Back from the island. Dumped my brother in a very posh hostel... I can't believe his luck! How did I get stuck with spooky old Eton Hall and he gets the bourgeois life of an ACS boarding school!

Meeting up with Odac was unbelievable. 18 out of 20... that was a 90% attendance! And a 100% guy attendance - I have to give it to you guys! And it was actually fun and we didn't get sian too soon... definitely worth coming all the way down to Singapore for. Some things really haven't changed. But some things have... little things... you guys probably wouldn't even notice.

And now it's back to planning this 21st birthday of mine. I still can't even think of anything I'd want to put on my wish list. The things I want can't even be bought... and you can't help me... really...

I'm back from the island down south.
Trying to force feed myself reality.
Getting a grip on why falling off the edge is all too easy.
Ironically.

You hate it here and you want to run away... run back to London and leave problems behind where they look smaller because the distance makes everything simple.

And then again you don't. You want to say the things that were unsaid and tie up the loose ends of the sides that have frayed, before it unravels and nothing is left.

And maybe you never want to go back there again. Because it was too painful walking alone past all those places we used to haunt together. Because it hurts to be neglected and treated like the most unimportant speck of dust in this world.

I'm counting the days till I can runaway from this. I don't care that I'm making my life in London a make believe cotton candy world. I don't care that I'm putting on masks again. I don't want to care... because if I've cared too much about you.

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

Editorial Page, New York Sun, 1897


We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:


I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a sceptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus?Thank God he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!


From The People's Almanac, pp. 1358-9.


A very blessed Christmas to all... and keep the peace of the Christ child in your hearts.

And way up in the sky the North Star is shining... over the lowly manger where a babe is to be born... a mighty saviour in the form of an innocent Christ child. And man will live forever more, because of Christmas Day.

Christmas eve is always magical. As we light the candles and sprinkle them with lavender oil, and my sister sings 'Jolly Old St. Nicholas' out of tune (she's been singing it out of tune for the last 13 years... and she turns 14 next year), and we wait for mum's relatives to arrive and I wonder if they'll notice that I've had a haircut (no one ever does) and we've placed the last of the wrapped presents under the Christmas tree (as usual we've forgotten to put name tags, so we're going to have to play guessing games later) and the Johor Laksa is bubbling in the kitchen (no, no stuffed turkey... we celebrate Christmas the Malaysian way...) and mum still hasn't unveiled what other culinary treats she has prepared, and we've taken out the Christmas cutlery and table mats and napkins (made shiny only once a year) and Dad is blasting Christmas carols for the entire neighbourhood to hear (not that I've ever heard the neighbours complain be it Christmas carols or 'the Eagles on Tour') and everything is just Christmassy.

Just Christmassy!

Merry Christmas Eve!

What's the fun in being home?

1. Being able to eat REAL food!
2. Being pampered to the max by parents
3. Being able to shop in RINGGIT
4. Being able to pick up with friends right where we left off... right down to Ravi and Pal incessantly bullying me and calling me kinky. (I am NOT kinky pinky!!!)
5. Being able to sleep in my own room and not having to make my bed or pick up my own stuff (so sue me, I'm a spoilt brat!)
6. Being away from Amar's amarity
7. Being able to wear pink and not have Lionel say "Ewwww! PINK!"
8. Being away from Soha's "Wanna fight is it?"
9. Being able to talk to people in 'real time'
10. Being nearer to Singapore.

What's not fun about being home?
I actually miss London and all of you there!

Yin Tse has suggested that I put up a wish list for my birthday. How thoughtful!!! Guess no one really wanted to donate to the "Help Charlotte Buy Textbooks" fund. No one takes too kindly to my putting up a list of textbooks, huh? The last time I put up a wish list (which was a long list of stationary), I got everything I wanted. AND it was cheap. AND everyone was happy. Give me a few days. I'll come back with a list after Christmas... after I see what Christmas presents I'm getting...

After 13 hours on the plane with Fong May, Wai Kee and Adrian Mak (walking up and down the plane looking out for cute guys, and just standing around Adrian Mak's seat chatting, and sleeping for 7 hours straight, and staying awake for apple crumble only to find its pathetically nothing like Linstead's apple crumble!)

I'm home.
I can taste it.
I can feel it.
I can smell it.
But the reality of it hasn't really hit me yet. It's like walking in a dream world. Everything's so familiar yet so strange.

