One last night

One last night in London, one final post from me.

I think I've figured it out, it's not the parks, nor cobbled stones, nor secret alley ways, nor English tea that I'll miss. It's the friends I'm leaving behind. It's my little brother who's got to cope on his own in the UK now. It's the EE guys whom I'll miss terribly when I'm in need of all-guy bullying to put me in my place. It's the MSOC people I won't be able to gossip with everyday. It's my horrible juniors who will no longer torture me and demand cheesecakes from me. It's my ISE friends whom I'll never have crazy sessions at the union bar with again. It's my beloved freshers who'll grow up, without me.

Each time, I've left a country with no regrets. Psyched myself up with cold steely reserve, waiting to start a new life, waiting to see what beckons. I'm excited about Hong Kong, and yet apprehensive as usual. The work, the stress, the possibility of growing fat and old and alone... well not that alone, seeing that my new household is going to be a great fodder for future humourous posts, however this time I feel like I've left a substantial part of myself in London, or maybe more of a gaping absence, and this last night is going to be a painful one.

Because this time, it's just too hard to say goodbye. At least there will be Fridays to look forward to.

Dimsumgirltalk is officially open. I won't say goodbye. I can't face it.

and so the rain falls...

I can never separate rain from London, or so it seems. Walking back from West End, completely drenched with squeaky shoes, it was refreshing (although I doubt Kit who was drenched from head to toe felt the same).

Despite all my previous posts that mentioned my time in London has outdone its welcome, I will miss this quaint city, its awful weather, and its cobbled stone roads which absolutely kill my shoes. It's hard to say goodbye to everything and everyone. There's only so little time and so many many things to do, and the rain and gloom is making it harder. I've already been back to Imperial twice, and nothing seems to have changed, apart from the fact that I keep on walking in wearing a suit instead of my EE polo t-shirt and jeans. My hangout area is now Holborn instead of South Kent, and I miss my old haunts. But I'm rambling. I think the rain has addled my brains.

Hong Kong will be a world of difference, but a nice change of scenary. Typhoons instead of pattering rain...

Next port of call

If you've been following my little journey around the world, you'd be happy to know that I've sailed back to London and I'm enjoying a spot of good weather that I've hardly seen in my last 4 years here.

It's a little strange to come back not as a student, nor living the student life. No more dorm rooms, microwave pasta and torn jeans.

And I miss it. Amidst all the luxury of owning a working life, I miss that penniless student freedom.
And I miss all of you. London's not the same without...

Just so you know I'm alright...

If it wasn't because my Nokia had died yesterday, and I had to switch on the phone my cousin gave me, I wouldn't have known that the world was searching for me in the aftermath of the steam explosion that rocked midtown New York on Wednesday.


I was pretty far from the area really, and my biggest concern at that time was how to get to dinner on 17th street. But it was pretty massive, and I'm glad to say that my friends in the area are all okay, and besides having the roads shut off for awhile and not being able to go there for dinner, everything has settled down now.

So just in case you were worrying about me (which I am sure you were), I'm really fine. Growing fatter, but fine.

Dressing up or dressing down

I just can't get the hang of it here. New York city is THE city, and should be every cosmopolitan girl's dream. But I just took a look at the clothes I brought, and it's more Penang beach bum than anything else. What was I thinking? That I was going on holiday in Miami?

It's ironic that I am really most comfortable in my three quarters and my cheap birkenstock look-a-likes... when I've been a city girl all my life. From KL to Singapore to London to New York, you'd think I'd have figured out fashion some what. But, hello... I didn't even bring a pair of jeans because 1. it's summer and 2. my old jeans are ripped at the oddest places! Time to go outlet shopping.

I had dinner here last night


I need remember to bring my camera out next time. And the wombat too. I have plans to give it it's own blog. "Igor's travels around the world". I'll introduce Igor later. It's passed out, hungover right now.

In the Big Apple

It took 22 hours to get all the way here... and now I have no idea where to go. It's taken awhile to adjust to the orientation of the map, and figure out where everyone is in this hotel. I couldn't even understand what the taxi driver from the airport was saying!

"You wannago marnarten?"
"Huh?"
"Marnaten?"
"Wha- oh.. Manhattan, yes please, Manhattan"

I'm not even sure which way to face to see the statue of liberty, which is really not very far from where I am.

Oh well, I guess I'll get my bearings right tomorrow.

Goodbye Home again

Do you know how hard it is to leave home?

Every year my time spent at home has been getting shorter and shorter. And now that I've finished university and everyone expects me to be home for good... I have to disappoint them and tell them that my next port of call is new york, then london and finally hong kong for good.

Keep in touch. Tell me about your lives, hopes and dreams. Tell me if you're getting married, becoming parents, or even god parents.

Cos goodness knows I'm really bad at doing just that

Tagged again

I could lie and say that I'm bored and this is my last resort for entertainment, but you know that won't be true. I love talking about myself more than the next person, so why wouldn't I do a meme especially if I've been tagged by Heng Kai?

1) Name one person who made you smile last night.
Er, Sugs I guess. I was out with her getting a manicure and we were gossiping which makes me laugh a lot.

2)What were you doing at 8:00 this morning?
Sleeping

3) What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Eating. Number 2 and 3 are pretty much my only activities right now.

4) What was something that happened to you in 2006?
I got treated to Nobu... twice!

