with rides back to wherever we wanted to go to. Nicole, Ann and I got into a very nice Honda sports car driven by a cute guy named Steve and we were chauffered back to campus. What more could a girl want eh?

Events This Weekend

Phew....finally a small breather in between my hectic schedule. I finished my last test for the week today and I realised that I made some careless mistakes. Sigh, but I hope everything else will turn out okay. I still have suff to do so I'll try my best to make the best out of my time to finish as much as possible before the weekend is over.

However, despite my workload, I have a shopping trip and 2 dinners to attend. I'll be heading out on Saturday and Sunday night to attend two dinners in conjunction for Valentine's day. And no...they are not dates. The one on Saturday will hopefully be a fun night out with some other girls at the expense of some guys from the local church. Lol! They are supposed to cook us dinner and entertain us. The one on Sunday will be with my host family. It is nice to have things to look forward to instead of just homework all the time.

I've also noticed that some of the single guys that I know on campus are acting a little out of character during this period of time. I don't know if the Valentine's blues are getting to them or is it just me thinking too much. But I don't think it's me because Grace told me the exact same thing. Haha! Oh well, there is no need to have a special someone on that day. The most important thing is to be able to love yourself for who you are first. If you can't do that, you will most likely not be able to love the other half.

Therapy

Finally I'm able to have a breather in between everything. I have been so so busy the last week. I had a test to study for during the weekend and an assignment to finish. The test was one of my least favourite subjects...American Politics. Nevertheless, I can now heave a sigh of relief that it's done! But I don't know how I'll do though. The second part was pretty tough. I have another test to study for, Chemical Analysis this coming Thursday. After that, hopefully I can just sit down and chill for a while. Because of all my assignments and tests, I missed two Sunday night suppers of home cooked food! Sigh...nevermind, the next one is coming up in 2 weeks time and I'll be sure to keep my calender free on that day.

So far, my other classes are going pretty well. Iowa Environment is a pretty easy class, along with Information Systems 044 which is good because I can relax in class. Last week, I wrote about having a tough time with the Excel Project for my Environmental Decisionmaking class but I managed to finish it in the end. To my surprise, I got 19/20 for that assignment. My model was not as complex or as organized as my professor's but thankfully, I got it right!

Also, due to all the stress I've been facing, I've been going for therapy sessions once a week. My therapy? Shopping! I'm serious, it helps me relax and forget about all the work that I have piled in front of me. At times, I really miss my friends as well so the shopping helps. I know it is a very bad alternative and it shows on my bank account but I'm trying hard to keep it in check. The next time I go out, I shall take only $10 with me, enough to pay for the bus fare and for a meal. Talking about meals, I went to an Indian restaurant buffet lunch yesterday after church. It cost me $8.94 including tax and tip and student discount. Oh well, since I hardly ever eat out, maybe twice a week, I don't really mind spending money on food. It was a treat to be able to eat as authentic asian food as possible. I stuffed myself. :)
Next week might be a Chinese buffet lunch perhaps....we shall see...

I left most of my shoes in Malaysia and I hate not having a variety of shoes to choose from. So I bought these:


Very fashionable peep toe kitten heel pumps...$10.99 (OP $14.99)


Sneakers from American Eagle, a steal at only $9.95 (OP $29.95)


Boots from Maurice's, only $6.25 (OP $34)


Tweed ballet flats from JC Pennys....$4.99 (OP $20)

Lovely shoes! I told my mum that I bought tons of shoes. She did nag me of course but after hearing my explanation, she didn't have much left to say. I haven't worn any of them yet. Am keeping some until the weather gets milder so that I won't get frosbitten toes due to over exposure. ^_^

Tired

I last spoke to my mum on Sunday. It feels kinda weird and detached not being able to talk to her. I hope to catch up with her this weekend. Some of my other friends call home everyday or every other day. Maybe it's because I've done it before so it doesn't feel as bad. My friend just received a parcel from home today. A 25kg box loaded with goodies like Chinese New Year cookies. The shipping cost? RM 500. I think the shipping rate costs more than the value of the items in the box. But then again, it's the thought that counts right?

I just came back from Chem lab. The lab time over here is 4 hours long and the lab class doesn't provide stools for you to sit down. The experiment that I was carrying out is only about half done. Imagine that, 4 hours to complete half an experiment! I'll be continuing the rest next week. The best part is that I don't have to work on the lab report this week...but I'll start with what I have anyways. My last lab report was 7 pages long. Go figure.

The pace over here has been picking up. I've been keeping busy with my work. I usually have an assignment to hand in every week and on some weeks, more than one; 2 lab reports to complete, a quiz or two to study for every week, and the usual reading or homework. Sometimes, when it's the right time, I have a test to study for. I am looking at all the things I have to do and I wonder how I am able to manage it so far. Unlike back in Malaysia, I had plenty of time to "goyang kaki" and watch TV, go shopping or do whatever I usually do. Imagine if I've actually gotten a job! No time whatsoever to do anything. I'm sure God knew what I can handle when I applied for a job at Hubbell dining hall but got no reply.

I'm supposed to go shopping again this weekend, but I do have a list this time and will not be tempted to shop for unneccessary stuff. I also have to remind myself that I have to study for that Politics test this coming Monday. It doesn't help that it's my least favourite class and that I just remembered that I have a party to attend tomorrow night. Oh well, I'll work my butt off tonight and tomorrow afternoon. Yeah....will do that.