It's the little things. Like the Christmas cards not being written this year, because that's normally my duty.

But I'm home. The weather isn't as warm as I thought it'd be. The food is still fantastic. The friends are still here. Even Greg sounds closer on the phone. Have I not made it clear enough? I'm HOME!!!

A cab is arriving to take Fong May and me to the airport in another 2 and a half hours.

I bumped into Ollie as I entered halls after my very last assessment for this term (nay! This YEAR!).
"Are you going home, Ollie?"
"Yeah man! Just gonna catch the bus home"
"Oh! That's lovely... I've got a 13 hours flight ahead of me"
"Where are you going? Halfway around the world and back?!!"
"No... just back to Malaysia"

When a term comes to an end suddenly everything seems so significant. As we sat down for dinner last night and realised it was going to be the last dinner of the year together. As we walked to Odeon to watch Return of the King - last movie of the year. As we sat in Amar's room until 3am, talking and drinking champagne, campari, gin... not wanting to leave because we won't get to do this again until next year.

Next year... it seems like a couple of months... not just 3 weeks away before I arrive back in cold, freezing London on my 21st birthday. And I will miss all of you, surprisingly! Ruby, Cheryl, Trinh, Kristina, Soha, Lionel, Amar, Lu, Yi Shan, Fong May, Alex, Val, Ee Wen, Choon Sern, B Landers... people that have been keeping me alive for the past 11 weeks!

This is one of those rare times I've entered the EE computing labs this term. Usually I just sit in my room, programming in my pyjamas when I should be here. But I just cannot use the computers here. For one thing the British keyboards really annoy me! They've got their keys in all the wrong places. The " is where the @ should be. The £ replaces the #. And I've even spotted € next to the 4.

I'm completely skiving classes today. And doing it rather stupidly too. I thought I ponned digital electronics this morning, but when I turned up for ARM architecture I found no ARM architecture but instead the digital tutorial I had intended to pon! My day is going all topsy turvy. I'm only half packed and trying to find more things to stuff in my suitcase. Ruba has asked me to stop playing Christmas carols if I'm going to play Silent Night in 3 different pop versions (BackStreet Boys, N Sync and Jewel). It's not my fault if Silent Night happens to be the most sung Christmas carol by bubblegummy popsters. And just to prove that I didn't just have bubblegummy carols, I played some City on a Hill carols for Ruba... but she wasn't listening.

Going back now to finish reading up on high pass filters before the screening of Return of The King tonight. *crosses fingers* Please give more screen time to Legolas!!! Please, please!!!

Yesterday I opened my purse hoping to find 20 pounds in it. Wishful thinking! I swear I had a damn lot of coins recently but they all seem to have melted away. I should have stopped complaining about how heavy they were. Maybe that's why they decided to elope with my pound notes and leave me.

So I proceeded to the NatWest ATM outside South Kent station to withdraw another 20 pounds. There are no ATMs in the brightly lit South Kent station (or else I haven't found it yet) but there is an ATM in the most shady and dimly lit corner of the NatWest South Kent branch where a homeless person sits begging for a few coppers or dimes. Maybe a pound if she's lucky. I'm don't think I agree with the concept of begging at ATMs. Firstly I don't agree with the concept of begging when you are obviously able bodied enough to move yourself in front of an ATM in the evening and out of the way in the morning and secondly, the general public who need to access an ATM machine obviously have no money with them... and when they've withdrawn some cash it's usually in denominations of tens, twenties and fifties and not pennies and dimes and so they won't have any loose change.

And who's fault really is it when it comes to the homeless? The homeless themselves and their own ineptness to secure a proper job, stop looking out from the bottom of a bottle and gain a decent residence? Or the Blair government for not fulfilling their promises (hah! Labour party, they call themselves).

In other news, Saddam has been captured. Read the talkingcock version of his capture, especially if you speak Hokkien. Lionel thinks he looks like a jewish rabbi with that beard. He should have worn a skull cap to avoid being noticed.

In other other news, I met Teresa, Arief and Zeus last night for dinner in Chinatown. We spent an obscene 47 pounds at Royal Dragon (2 damn pounds for rice... per person!!!!) but if it was money spent on a happy, chatty gathering of Odacians, senior and junior, then it was money well spent. Teresa asked Zeus and Arief why they didn't bring their other halves... to which they replied, "Well we thought we wanted this to be a proper ODAC thing only". And it was nice to have a proper ODAC thing... we even did 'ODAC jiak' before digging into our extravagent meal. In between catching up and gossiping we planned for future ODAC gatherings during Chinese New Year and to visit each other's residences, (with their other halves as Teresa insists that they are all part of the ODAC family now) and talked hopefully about more Odacians joining us in the UK next year. It's always great being with Odacians, you always feel at home.