5)What is the last thing you said aloud?
"I'm going to my room to take a bath." ... clearly I haven't, yet...

6) How many different things did you drink today?
Water (it always begins with water doesn't it?), tea, soya bean milk and some Herbalife cappucino milkshake thingee which always gives me goosebumps

7) What color is your hairbrush?
Sparkly purple. I'm serious!

8) What was the last thing you paid for?
A manicure... I'm trying to be a girly girl, truly I am!

9) Where were you last night?
Out with Sugania since the guys decided to ditch us at the last minute for their mummies and daddies! Such mummy's boys!!!

10) What color is your front door?
Dark brown I believe. I haven't really looked at it carefully.

11) Where do you keep your change?
I'm not telling you. You might steal it.

12) What is the weather like today?
Sunny! Just the way I like it. Why do people complain about Malaysian weather? I think it's gorgeous. (and I do not suffer from sunstroke, thanks!)

13) What is the best ice cream flavor?
Erm, I dunno. I'm fickle about ice cream.

14) What is something you are excited about?
Helium filled balloons? Pink stuff? Shoes? Dali paintings? I'm generally a pretty exciteable person...

15) Do you want to cut your hair?
I don't know what to do with my hair

16) Are you over the age of 25?
Not yet!!! And I will refute this question for the next 6 years!

17) Do you talk a lot?
Ahahahahaha... hell yeah! (If you don't agree, you just haven't talked to me enough)

18) Do you watch The O.C.?
Nope

19) Do you know anyone named Steven?
Several. Relatives, friends, colleagues... Steven's too popular a name!

20) Do you make up your own words?
I'm not sure. I talk to myself a lot and I seem to understand what I say.

21) Are you typically a jealous person?
No, it's more fun to stir the green-eyed monster in others

22) Name a friend whose name starts with the letter “A”
Anushia Ashokan (That's 2 'A's for clarity!)

23) Name a friend whose name starts with the letter “K"
Kim Png... gosh it's hard to think of a K name that isn't Kenneth!

24) Who’s the 1st person on your received calls list?
Er, this relocation company guy I was just talking to.

25) What did the last text message you received say?
Now this is encrouching on my personal space!

26) Do you chew on your straws?
Nah, they're not very tasty...

27) Do you have curly hair?
It's generally wavy in all the wrong directions

28) Where is the next place you’re going?

Cambodia

29) Who is the rudest person in your life?
It might be me

30) What is the last thing you ate?
Dinner, I'm too full to remember what it was...

31) Is marriage in your future?
Strangely I think I'm destined for it...

32) What is the best movie you’ve seen in the past two weeks?
I watched something on the plane... it made me cry... but I can't remember what it was... I guess it couldn't have been the 'best' movie...

33) Is there anyone you like right now?
Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor... possibly still Hugh Jackman... oh, and Lionel.

34) When was the last time you did the dishes?
I don't remember... I cook... I don't do dishes...

35) Are you currently depressed?
Heavens, no!

36) Did you cry today?
Yes, I had to get my eyebrows and a facial done this morning!

37) Why did you answer and post this?
Like I said, talking about myself = favourite activity

38) Tag 5 people who would do this survey
If you know me... you know I'd say... I'll tag everybody... I really am not fussy... It's your life, tell me about it!

All things must come to an end

When they said university would be the best days of your life... they were pretty much spot on. The last 4 years have had their ups and downs, and thankfully the scales are tipped on the side of the ups! And this blog has been following all of it silently. Or perhaps not that silently.

This blog has narrated my journey, since I arrived home in Malaysia after those arduous years in Singapore, right up till the point of my graduation and this seems like a good place to slot in a happy ending and close this chapter.

Charlotte Sometimes has been a neat little alcove of some of my best writings and some of my worst ramblings, and I although I don't think I'll ever stop writing I do believe it's time for a new phase of my life to begin and with that comes a change of scenary and a fresh canvas to start on.

I'm not closing down right here, right now... but I will slowly start to fade this blog off. Some of you will probably know where to find other stories, in lands where dimsumgirls reside and life rests on a hurricane or two.

Don't miss me for now. I'll be back with more stories to tell...

In the land I call home

A few thousand feet above the ground, I could see the oil palm trees swaying and I felt... like I was home.

The sun is brighter, the sambal belacan is spicier and the family folk are louder. If things stayed this way, I could live in this place forever.

Honey, I'm home.

Master Engineer...

And with my final year project presentation finally tucked out of sight (it was soooo awful, I do not want to talk about it... except at length to everyone I meet), I am now (if I do not fail, touchwood) an ahMeng. Which is better than being an ahBeng, you'd agree.

When I was still a wee lass in school, graduation and earning a degree seemed like such a big deal. But now, I've passed the threshold and I've attained a masters in engineering. I've gone one step further than my parents in education. If I get a first, I'll possibly be the most successful academic in my extended family... a first class from the 9th best university in the world! I've come a long way since I was top of the class in primary one and couldn't understand what that meant ("Mummy, teacher said I got number 1. Why 1 only?").

But after all is said and done, I'm not really sure what I've acheived. And I feel no different from that seven year old girl in the navy blue pinafore colouring butterflies on notepaper. "Mummy, they say I've got an MEng now. What's that all about?"

Printed, Bound and Submitted

There was supposed to be this feeling of ecstatic celebration, like fireworks, like a burst of confetti.

