*

Sufjan Stevens - Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing

2009-04-11T21:51:00.001-05:00

Come Thou fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
I'll praise the mount I'm fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by Thy help I come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wondering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above

Madeleine Peyroux - You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

2009-02-15T01:51:00.002-06:00

I heard this gorgeous Bob Dylan cover in one of this year's Oscar-nominated short films, Manon Sur Le Bitume, and it's been my favorite song for the past week or so.

What I've Been Up To Since Obama Got Elected

2009-01-14T17:02:00.008-06:00

Spent a fog-free Christmas morning on the Golden Gate BridgeWalked the boho-licious streets of Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco

Hung out at the Hoover Dam

Got to see my dear manatees at SeaWorld, San Diego (pictures of the real ones didn't turn out good)

Marveled at the sunset at La Jolla, San Diego

Got a visual overdose of palm trees

Posed, OC style, at Santa Monica Beach near LA

Felt small against the big blue sky

Watched Blue Man Group in Las Vegas

Pretended to be a Stanford smarty

Re-connected with old friends and made a new one

Received a lovely Hepburn tote from Mark xxx

Painted my dustbin/trashcan/rubbishreceptacle

Painted my table lamp, which now looks like a circus tent/peppermint

Wow.

2008-11-05T00:21:00.003-06:00

Has it really been a year and 9 months since I posted this? Just watched three straight hours of NBC's live election broadcast, which culminated in the historic announcement at 10pm Austin time, and witnessed newscasters, celebrities, politicians, religious leaders and supporters alike break down and weep under the sheer magnitude of the moment. We've indeed come a long way, and I'm thankful that I can be here to take it all in.

A (not so) Silent Halloween

2008-11-02T20:11:00.009-06:00

I went as a mime.

Beret and White Face Paint: Lucy in Disguise
'Retro Red' Lipstick: CVS Pharmacy
Gloves: Goodwill
Shirt: My own - bought it at H&M in NYC
Suspenders: Borrowed from Dana's Dad
Shorts: Daphne's
Tights: Walmart
Shoes: Some store in Jurong

Getting the mime face on took an hour. Gotta give credit to this girl, who showed me how to do it right. Experimented with a scary face at first, then settled on a sad one.

With Dana aka. Fernando the Pinata. His costume was fully hand-made!

Huiping the Shell Station attendant, Su-May as Minnie Mouse, Chris the peanut farmer, Mei as Spongebob

Lilian the Stepford Wife. I really loved this one... she even baked a pumpkin pie!

Jan as Iron Man/Tony Stark.

A couple of Nerds.

The Streetfighters, Ryu and Dan.

With Pammy the Hot Quarterback and Daph as Audrey Hepburn/Holly Golightly

Wai Kit the white Matrix Reloaded twin

On Sixth Street, where I spotted at least 10 Jokers...

And only one Sarah Palin, who was supporting Obama.

Oktober

2008-10-26T14:26:00.007-05:00

And we're back. I suffered from chronic incompleteblogposts-itis over the past few weeks, and so I have a few halfway-done drafts and am starting afresh (again). Who knows if I'll reach the end of this one.
A lot has occurred since the momentous event documented in the post below. First, I have completely forgotten how to drive. However, I do have a license and look very happy in it (they took the picture immediately after the test). Other events of note:
1. Finding a church I can call home. I'm happily settled in Gracepoint Fellowship Austin and I know it's a place where I can serve and grow. Two years of church-hopping wasn't easy, especially having gone to the same church for 21+ years in Singapore, so thank God for these guys.
2. Hanging out with work friends. I love my fellow Peer Academic Coaches! That's me in orange... heh. A few of these people share my passions for The Office, cute movies like Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and molten chocolate cake from Chili's.
3. Austin City Limits. Hot, dusty, crowded, smoky, weed-y, sweaty and a ton of fun. Was introduced to new bands and got to swoon over familiar ones. Highlights: Foo Fighters, Gogol Bordello, Robert Plant and Allison Krauss and The Raconteurs. Was stupid enough to forget to put on sunscreen all three days, and so...
4. Fell sick for a week. Super-duper-schedule-messer-upper. Do NOT fall sick, ever.
5. Teaching a sixth grade class at Kealing Middle School, a great school in a bad neighborhood. Austin is divided by Interstate-35 and everything east of it is a whole different world from our university bubble. The bus journey to Kealing is quite an eye-opener. However, my teaching experience has been rosy so far, because my cooperating teacher is amazing. She manages to be totally stern and yet cool, funny and warm at the same time. And I love how she incorporates film, music, audiobooks, real life simulations and even food into her lessons. Am learning a lot.
6. Watching UT football games on Saturday for the past three weeks. I've only just begun to understand the appeal of the game, and it helps that UT is THE NUMBER ONE TEAM IN THE COUNTRY! HOOK 'EM HORNS! Wow, I'm surprised that blogger does have burnt orange on its color palette. Nice.
7. Putting together my Halloween costume. Will not say what it is right now, but I will say that all I'm missing is a black beret.
8. Watching Margaret Cho's performance at the Union, which was almost entirely about sex and made me realize what a prude I am. I was under the impression she was going to give a lecture on Asian-Americans.
9. The upcoming election. Seeing people sporting 'I Voted' stickers or Obama or McCain buttons is making me more excited than ever for the outcome. I'm thankful to be in the US at this momentous period of time. But the best thing that's come out of all of this, IMHO, is Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impressions on SNL ("I can see Russia from my house!").
I will stop here, because nine is the square of 3 and is therefore cooler than 10.
Until next time!

Someday I'll look back on this and laugh

2008-09-12T16:24:00.003-05:00

I failed my first driving test today in a hilariously humiliating way that isn't so funny just yet. Man, it stings...
Second chance: Wednesday!

** Edit: I PASSED!!! ** :D
Thank you for all the encouragement, guys!

Talking about New York...

2008-08-30T23:52:00.002-05:00

I want to watch this so bad:

East Coast Trip Special Feature: Red Door Series

2008-08-23T22:17:00.002-05:00

Fifth Avenue, New York City

Somewhere near Soho, I believe...

E 63rd Street, NYC

Beacon Hill, Boston

Georgetown, Washington DC

The Amazing Adventures of Bill and Jeff, Part One

2008-08-23T19:24:00.040-05:00

Meet the team:

Bill...

... and Jeff.

After dumping a bunch of stuff in Austin and getting our fill of Einstein Bros. Bagels, we set off on our much anticipated East Coast Adventure. First stop: Noo Yawk City. Guess who was on the same plane to NYC:
Yup, it was Jennifer Hudson! Wanted to ask her to autograph my bag of mini pretzels, but didn't. Then our plane was stuck on the ground for two hours, so we struck up a conversation with the guy sitting next to us, a sculptor of very large pufferfish and other marine animals. We finally arrived in New York City around midnight and promptly crashed into bed at the very nice and well-located Big Apple Hostel (see picture below).

Special K with Red Berries in the morning.

Times Square: absolutely essential but ultimately overrated.

Jeff Koons' exhibit on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art - a stunning location.
Famous Magnolia cupcakes at an outdoor foodfest - yum!
Pizza - our best friend for the next few weeks
In an attempt to be unconventional, we took pictures with the Naked Cowgirl instead (see the famed Naked Cowboy in the background?)
Making the treacherous subway trip to the Whitehouse Hotel - a smaller, shadier but more endearing hostel on the Lower East Side.
Despite the crazy narrow corridors, cell-like rooms and lack of any real ceilings, we grew very fond of the place
Barry, architecture-loving friend and bodyguard who helped us fall in love with New York and taught us the meaning of "prefabrication"
Sampoorna aka Pony, our trusty tour guide, lover of peaches, partner-in-dessert-crime and SATC movie buddy
Grace, food connoisseur who brought us to the yummiest ramen dinner in Little Tokyo
Tired but triumphant after the walking part of the Brooklyn Bridge
Guy chopping up nougat in Little Italy
Posing outside Serendipity 3, where they shot the movie of the same name
Their famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate immortalized on screen
Wandering around Columbia University
Our unwitting model outside the New York Public Library
Esquire covers at the MOMA
Getting my molten chocolate cake with sea salt and pistachios at the Dessert Truck
Katz Deli, shooting location of that infamous scene in When Harry Met Sally
Yellow Fever outside Yonah Schimmel's Knishery
Life imitating art in Brooklyn
Brooklyn had a charm all its own
The team
Posers (Oh, Rainn)
Onward to Boston!

I Was There!!

2008-08-13T01:40:00.004-05:00

John Mayer concert, 08-02-08, in Houston, TX, with Beth, Zach and Meiyan. Amazing stuff. I think we all left madly in love with him that night.
Some videos of my favorite moments, stolen off YouTube:
1. He made a surprise appearance in the middle of Colbie Caillat's opening act.
2. He then re-appeared for the main part of the show. SHIRTLESS.
3. He played U2!

A Good Man

2008-05-22T20:07:00.002-05:00

Goodbye, Grandpa. We love you and miss you.

#120

2008-04-20T15:59:00.009-05:00

Confession: Sometimes I deliberately put off blogging in hopes of appearing really studious to you guys. Or to make it look like I'm caught up in an exciting whirlwind of mind-broadening and horizon-widening activity, when in reality all I've been doing these past few weeks is eating, sleeping, going to school and reading.

Whew. Glad I got that off my chest :) I'm in the Presidential Lounge of the Texas Union now - a great study spot because it's perfectly silent. Sip your Frappuccino a little too loud, and you get shot dirty looks. But the lounge is also adjacent to the Union Ballroom, which is currently the venue for a dance rehearsal, so we've been made to listen to Lifehouse's "You and Me" three times so far... What day is it? And in what month? This clock never seemed so alive... Not that I mind. I love that song.

This week I had to register for next semester's classes. I am a true nerd. Whenever the new course schedule comes out, I feel like a kid in the candy aisle, giddy with excitement. Which English course to pick this time? Which professor got the best ratings on pickaprof.com? What books are they teaching? I initially signed up for beginner's Italian on a whim (Spanish would've been the more practical choice) but later dropped it for Czech Literature, because I want to be able to say I've read Crime and Punishment. Also registered for The Social Dramas of Henrik Ibsen, because I got a taste of his works in NUS and really like A Doll's House. I only get to choose two classes next semester, because the other three are mandated by the UTeach program: Advanced Methods in English, Adolescent Literacy and The English Language and its Social Context. Not looking forward to that last one... I'm not big on linguistics.

Found a cool artist on etsy.com: Liza Corbett. So gorgeous. This is my current wallpaper, and I so want to buy this to hang on my wall. I'm thinking of taking a beginner's drawing class at Lasalle when I get back, or at the Austin Museum of Art next semester. I desperately want to get past drawing angels and flowers, but can't.

My pop song of the moment is Kylie's "All I See." It's so darn catchy! Original, acoustic, remix version... all good. Give it a listen and see if you don't find yourself tapping your foot.

Three weeks to this (Sorry Mom, I guess you were taking the picture):
Green curry, pineapple tarts and Pokka green tea around the best dining table in the world.

Shed some light on me please

2008-04-16T18:18:00.007-05:00

Meiyan and I took a nice long walk to Stubb's last night to catch Feist in concert.The opening act was a Canadian dude named Hayden, who was pretty charming even though he seemed to be closing his eyes the whole time. He played the harmonica, which was nice. I really like his song "Bass Song." Check out his MySpace page.
He played for an hour, we waited an hour and then Feist showed up.