Did I tell everyone the good news? My brother did not get into NS. I am now waiting to find out if he got the ASEAN scholarship. I know he really wants to get it. He's always been a good boy... chasing after my footsteps... always trying to outrun me. I hope he gets into RJ. He'd be a perfect Rafflesian if I ever saw one... although I do have my doubts about his AC poser tendencies. Or maybe he's only poser-ish around his big sister who's not so big anymore standing next to him. In fact, am approximately half a head shorter already. My little sister is swiftly catching up and I'd be the family midget soon if it wasn't for mum.

Must stop vague rambling now. Things to get done:
1. Write lab log book
2. Ask Rich to help with binary files (wtf are they?)
3. Figure out where I have saved the armulator on my laptop
4. Go to M&S to buy cookies and presents
5. Pack bags
6. Board plane
7. Go home

La obsesión rosado is signing out. (courtesy of Spanish crash course by Lionel the night before his Spanish exam. Refuse to speak to anyone sitting for a language exam the next day anymore. Tired of having to use online translators just to have a normal conversation)

5 Christmas Cards and counting...

It's such a warm fuzzy feeling to receive a Christmas Card... reminds you that you are loved or at least thought of! B-Landing Linsteadians have been decorating their doors with Christmas Cards. It's the cheapest Christmas decorations we can find. And its so lovely to read them because sometimes you can't believe the sender actually wrote them!
Take Farhad's for an example:
"Always keep that smile on your face because that smile on your face is the light in the window that tells people that you are at home"
9 times out of 10, Farhad is usually muttering something obscene or horny.
But I suppose the spirit of Christmas touches everybody... even foul mouthed bastards like Farhad.

Said the night wind to the little lamb
Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky little lamb
Do you see what I see?
A star, a star
Dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite...

Frosty winds are starting to blow, and soon we'll have snow (if we're really unlucky). All the shops are dressed up in gold and glitter and santa clauses and elves and gilded christmas trees and fairy lights... and the Christ child is forgotten. Last weekend my aunt and uncle drove me down to Croydon in the evening, down to the English suburbs... and in these usually quiet towns (well, anything is quiet compared to South Kensington where no one ever sleeps) we gaped at the immensely tacky and showy displays that the residents had put up. Santa Claus was climbing several windows. Rudolph was running across several roofs. Bright, shining, snowmen stood alone in the cold with big fake plastic smiles. Where one house had a grand display, his neighbour had a brighter and grander one! And my aunty said, "Where's the significance of Christ's birth in all this?". And then we passed a little church which had nothing but a simple lighted sillhouette of the nativity scene. The first sign of the true spirit of Christmas. Do you hear what I hear?

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy
Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy
Do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song
High above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king
Do you know what I know?
In your palace warm, mighty king
Do you know what I know?
A child, a child
Shivers in the cold
Let us bring him silver and gold
Let us bring him silver and gold

Said the kind to the people everywhere
Listen to what I say
Pray for peace, people everywhere
Listen to what I say
The Child, the Child
Sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light

I was surfing around online and discovered: my swatch bludablu skin costs 140 sing dollars!!!!!!!!
I don't think I'm that worthy... and now I'm feeling rather painful about the curry I sploshed on the strap while cooking just now (amazing assam prawns, thanks to Chef Charlotte! magnifique!)

Here's how decadent my life has become.

Yesterday - Mahjong till 3am
This morning - Basketball
After lunch - Snooker
After dinner - Bridge

All the typical ODAC past times in one day. Ohhhh... I really miss ODAC now!

Strange things happen around Imperial College Halls when you stay up playing mahjong till 3 in the morning -

This morning I was
a) incessantly annoyed by some Taiwanese girl playing the same Mozart Sonata phrase over and over and over and over and over... (I have no personal vendetta against the Taiwanese... I WILL however bear a grudge should you decide to torment me by repeatedly playing Mozart... very badly!)
b)presented the opportunity to watch a real quad run (i.e. some idiot who has lost at table football running around the quad stark naked). It was rather disturbing that Alex was rather engrossed in watching the nudie guy instead of his mahjong tiles.
c)watching the strangest of hall residents walk in at various late hours of the night. The least expected ones (i.e. the guardians of the study table and keepers of the sacred notes) kept on walking in even later...
d)entertained by Jaq whacking Amar's ass at fencing again.