But all I feel is the aftermath of a headache that has just only subsided. I'm not proud of myself, I probably did the worst project in my entire life. It only proves how much of an academic I am not! No, I will never do a PhD. It would be much too painful to subject me to that torture again.

So four years of engineering is drawing to a close, and I'm just as unsure about engineering as when I started. Clearly I abhor research and I have no creativity for design. I liked applying the goobledygook I learnt to programming mostly, but I'm not much of a software engineer. I like signals and telcos and I could live with that for most of my life. But I suspect there is a much bigger picture to this engineering business that I'm just not seeing. That I just can't see yet. It's me and yet not me.

Now that I've packed up my report, it's time to start on my room. Starting with my cooking utensils. It's so sad to put them into a box and say goodbye.

All night long

Report update as of now (without a conlusion) has reached a grand total of 46 pages - thanks to LaTeX and it's immense generosity of line spacing.

Gonna nap for an hour and a half and pray that there is enough printing paper in the labs tomorrow. Then gonna present my draft to Dr. Mandic, discuss my new results, pray that he lets me include them, come back and rewrite the report, add in all my graphs, all my appendices, and all my code... and then call it a night!

It's gonna be a long, long day...

I have an inkling this headache is going to last all week

So the report is due on Thursday and I have drafted up around 38 pages. Just another 12 more to reach that glorious number 50. After which I can attach all my code and place graphs and pictures wherever I please, until I reach that esteemed number 70.

I hate writing reports. I'd rather just code and demonstrate my work for all to gawk at.

The internet is really, really great...

So at the eleventh hour yesterday, as I was trying to explain my code to a PhD student of my supervisor, he turns to me and says

"Well, I've just discovered that the instantaneous frequencies are meaningless, but when the IMFs are in phase you can locate the spikes... which is what I am trying to do now but haven't succeeded yet"

And with that my whole FYP just fell apart. My entire project rests fundamentally on instantaneous frequencies and nothing else. What he has just discovered almost disproves everything I've been doing! CRAP!

I spent 2 feverish hours testing with other types of data, hoping to prove him wrong (what was I thinking? Me (stupid undergrad) prove him (superior PhD) wrong???). After I had crashed my laptop and was running late for Avenue Q, I gave up and ran (almost) all the way to Leicester Square.
It was crude, it was inappropriate and made me forget about my doomed FYP. I also thought the guy voicing Nicky and Trekkie Monster could have been switched at birth with Eddie Cahill who plays Det. Flack in CSI New York.

So after overeating at a Korean restaurant, and then lazing around re-watching the first episode of X-files (boy do I miss that show!), I started surfing for Avenue Q videos on youtube and came across this:



When Avenue Q meets Fiddler on the Roof... everyone IS a little bit Jewish! Isn't the internet great? (No Chris, not for porn).

News of the world... and all that goss...

Yesterday was an interesting day in terms of fulfilling my gossip quota. This girl is after all gossip/pat-kua/kaypoh central.

The first story wasn't so much gossip as congratulatory news. Congratulations to my ex-coursemate Asa and his wife, my ex high schoolmate, Awanis on the birth of their new baby Azalea! Such a pretty name!

And following more baby news is the one we're awaiting from my seniors Hawa and Kolget. Will keep an eye on that.

And in other less joyful news, while chatting with an old primary school classmate, I discovered the shocking news that an old friend/schoolmate/pri-school mortal enemy had a sex video of hers leaked all over the internet. Apparently all the buzz was in Australia and word never reached Malaysian shores... until now. *ahem* And of course it is now being passed on by vile word of mouth, from girlfriend to girlfriend. The only rather comical part of this is that, being girls none of us know where to start searching for this video. Or as one girlfriend said: "I wonder what keywords you'd have to type into Google to find it? It's not like I regularly search for porn"

Finally at the end of the day, after a round of late night badminton, I arrived back in my room to find my msn blinking furiously. Apparently Iylia couldn't wait to gossip about our Prime Minister's new bride! Iylia and I don't talk politics. We gossip about it like two makciks at the market!

Oh well, it's a brand new day. Let's see what other interesting gossip lies in store for me.

Counting down the days

I never thought the end would be like this. I never thought I'd so desperately want to leave.

So many Malaysians come here to stay, but after 4 years all I can say is - I've had enough, I want to go home.

It's not that I've had a terrible time. I've had the time of my life, and you'd better believe it that I've had. I'll miss the good laughs in the JCR, the endless bridge and Dai dee card games, the running around Europe with a backpack and sunglasses, the snuggling under fleece blankets watching TV in the midst of winter, the waiting for snow, the teasing from ISE everytime I appear at an outing, the free museums, the picnics and frisbees in the park, the running to catch a musical after 6pm lectures, the abundant pubs, the first sight of daffodils in the spring, the Ben's cookies and Krispy Kremes...

I've had an amazing time, but I can't stay put in one place for long. I can't grow roots and acclimatise. My time is up and I have to go back and try something new.

Ironically I haven't started packing yet. It's not like I'm working on my project (which I'm procrastinating as much as I can). I'm slowly working towards my farewell. Beginning with the few gatherings with old society/department/hall friends. Next it'll be the handing in of my final year project, the Summer ball, and then I'll pack up 4 years of my life in boxes, ready to be dispersed. I'll say goodbye to the winter clothes and my collection of scarves which will now be ornamental. My tattered gloves will probably be tossed. My many blankets will not be coming home with me. Who needs them in 30 degrees heat?