Gotta admit I left with mixed feelings. I had high expectations for this concert, and yet I didn't have as much fun as I did in Brandi Carlile's show last year.
Highlights:
1. Feist looked hot. She makes me wanna get bangs.
2. There was a very cool shadow-play thing going on on the projection screen overhead. Like a mini sideshow. Using a glorified overhead projector, a lady on stage used paint, stencils, light, prisms and her own hands to create a pretty scene for each song.
3. Feist stopping mid-song to take a cell phone from a girl in the audience who was CHATTING DURING THE CONCERT... gasp! After a minute or so, the girl realized the error of her ways and screamed, "I'm sorry, Leslie, will you forgive me?"
4. Her band members, who were clad in all white.
5. Opening with a haunting rendition of Honey Honey.
6. Her awesome performance of Sea Lion Woman, which gave me the chills.
Lowlights:
1. TOO SHORT!!! She played for a little more than an hour.
2. My fault: I didn't do my pre-concert homework, so I didn't know half the songs.
3. Where was One Evening, Inside and Out and Secret Heart?? Sad omissions.
4. Lack of audience banter. Hayden talked more than she did.
5. Standing in the same spot for 4 hours nearly killed my feet.
6. My pictures are all blurry!
Okay, so maybe it wasn't so bad after all. I just really wished she had sung a few more songs... it seemed a little rushed.

***
Next topic: the Austin City Limits lineup! Check it out here. Again, a leeetle disappointing because I was hoping against hope that Coldplay would return this year (after headlining in '05) and others like Death Cab, Ben Harper, The Shins and Rachael Yamagata. But of course Coldplay's too mainstream for hip ol' Austinites. So I have mainstream tastes. I don't care. The list is definitely growing on me, though. Foo Fighters! I've loved Alison Krauss' voice ever since I heard her on the Cold Mountain soundtrack, so yay. And I've been checking out her stuff with Robert Plant... it's really good! And look: The Raconteurs! Erykah Badu! Tegan and Sara! Iron and Wine! The Swell Season (bet you're jealous now, Charles Lim)! and further down the page... Jose Gonzalez! I love him! And I have from now till September to check out the rest of the bands so I can plan my festival schedule. Let's hope none of my favorite acts clash.

Le Mot Juste

2008-04-06T20:07:00.002-05:00

I know that lately I've been posting lazy excuses for blogs - weird videos of melting chocolate bunnies and updates on my grandma collection of quarters (40 at the moment) - and this whole week I've been itching to write a proper update. So here I go. The past two weeks have been real busy. I've been trying to finish up my 9-lesson quota for UTeach, the teacher preparation program I'm in. Since last Friday, I've taught a class of high school freshman (Sec 3's) simile, direct and implied metaphor, alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia and how to construct a poem from their favorite song lyrics. Sometimes the lessons go well, and sometimes not so well, but my cooperating teacher gives great constructive feedback and I'm learning a ton. The kids can be a handful, but mostly they're really fun to interact with. It's just great seeing their eyes light up when I show them a funny cartoon or when the whole class claps after they've recited their poem. It can be a drag taking the 'Dillo to the school three times a week, but every time I finish observing or teaching a lesson I feel good. I've fought it before, but now I know for sure that I'm headed for a career in education. Oh, fun fact: the school I'm teaching at (Austin High) is the alma mater of the Bush twins and Benjamin McKenzie, better known as Ryan from The O.C. Yeah.

Yesterday was 40 Acres Fest, the annual student-run festival at UT. Got a "peace-love-music" sign painted on my left cheek, while Daph, the face-painting enthusiast, looked slightly creepy with a flower on one cheek and a bloody gash on the other. We did this blowup horizontal bungee run thingy and because I don't know how to land properly, I now have a severe neckache/sprain. Ow. Hopefully it will go away soon. The Roots played at 40 Acres, but I decided to be a nerd and study with Kirsten at JP's Java. It's okay - I've got tickets to Feist and Kanye West+Rihanna+N.E.R.D.+Lupe Fiasco. Can't wait!

Been looking at NYC hostels and even the most spartan hostels are at least $35/person/night. Anyone know of people in NYC who might put my sister and I up for about four nights? We're willing to pay a small fee...
I'm also looking for a job from mid-May to end-June when I'm back in Singapore. I've applied to a few places but I still need more options. Help!

The Office is back this Thursday! YAYAYAY. Oh wait... I have a peer mentor meeting and then an SSA fund-raiser at Tap House, a bubble tea store. Crap. Will have to watch it online then.

I was feeling particularly bummed one evening this week. So I went to take a shower and saw a magazine lying face-down in my bathroom, displaying a commercial with two big words: Pure Joy. Immediately I thought of James 1:2 (even though I didn't know the exact scripture reference at the time and spent about ten minutes searching the New Testament for it after my shower): "2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds..."
And because context is important: 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
How encouraging is that? You hear the words "pure joy" being used to describe luxury chocolates and exotic holidays (in this case, it was a brand of potato chips), but God's telling me to consider the hardships, the struggles as pure joy in light of the person I will become under His tutelage. I wanna be mature and complete, even though I feel so far from that almost every day. It was a dose of much-needed heavenly perspective for myopic little me.

Last Weekend,

2008-03-30T21:46:00.007-05:00

1. JFoo had a cocktail formal,

The Pretty

The Prettier

The Host

The Eyebrows and the Pout-Dimple

The Pseudo-Socialites

The Drinks I only got a sip of because they were snapped up so quickly :(

The Shoes

2. I went to County Line on The Hill to celebrate Becks' belated birthday and Chelsey's new job,
3. And I went to Holi, the Festival of Colors with my fellow peer mentor Saloni. We threw water balloons and colored powder at random people. I'm not especially stressed, but it was still a great stress-reliever.

Quarter Count: 39!!! I'm missing New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Colorado, Massachusetts, Missouri and Wisconsin (Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii haven't been released yet).

Taking Back Easter

2008-03-24T18:48:00.004-05:00

A hilarious and heart-breaking way to display one's rejection of the holiday's commercialization:

Quarter Count: 25 (I'm halfway there!)

My Noble Pursuit

2008-03-17T20:44:00.004-05:00

I've embarked on the slightly old-ladyish mission of collecting all 50 of the 50 State Quarters by the end of this year. Read more about the program here. So far I have Arkansas, North and South Carolina, Illinois, Nebraska, Louisiana, South Dakota, Oregon, Virginia, Tennessee and Washington. Which means I'm more than one-fifth of the way towards my goal. Help me out, Austin people!

UPDATE
Current Quarter Count: 23

New Orleans, Part Two

2008-03-17T18:32:00.005-05:00

I found my dream vehicle!

Weird pose, Chris.

This car reminded me of Austin. Love the vaguely hip-hoppy spray-painted fleurs-de-lis..

Possibly my favorite street performance. Gave him a dollar.

Cafe Du Monde's famous beignets (pronounced ben-YAYs). Think French hum chin peng with heaps of powdered sugar. Best eaten with a steaming cup of their cafe au lait (background).

There is an art to eating beignets outdoors, and I haven't mastered it yet. Kirsten looks like she knows what she's doing, though.

Our wonderful four poster bed.

The board said "Pin your home country," So I did.

Outside Angeli on Decatur, home of great red pepper-bacon-pesto-swiss cheese burgers and pasta salad. I like that tattooed man in the background.

My only souvenir - a print by local artist James Michalopoulos. When I get rich I want to buy more of his stuff :)

The gang again, after walking 45 minutes in search of the obscure Angelo Brocato Ice Cream Shop. So worth it.

Next to the porch swing, the B&B's best feature was its hot tub. Nothing like a good hot bubbly soak on a rainy night.

Yet another weird pose from Chris. Our room was the door to the right.

New Orleans, Part One

2008-03-16T15:21:00.024-05:00

I'm tempted to just direct all of you to Kirsten's post. She did such a good job describing our Spring Break that I have hardly any motivation to blog about it now. But I will, because it was that enjoyable.

Day One

Got off to a less-than-auspicious start. Grey skies, pouring rain. Totally not the scene I had envisioned when I burned our road trip mix CD full of shamelessly poppy driving ditties including "Beautiful Day" and "MMMBop." Drove (okay, Chris drove) to Houston to spend the night at Jan's, had dim sum and Kirsten got food poisoning. Was trying to stay upbeat, but I was really concerned that she would be sick the entire trip. Went to bed praying that everything would be okay. No good photos.

Day Two

Left Houston around 7am. By the time we crossed the state line into Louisiana, the skies had brightened considerably and Kirsten was talking again. YAY!

My first meal in Louisiana - Seafood gumbo at Crawfish Town. A peppery stew of crabmeat and shrimp, served over rice.

One of the first houses I spied in the French Quarter. Love it!

Our B&B, which was nothing short of amazing. That's our innkeeper Phillip at the front door.

The shophouse opposite our B&B. Don't you just love the little old man? And if you look closer, you'll see that the tree is fully draped with Mardi Gras beads.

The iconic Blue Dog by famed New Orleans artist George Rodrigue. See him paint it here

Hard Rock Cafe. Inside, Adam Levine's tattered jeans were displayed in a glass box. I wouldn't call that rock 'n' roll memorabilia...

St. Louis Cathedral

Hawt Dawgs

Chatting with one of the natives

There was some interesting art going on on top of the roof, but I couldn't capture it.

Bright colors and a forced smile - tired lah

Dinner at Adolfo's: Okay, this deserves so much more than just a one-liner caption. This, my friends, is red snapper smothered in the chef's special Ocean Sauce - a rich, creamy mix of tender shrimp, crawfish, shredded crab, tons of herbs and capers. It was probably the best meal I've had in the US. Thanks for the recommendation, Phillip!

The (in)famous Bourbon Street: sex, booze and loud music. It was kinda gross but the energy was undeniable.

We quickly escaped to the more subdued (but no less entertaining) The Spotted Cat, a bar just outside of the French Quarter. Had a Cosmopolitan while listening to this

Day Three

View from the streetcar/tram

With my hero at the Mardi Gras Museum
These kids were touring the museum along with us
Street musicians
Group shot in the streetcar
Louis Armstrong in Algiers, a city across the Mississippi River

My teammates

View of the New Orleans skyline from the ferry

Elizabeth's Restaurant: Not much to look at from the outside, but it turned out to be another gush-worthy dining location. Had the Elizabeth's Dream Burger with blue cheese and the house specialty - PRALINE BACON. Absolutely delicious. Here's a radio segment on how they make their famous sweet-and-salty confection.

The Blanket Thing

2008-03-09T20:18:00.003-05:00

SPRRRING BRRREAK. Tomorrow I'm off to Houston, then New Orleans, hopefully with a bit of Biloxi or Baton Rouge thrown in for good measure. (Note to self: curb Asian tendency to say "New orLEENS" and replace with "New ORlins" or even better, "Noo AWlins.") Can't wait for some good live music and Louisiana Creole cuisine... crawfish, jambalaya, gumbo and beignets. We're staying at a charming B&B in the heart of the French Quarter, the oldest and most famous neighborhood in the city. I just burned our road trip mix CD and am now doing last-minute packing. I'm not bringing my Mac, so I'll be happily "disconnected" for the week. Updates when I get back.

Speaking of disconnection, here are two of my favorite movie scenes, from the hilarious I Heart Huckabees:

This is for Beth:

and this is for Munyuk:

Zilker Park Kite Festival

2008-03-02T20:01:00.007-06:00

Pre-Festival kite-making at Jan's on Friday

Was assigned to the design team

JFoo and Angela's art

Final product! Click for full effect.

I've been drawing the same thing since Sec 1. How's that for artistic stagnation?

Sunday was Kite Day! It was also the windiest day I have ever experienced in Austin. How could the organizers have known that? Thousands of people and kites descended upon Zilker Park (well, the kites mostly ascended, but whatever) and we were there to get a piece of the action. Even though none of our home-made kites really flew, and we were constant in danger of being sliced, strangled or whacked in the head by errant kites, I still had fun.

Jan and Paul's ugly but relatively effective garbage bag creation

We 'stole' the red and yellow one

Let's hope Daph doesn't kill me for this

SuperNerd!