******

My parents have vehemantly insisted that they should celebrate the 21st birthday of their first born. When I was just a wee lass I looked forward to my 21st birthday with some kind of debutante gala in mind. Presently I can't give a damn. I just want a gathering with my friends as has become some sort of Amanian tradition. It was surprising to hear Choo lamenting when I initially thought of scrapping it for my 21st. However let me quietly turn 21 next year without the pomp and grandeur, please? Why do I get the feeling my mum will get her way like she always has for the last 20 years?

******

If there are several things I would like to see in my Christmas stocking this year it would be
1. Les Miserables Piano Score
2. A hat like Eponine's which I really need now that my ears are almost frostbitten
3. Nothing in PINK!!!

*yawn*

stayed up playing mahjong until almost 2 in the morning (with a mahjong glossary kindly provided by lionel! i have now expanded my chinese character reading ability)... decadent decadent life... i'm doing every single thing i used to disapprove of! realise that mahjong has a direct effect on your chinese-ness (which i clearly lack without you having to tell me). you find yourself conversing in broken fragments of dusty, rusty mandarin. you actually recognise some hokkien phrases that your aunties used to yell out during weekly mahjong sessions. you reminisce about chinese traditions and past new years. and i have to giggle as the ang mohs look on with uncomprehension written on their faces... they're probably thinking of "Joy Luck Club" when they say "I know this game! I've got to learn it" but they never can learn it... there's too much essence of chinois in it.

new photos have been uploaded. time to drag this carcass to the shower. meeting ruby's mum for lunch. dim sum is never better when someone else is treating you to it. especially in this land where you are deprived of good, wholesome, (expensive), chinese food.

I really hope pretending to be happy isn't a mental disease... or what Jason used to refer to as living in De Nile.

I've been leading a rather hedonistic life since the end of Christmas tests. A stack of unread notes is piling on my table. Bright red neon lights flash in my head randomly with the words "ORAL LAB PRESENTATION!!!" or "PROGRAMMING TEST ON TUESDAY" or "DRIVING TEST ON MONDAY, DAMMIT!". But it's easy to become blind to it... life in University halls churns out the best of people doesn't it?

Linsteadians just returned from the Christmas boat cruise about 2 hours ago, experienced a fire alarm an hour ago, and now I still have that feeling as if I'm bobbing up and down like a little dinghy on a windy day. It is fun to play dress up once in awhile, to stare dissapointedly at the finger food we paid 10 pounds for, to dance crazily in 3 inch heels and a tight dress, to play bridge while the rest of the boat is partying... just like back in the ODAC 'construction' days, to be freezing to death out on the deck and admire the view of London from the Thames (which was marred by the presence of Killian and Luke mooning the pier!), to try walking back from South Kent station in almost blistered feet and then raid Amar's chocolate stash in his room.

Tis a crazy life I'm living and I'm loving every moment of it. I just wish you were part of it too...

When you're sitting and grinning to yourself and thinking "It's over! It's bloody over!" at 3 am in the morning... it starts to feel slightly unnerving.

Maskerade has just ended a spectacular 4 day run that saw immovable walls, Granny Weatherwax tumbling over the black boxes in the dark, unsynchronised squeaks by the death of rats, falling bats, flowers and an innoucuous teddy bear and our best show stopper - the fire alarm that went off in the middle of the smoke scene with the techies yelling "Too much smoke! Stop spraying the f**king smoke!" and eventually evacuating everyone from the building. All cast members unanimously agree that the fire alarm night will go down in drama soc history as the best delivery ever!

Maskerade's success however has absolutely no connection to why I'm still awake and chirpy at 3am. Maybe it was the ridiculous girl on girl table football match (where the ball careened ever so gently across the table), maybe it was the crazy fencing match where we once again watched Amar getting his ass whacked by Jaq (that's Jaqueline, mind you!) or maybe it was the silly sing-song sessions where we watched Alex regress towards his childhood years and discovered his preoccupation with "Polly put the kettle on".

We're all MAD I tell you, MAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAAAD.....