I don't think there's any point to extending this post further.

I'm done.

I.Want.To.Go.Home!!!

It sounds a lot louder when screamed in my head.

--------------------------

... the irony of uni life is that, at the end of the day you really have to do some work in order to graduate respectfully... i am saying this in regards to my unfinshed FYP... oh, to be an unfinished song or novel or script instead... but no, i am only an unfinished 50 page report (which hasn't even been compiled in LaTeX without warnings, without errors)... and an unfinished technical presentation where I will wax lyrical about filters and spectrums and white gaussian noise for perhaps the last time...

In my own weird little world

A part of my FYP worked. I was so excited I couldn't sleep and stayed up to program a bit more until I was satisfied with the result. It's only a small percentage of what I am meant to achieve, but at least it's getting somewhere.

It's been raining non-stop since the weekend started. That's the way to dampen my motivation to go to college and work.

Tock stopped by yesterday because he was hungry, and so I fed him.

My neighbour, Gemma, got locked in today. A carpenter came and tried to get to her room from my window, but no luck there. They've had to bust her door open and now there's sawdust everywhere. That's the most exciting thing that's happened today. Apart from it being Ohm's birthday, I guess.

I've made another Oreo cheesecake. That should settle part of my debts with the 3rd years.

I'm bored. Can't you tell?

Things I wonder if I'll regret about uni life

That I never studied in the IC library. Sure I borrowed books and used the computers there when I had no internet. But I never went to the library specifically to study. I hated the atmosphere of despair and desperation of the last minute muggers and sixth cup of espresso chuggers. Where did I study? My bed of course! But that's one uni experience I never was a part of.

That I never joined the clubs I really wanted to. Like Leonardo or MT or even fellwanderers. I did the Dramsoc stint for abit, am in more committees than I would wish to be in, ran two of the biggest cultural shows in IC, and yet I wish I'd done a bit more stuff out of my league. But I've been skema and didn't dare. I don't know why I gave up rock climbing. I wasn't good, but I wasn't bad and now it's been 4 years since I last touched a rockwall. Damn it.

That I didn't really get to know my coursemates in the first year. My first year is a blur of Linstead and a bit of Mnite memories, and nothing of my coursemates and the friends I hang out with now. I wish I hadn't ditched those ISE outings, I wish I had made friends with CL and XQ and Wei earlier (especially XQ who would have been a great help for courseworks), wish I remembered more of my first year than just being in Linstead. Although I wouldn't give up those crazy Linstead memories for the world!

That I never went on the Engineers without Borders programme to help some third world country build a power station, although my mum would say I should just come back to Malaysia because we are a third world country too. I can't build a power station anyway. I could help to program a communications satellite though. But what third world country needs that?


That I didn't do a 3 year course and leave with the rest. But it was fun to hang around for a fourth year and get my masters for doing almost nothing.

That we never went on a road trip. Whether in the UK or back home. We talked about it and never did it. Because we were never in the same place at the same time for long enough.

That I never developed a polished British accent. But that's just crazy talk.

That I've never been to Greece. I've been to lots of places, but I want to go to Greece! Enough said.


And the many many things I didn't get to do... because 4 years of university life isn't enough time.

Go Spidey!

I'm so behind with movies... but whatever. Spiderman 3 was awesome (if you can forgive the very lame Uncle Sam moment of spidey swinging past a huge American flag).

And because Spideman 3 actually didn't suck that bad... the spidey movies have overtaken X-Men in my ultimate comic book movies poll. I still love Wolverine though. No, not Lionel (hairy as he may be)... the real Wolverine!

Onto other news... Lionel and I are checking out the possibility of haunting Angkor Wat for a day or two. Apart from temples, the floating boat villages and the killing fields, nothing else in Cambodia sounds remotely interesting to me. But just being back in 3rd world Asia would be nice for a change.

Sunny Days

... are not to be wasted. Here's a photoblog entry assisted by Ohm.



How can you possibly do any work on a day like this?
Lazy Charlotte signing off...

Lol!

Things that make me LOL on a dreary Tuesday morning.

quoted from The Star:

"In another report, the daily quoted the Association of Private Employment Agencies (Pikaps) president Datuk Baharom Abdul Ghani as saying that many foreign maids were here not for the jobs but to get close to their lovers."


I just find it hilarious that there's an association called "pick-ups"

On fire!

Linstead's fire alarm went off three times yesterday. Once at 7pm, once again at 10pm and the last one finally woke me up from sleep at midnight. I was so confused I turned off my alarm clock when the last fire alarm went off.

While we were huddling outside Linstead in the cold, waiting for the alarm to go off and the A-ok from the fire officers to enter the building, I could hear lots of cursing and veiled threats at the apparently irresponsible person who had managed to set off the fire alarm, not once but THREE times! What could only make it worse was the number of people who had to be dragged away from their books in the middle of the exam period, THREE times! The story going around Linstead is pinning the blame completely on room 212, and I'm letting that story stay.

Well at least until Zhern's exams are over and he will no longer get angry at the real person who set off the 7pm alarm, otherwise face the prospect of having no dinner.

In pursuit of happyness

Intentionally misspelled.