This dog kept getting tangled in/chewing on other people's kite strings

Poor impaled kites

Kirsten and our patriotic kite which wouldn't fly

Hoops and hair

Oh baby, though you didn't make it very far in the air...

... I still love you!

My Afternoon with the Phantom

2008-03-02T19:03:00.008-06:00

Went to San Antonio on Saturday with Kirsten, Kenaz and Ding Ding. That city doesn't have that big scary urban feel that you get when you go to Dallas or Houston. Very touristy and very pretty. We got there at one and the show was at two, so we raced around the tourist-infested River Walk frantically looking for a place to eat. Finally settled on Saltgrass and had a rushed but very satisfying 10-minute lunch. Raced back to the Majestic Theater, found our seats, and surrendered our next two and a half hours to The Phantom of the Opera.

I wish I could say I was enthralled beyond belief. Gorgeous, gorgeous costumes (especially during "Masquerade") and sets (the dry-ice filled boat scene, in particular), which were only enhanced by the slightly ostentatious interior design of the Majestic. Andrew Lloyd Webber's songs are timeless and I will always love "Think of Me." But I think I'm more of a movie person because of my constant need to see facial features and expressions. In a musical, the actors always seem too inaccessible. I guess I prefer the total escapism that the movie medium offers. Or maybe I should have just brought binoculars like the old lady two rows in front of me.

On another slightly annoyed note, why can't I rotate pictures for Blogger on my Mac? Help.

Proud of the Homeland, Part 2

2008-03-02T18:56:00.003-06:00

Friday afternoon. I was at Jester about to take the elevator up to work when I passed by a lecture hall. An advertising class had just ended, and this was on the big screen:

No matter where you are, there's no escaping the Singapore Girl.

Hey Billy!

2008-02-28T20:41:00.012-06:00

Went to the Bill Clinton rally in front of the Tower yesterday to watch a man make a last-ditch attempt to persuade Obamamaniacal Austin to vote for his wife. It was a good speech - he touched on housing, energy, Iraq, healthcare, education and the disabled. Everything was clear and practical. The part about increasing financial aid and lowering interest rates on college loans definitely got the most applause. As a politically apathetic non-citizen, however, the thing that struck me most was his hair. Coiffure is probably a better word. A softly glowing halo of silvery grey. The Daily Texan has this awesome picture of the wondrous 'do.

I took several videos of him (I LOVE the zoom on my Ixus), but by the end my lens started fogging up and it got really blurry. So here's an clip I took of him early in the speech. Please note I had my hands raised ridiculously high above my head, so I got spasms in my arms about halfway through. You'll see what I mean.

(The clip was originally three minutes long, but I had to cut it extensively to comply with Blogger's 100MB limit.)

***

On another note, my classmate introduced this to us a few days ago and I thought it was great. May I present to you the question that has been plaguing me since the start of my college life (from the Broadway musical Avenue Q - Let's go watch it in July, Beth!):

Notes

2008-02-26T21:53:00.011-06:00

New Calendar

Decided that I couldn't survive any longer without some kind of visual representation of passing time hanging from my wall. I love the feeling of being able to cross off a box with my thick black marker at the end of the day like I've accomplished something. Glad I held out until the end of February, because the neighborhood bookstore, Intellectual Property, slashed prices on all calendars to $1. Of course I was left with a somewhat limited selection - Desperate Housewives, Historical Texas, The Dalai Lama, Fireflies and Hot Campus Girls were some of the available themes. In the end I narrowed it down to two choices: Beatrix Potter or Scenes of Tuscany. Eventually, idealized Italian scenery beat out painted British rabbits and I now have one less plot of empty space on my wall.

Phantom of the Opera

Watching it this Saturday at San Antonio. CAN'T HARDLY WAIT. I've been wanting to watch it since my parents did, like, ten years ago and I'm finally getting my chance. I borrowed the DVD from school (the soundtrack wasn't available) to familiarize myself with the songs. I remember watching the movie at West Mall with Fish, Xiaoen, Yiwen and Weishan (?) and the movie stopped halfway and we went out to complain and then they replayed the entire thing from the beginning. Oh, Eng-Wah...

Homeless People

I don't know what to think of them. The homeless people on the Drag (the road running parallel to the border of school) are usually young, white and proud, mostly dreadlocked and tattooed and lugging their mangy dogs wherever they go. They sit around and laugh loudly and smoke weed and use the Starbucks bathroom and busk. Most of them look like they chose the lifestyle. I read somewhere that they can easily make $12 an hour. I don't feel particularly sorry for them. But when I take the 'Dillo (a free public bus) to Austin High to teach, I see different homeless people. The ones who drag black trash bags full of stuff and are huddled in smelly blankets in winter. But they come up the bus and I automatically think, "Please don't sit next to me." I feel terrible when I think that. The other day one sat two seats behind me and I nearly gagged. He smelled like week-old socks and cigarettes. I wish I could be more compassionate.

Sunday School

Started out as a teacher for preschool last week and it's been real fun. I've missed being able to carry 3-year-old kids around and push them on the swings. We had a bit of a messy lesson last Sunday with bright blue paint on the carpet and a particularly sensitive and sniffling little girl, but it was all good.

Proud of the Homeland

2008-02-20T17:46:00.002-06:00

This was on Kanye West's blog a week ago. He puts up pictures of random cool things, and because Singapore doesn't typically have a reputation for being random or cool, I was really surprised to see it. Hopefully this puts our little island on the pop culture map. Yay for Singapore architecture!

Uno, Dos, Tres

2008-02-16T23:33:00.007-06:00

Wow, I'm on a blogging roll.

Just came back from watching U23D, "the first ever live action 3D concert movie," at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum's IMAX theater. What an experience. It's basically a feature-length 3D film created from footage of the South American leg of U2's Vertigo tour. We were all given geeky 3D glasses (which I had kinda hoped would be tinted blue, as a Bono reference, but no...) and the minute the movie began, I was spellbound. We somehow merged into the screaming, sweaty concert audience on the screen. I loved every song. Especially breathtaking was "Love and Peace Or Else," where Larry Mullen, Jr. plays this drum... thingy with just one cymbal, then Bono takes over and then it somehow becomes "Sunday Bloody Sunday"... argh, words are failing me. Wikipedia explains it much better here.

Even Bono's slightly-cheesy messages about coexisting and being one and living the dream seemed to take on more meaning in 3D. The effect allowed me to feel as if he was inches from my face and singing to me alone. Swoon. We could see his every bead of sweat and every strand of Larry Mullen, Jr.'s greasy hair. And I think I've got a post-movie crush on The Edge. He's so ruggedly handsome and cool and perfectly complements Bono's dramatics. Ahhhh. But I have to say the main star was the crowd. The pulsating, thronging, glittery sea of thousands of South Americans, whose energy was so darn infectious even after being filtered through a screen. Oh, to go to a concert like that...

EVERYONE MUST WATCH IT. I don't think it's out in Singapore, though. Hopefully it'll come.

Yucky Outside

2008-02-16T12:24:00.009-06:00

Woke up with a smile at 11am this morning. It's lovely to sleep in. But the weather outside is not agreeing with my cheeriness... it's cold and drippy and grey and various weather websites are promising everything from thunderstorms to hail to fog and tornadoes (unlikely). So I will blog and study. Half a month has passed since my last entry. It seems like I revive my blog only to abandon it again.

So I was metaphorically leafing through earlier pages of this blog and looking at what I did a year ago, and it turns out I'm pretty much repeating what I did in Feb '07. But in different order. Last year, it was Valentine's Day Card Sale --> CNY --> Ash Wednesday --> Obama came. This year, it's Ash Wednesday --> CNY --> V-Day Sale --> Obama's coming. And he's bringing a friend called Hillary. Yes, it's a Democratic debate and it's happening right on campus next week! It's not open to the public though, although there is a draw for 100 tickets. I put my name down, along with 9,999 others, and am crossing my fingers.

Some pictures from since I landed. Must admit I haven't been very shutter-happy:

Favorite cereal: Special K with Red Berries

The roomies (housies?) at Kim's 22nd

JFoo's roomie's awesome set of Office motivational posters

View from the first floor of my apartment

Mozart's, the coolest coffee place in Austin. If you come visit, I will definitely take you there

I got the less picturesque background

Onion bagel with cream cheese. Shout out to Mun!

View from the deck of Mozart's

I'm still ploughing through this...

CNY at Marco Polo, a Singaporean/Malaysian restaurant

Me, Becks and Dami

The gang!

V-Day sale. Yes, that's my pink feather boa!

Also, I got a second job! I am a peer mentor at the UT Learning Center, helping UT students with their time management, study-skills, motivation and test anxiety. I have three "mentees" currently and it's proving to be a bit more challenging than expected. You really have to know your stuff! And it's kinda weird because I'm plagued by those issues every single day as well., but I'm pretty sure I'll get better with practice. Thank God for the opportunity, because I'd been looking for a second job for a while. And one in which I could interact with people and serve the college community, because I'm basically a solitary robot at my morning job.

Okay I just took a shower and that kinda broke my chain of thought and now I don't know what else to write. Plus, Hemingway's In Our Time awaits me. Till later!

Oh yeah... before I go, in the spirit (or whatever's left of it) of Valentine's Day, I will dedicate a pretty song to all the people I love. The video is irrelevant, so just listen to the tune. Enjoy!

New Soul

2008-01-30T22:45:00.000-06:00

(I've got that cute MacBook Air ad song stuck in my head. It seems like the airwaves are overrun by pretty little Feist-y, Regina Spektor-ish ditties. Oh how I yearn for an over-the-top power ballad. Where is Celine Dion when I need her?)

So I'm back! School and work are in full swing and it's time for me to revive this blog. I had a wonderful time over winter break, first spending Christmas in Vancouver with my lovely Chin family, and then returning home to celebrate my entry into adulthood. THANK YOU to all who came to the party, and to all those who brought me out to sample local delights while I was back. It was a wonderful two weeks in Singapore, and well worth the plane ticket. Allow me a moment to reminisce:

Vancouver

Singapore

And finally, my favorite: Portrait of a family

Guess I got a little carried away with the reminiscing. That's all for now, folks! Check back later for a more Austin-y update. Miss you all.

DRUMROLL PLEASE

2008-01-09T09:59:00.000-06:00

After nine days of intense deliberation, the official judging panel comprising me, myself and I has finally reached a unanimous decision. And the winner of the first-ever 100th Post Contest is...

MARK LIM JIN YANG.

Most of you are probably thinking the contest was rigged from the start. It wasn't. Yes, I know he's my little brother. No, he did not try to bribe me with extra Christmas presents (though he did get me really nice limited edition Body Shop cranberry lipgloss and a dress from This Fashion). It's just that you have to give the guy credit for shooting straight for my heart and making me go, "Awww..." You gotta admit his entry was pretty well-put. Plus, he recently pulled a ligament in his right ankle and he needs a lil' something to cheer him up.

Anyway, congratulations, Marko! Here is your prize:

(It's in the fridge. Go get it yourself.)

And because I know the rest of you are angrily muttering, "I was robbed!" I've decided to hand out a slew of consolation prizes as well. Here we go:

Most Nostalgic Award: Yiwen

Most Biblical Award: Tie between Ee2 and Gattuso

Most Succinct Award: MysteryMeat, with a record number of three words

Bordering-on-trashy-novel-territory Award: Kyster

Most Blatant Bending of Rules Award: TJ Han

Most Expressive Award: Pammy

Most Soul-baring Award: Fish

Most Spiritual/Out-of-filial-piety Award: Pa and Mom (just kidding...)

Most Glaring Absence Award: ELIZABETH LIM (my contest not good enough for you, izzit??)

Thank you all for participating. Hope you had a beautiful Christmas and New Year. I will be back with more updates when I get back to Austin on January 14.