*ahem*

Scenes from the opening night of Maskerade (from p.o.v. of a chorus girl):

Act 1 Scene 1
No one is in the changing room except for the chorus girls and the show is to start in 50 minutes. No one is in costume. Everyone else is in the bar downstairs. The chorus girls start fighting for mirror space. No one knows where all the pads for applying foundation has gone. It's probably with the guys. Elizabeth works on Agnes' fat pack. Someone comments that one of Agnes' boobs is bigger than the other... spare socks anybody? Fix Agnes' chest... and it's on to her hips... spare t-shirts? Techies come around with mikes and stuff, looking important and start yelling "5 minutes to curtains rising". Cast looks at each other and asks, "Is that really 5 minutes, or techy 5 minutes?" because we all know that with techy minutes you have to multiply that by 3... techy rule of 3...




Act 1 Scene 2
"So how many people are we expecting tonight, Martin?"
"Oh we've got about 20 reserved tickets..."
"Only 20? Ok... that's not too bad"
... one scene later...
"Wtf! There's a damn crowd out there!!!"



Act 1 Scene 3
"Someone's laughing really loudly out there and very high pitched..."
"But that's good isn't it?"
"... but she's laughing even when there are no jokes in the script!"

Act 1 Scene 4
And Tom has died for the... er... 3rd or 4th time now?




Act 2 Scene 1
Everyone's back down in the bar. Some one from the stage management crew comes down to usher us back up and threaten us to get back into costume. Makeup is starting to run though... can't look like a chorus girl who hasn't slept in 3 days, can I?




Act 2 Scene 2
Which scene is it? Where are we now? This is a big mess! Thank goodness the audience can't see what chaos it is back stage.



Act 2 Scene 3
"Oh my gosh! I know I'm going to laugh... this is too funny, I'm supposed to look shocked and scared but this scene is just way too hilarious!!!"
"Then just pinch yourself really hard!"



Grand Finale
"Curtain call? What now? Does the audience know it's over?"
"Do we bow again?"
"Well they're still clapping"
"Ok... they're still clapping but I'm getting tired"
"Lets just leave?"
"Yup come on... leave the audience to it end the show..."



For more photos click here! (Why do I even encourage you?)

Whheeeeeeee!!!!

Christmas Tests are over!!! And I won't be getting a big fat zero for it! In fact I think today's test went better than any test I have ever taken in RJ! It does make my very bruised self confidence (caused by 2 years spent in 'the PRC class') feel much much better.

And what makes me so relieved that this test actually went ok is the fact that yesterday I was at dress rehearsals from 5pm till midnight because the IC drama soc doesn't give a damn that you have a test at 9am the next morning... the show must go on!!! But that is University life as my tutor emphasised... you could have a deadline the next morning and still be out partying till 3 in the morning, hungover till 4am and start working on it at 5am.

I go for rehearsals at 5pm, come back at midnight. Finish dinner at 1am. Look gloomily at my math notes which have not been touched in several weeks. Decide to wake up at 6am and read through them. Never wake up at all. Wake up at quarter to 8, realise I only have 45 minutes to get changed and eat breakfast AND look at my math notes. Never finish looking through maths notes. Take a brisk walk to the exam hall... figure I'd do the math questions last since I definitely studied more circuits, digital and comp. architecture than math. Do as much as I can for the previous 3. Realise I have plenty of time to float like a dead fish through the math paper. Finish math in 15 minutes!! This is outrageous! It only goes to prove that the papers you don't study for are always the easiest! Whilst the papers you've spent a week cracking your head over might as well be your death sentence!! Murphy's Law was invented solely for University students!!

The What Are You Doing Now Quiz
---------------------------------

Questions:
1. What are you doing now?
Eating my lunch of instant chicken and mushroom pasta, studying Computer Architecture and ponteng-ing Software Engineering Lecture. Cheryl's friend John says that instant pasta is advance student cooking.... but anything is advanced student cooking compared to Cheryl's ham and butter sandwiches.

2. How are you feeling now?
Flu-ey. Great big vacuum in my head is sucking out everything I've been trying to put in which includes multiple load registers, memory organisation, sequential devices and my 9 lines for the Maskerade play.

3. What's on your mind right now?
Multiple load registers, memory organisation, sequential devices and my 9 lines for the Maskerade play.

4. Are you hungry?
Can you be hungry while eating lunch? Because I was definitely hungry before. And I won't be full until I finish this entire bowl of pasta... but what's in between?

5. Where are you right now?
Room B12, otherwise known as the sleeping and eating quarters of Charlotte who never answers her phone.