I'm never very good at celebrating the end of exams. In the first year, I came back and sorted out all my notes and filed them neatly into two big ring binders. I only stopped for dinner. In my second year, I started reading up on z-transforms almost immediately after the end of the-worst-digital-paper-in-the-world to begin my UROP project which didn't go anywhere. Last year, after Control, we ended up being conned by Jia Hong into producing a careers powerpoint presentation for MSoc when all we wanted to do was to get the hell out of EEE. Which I think we eventually did, and headed to Masala Zone for a good dinner and a good laugh with old friends. After which I proceeded home to sort out my notes again. It's like an after exam ritual.

This year however, my notes are still in complete disarray. Exams have been so long and draggy, I've forgotten how to get out of exam mode (apart from sleeping disproportionately long hours every day). I had drinks with ISE at the union on Wednesday and Wei Kiat treated us to dinner on Thursday and I spent all of Friday in a blur of Malcolm in the Middle, Scrubs and CSI.
I can just feel my life becoming exceedingly worthless if I don't start on my Final Year Project anytime soon. I know I'm going to regret this! In the mean time, I'm heading out to get stuff to make the very overdue cheesecakes I've been promising the 3rd years and I've decided to cook Pandan Chicken tomorrow. Yes, I'm free. Very free!

The Grand Finale

One last paper to go...

But all I can think about is how tired I am and how much I want to go home. I even looked up Petaling Jaya on Wikipedia. That's how much I want to be home!

I've got laksa and fatty crabs and cendol and steven's corner and the Curve and Astro and the Star and parking tickets and proton sagas all on my mind now.

It's been 7 years since I was ever truly home.


---------

On a more comical note - as heard in the comp labs today

Omar (to me, after talking to Soha): Are you Malaysian too?
Me (pointing to Soha): Couldn't you tell? Don't Soha and I look similar?
Soha: Of course we do. She's just a bleached version of me.

(Soha's Indian by the way. And Omar is now very confused.)

4 down, 2 to go!

The last two exam papers of my university life (I hope!).

Wednesday could not seem any further than it is now.

I haven't got a clue what I should be studying for DSP and Digital Filters. It seems like a lost cause to me. Image Processing is more interesting, yet being the last exam suffers from last-exam-depression (also known as non-existent exam motivation).

Speech processing was so fun, my mind toyed dangerously with the idea of a PhD in speech recognition for one wild moment. That was rather scary. I don't really think the frontiers of communication technology welcome me at all.

I'm looking for a reason not to go back to work. So I ordered my copy of May 13 and had it sent to my Malaysian address. I'm expecting it to arrive before the ban is sanctioned.

Alright, back to filters...

Sesungguhnya Syurga Terletak Di Bawah Tapak Kaki Ibu

I usually delete my dad's emails as soon as they pop into my mailbox. I'm not all that heartless, but those forwarded powerpoints really take up a lot of space! 9 times out of 10 I've read those jokes and stories before and really daddy, I get the message already - pray more, give thanks to God, and don't take too much soya sauce.

But this one was a rare gem - it's almost as if the writer knew my mother personally (and left out the neurosis that runs in my family bit). And at the same time I was also left thinking "Wah, daddy also quite sedar diri hor?"

Happy Mother's Day! You too, Grandma!


Mom and Dad were watching TV when
Mom said, "I'm tired, and it's getting late.
I think I'll go to bed."
So she went to the kitchen to make
sandwiches for the next day's lunches,
rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took
meat out of the freezer for supper
the following evening,
She filled the sugar bowl, put
spoons and bowls on the table and
prepared the coffee pot for brewing
the next morning.
She then put some wet clothes in
the dryer, put a load of clothes into
the washer, ironed a shirt and
sewed a loose button.
She picked up the game pieces left
on the table, put the phone back on
the charger and put the telephone
book into the drawer
She watered the plants, emptied a
wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry.
She yawned and stretched and
headed for the bedroom.
She stopped by the desk and
wrote a note to th e teacher,
counted out some cash for the
field trip, and pulled a text book
out from hiding under the chair.
She signed a birthday card for a
friend, addressed and stamped the
envelope and wrote a quick list
for the grocery store.
She put both near her purse.
Mom then washed her face with
3 in 1 cleanser, put on her night
solution & age fighting moisturizer,
brushed and flossed her teeth and
filed her nails.
Dad called out, "I thought you were going to bed."
"I'm on my way," she said
She put some water into the dog's
dish and put the cat outside, then
made sure the doors were locked
and the patio light was on.
She looked in on each of the kids and
turned out their bedside lamps and
TV's, hung up a shirt, threw some
dirty socks into the hamper, and
had a brief conversation with the
one up still doing homework.
In her own room, she set the alarm;
laid out clothing for the next day,
straightened up the shoe rack.
She added three things to her six
most important things to do list.
She said her prayers, and visualized
the accomplishment of her goals.
About that time, Dad turned off the
TV and announced to no one in
particular. "I'm going to bed"
And he did...without another thought.

If I had one piece of advise to give, it would be to never drink the water your noodles are boiled in

Being a re-app/hall senior (who more accurately doesn't do very much for her hall), I get inundated with questions all the time, which I'd like to think I answer with a sense of wordly wisdom, offering incredibly important pieces of information which are vital for your daily life.

What you probably don't know is that most of my answers are rubbish and handed down to me from one-off experiences, quirky habits or my mum. All of which are usually not realiable unless you are me and think they are really important and above all... think that they work.