The 100th Post

2007-12-19T15:34:00.000-06:00

Hello from Canada! I'm in my godparent's house in Coquitlam, British Columbia, which is about an hour from Vancouver. This place is simply gorgeous, hilly and snowy, and when it's all lit up at night it's really a sight. We came back from Whistler ski resort last evening.. that was an experience right out of a Christmas postcard. It started snowing on Tuesday while we were walking around the village. I never knew snowflakes were so tiny! At times, the snow came up to our knees. I had to keep hiking up my skinny grey jeans from Far East Plaza to keep the snow from slipping down my butt :)

I'm also writing this from my week-old MacBook. I'm still getting acquainted with it but I think it's true love. It's so convenient to have a camera and a microphone built in, instead of having a morass of wires taking up half my desk. This baby was required by the College of Education, since I'm starting the Professional Development Sequence next semester. Just in case some of you are thinking I'm on some crazy electronics shopping spree...

Since this is the HUNDREDTH post on this little blog, I'm gonna do somethin' special. Let's have a contest! It'll be simple. Since the year is coming to a close, why don't you tell me what 2007 means to you in 10 words or less. Like this: "For me, 2007 means [your 10 words or less here]."

Post your entry on the COMMENTS part of this post with your name or a pseudonym, if you must. Make it funny, sweet, sappy, philosophical, cryptic, broad, narrow, whatever. Write a haiku if you want! Just don't be mean. Mean or offensive entries will be deleted because I am a happy person. The contest will end midnight on Dec 31, 2007. After that, I'll choose the best entry and the winner will receive a MYSTERY PRIZE (which just means I haven't bought it yet, but it will be cute, I promise). One entry per person. And if I only get entries from my immediate family, I'm gonna be sad and cancel the contest. Even if you don't usually tag, it'd be great if you could participate. So start submitting your entries now!

A Caption-less Christmas Post

2007-12-10T22:10:00.001-06:00

My Silver Box of Joy

2007-12-05T15:49:00.000-06:00

About an hour ago, I was in the school computer lab, trying to churn out a comment for my history class, when I decided to check the status of the Canon camera I ordered last Monday. I'd been eagerly tracking its journey from Pennsylvania through Tennessee to Texas this past week. This is what I saw on the FedEx website:

Date/Time

Activity

Location

Details

Dec 5, 2007

12:53 PM

Delivered

Austin, TX

Left at front door. Signature Service not requested.

7:45 AM

On FedEx vehicle for delivery

AUSTIN, TX

(ARRGGHH!!!)

6:41 AM

At local FedEx facility

AUSTIN, TX

3:06 AM

Departed FedEx location

FORT WORTH, TX

Dec 4, 2007

9:09 PM

Arrived at FedEx location

FORT WORTH, TX

Nov 30, 2007

1:39 AM

In transit

MEMPHIS, TN

Nov 29, 2007

10:54 AM

Departed FedEx location

LEWISBERRY, PA

2:19 AM

Arrived at FedEx location

LEWISBERRY, PA

Nov 28, 2007

7:59 PM

Arrived at FedEx location

BETHLEHEM, PA

6:37 PM

Picked up

BETHLEHEM, PA

12:40 PM

Package data transmitted to FedEx

So I jumped out of my seat and raced home, praying all the way that no one would steal my brand new camera. No one told me about the 'signature service'! I got to my apartment, ran up the stairs, turned the corner and... yes. A FedEx 'Padded Pak' along with a copy of the New York Times (which none of us ever ordered, but we get it anyway, which is great. But I digress). Whew.

I opened the package, opened the box, lifted the warranty card, Canon software and instruction manual, and there it was. Nestled snugly in its little styrofoam compartment, just waiting to be let out of its plastic covering and caressed by adoring human hands. The first thought I had was, "You're cute." Like a creepy guy at a bar. But there really isn't any other way to describe this:

Ever Ever After

2007-12-02T01:37:00.000-06:00

Enchanted captivated me from its pop-up storybook opening sequence all the way to its swirly, girly ending credits with this song playing in the background:

I think I was smiling throughout the entire movie. And when it ended, everyone applauded. All of us hardened, jaded, hypercritical 21st century moviegoers were cheering for a princess film with a happy ending. It was pretty amazing :)
Kirsten put it really well in her movie review/op-ed piece. Click here to read it.

Senses

2007-12-01T14:58:00.000-06:00

At JP's Java, waiting for the SSA meeting to start:

Smell of roasting espresso
Sound of quiet conversation and Jose Gonzalez's "Crosses"
Sight of fellow muggers
Taste of warm broccoli quiche
Touch of the soft leather couch and my laptop keyboard

Post-Thanksgiving: Toto, We're Not In Kansas Anymore...

2007-11-26T14:33:00.000-06:00

Had a great time in Hutchinson, KS with the Kwas. I'll let the pictures do the talking. Be prepared for some very graphic shots of food. Thanks to Chris for some of the pictures. You can find more at Kirsten's blog.

Wednesday: On the road (this was probably somewhere in Oklahoma)

Healthy snacks

'Hutch'

Me and my fruit platter ;)

Char Kway Teow for dinner!

Great entertainment (the ones in the foreground at least)

A very naked stuffed turkey

Thursday: Kirsten making peach tea

Kirsten's mom prepared a feast! Rice, mashed potatoes, chilied corn, green bean casserole, stuffing with cranberries, pumpkin pie, gravy and Chinese-style chicken with mushrooms. Oh, and Cool Whip.

Friday: With our lovely hosts at Ken's Pizza, after shopping

It started snowing! (I chose the car to match my bag)

All ready to go out and play

With the shovelBrrr!

Kenaz doing most of the work

Don't you just love our snowman?

I do.

My snow-angel! (Beth: wink wink, nudge nudge)

Saturday: Bye bye, Kansas (let's play Spot the Snowman!)

Pre-Thanksgiving

2007-11-18T17:44:00.000-06:00

It's that time of the year again. Just as the tests and final assignments pile up and threaten to overwhelm us, we are suddenly handed a lovely 5-day weekend... a moment's respite from the pressures of schoolwork. I'm exaggerating - this semester has been really consistent and well-paced so far. And actually, only Thursday and Friday are holidays, but all four of my Wednesday classes got canceled (i think 'canceled' looks better with 2 L's) because professors wisely predicted that none of us would show up anyway. So I am leaving with Kirsten, Kenaz and Chris at 4:30am Wednesday morning for a 10-hour drive to Hutchinson, Kansas, where K and K's parents live. Apparently there's not much to do there, but I'm looking forward to going to Wichita for the SALE TO END ALL SALES on Friday. They call it Black Friday here, "so named because of the heavy traffic on that day, although most contemporary uses of the term refer instead to it as the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black (i.e., turning a profit)," according to Wikipedia. Stores open at 5am, and most people have queued for a while by then. Should be an experience, though I'm not exactly sure what to buy.

Another personal holiday tradition: buying the December issue of InStyle, which I can lovingly peruse for months on end. Even though ads take up half the magazine. It contains their annual Best Gowns feature, which I love.

I was looking forward to hosting John and Mel before I left for Vancouver on December 15 but it turns out my Rhetoric exam is fixed on the 14th and so I won't have time to show them around. Pity. It was really fun doing that with Munz last year. Wow, has it really been a year since then?

Since I have absolutely no photos, I will put up this very flattering one stolen off my swiss cousin Ching's blog. You have to click it to experience the full effect:

4 Lims and a Loh

I'll be back with Thanksgiving photos. In the meantime, take care and I miss you!

Across the Pond...

2007-11-15T23:25:00.001-06:00

Quentin Blake is such a genius. Why can't he doodle on walls here? I would love to walk past this every day:

Apparently this is the Stanley Building at the new St Pancras Eurostar terminal in London. Xiaoen and Diane, please go take a look for me!

Chipmunks Trailer

2007-11-13T22:12:00.000-06:00

The movie will probably be really bad, but this makes me laugh out loud. O how I love the Chipmunks!

In Praise of Mint and Chocolate

2007-11-11T23:54:00.000-06:00

I feel like writing!
Last Sunday, what began as a simple request for JFoo to "fix my fringe" turned into a fully-fledged haircut. I was kinda like WHOA!! at first, but after a while I was glad he got carried away with his scissors. In fact, now I want it even shorter. You can assess the results below:

Me and Mr Hairstylist Extraordinaire

First pretty friend - Kirsten

Second pretty friend - Daph

Yesterday (Sat) Chris' Dad came over to our place and made a pot of VENISON STEW for us from the deer he had killed a few days before. As cute as Bambi and his friends are alive, they also taste pretty good simmered with onions and potatoes. Uncle also made his famous Hainanese Chicken Rice and cabbage soup. Mm-mmm.

Just finished watching 4.5 hours of Roots today for my Civil War class. And that's only half the mini-series. I was the only one who showed up for the screening so I watched it with my professor and we ate chocolate bars in between the episodes. I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed it. It wasn't visually stunning or anything (which is what usually attracts me), but the length of the series allowed for great character development - something you can hardly find in a 2 hour movie. I took a class on African-American history my first semester here (mainly because all the other classes were filled) and watching Roots really brought it all together for me. It's such a powerful story. Can't wait to watch the next three episodes.

Peppermint mochas are back! Christmas is coming! Mint and chocolate... such an amazing combination. After Eights, Girl Guide cookies... Someone should write a poem about the miracle that is the mixing of those two flavors. I nominate Fish (after reading her delightful little ode to words that end with 'ee').

Great song of the moment: John Mayer and Alicia Keys' Lesson Learned. Her voice is like silk. Can't wait for her new album. Check it out on YouTube. Also, Leona Lewis' cover of Snow Patrol's Run. So good.

Space Filler

2007-11-07T20:56:00.000-06:00

Don't you think I kind of look like Matilda?

Courtesy of Uncle Song aka 'DJ Lo' aka King of festive YouTube playlists specially created to meet your every holiday need. For a small fee, I will pass on his amazing Deepavali and Christmas mixes to whoever wants 'em. Just kidding..

Ants

2007-10-30T22:01:00.000-05:00

This is pretty cool. Yesterday I found out from my Rhetoric instructor that one of the most intriguing films I've ever seen - Richard Linklater's Waking Life - was filmed almost entirely in Austin. A year and a half ago, Angie sent me the VCD from Hong Kong and I remember I invited Weiting to come over to my place and watch it with me. I'm a big fan of Linklater's Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and School of Rock, but I was kind of baffled by Waking Life after seeing it. I think Weiting got a lot more out of it than I did. I think she went home and picked apart the entire screenplay or something.

The movie's basically a collection of vignettes, with dozens of people (including two main characters from Before Sunrise and Before Sunset) musing about philosophy and life, and exploring the question: "Are we sleep-walking through our waking state or wake-walking through our dreams?" While this would be absolutely riveting for someone like, say, Charles (are you reading this?) I kind of got lost amid all the existentialism talk. The thing I loved most was the animation. The filmmakers used a technique called rotoscoping, in which they animate over live-action film. They shoot an entire movie, then paint over it, frame by frame. Which makes for really interesting, fluid images. Here's a cute scene which I like:

So I watched a bit of it again today, and really enjoyed it, partly because I could pick out specific locations in Austin, like the State Capitol, the Subway below the Castilian, Quack's Bakery and more. There was one scene which was an actual existentialism lecture at UT by the late Professor Robert Solomon. The classroom and hallway looked really familiar. Actually the whole movie had a very Austin-y feel. There are several clips on YouTube if you're interested.

Yeah so watch the movie! It's definitely worth the 1h 40 mins. There are so many characters, and their faces and the backdrops constantly change in color and shape. You'll never get bored. Let me know what you think about it. Or at least watch Before Sunrise and Before Sunset... two of my favorites.

Halloween

2007-10-28T17:38:00.000-05:00

Yesterday night became the Roaring Twenties, for me at least.

