first essay, done!

first essay, done!
Originally uploaded by Pepper Lee.

final page, first essay.

im going to vienna :) with fellow singaporeans in york, scheduled to be stopping at budapest as well. well, that should count as my first ‘backpacking in europe’ experience! trip will be starting of jan next year though, so not quite time to get excited yet heh. but still, vienna! this was a really last-minute decision, its gonna be burning quite a hole in the pocket but oh wells, i figured thats what an overseas education should be about no?

what a week. yesterday was spent at leeds, where i bought soya sauce for three pounds, and my first pair of boots! oh people actually do use the term ‘duck’ as term of endearment, the listless woman giving a lecture on ‘cultural awareness’ wasnt wrong. this old lady at the flea market yesterday actually said ‘thank you, duck’ to me! oh cui introduced me to rufus wainwright, to whom im listening to right now because i just ripped off the whole rufus album.

in other news, tonight was my first taste of laksa (courtesy of charmain) in ages. hail whoever invented pre-mixes. the day before was tennis in the rain, indian dinner, homemade cheesecake. oh ive been up to karate (hwaiii-yahhh!), watching no tv, reading my first Cosmo (all literature is uh, not equal).

interesting event during a mundane activity – after laundry yesterday, i was surprised to see that someone had folded my clothes and towels for me in the dryer :) random act of kindness, which i shall pass on! tomorrow i hope. let an opportunity present itself!

this is york!

DSCF1291
Originally uploaded by Pepper Lee.

walking down The Shambles with lin. yes this is an actual name for the street! weather was lovely and we were walking with emily to sainburys to stock up on groceries. this was followed by my first experience of being lost in york. The Shambles is this place tucked away from the M&S shops, the Starbucks of the town. RIght next to where im standing is this shop delectably known as The Chocolate Shop which looks amazing.

If not because im a poor student on a budget, i’d be ballooning, what with the cadbury choc coated chips and the aisles and aisles of breads. breadlovers haven!

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hi :)

its 10:51am around here, and im sitting warm and toasty sipping coffee in my room. bob dylan plays on my ibook, solely because im experiencing a major lack of cds. on second thought, im evicting dylan right now, i’d rather listen to my cheesy itunes collection looped over and again heh.

so its been exactly a week, and im still alive, with internet connection to boot! apologies for not updating sooner, and thanks for all the well-wishes, all the enquiries of concern ;) living in halls really means you have to fork out time for yourself, and choose privacy over the hundred-aound-one events going on (yes even here – land of swans and drunk ducks!).

so what have i been up to! (i wrote the following last night :P)

just back from a jazz music thing with the seniors and a couple of sg freshers at another hall’s jcr – honestly though, i was shouting over the music rather than sitting back and sipping bubbly. intriguing conversation with a philo student about the module on skepticism, and as all philo conversations go, the ruminations inevitably left us scratching our chins. my toes froze while trooping back to james, and i dreamt of enveloping warmth.

met up with my replacement supervising tutor, as well as seminar tutor today. first essay due week three! and its poetry for next week sigh. im the sole asian student in my tutorial group, the sole international student in my flat, save for a mature norwagian student. the first night at the james college welcome reception buffet wasnt too good – ended up hanging with a singaporean friend.

my house mates and course mates are so incredibly friendly though! i was more than a little apprehensive when our tutor assigned us partners to work with on a poetry assignment-my partner looked intimidating!-but it turned out just fine in the end :)

i cannot explain how comforting it feels to hang with singaporeans now; a group of us had a curry dinner at someone’s flat last night – there was rice, there was singlish, there was ease, and there was warmth in that little flat shielded against biting winds. and on the way back, we walked past the goodricke bar’s Playboy mansion party that was going on – girls with bunny ears, couple of guys in drag suits, blaring loud music – and i wondered why no vein in me wanted to strap on the bunny ears and head on in.

well, maybe its not good enough. haha doesnt match up to good old-school bonding, where you can get past the preliminary ‘which college?’ ‘which block?’ ‘where from?’ “which course?’ ‘oh i know a guy in the same course/flat/block!’ and actually chat your interetsts.