Take for instance my propensity for not keeping the water from my boiled instant noodles to use as a soup base, and boiling a new batch of water instead. The eco/humanitarian warriors are screaming at me because I'm wasting water that a Somalian child would trade his donkey for, but here's my theory. When you boil instant noodles - what's left in the water is wax and other cancer causing agents (everything's a cancer causing agent these days). Well, I'm gonna die from the ajinomoto in the instant noodles anyway... but here's the other (neurotic) part of my health plan. When eating Indomee in particular, I throw away the bumbu powder and only keep the garlic, sesame oil and soya sauce. It still tastes good. Honest! This is important information, I think you should know.

My latest gem of information came about while searching online for cooking conundrums. I've been trying to figure out the importance of selecting the right type of wok and seasoning it properly. Why it's so inportant to me, I have no clue. Perhaps it's just a fundamental part of my Chinese DNA. Anyway, kuali.com gives a wonderful explanation of how to season your wok properly (which only involves oil, old pieces of ginger and spring onions... and you thought they didn't really mean SEASON, didn't you?). This reminds me of another important piece of advise - if all recipes fail (including mum's), kuali.com is your next port of call, always!

Kicap manis and maggi chilli sauce (preferably the bawang putih one) are vital ingredients in your kitchen. If used in moderation, it can cover up any cooking mishaps.

Never wear white when cooking. Never wash your hair before cooking either, or live to regret it.

Always offer to cook. That way you never have to wash up. Believe me, it's easier.

Other incredibly important things I've learnt are to soak satay skewers for at least an hour, add sweet potato to the flour when making onde-onde and all ovens are different and moody - get to know yours better.

I don't think this post has a point. Nor do I know why it's become skewed towards cooking. But it's only typical of me to use food to rid my mind of Speech Processing and this morning's exam.

p/s: Dr. Naylor is no longer the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse all in one. He is kind and benovolent, his mercy knows no bounds, he rules supreme in the kingdom of cepstrums and formants where mel frequencies are normalised (I hope).

Updates for the week

1. If I had to be a character from Sex and the City, I might be a hybrid of Charlotte and Miranda. Compulsively old fashion/conservative and yet power hungry.

2. Watching Heroes at 4am in the morning surprisingly has not messed up my schedule... yet. I still woke up before 9, probably due to the rising panic for Speech Processing on Thursday.

3. The EE library really is the most wonderful place to study in blissful quiet and at the right temperatures. *sticks out tongue at people melting in the main library*

4. Coffee gives me pimples. It took me 24 years to figure that out!

I'm sleepy. Goodnight.

I've gotten over my depression from my previous paper after I realised it really is rather stupid to be overly depressed because my failure standard is at 60%. Yes, I am kiasu, I never said I wasn't.

I hate these one week breaks between papers. I never know what to do, how much to revise and how to spread out my revision so I won't end up forgetting stuff, but the trade off is exam burn out. The next paper is Speech Processing and I really really really love this course. Dr. Naylor is an amazing lecturer with amazing notes. However when it comes to setting exam questions, he's the four horsemen of the apocalypse all in one.

I still need to survive Speech Processing to sit for DSP and digital filters and Image Processing. There's a lot of overlap which I am very grateful for. But somehow all this studying is also overlapping with my current addiction to season 3 of Sex and the City. Although their glamourous lifestyles are pretty entertaining, I still have a morbid fear of being a single, unmarried 30 something in a power suit. Who hates children.

That's my update for the week. Back to work. Line Frequency Spectrums are calling.

Nerd Girls... more from xkcd...

Says it all...

For the love of Digital...

this one's for Lionel, with whom I can no longer play sudoku on MSN with since my laptop died...

*cries*

And this one is for Wayn, Zhern, Ohm and other CS n00bs!

You know that feeling when you've had a really bad exam?

I do.


This was the only thing that made me laugh today. Otherwise, you could probably read how terrible the paper was off my face...

The New (n00b) map of the World

Spectral Estimation and Adaptive Signal Processing

Checklist

1. I know what a spectrum is
2. I know how to find a signal's power spectral density
3. I know a power spectral density is the fourier transform of an autocorrelation
4. I know how to find it's estimator
5. I think I know how to prove its bias and variance
6. I don't know much else, so Wednesday is not going to be a good day

I also figured out the difference between IIR and FIR filters yesterday. I am screwed!

You're always crazy like that...

If you knew me when I was 15, you'd know what a crazy, CRAZY fan of Jewel I was.

However somewhere along her transition from quirky-folk singer to forgotten cheap pop music, I had some growing up to do and lapsed in my duty as a fan. I stopped buying the albums, and left my once precious 'Night without Armor' poetry book at home.

And then I came across an acapella version of 'Foolish Games'. (see music players on the right)

And all of a sudden I feel 15 again.

When did I stop writing and playing the guitar? When did I forget about my search for my Bohemian lifestyle? Probably when I decided to wear more pink and become an engineer.

There is no point in studying earlier

You forget everything anyway and spend the 24 hours before the paper in a frantic crash course of every single chapter, problem sheet and past year paper.

I am as calm as a Hindu cow...
because I admit, I know not a thing...

And just for the mathematicians and because Khim Nyang has let his wonderful geek-blog die... (and all the geeks in the world are still in mourning)

Midnight reminders

Must stop sleeping at daybreak!

Must drink less coffee!

Must eat more fruits and vegetables!