Went makeup shopping with Daph in the morning - I got my first bottle of liquid foundation! Got my brows waxed too (which, in my opinion, is less painful than plucking or threading). Then I headed over to Buffalo Exchange, which is only the coolest fashion thrift store in the world, and scored a pair of lovely black heels (the heels are transparent!) and the headband I'd been looking for for weeks. Pammy came over in the evening and we pooled our cosmetic resources and got down to work. It took us almost an hour!

Finished products:

Me, Daph, Pammy: The flapper, the pirate and the race car driver

Kirsten and Kim (who was our hairstylist): The flower garden (don't you love the sign?) and the gangster

Pammy and I tied for Best Overall Costume! Doesn't she look great?

A werewolf/ape?

With Kirsten

With Zach

The Merry Pirate Trio - Zach, Jan, Daph

There were many others, but my camera died halfway through :(

The get-up:

Dress: Bought it from Target in March. Was a little long, so I hemmed it up with 10 safety pins.
Fake pearl necklace: $3.99, Halloween store.
Flapper headband: $3.99, Buffalo Exchange.
Shoes: $12.50, Buffalo Exchange.
Black stockings: Sent by mail from Singapore (thanks Mom!)
Pink feather boa: $4.00, Goodwill.

Inspiration: This spread in the September issue of Vogue. I didn't get nearly as fancy as those ladies though!

Being vain at home with the webcam:
Till next time!

Bamboleo

2007-10-21T23:08:00.000-05:00

Just got back from the first-ever Austin Pops concert at Ruta Maya Coffeehouse. They're Austin's "Premier Pop/Rock Orchestra". Check them out here to hear some music samples! My friend Alexis is the principal violinist (that's her up there with Kirsten, me and Sobeyda), so I went to support her, and had a really good time. We all agreed Ruta Maya was a great venue - cozy and yet big enough for people to move around comfortably. I loved the eclectic mix of songs they played... stuff by Santana, Aerosmith, Sarah McLachlan, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Coldplay, Eric Clapton and more. And the best piece, in my opinion, was their version of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" where this guy did an amazing solo on his very cool electric violin. Kinda creepy, but amazing. There was also a brass band for some songs and vocal soloists for others. Here are some videos I took:

Very amateur videos, I know... But hopefully you can make out the music. I really like this photo, somehow:

Till next time!

Snow Patrol

2007-10-19T16:39:00.000-05:00

After looking through United Colors of Benetton's new catalog, I've concluded that this winter won't be hard to get through, as long as I wear really colorful clothes.

Haha well winter in Austin is a joke. It's still as hot as Singapore now. It'll probably get icy for a few days, and everyone will panic and school will shut down. But Vancouver - that's another story. Looking forward to a white white Christmas. But meanwhile, here's another sunny shot from the football game. I just love the color:

Cycling Trivialities

2007-10-09T22:41:00.000-05:00

Hm. I don't have anything particularly exciting to blog about. But I just felt the need to keep this space alive.

Last Thursday I taught my first lesson at Murchison - a 30-minute thing on plagiarism. I dug up cartoons off the net, some recent plagiarism cases and somehow wove it into a lesson. Really shouldn't have drunk a cup of coffee right before class, because while I was teaching my hands were quivering slightly. Haha. Anyway, the class examined the possible case of plagiarism between "The Call of the Wild" and this other book called "The Wolf Dog." It was fun to see the students so shocked that Walt Morey very possibly plagiarized Jack London's work. It turned out to be really fun. I like teaching 8th graders (sec 2). Really thankful to my cooperating teacher for giving me the idea for the lesson. Today I went to observe and four girls gave me cards to thank me for my lesson. Was pleasantly surprised, even though I half suspect my teacher told them to write them. One girl told me she was from Indonesia... pretty cool :) I teach my next lesson next Tuesday.

Today I felt like I was sleepwalking through the entire day. I got a lot done, but I was just so dead tired. And I really don't think I'm sleep-deprived, because I get about 7 hours every night. But today was weird. It might have had something to do with the temperature dropping just a little. A bunch of people told me their allergies were acting up today. Winter is coming. Ugh. But at least I have my trusty jacket LaFawnduh.

Oh... I've decided on what I want to dress up as for Halloween! I'm excited. A bunch of us have already gotten our costumes. But I won't say now. The pictures will speak for themselves... but that's still a while away.

On Monday night, Chris, Kirsten and I (the unofficial fortnightly foodie group) went to Clay Pit Grill and Curry House for some contemporary Indian cuisine. Must say it was one of the most satisfying meals I've had since I've been back. My primary motivation for organizing the outing was to complete my Accessibility Exercise for my Individual Differences class, which involved me checking out whether the restaurant was fully accessible to a person in a wheelchair (parking, restrooms, entrance etc.) The food was good! And because Kirsten had a coupon, it was affordable too :) We had saag paneer (a pureed spinach cooked with roasted cumin and spices, with Indian cheese) and Khuroos-E-Tursh (medallions of chicken breast stuffed with seasoned spinach, mushrooms, onions & cheese, simmered in a rich cashew-almond cream sauce with a hint of sweetness, served with basmati rice). DOES THAT SOUND GOOD OR WHAT. And it was. And Clay Pit got high marks on accessibility too.

Alrighty... that's enough for now. Oh, and a very happy birthday to Beth, Mom and Xiaoen, whose b'days all fall within this week! Miss you all :)

This I Promise You

2007-10-02T22:19:00.001-05:00

Haha I just wanted to post this so you all could see the tattoo on the guy's arm :) Everyone should get one!!

But I'm sure it'll also be a nostalgic trip down memory lane for many girls my age.

Enjoy!

ORANGE

2007-09-29T15:04:00.000-05:00

Lotsa little things happened this week.

On Tuesday, my stomach felt a little weird so I SMSed my cooperating teacher at Murchison Middle School to say I wasn't coming for my observation. She replied me four hours later: "Watch the news tonight and see what you missed." Turns out a teacher had heard a ticking sound coming from one of the lockers and the entire school was evacuated during the time I was supposed to be there. Nothing dangerous was found. But I guess you can't ever be too cautious.

I've been looking for Alexander McCall Smith's new book "The Careful Use of Compliments" (book 4 of his Isabel Dalhousie series, of which I am a big fan) ever since it was published on August 7. I didn't want to buy it, so I decided to ask the UT Library to order it. And the chief bibliographer said yes! It'll appear on our library shelves in a week or so. Yay :)

On Tuesday, I went to a bathroom in school before my evening class and discovered that the cubicle walls were covered with a very heated discussion on the war on Iraq. Girls were expressing their unhappiness towards Bush, and talking about how hard it was to have brothers and boyfriends fighting so far away. It was cool because it was an actual conversation, with girls responding to other girls' comments, instead of just a bunch of unrelated rants. And none of these girls knew who the others were. Just like a virtual forum, but on a bathroom wall. I'll take a picture of it soon but there's a lot of swearing going on so I might not put it up.

My kickboxing instructor got a new CD so instead of her previous Justin Timberlake techno mix, we are now kickin' to the sounds of Timbaland's The Way I Are. I'm sure Munyuk would approve :)

On Wednesday night there was a blackout in our area. Again! This time everyone got really mad. A lot of people got out on the balcony and started vehemently cursing Austin Energy. Haha. The guy above us was shouting, "I've got homework to do!!!" The guys below us got a guitar out and started singing a really off-key version of Howie Day's "Collide". After 45 minutes the lights came back on. After half an hour they went out again. GRRR. The 4 of us are gonna start looking for a new apartment in Spring. Oh, check out this ridiculous ad for our apartment I found in the school paper. What on earth is the blond girl wearing? I'm just not feeling the luxury:

Yesterday Kirsten, Chris and I went to Java Gardens, an Indonesian restaurant which garnered a pretty good review in the Austin Chronicle. We had beef rendang (a bit too salty) and deep-fried shrimp in butter sauce (lovely!) with rice. Was very filling. I miss the amazing Indonesian food I had in Prigen and Bali over summer.

Here are some pictures of last Saturday's football game against Rice. Very orange, very high energy. Felt proud to be a Longhorn.

Bye for now :)

PINK

2007-09-23T13:56:00.000-05:00

Look what arrived in the mail yesterday! A Victoria's Secret bathrobe from my dear cousin in Toronto. Thanks Chels!

What Can I Say?

2007-09-19T23:48:00.001-05:00

Just returned from watching Brandi Carlile live at UT with Beeba. It was the most amazing concert I've ever been to! While I'm still on a post-show high, let me put up some pictures.

The evening kicked off with A Fine Frenzy as the opening act. That's the stage name of Alison Sudol, who has a wonderfully rich voice and wonderfully red hair. Check out her "Almost Lover" video.

After about an hour, A Fine Frenzy exited the stage and we waited for about 15 minutes in the packed ballroom, amid other rowdy concert-goers, some of whom reeked of beer (there was a bar, but we were underage). After a sound check that seemed to last forever, Miss Carlile herself exploded onstage with her band. The crowd went crazy.

She had a pair of cute bald Lex-Luthor-lookalike twins as her backup singers/guitar players. They were great!

Though one of them tried to eat the mike :)

It was a such a great time. They played for two solid hours, and though my patent leather black peep-toes from Far East were killing me, I have no complaints about standing throughout. She did old songs, new songs, a totally acoustic number (no mike, even!), an awesome Johnny Cash cover... going from crazy rock chick to mellow coffeehouse crooner in a split second. Her voice is so unique - she can growl or scream or hum or do that funny yodeling thing that Shakira does all within one song, and it sounds SO GOOD. Ahhh. And there was this one song where she divided the audience into 3 sections and had us harmonize with her and her cutebaldguys. It sounded wonderful. After the song she threw her pick into the crowd and Beeba caught it! Well actually she cleverly hid it under her shoe till the guy behind us stopped looking for it HAHA. It's cute and green.
More pics below. I think she looks a bit like Lindsay Lohan and Keira Knightley, though she's nowhere near as girly.

The best part hands-down was the encore, where she did my favorite, "What Can I Say" and ended with a gorgeous version of "Hallelujah." 30 seconds was all my camera would allow me to record, but I guess that's enough. You can check it out below. Hear more of her great songs here and here.

My House, The Hair Salon

2007-09-16T11:32:00.000-05:00

Just some photos of our resident hairstylist, JFoo, cutting my roomie Beeba's hair last Friday night, and turning her into a fabulous Indian Farrah Fawcett. Okay so I didn't take before and after pictures... I'll get them soon.

Pammy also dropped by that night to make me one of her famous fried egg sandwiches... doesn't she look lovely with a spatula!

And these roomie pics were taken last Monday or Tuesday night during a 1.5 hour long blackout in many parts of West Campus. Once the lights went out, after an initial period of loud whining, we did what all girls do: finished up the ice-cream in our fridge, sat around, took pictures and talked about boys.

L-R: Sobeyda, Beeba's beguiling eyes, me, Daphne

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a...

2007-09-10T17:37:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to finish about 800 pages of Gone with the Wind by Friday for my "Civil War in Fiction, Fact and Film" class. It's a lovely epic novel, but it's been a while since I read such a long book. I bought the book for $12 at my school bookshop, then found a copy online for a dollar, so I returned the first one and bought that. Unfortunately (or not) the cover of the cheaper version looks like one from a really trashy novel, just like the poster above, with huge embossed letters. I'll have to rent the movie soon. It's FOUR HOURS LONG.

I went to my first kickboxing class today. It was great! It makes you feel so strong. Even though I probably looked goofy and uncoordinated, I totally felt like I could kick anybody's butt for that half an hour. I love the defensive pose, as Hilary Swank will show you:

Except I don't wear gloves. Anyway. I have a Texercise pass now, which means I can get into all the fitness/wellness classes. I've only ever been to Cardio Combo (which is 1/2 Step exercises, 1/4 kickboxing and 1/4 abs). I want to try out Power Pilates, Ab Lab, Full Body Sculpt Express, Aqua Aerobics and all these other classes with slightly cheesy names. Hopefully I can fit in one class a day. I'm waging a war on flab!!!