6. Anyone around you right now?
*shiver* I hope not... because there shouldn't be. Kristina is currently attending lectures *snigger*

7. Who are you thinking of right now?
No one in particular. You see, I regularly put alarm reminders into my phone to remind me to actually "THINK!" once in awhile

8. Last tv show you watched?
Scrubs Season 2 episode 8 (I'm so sad I actually remember which episodes I've watched and what songs were played in them... Season1Episode4 - Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah (Rufus Wainwright version) is still my favourite!)

9. Last meal you had?
Now that I've eaten the last bits of my pasta I can confidently say: Chicken and Mushroom Pasta!!!

10. Ok. Admit it, what were you doing before you where bored enough to do this quiz?
Eating my Chicken and Mushroom Pasta. Before that? Cooking my Chicken and Mushroom Pasta. Before that? Wondering if I should eat Chicken and Mushroom Pasta packet 1, which I had to as the other choice was...erm, Chicken and Mushroom Pasta packet 2.

11. What are you doing tomorrow?
Opening my Christmas Present!!! (Code names disillusional EEE students give Christmas tests... sigh). Performing Maskerade for a real and critical audience for the first time.

12. What were you doing yesterday?
Ponteng-ing classes, mucking about while Dr. Cozens again got confused on a phasor question but this time corrected himself before we could correct him (damn! such a spoilsport!), advertising Maskerade with the hideous Maskerade T-Shirt I bought for 6 pounds and which is now the butt of many jokes, mugging or trying to mug, conked myself out with some paracetamol lem-sip to cure my cough. I don't think the effects have worn out yet...

13. How much money do you have in your wallet?
I'm not telling you!! You might rob me of my 18 pounds!!!

14. Last song you heard?
Something Beautiful - Jars of Clay... I'm listening to my Religious playlist in the hopes of redemption...

15. Where did you hear the song from?
I didn't hear it from anywhere. I only wanted to borrow a few CDs from Lionel but he ended up shoving approximately 15 CDs into my hands, which included this song.

16. What are you wearing right now? How do you look?
Jeans and white zipped jumper. How do I look? With my eyes I assume...

17. What are you doing one week from now?
Next tuesday? Attending lectures to make my conscience feel better about skipping so many this week

18. Are you feeling happy?
It's not easy to feel happy with a cold blocking out half your senses.

19. Are you feeling warm/cold right now?
Warm! I'm a happy bunny! I'm full of pasta!

20. If walks in right now and sees you, what would he/she do?
Probably look right through me. Since when has anyone cute ever paid attention to me? Only curly haired... nevermind...

je ne veux pas vous détester. qui fait ceci si difficile? vous ou me? je vous tiens mais vous êtes si lointain. la conversation à vous n'aidez pas. vous vous déplacez plus et plus loin. et la tristesse dans votre voix, il n'a jamais utilisé pour être comme ceci. qu'est-il arrivé aux conversations merveilleuses que nous avons utilisé pour avoir? L'une qui a fait me tomber amoureux de vous. j'ai besoin d'entendre votre voix encore, la façon qu'il a utilisée être. je viens d'a besoin de vous.

sorry. don't bother translating that. i'm annoying myself with my limited french vocabulary...

Monday lessons are so lovely. They are all so ponteng-able. I never go in for computer lab sessions... not when I can program in my room in my pyjamas. I hardly attend Software Engineering lectures, unless I've had a bad weekend and need a few good laughs from Dr. Pitts (come to think of it, I should attend at least one of his lectures before the term ends... I'll never get a lecturer this good again! I so want to be in his research team in the 3rd year. It's only so coincidental that it's what I've always wanted to major in - Intelligent and Interactive Systems!!!). And then I stroll into the EE building at 2pm and greet my classmates who will cock one eyebrow and say "So, Charlotte... didn't think it was worth your time to attend classes this morning, eh?" and then proceed to talk throughout circuits tutorial while Dr. Cozens confuses himself over an analysis question on the blackboard until we decide to tell him (5 minutes before the end of the period) "Sir, I think you've added the resistors in parallel instead of in series... *again*". And finally sit through an hour of Dr. Cheung's digital electronics and grin triumphantly at the end of it if I've managed to stay awake for more than half an hour... or else get poked endlessly by some annoying classmate each time my eyes start to close and my head starts to hang off the edge of my neck. Oh yes, I do believe I love Mondays.