Must MUG!!! Like my life depends on it!

and currently this is my all-time favourite commercial... because I reeeeally want to get a Wii
(If you haven't watched the mac vs. pc which this parodies, head over to here)

Cheng Chun stabbed me!

Who would have thought Cheng Chun could be so cruel... but we know his intentions are just 38...

Bold the statements that are true to you.
Italise the statements that you WISH are true.
Red are some of my comments
Leave the fibs alone.

Then, stab 3 people to do the same test:

I miss somebody right now. (Of course la, if don't say miss sure kena one!)
I do not watch tv these days. (Why watch TV when there is alluc.org?)
I wear glasses or contact lenses.
I love to play video games.
I have tried marijuana.
I have been in a threesome.
I believe honesty is usually the best policy.
I have changed mentally over the last year. (I know most ppl would say I just grow crazier but that is NOT true! The word you are looking for is eccentric!)
I carry my knife/razor everywhere with me.
I curse. (Yes I do, get used to it)
I’m totally smart. (I just do a lot of dumb things)
I’ve broken someone’s bones.
I’m paranoid sometimes. (over just about everything...)
I would get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free of cost, and scar-free.
I need money right now.
I love sushi.
I talk really, really fast. (and very high pitched when I talk faster!)
I have long hair. (because Lionel won't let me cut it short, dye it, perm it, etc.)
I have lost money in Las Vegas.
I have at least one sibling.
I have worn fake hair/fingernails/eyelashes in the past.
I couldn’t survive without Caller ID.
I like the way I look. (most of the time!)
I am usually pessimistic.
I have a lot of mood swings.
I have a hidden talent.
I’m always hyper no matter how much sugar I have. (hyper does not equal drunk!)
I have a lot of friends. (seriously! i made a list!)
I am currently single.
I have pecked someone of the same sex. (no matter how many people think I'm bisexual...)
I enjoy talking on the phone. (the word is gossipping, not talking)
I practically live in sweatpants or PJ pants. (I would if I weren't so vain)
I love to shop. (when I have someone to help me decide on stuff)
Enjoy window shopping.
I would rather shop than eat. (Are you kidding???)
I don’t hate anyone. (I just exact subtle revenge)
I'm a pretty good dancer.
I’m completely embarrassed to be seen with my mother.
I have a cell phone.
I believe in God.
I watch MTV on a daily basis.
I have passed out drunk in the past 6 months.
I’ve rejected someone before.
I want to have children in the future. (Whenever there is a crying baby in range, Lionel drags me away for fear that I might slap it)
I have changed a diaper before.
I’ve called the cops on a friend before.
I’m not allergic to anything.
I have a lot to learn.
I’m shy around members of the opposite sex.
I have made a move on a friend’s significant other or crush in the past.
I have tried alcohol before. (Just tried?)
I own the South Park movie.
I would die for my best friend.
I think that Pizza Hut has the best pizza.
I have used my sexuality to advance my career.
I love Michael Jackson, scandals and all. (C'mon, when you listen to Billy Jean & Man in the Mirror you can forgive him for anything!)
Halloween is awesome because you get free candy.
I watch Spongebob Squarepants and I like it. (I also like Lizzie Mcguire, Sachpal will agree!)
I am happy at this moment! (Exams!!! Where is the happiness in that?)
I’m obsessed with girls. (For the last time no, not, never, not a smidge bi...)
I tie my shoelaces differently from anyone I’ve ever met.
I study for tests most of the time. (All of the time, I'm kiasu and geeky... I can't help it)
I am comfortable with who I am right now.
I have more than just my ears pierced.
I walk barefoot wherever I can.
I have jumped off a bridge.
I love sea turtles. (My siblings and I apparently adopted some. I have never met them, they don't know my first name)
I spend ridiculous money on makeup.
Plan on achieving a major goal/dream. (I don't dream, I do)
I'm proficient in an musical instrument.
I worked at McDonald’s restaurant.
I hate office jobs.
I love sci-fi movie.
I think water rules.
I went college out of state.
I like sausages. (Not unless they are German Kasekraners)
I love kisses.
I fall for the worst people.
I adore bright colours.
I can’t live without black eyeliner.
I don’t know why the hell I just did this stupid thing.
I usually like covers better than originals.
I can pick up things with my toes.
I can whistle.
I can move my tongue in waves, much like a snake's slither.
I have ridden/owned a horse.
I still have every journal I’ve written in.
I can’t stick to a diet.
I talk in my sleep.
I try to forget things by drowning them out with loads of distractions.
I have jazz in my blood.
Climbing trees is a brilliant past-time.
I wear a toe ring.
I can’t stand at LEAST one person that I work with.
I am a caffeine junkie.
I cosplay or know what cosplaying is.
I have been to over 15 conventions.
I will collect anything, and the more nonsensical the better.
I’m an artist. (I think)
I only clean my room when necessary. (I am fanatic about crumbs on the floor!)
I like a person of the same sex.
I love being happy.
I am an adrenaline junkie.

And I shall stab... EVERYBODY!!! I'm not fussy...

I can't believe I just did this after kidnapping Zhern's laptop so I could finish my FYP report... and I kidnapped it so he wouldn't play CS... this is impossible! And the only reason I have not kidnapped Wayn's laptop is because the 'H' button is missing!