This weekend was pretty fun... We had our first Singaporean Student Association lunch at Buca di Beppo, an Italian restaurant (I think I mentioned it in this space before). It's funny how we always end up talking about food or restaurants, even while we're eating. Must be a Singaporean thing. For one of my classes, my professor told us we'd get one point if we posted up our favorite Austin restaurant on the class website forum. So now we all have a list of about nearly 100 places to choose from :) I had dinner on Saturday with Jill, an American who lived in Singapore for 5 years, at a great Indian place called Bombay Bistro. It was great talking to her about home. We had tons of naan and I ordered this chicken-breast-stuffed with-spinach-and-coated-with-orange-spices thing, which was so huge I only ate 1/3 of it. The remainder served as yesterday's dinner and today's lunch. Mmmm.

School is running along okay, and soon I'll be tutoring disadvantaged kids under an Austin public library program, and teaching and observing 8th grade English classes at Murchison Middle School. These activities count toward a teaching certificate. Should be interesting. I'll blog about it as I go.

Let me leave you with some (pretty underwhelming, I'd say) pictures of Austin:

The Tower, our pride and joy

My favorite trees on campus

Lovely grasspatch cum study area near the Liberal Arts buildings

Don't know what this building's called, but I love the railings and creepy lamp-things

Guadalupe Street, running along the edge of campus. Shops (L-R): c.jane - a dress boutique; Which Wich - great sandwich place; Pita Pit - excellent pitas; some bank or other; Intellectual Property (building with murals) - bookstore

For randomness' sake, here's a picture of my beautiful s!bBiEzZZzz*~ (minus Ky) whom I miss dearly!

And with that, I end this super-long post. Thanks for sticking with me!

Earthly Possessions

2007-09-04T22:27:00.001-05:00

More outdoor pictures to come soon.

Tubing

2007-09-03T09:46:00.001-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, after church, a bunch of us drove to New Braunfels (a town an hour away from Austin) and did this. I didn't bring my camera 'cuz I didn't want it to fall in the water, so I don't have any pictures. But it was a highly relaxing and enjoyable time. We basically floated and horsed around in the Comal River for 2 hours, with a little river ride thrown in somewhere in the middle. Kinda like the "Eye of the Storm" ride at Singapore's short-lived Fantasy Island. It was cool because we floated by all sorts of rented chalets and bungalows where people were having parties and barbecues. Really worked up an appetite. At the end, we were all herded, like dripping wet cattle, into a truck and driven back to our cars.

Today is Labor day and I'm catching up on my reading.

Ratatouille

2007-08-31T09:10:00.000-05:00

Funny, smart and absolutely breathtaking. Watching this movie made me wanna visit Paris, and get an internship at Pixar. See it now!

Ready to Roll

2007-08-29T15:40:00.000-05:00

Ahhh finally feel like blogging.. after almost a week since I touched down on Austin soil. Many thanks to those who sent me off at the airport. My flight was pretty okay, except that at Minneapolis, immigration+ baggageclaim+ baggagecheckin+ securitycheck took soo long, that even after sprinting across half the airport to get to my connecting flight to Austin, I missed it by 7 minutes. But that happens I guess. I got another flight which was 4 hours later. Kim picked me up and it was great to see her again.

My first few days in Austin were quiet. None of my roommates were back yet. It was quite a shock compared to the constant noise and chatter I'd been used to in Singapore. I missed Mom's sporadic bursts into song and Kyle blasting his emo Indo music. Felt so... displaced. I'm sure that's totally normal, but when I realized I couldn't sleep, I got even more anxious. Most people know that if there's one thing I can do well, it's sleeping. Even THAT was taken away from me! So with nothing else to do in the wee hours of the morning, I started praying for anything I could think of. Really loudly. I prayed for God's presence to come and fill my house so I wouldn't feel alone. I prayed for people back home, myself and my year ahead. And, wow, I could really feel the change in me. God was right there with me. I read the Bible and the words were just popping off the page like never before. It was an amazing and encouraging time with Him that I wouldn't trade for anything. It was cool to be awake to see the light of dawn stream in through my blinds every day. I call it my 'Orientation' for the new school year, because it really helped me get mentally and emotionally prepared for school again. So I say thank God for jet lag!

I wasn't at home all day for five days praying (though that isn't such a bad idea at some point in one's life, right?). I visited old haunts like Mozart's with Kim, Dre and the cell group. Went to watch Hairspray with Kim, which was hilarious and made us want to bring back '60s frocks and the Beehive. Attended Hill Country Bible Church's 7pm service, where the music was so loud there were earplugs at the door. Helped Becks move into her co-op - a student-run residence where you share work duties. Caught up with the rest of the Singaporeans at the Alligator Grill.
I miss Singapore a ton, but it feels good to be back in Austin.

Today was the start of work and school. I got assigned to different rooms for work, and I like these ones more. So that's great. I was totally in GOOD MORNING BALTIMORE!!! mode this morning (sorry, Hairspray reference). So excited to start classes. Such a nerd. My professors seem great, and my courses are interesting and challenging. I teach six 30-minute lessons this semester at a middle school, in addition to 14 hours of observation. That's the biggest challenge, I think. It's going to be hectic, but I'm up for it. I'm gonna remember all that Uncle Wu told me about pushing myself and studying like mad, and just dive right in. And I pray I stay close to God thoughout, because "apart from Him I have no good thing".

I miss you all in Singapore, and thank you for making my summer so beautiful. Will keep you posted!

In the Computer Lab..

2007-05-08T19:37:00.000-05:00

.. and I'm having a sudden craving for moussaka. That Greek dish which "traditionally consists of layers of ground (minced) lamb, sliced eggplant, and tomato, topped with a white sauce and baked." (Thanks Wikipedia- I don't know how I'd survive college without you.) I had it at the Athenian grill a few weeks ago and it was sooo goood. Must learn how to make it. Oh wait, I can't cook for nuts. But I AM planning to learn from the best (Grandma and PoPo) when I get back so watch out, world.

I'm in between memorizing 40 lines of Paradise Lost for my Milton final. It is a really good epic poem, but in this edition the guy doesn't indicate which parts of the text have footnotes, so there are basically a bunch of annotations at the bottom and you have to check every once in a while to see if what you're reading has been footnoted (is there such a word?) So my eyes are constantly darting from the top to the bottom of the page all the time and it becomes frustrating.

Spiderman 3 was a disappointment, and I've figured out why: too many villains (none of whom were nearly as compelling as Doc Ock), too little of that cranky editor guy, the girls had great hair colors but were wimpy, and the new Green Goblin looked juvenile on his flying skateboard. Let's hope the last installation of Pirates (with Chow Yun Fatt as a Singaporean pirate) will be more exciting...

Ahhh... there's about 8 days between me and Singapore! Happiness. This may be my last blog in Austin, because 72 (number of posts so far) is a nice number and a multiple of 12. I am gonna miss the squirrels here though. They provide great on-the-way-to-school entertainment.

Gonna leave you with a picture of the movie I'm most excited about right now, Pixar's Ratatouille:

The Chipmunks - Girls Of Rock and Roll

2007-05-02T20:38:00.001-05:00

girls girls girls

2007-04-30T23:53:00.000-05:00

Absolutely Batty

2007-04-24T19:14:00.000-05:00

A slightly amusing email I received today. Was tempted to laugh out loud, but I'm guessing it posed enough of a health risk to warrant an email to the whole university... hope no one gets sick.

If you or someone you know touched a bat near the south end of Bellmont (off of San Jacinto St., across from the Alumni Center) on Monday, April 23, 2007, Environmental Health & Safety needs to talk to you. Please call Environmental Health & Safety, 471-5776 / 471-3511 or call the City of Austin Health and Human Services Department, 512-972-5590, and report that you touched a bat. Thank You.

Carin Peterson
Safety Specialist | Environmental Health & Safety
University of Texas at Austin

FYI, Austin's Congress Avenue Bridge is the home to the largest urban bat colony in North America. And their flight out from under the bridge has become a must-see tourist attraction. I haven't seen them yet, but I heard it looks like that great scene from Batman Begins where the adult Bruce Wayne is in the cave and slowly conquering his phobia as the bats swirl around him.

3 More Weeks To...

2007-04-23T20:47:00.000-05:00

No captions needed, I'm sure. I must admit - these were taken off UK's The Daily Telegraph's website (no self-respecting Singaporean would eat char kway teow in such small portions) but I decided to post them since they were so beautiful. Sigh. Now it's back to enduring 22 more days of Tex-Mex.

For now, we are all Hokies

2007-04-17T18:54:00.000-05:00

I picked up a copy of the Daily Texan this morning after work, as I always do. Its report of yesterday's horrific tragedy started like this:
"The University of Texas will no longer hold the painful distinction as home of the deadliest school shooting in American history after a gunman on the Virginia Tech campus left 33 dead Monday."
Today's gray skies and incessant drizzling were reflections of the national sentiment. Flags were flown at half-mast, and tonight the Tower lights will darken in remembrance of the victims. A vigil is being planned for sometime next week.
But those are symbols. It all comes down to the 33 people. Sitting in the computer lab in the library today, checking the news sites as more and more information rolled in, I could see other students doing the same. We saw the gunman's face, and the smiling faces of the victims, and wondered how, and why.

Selected pictures from the Weekend of Gluttony and more

2007-04-16T08:42:00.000-05:00

The Extension girls; Singapore girls; church girls. See a familiar face in all the pictures (besides me)? That's Miss Seoh Yu Lin Andrea, my supposed lookalike and crazy housemate. Bullying aside, she's become an indispensable part of our household and I don't know what it'll be like without her next semester. This post is for you, girl!

More random pictures because I'm in a visual mood but

2007-04-16T00:23:00.000-05:00

I promise I will update in words soon. With relevant photos. But for now...

Pepper #30, Edward Weston

Undoubtedly one of the sexiest peppers you'll ever see in your life. And my current favorite photograph.

Oreo-flavored toupee? No, it's a Coronet guinea pig! Cute eh?

And lastly, a picture of the defiantly messy space I call home :)

Opening of Swan Lake in Melbourne

2007-04-10T22:20:00.000-05:00

One of those pictures which make me go, "Wow."

Rhetoric 309K

2007-04-08T23:41:00.000-05:00

Another reason why my Rhetoric class on the Gospels and the Historical Jesus is my favorite class this semester.

Email from my professor at 11:30pm, Sunday evening:

I hope you all had a nice Easter weekend

On Wednesday night, we'll be watching the second (and final) video of
the semester, a film version of Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice,"
which offers a meditation on the relationship of Christians and Jews,
of law and love, of faith and action. It's an extraordinary play --
and a thought-provoking movie.

In lieu of candy and fruit, we'll have pizza and drink, so please
come with an appetite -- and come on time (it's important we start
the film as soon as possible).

In the next day or two, please send me the following:

(1) how many pieces of Double Dave's pizza you'll eat (from a "large"
pizza) ... no need to be shy.
(2) what's your favorite topping (if any ... understand that I won't
be able to get you a strange topping like anchovies ... think more
common toppings). Let me know by Tuesday evening (I'll send a
reminder on Tuesday afternoon) so I have a good sense of how many
pizzas to get.