(last night’s comments stopped there. i got too tired and fell asleep on my very zen bed cover quilt.)

so anyway, the zen is hardly depressing. haha but maybe only because i decided to brighten up the room with several touches of pink. i bought this electric pink heart-shaped pnk rug, i decorated the borders of my notice board in pink, glossy wrapping paper, and my flatmate (nice of her right) gave me this string of little pink lights to hang in my room! to redeem myself from bimbohood though, the book shelf is now full, thanks to the crazy amounts i spent on second-hand books since reaching campus.

till next time :)

112928390821320545

hi :)

its 10:51am around here, and im sitting warm and toasty sipping coffee in my room. bob dylan plays on my ibook, solely because im experiencing a major lack of cds. on second thought, im evicting dylan right now, i’d rather listen to my cheesy itunes collection looped over and again heh.

so its been exactly a week, and im still alive, with internet connection to boot! apologies for not updating sooner, and thanks for all the well-wishes, all the enquiries of concern ;) living in halls really means you have to fork out time for yourself, and choose privacy over the hundred-aound-one events going on (yes even here – land of swans and drunk ducks!).

so what have i been up to! (i wrote the following last night :P)

just back from a jazz music thing with the seniors and a couple of sg freshers at another hall’s jcr – honestly though, i was shouting over the music rather than sitting back and sipping bubbly. intriguing conversation with a philo student about the module on skepticism, and as all philo conversations go, the ruminations inevitably left us scratching our chins. my toes froze while trooping back to james, and i dreamt of enveloping warmth.

met up with my replacement supervising tutor, as well as seminar tutor today. first essay due week three! and its poetry for next week sigh. im the sole asian student in my tutorial group, the sole international student in my flat, save for a mature norwagian student. the first night at the james college welcome reception buffet wasnt too good – ended up hanging with a singaporean friend.

my house mates and course mates are so incredibly friendly though! i was more than a little apprehensive when our tutor assigned us partners to work with on a poetry assignment-my partner looked intimidating!-but it turned out just fine in the end :)

i cannot explain how comforting it feels to hang with singaporeans now; a group of us had a curry dinner at someone’s flat last night – there was rice, there was singlish, there was ease, and there was warmth in that little flat shielded against biting winds. and on the way back, we walked past the goodricke bar’s Playboy mansion party that was going on – girls with bunny ears, couple of guys in drag suits, blaring loud music – and i wondered why no vein in me wanted to strap on the bunny ears and head on in.

well, maybe its not good enough. haha doesnt match up to good old-school bonding, where you can get past the preliminary ‘which college?’ ‘which block?’ ‘where from?’ “which course?’ ‘oh i know a guy in the same course/flat/block!’ and actually chat your interetsts.

(last night’s comments stopped there. i got too tired and fell asleep on my very zen bed cover quilt.)

so anyway, the zen is hardly depressing. haha but maybe only because i decided to brighten up the room with several touches of pink. i bought this electric pink heart-shaped pnk rug, i decorated the borders of my notice board in pink, glossy wrapping paper, and my flatmate (nice of her right) gave me this string of little pink lights to hang in my room! to redeem myself from bimbohood though, the book shelf is now full, thanks to the crazy amounts i spent on second-hand books since reaching campus.

till next time :)

happy girl :)

choco fondue night!
Originally uploaded by Pepper Lee.

and so the countdown begins. today is at once, the best and worst birthday to date. i was made to feel so utterly special by someone so special, so blissfully peace with the sand, sea, sun and sweetness.

and last night was a quietly riotous affair with the girls. chocolate fondue was amazing. sinfully amazing. hot chocolate gliding down your throat is so disgustingly luxurious!

afternnon lunch was a combined bdae lunch for my grandma and i. shes 71 this year, my granny. the lady who gave me my chinese name, who once quietly cried because i was hurting so badly, who would go out in the rain, walk two bus stops to get me lunch if i just made a passing remark about having a popiah craving.

yes, im happy. for now at least =)