Thanks. See you Wednesday.
TB

The Foodie In Me

2007-04-08T15:57:00.000-05:00

Food-wise, I'd rate this week 10/10. Chris' dad was in town and so on Wednesday he threw a Hainanese Chicken Rice party at my place for all of us impoverished, starving college kids, complete with cabbage+fishball soup and beef+kailan. Very, very nice. Unfortunately we didn't take many pictures so unless someone puts them on Facebook you will just have to imagine the blissful looks on our faces. We ended up playing really dumb JC Orientation-type games after dinner like the one where you have a blanket dividing two groups and then the blanket drops and you have to guess the name of the person opposite you... yeah. Um. Guess you had to be there.
The weekend rolled around and on Good Friday, we caught the Easter play at Victory Christian Center in which Andre was the token Asian Nerd... haha not really; he was just one of those hyper-analytical coffeehouse intellectual types. Close enough. Then we headed off to a Vietnamese restaurant called Sunflower despite my protests of "No more Asian food!" It wasn't a life-changing gastronomical experience, but I have to say the crispy egg/flour dish with the tougay, mushrooms and sweet sauce and the crispy calamari salad were superb. Everything was served with loads of onions and fresh lettuce which really brought out the taste of the dishes. We then headed to La Tazza Fresca for coffee. Upon entering, our ears were immediately assaulted (and no, that isn't an exaggeration) by the sounds of a very drunk accordionist who was yelling his heart out. It was terrible! We were about to leave when he sunk into a more mellow tune, which was still awful but at least we could now hear each other. I got myself a very nice mug of minty mocha which was an interesting hue of grey-green. It looked gross, but tasted great, which is the case for many things, I realize.
On Saturday the city Austin woke up to crazy freezing weather, because the cold front came in. Don't ask me what that means. I just say it because that's what everyone says. The cold front came in. Yup. Anyway, that kind of ruined our plans of swimming in Barton Springs. We headed to Andre's with our own piping hot sandwiches from Quizno's and made sundaes. There's something curiously nice about eating ice cream on cold days. I remember gelato never tasted better than when I ate it on the wintry streets of Sydney in June 2005. So we crushed oreos and graham crackers and cornflakes and added sprinkles and fudge and caramel and whipped cream and made our creamy creations just how we liked it. It was great. That was followed by a game of Cranium, which provided a lot of laughs and Fun Factoids and taught me how to spell 'minotaur' backwards. And guess what: the eating didn't stop there! Chris, Arlena, Becks and I headed to Sao Paulo's for some good Brazilian fare. I got a bean and cheese quesadilla and some really thick, hearty, chock-full-of-homemade-goodness chicken chipotle soup. Great for a cold day. The four of us split the moist-as-heaven Tres Leches cake, which was soaked with three types of milk. Mm.
Today is Easter Sunday. After church, Kirsten, Kenaz, Craig and Tamra (our college group leaders), their four kids and I headed to Buca Di Beppo's which is the coolest, quirkiest Italian restaurant I've ever been to. It's a family-style place, and their walls are literally covered with all sorts of weird pictures. The most striking was one huge blow-up 1940s/50s black-and-white shot of all these pretty ladies in dresses eating spaghetti with no hands. Some had sauce on their faces and it was just such a fun picture. There was also this picture of the famous portion of Sistine chapel, but in this case Adam was handing God a can of Parmesan cheese. Hehe. The food was served family-style, and what was supposed to be a 'sampling' of manicotti, stuffed spicy sausage shells, baked ravioli and chicken cannelloni fed four adults. Also outstanding was their Caesar salad, which I think was more oil-based, and was served with anchovies (they taste like wet ikan bilis) and the fat garlic bread drizzled with herbs and mozzarella.

So the point of this extremely over-long entry was to tell myself that over this weekend, I ate enough to last me the rest of my time here in Austin. From now until I get home, which is roughly one month, I will eat less and lose the pounds I've packed on since I got here. It won't be easy, but I don't want funny stares at the airport. Here I go! Miss you all and can't wait to see ya.

Update: Okay, some of the restaurant links don't work and I can't figure out why. You can always Google them if you're interested.

Stargazing

2007-04-03T20:46:00.001-05:00

I saw an announcement on the UT website yesterday:

"AUSTIN, Texas—The West Mall area at The University of Texas at Austin will become the filming site Tuesday afternoon (April 3) for two scenes for the feature film, “Fireflies in the Garden.”
The filming project on campus from 1-9 p.m. Tuesday is expected to have minimal impact on vehicle and pedestrian traffic. University police officers and guards will be on site to help route traffic around the production areas.
One scene on the West Mall will be filmed on the west steps of the Main Building and the other scene will be in the circle drive area near Flawn Academic Center.
The production by Fireflies in the Garden, Inc., describes interactions within a family in crisis and how the tragic death of a family member affects family dynamics. The cast includes Julia Roberts (YES!!), Willem Dafoe (okay i guess... he was a mean Green Goblin), Emily Watson (Yes! Gosford Park!), Carrie Ann Moss (Trinity from the Matrix! Woohoo!), Ryan Reynolds and Ioan Gruffudd (Who?). Only Reynolds and Gruffudd will be involved in the scenes to be filmed on campus Tuesday (Nooooo...!)."

Didn't turn out to be such a bad thing because the 2 actors in question happen to look like this:

No, they didn't look like this during filming, but it was total star fever on campus. Some students had already been chosen as extras and everyone else was dreaming up ways to get on camera. Crew members kept telling us to keep quiet. Turns out Ioan Gruffudd (L) was the guy who played William Wilberforce in the recent Amazing Grace, the stretchy guy in Fantastic Four and Lancelot in King Arthur. But from what I gathered talking to the other curious onlookers around me, all the girls were there to see Ryan Reynolds (R), "that total hottie from Van Wilder!!" I vaguely remember Beth/Mark downloading a really grainy version of that movie a few years ago, but I don't remember any of it. It was funny how every single girl (including me!) was whipping out their camera phones and snapping away while he was getting his makeup done... And when, for one brief moment, he turned around and flashed a smile, there was a collective squeal/sigh of delight. Feast your eyes...

Ahhhh

2007-03-31T19:36:00.000-05:00

Isn't it just wonderful not having to be jolted awake by the jarring sounds of your cellphone alarm? I woke up at noon today and it was sooo NICE. Watched Stranger Than Fiction with a bunch of others until 4:30am last night after coming back from 6th Street. We went to this place called The Belmont where we were confined to the restaurant area since half of us are under-21. Overall great ambience, if a little too dark for me. They served surprisingly affordable food- I had a yummy steak and mushroom quesadilla. We were served by a pretty blonde with a European-ish accent, so we took turns guessing where she was from. Russia? Holland? Germany? Sweden? Czechoslovakia? Poland? Turns out she was from Latvia. Interesting.
Anyway, Stranger than Fiction was a good movie.. I've always loved Emma Thompson since Sense and Sensibility and she didn't disappoint in this one either. In keeping with the Will Ferrell movie tradition, we're gonna watch Blades of Glory tonight, a film that will probably remind me somehow of Mark/Asher/Joel/Kyle and their uncanny ability to quote the dumbest movie lines over the table during family gatherings at Grandma's.

Shifting Sand

2007-03-29T20:34:00.000-05:00

It's Rez Week now at UT, a week-long event before Easter where all the Christian ministries on campus unite to pray and praise. There's a 24-hour coffeehouse right outside Gregory Gym, where there's a free flow of coffee and live music in the afternoons. There's also large panels where Christian artists paint what's on their hearts and a 24-hour prayer tent. I went to see my friend Kim play her songs yesterday, and was really touched by the whole atmosphere. You can read what she has to say here. All passers-by are attracted by the free speech board, where anyone can write down answers to questions like "What's worth dying for?" (some answers: "Love", "Equality", "SPARTA!!")

So yesterday, while hanging out at the coffeehouse with Kim and a cup of hot cocoa, I heard this girl sing one of my favorite songs from my favorite Christian band, Caedmon's Call. If you haven't checked them out yet, please go do so now. They write some of the most meaningful lyrics in contemporary Christian music, a genre where a lot of songs just recycle the same old tired phrases. Anyway, I've always loved this song since I heard it in the Smiths' lakeside home in Montana six years ago (where I first encountered Caedmon's Call's CD "40 Acres" - how coincidental). It kind of speaks to me where I am right now so I thought I'd share it.

Shifting Sand

by Caedmon's Call

Sometimes I believe all the lies
So I can do the things I should despise
And every day I am swayed
By whatever is on my mind

I hear it all depends on my faith
So I'm feeling precarious
The only problem I have with these mysteries
Is they're so mysterious

And like a consumer I've been thinking
If I could just get a bit more
More than my 15 minutes of faith,
Then I'd be secure

(Chorus)
My faith is like shifting sand
Changed by every wave
My faith is like shifting sand
So I stand on grace

I've begged you for some proof
For my Thomas eyes to see
A slithering staff, a leperous hand
And lions resting lazily

A glimpse of your back-side glory
And this soaked altar going ablaze
But you know I've seen so much
I explained it away

Chorus

Waters rose as my doubts reigned
My sand-castle faith, it slipped away
Found myself standing on your grace
It'd been there all the time

Chorus

Forty Acres and a Mule (or in this case, a really sleepy bull)

2007-03-28T15:59:00.000-05:00

Belated photos from Saturday's 40 Acres Fest, where I got "married" to K-Fed (If you look closely you can see his name on our 'marriage certificate'), got a Longhorn painted on my face, an awesome balloon hat and a henna tattoo (not pictured). Lots of colors, lots of sun. Bevo, our mascot, whom everyone suspects is drugged, popped by for a visit. We ate mee siam and curry puffs cooked by the Malaysian association and some really good Indian vegetarian food, made our own s'mores and scored exceptionally low on the African American Student Association's "Soul Jeopardy". As Andrea said, it was great because it was so "Pasar-malam-ish." I can't think of a better word to describe it.

Fix You

2007-03-25T19:00:00.000-05:00

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2u6k-99qcCE

Smile. It lets your teeth breathe.

2007-03-23T00:46:00.000-05:00

As happy as a clam because my Psych test got postponed to Monday. Hello, weekend.

Spring Break 2: It's Not Easy Being Green

2007-03-18T22:43:00.000-05:00

Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Dallas; "Beads! We want beads!"; wearing my grubby green T-shirt (thanks Mark) to avoid being pinched; "Kiss me, I'm Irish!"; gingerly loading the gun at the range; how NOT to shoot a rifle (one should lean forward, not back); wishing I had my cowboy hat with me; a girl, a lake and two trees on the picturesque Baylor campus in Waco; group picture taken with Chris' camera perched precariously on a tree branch

The Weekend before Spring Break: Yee-Haw!

2007-03-18T21:16:00.000-05:00

Funny little shop in Johnson City (LBJ's hometown); LOVELY BEER-BATTERED MUSHROOMS IN RANCH SAUCE at a bar in German-ish town Fredericksburg; adorable Peach Garden cafe and store; atop Enchanted Rock at sunset; happy we made it up that darned huge pink rock; Arlena's puppydog look; CAMPINGG!!! with chips and bread; the morning after; R-O-D-E-OoOoOoO; me, my hat and a piece of fudge; the crowning of Miss Rodeo Austin; Hook 'Em Horns!!!

Spring Break 1: Road Trip!

2007-03-18T20:57:00.000-05:00

Life imitating Art at DMOA; the stained glass spiral ceiling of a Dallas chapel; waiting by the train tracks; they spelled my name WRONG; great home-cooked dinner at Paul's; Arlena, my mocha and me in downtown Houston; the road-trippers; with the rest of the gang at Jan's

To Munyuk

2007-03-16T21:09:00.000-05:00

with love!

Stolen from Fish's blog with no permission whatsoever:

2007-03-09T08:01:00.000-06:00

"i was just consolidating my thoughts and deciding what to blog about post CAs when The Call came...The Call that came 8 years late

the most unexpected phone call with news that our primary school report books are ready for collection, 4 years since leaving secondary school! i recall the ruckus that we kicked up at the end of sec 1 when someone suddenly realised our pri school report books (filled with As and amazing comments :P) hadn't been returned to us; and again months before we left school, only to be told that they had gone "missing"

The Day has come then. that those missing beige books have re-emerged from the depths of dust, years after renovations is a pleasant surprise! it's not the report cards themselves, but the revelation that they were not lost in a black hole and are indeed going to be returned soon (: you know the elation you get when you find that missing cheapo black pen that has no real worth except that you stupidly spent half a morning looking for it only to discover it in a hidden corner of the sofa? yup that feeling :) :)

haha i know i sound utterly ridiculous but i don't care! we're going to be reunited, me and my beige book. and for the few other a1 ppl i know too (: "

It's ridiculous how happy this news is making me... I thought I had lost all documentation of my glory days in Primary School... haha but now there's proof that I used to be kinda smart! Eh, Beth?

Okay will now stop resting on the laurels and get back to work. I mean Spring Break. Oops.

(Fish, if you feel terribly violated by my blog-theft, please let me know...)

The 51st Post

2007-03-08T22:21:00.000-06:00

The tests are over and Spring Break has finally arrived!
Haven't exactly decided on the finer details of our 'great tour of Texas', but I'm sure we'll be discussing it soon.
I'm gonna spruce things up a bit with a mixed bag of pictures.
I found the perfect soundtrack to Spring: Albert Hammond, Jr.'s Yours To Keep. It's good music to bop along to on a road trip, made even better by the album art - the cutest I've seen in a looong time:

Yay. Always, always judge an album by its cover.

Moving on... I found a 1949 penny today. Gonna keep it. It's cool to think that the coin could have passed through the hands of American ladies who wore hats like these:

What a great photograph, huh?

And my last few pictures will be of the gospel brunch I had last Sunday at the famous live music venue cum BBQ house Stubb's, before we took all those cliff pictures. A gospel brunch is exactly what you think it is - eating a good Southern buffet brunch while being entertained by a gospel choir. The food was phenomenal: migas (scrambled egg with tortilla strips, onions, sliced peppers, tomatoes and cheese), fried catfish, biscuits and gravy, and of course, good ol' Texas BBQ (steak and turkey) with Stubb's very own Smokey Mesquite BBQ sauce. It was an interesting combination, stuffing ourselves silly while listening to the Texas State University gospel choir belt out praises to the heavens. But a very good one.

~sIgNz dA+ i"M sTilL a tEenybOpP3r @ hEaRt~

2007-03-07T19:43:00.000-06:00

Songs that help me study:
Born To Make You Happy - Britney Spears
I Think That I'm In Love With You - Jessica Simpson
Only Hope - Mandy Moore
Love For All Seasons - Christina Aguilera

... and a few more recent ones:
Glamorous - Fergie (it ROCKS!)
Walk Away - Paula DeAnda
Say It Right - Nelly Furtado

and who could forget, the QUEEN herself:
That's The Way It Is - Celine Dion

:) Yup I'm pretty sure I'll be friendless from now on.

Tribute to my Sister

2007-03-05T18:32:00.000-06:00

Summer: “You will not believe this, but it turns out I am totally smart."

It's been 3 days and I'm still AWFUL PROUD of ya!

Weekend In The City

2007-03-05T15:49:00.000-06:00

(My market auntie pose)

Just another lazy sun-drenched afternoon in Austin. More to come!

Blue for a day

2007-02-25T15:18:00.000-06:00

At Barack Obama's Austin Campaign Rally: One of 20,000 people, intermittent rain, grass that smelt like dog crap, posters doubling up as umbrellas, 2 hours of listening to so-so bands whine about --okay, take a stand against-- injustice and the war, waving to the hovering media helicopter, finally seeing the man himself, thinking it was cool that I was listening to the potential leader of the free world, feeling the energy and American-ness of it all, having a blast.

Sunshiney

2007-02-21T15:44:00.000-06:00

I saw two people in school with smeared black patches on their foreheads and couldn't figure out why, until I went to my Psychology lecture and the girl beside me thrust a cup of instant noodles at her friend next to her and said (in a whiney annoying voice), "Could you pleeeeaaaase eat this for me? It's got CHICKEN in it and it's Ash Wednesday!!"
Ohhh.
So today's the first day of Lent, and it's apparently also National Sticky Bun Day and St. Peter Damian's Day (he's the "patron against headaches", according to www.web-holidays.com). Since Chinese New Year on Sunday, there was President's Day and National Chocolate Mint Day on Monday, and Mardi Gras and National Cherry Pie Day on Tuesday. Tomorrow is National Margarita Day and Friday is National Banana Bread Day. Who knew?

It's 81degF out and it's just wonderful. I'm trying to lose the white winter skin by walking out in the sun as much as I can. It's amazing that only last week temperatures were around freezing. My dad told me I should be grateful that I get more than just "... and there'll be showers over the eastern part of the island" on the weather channels here. I agree, Pa :) Spring is GREAT!

I just got an email from Barack Obama. "Dear Gillian, if you're confused about all the debate over Iraq, you're not alone." Aw, what a sweetheart :) Haha. I joined his campaign mailing list so that I could get a ticket for the rally he's holding this Friday. First US political event I'm actually interested in. I hope I get a clear view of the guy. There's gonna be a concert before that too.

Okay my laptop is gonna die soon and I can't find a power outlet here in the study area. Remember, you don't really need that extra pineapple tart. Just walk away. You can do it.

I can't be angsty, no matter how hard I try

2007-02-20T00:03:00.000-06:00

What a crummy Monday. Bleaargh. I'm going to sleep.

(See?)

Chu Xi

2007-02-18T18:23:00.000-06:00

The UT Singaporeans and visiting A&M kiddies after a filling 'reunion dinner' at First Chinese BBQ in Austin's Chinatown Center. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Drop An Eyelash Make A Wish

2007-02-14T22:09:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

And what do bored singles do on V'day? Sell stuff to unsuspecting lovebirds! Like super-cheena notepads/cards/paperboxes/magnets brought over here from Singapore. At least that's what the S'pore Students Association did from last Thursday til today. We even threw in a secret delivery service for recipients living in the dorms. Though we were initially highly doubtful that the items would sell (almost none of us liked them!), and we got off to a rocky start (grand total of $6 the first day...), soon enough the stuff was selling like RotiBoys in '05. Or was it '04? Anyway we made $250 altogether. Yesss. All proceeds will go to funding SSA's extremely meaningful activities (i.e. trying out all the Chinese restaurants in Austin).
It's literally freezing today. But I guess the burning love radiating from everyone's hearts kept the entire school warm :)
Er... I have a lot more to write but right now all I can think of is my bed. Mattress. Whatever. I'm going! Love you all.

Presenting... the ladies of the bible study :)

2007-02-05T20:15:00.000-06:00

Meagan, Ebony, Liz, Me, Lynda (not a v good pic, but the only one I have)

Navigators' Evening of Enchantment

2007-02-04T17:42:00.000-06:00

The day we felt like princesses...

Amanda, me, Lauren

my Bible study mate Megan and me

Window in the Skies

2007-01-31T22:02:00.000-06:00

Greetings from Longhorn Country!

I know it's the last day of January when I...
1) Turn the page of my calendar and see a different vintage painting of idealized Hawaiian scenery
2) Get my paycheck
3) Flush my contacts down the sink

Since my last entry, I've...
1) Had my darkchocolateoreomintfudge ice cream thrown across a street (and caught) by two acrobatic servers at Amy's Ice Cream - hands down the funnest and most horrifying dessert experience I've ever had.
2) Visited College Station, home of our arch rivals Texas A&M. Despite being a UT Longhorn treading on enemy soil, I didn't really feel the hate until I saw people wearing T-shirts like these:
Yikes.
3) Received a book called 'A Nyonya in Texas' from my ever-thoughtful Uncle Leslie about a Peranakan woman's adventures in Houston.
4) Become a loyal fan of Amazon.com for selling books 8 times cheaper than the evil Co-op.
5) Gone to the gym ONCE. Sorry to disappoint, Munzies!
6) Gotten into the habit of doing the New York Times daily crossword - it all started off yesterday, when I saw the clue 'Island nation east of Fiji' and I was like 'Tonga!' and that inspired me to continue filling in the boxes. It's not easy! Some of the clues are filled with puns. Oh gosh I really am a nerd.

Take care, y'all!

Toozday

2007-01-23T18:25:00.000-06:00

This morning I made the brave decision to go to Gregory Gym with Kirsten at 730am after work. I think I'll try to make it a regular thing every Tuesdays and Thursdays, since class only starts at 930am. It might work. Those who truly know me will understand just how big of a deal it is. Me, exercising! It helps that almost the entire UT population is addicted to the gym, especially the Singaporeans. Yay for positive peer pressure.

So I did some very light cycling while watching the 2007 Oscar nominations unfold on the TV screen in front of me. (Ryan Gosling is up for Best Actor! Yeahhh. Though I'll probably never see the obscure indie movie that earned him the nomination.) Then I stretched. Then I went to the bathroom. Then I changed. Then I went for class. Hoorah.

Just kidding. There is a point to this entry. We were in the locker room getting our stuff when the emergency alarm went off, and all these alarm lights started flashing really brightly and a voice ordered us to evacuate the building immediately. So we guai guai walked to the nearest exit. As we joined the mass exodus of students (ok not really) toward the doors, I suddenly felt a chilly blast of wind and remembered that it was something like 5degC outside, and I was only wearing my T-shirt and flimsy little FBT shorts! Thank goodness I had taken my stuff out with me, so I put my sweater on. Still... wearing FBT shorts is like wearing next to nothing. That's the whole point. Shudder. The funniest (or most pitiful) thing was seeing the poor swimmers shuddering out there in the cold, trying to coax every last bit of warmth from their damp towels, or huddling tightly together in an attempt to share body heat. As well as the people who had raced straight out of the shower in their bathrobes and wet hair.

I never did get to find out what happened, because I had to dash to another building in my little shorts, change into jeans and go for class. It probably wasn't anything. A prank or something. Might read about it in the Daily Texan tomorrow. But still. A funny way to start the day.

Five Months

2007-01-20T21:55:00.000-06:00

Seems like waaay tooo long a period to be away from home. How do people do it?
It seems like school was delayed a week. It was supposed to start on Tuesday, but it didn't open until Thursday at 11am because of freezing rain and snow, and because my Thursday class was before 11 it got cancelled too. So I had a few classes on Friday but they were all introductory and light.
But soon it's all gonna come rushing toward me like a herd of mad elephants. The work I mean. And I guess I'm a little excited to get back into school mode.
I really wish the cold would go away, though. It should have been like this during Christmas. I would've been in the mood for it then. But not when school's starting and I have to trudge through the sludge.. fudge budge pudge... haha got a little carried away there... every morning. But anyhow. I love my job. Best in the world.
And thanks Becks for bringing me the stuff from my family - a Chinese New Year card actually written in Chinese, with hilarious Chinese messages from Beth and Ching, 2 copies of Life!, Hello Panda (which has become a gift-pack-for-Gill staple)... and more. I appreciate it. I really do.
I have my new printer up and running! It scans and copies too! Yay. Oh and today, I neatly coiled up all the wires for my laptop and other stuff with those little twisty things they use for bread here. Nice. I am on the way to the land of the neat. Just watch me.
I just finished reading "Broken Dreams, Fulfilled Promises" by Carolyn Ros (also an item from my Singapore gift pack) and it is an amazing account of a woman's struggle to keep close to God as her husband loses his memory after awaking from a coma. It really spoke to me because the book wasn't just one big melodramatic, tear-jerking pity-fest, but she had some great stuff to say about how to stay close to God during long periods of hardship and sorrow. I thought it was a really powerful story. Look it up on Amazon.
Okay sleeepy. Gonna visit Kirsten's church tomorrow, and their service starts FRIGHTFULLY early: 9am! Haha kidding, I guess I've gotten used to 11am services. Oh whatever. Take care you all.