If I need to explain myself

1. I have been away. In Chicago. It was cold and the snow fell horizontally (that's not a logical sentence but you had to see it to believe it). I shopped so much, I now have to live on Indomee for the rest of the term. I spent 2 days studying in the wonderful student union at University of Illinois. I wish our union were like that. When I got back to London however, I had to kiss the sunny ground and shout for joy at the beautiful sound of the English accent! Lionel and I both agree that we could not thank our lucky stars more for not going to UIUC for undergrad!

2. My laptop has died. Actually my laptop's AC jack is just loose and needs soldering... and I will slap the next person who tells me "4 years of Electrical Engineering and you can't solder?". I can't, alright! Leave me alone. Actually the more worrying part is taking my laptop apart and finding the little wiggly bit on the motherboard that I have to solder back... and I have nightmares of snapping the board or losing the screws, so until I find someone kind enough to do an outpatient surgery on my laptop... my laptop is dead.

3. Exams are in exactly 1 week. I have not studied... enough. No one would actually believe me if I say I haven't studied. Neither would anyone believe me when I say I haven't studied enough... but it's true this time! Really!

4. My sleep cycle is completely whacked. You try going 6 hours backwards to the US and then staying up all night trying to finish your FYP report!

and for all the reasons above... blogging shall be stagnant and appearances on MSN rare.

But you know where to find me...

Procrastination is an art

I have yet to master it to perfection, but believe me I am trying very hard.

The first week of easter holidays is drawing to a close. I have sucessfully covered half a subject and given my final year project a glance over. Just a glance, nothing serious, you know.

Lionel was supposed to be arriving on Wednesday, but is now taking a flight out that is one day earlier.

Crap! Now I have one day less to study.

We're flying off to Chicago on the 6th so Lionel can attend his interviews at UIUC. I will be happily shopping down town at Chicago's Magnificent Mile! This is what I have saved up so hard for! American shopping! Even though Abercrombie & Fitch has opened its first out-of-US store in London, I shall thumb my nose at it and walk in to the Chicago one. Then I will walk out, having bought nothing because I really can't afford A&F.

I managed to form a blister on my toe, due to my shoes being too loose. Ouch!

What's Wikipedia in Malay?

I love this! I really do!

Wikipedia Bahasa Melayu

Morbid Mathematics

Just a random variable...

Is suicide at MIT a Poisson Process?


What's a Poisson Process? Why, you non-mathematician, you! (yes, I have always been academically elitist, deal with it!)

Race issues: there is never a finish line

Bad pun. Sorry.

I thought of it while I was reading about Survey: Many youngsters aren't concerned about racial integration in The Star online today. I wish the article was longer and in more detail. It certainly is an interesting issue to debate to no end.

It also caught my eye because I will be attending this:

An afternoon with Professor Khoo Kay Kim

Sunday, 1 April 2007

Theme: Race Relations in Malaysia: revisiting Rukun Negara Presenter: Emeritus Professor Khoo Kay Kim Date and time: Sunday, 1 April 2007, 3.00pm to 5.30pm (doors open 2.30pm) Venue : No. 1 London Bridge, London SE1 9BG

Click on the link for more info.

Empty nest syndrome

The freshers have gone off to Paris and Italy, leaving me in blissful peace.

A little too peaceful I might say.

I really should be studying, and the weather is just perfect for studying mode - bright and sunny making me feel energetic and motivated to open a book and finally understand adaptive filters! I've even organised all my notes and printed most of the past year papers. I'm all geared up to study, but the silence and lack of human company is awful!

I guess I'll have to ask Lance to go swimming with me tomorrow just to be able to talk to a real life person.

----

In other news - Noelle successfully contacted me on msn this morning, after prior attempts which failed due to London and Melbourne being in polar opposite timezones. She's getting married next June!!! Ah, the first one of us to fall (in a good way!), and although it comes as little surprise as it's romance-enthusiast Noelle, this is really exciting! Sri Amanian's are looking around and thinking "Who's next?". I've suggested Sugania time and time again, but she's fussy and doesn't wanna accept any old arranged marriage to a millionaire Brahmin who owns 5 IT companies in India. Even if he makes good chutney. And don't look at me, girls. You know Charlotte is synonymous with ambition, career and power suits. She didn't spend 4 years becoming an engineer to throw it away and start picking out curtains and pink champagne colour combinations for coffee tables (like the best housewives do *cough*CL*cough*)

On the other hand, Iylia's talks of picking out wedding dresses and booking hotels are starting to monopolise most of our girly talk when the girls are in the EE labs. It's fun to talk about all this planning, especially when it isn't yours and you don't have to fork out the money! And as Iylia says "who cares what Izat thinks, the bride is the most important on that day!" leaving the guys to roll their eyes at us. Iylia's setting her date for the end of December. My diary's getting full with all these arrangements. Now I have a reason to buy nice cocktail dresses and white shoes!

----

On to the weather. It strangely touched 18 degrees today. I wonder if it's as sunny in Paris and in Italy?

Someday you'll know - the Charlotte & Ohm version

So I finally managed to wrangle more photos off the official EE Revue photographer of my performance. And here they are:

Ohm and I, jazzin' it up on stage. It's a pity the spotlight wasn't on Ohm.

Here's a better close up of Ohm, still in the dark

I'm convinced that not wearing pink isn't so bad after all

I'm all smiles. It wasn't that bad after all!

I still don't have a video, so a recording of one of our rehearsals will have to suffice.

The final phase (illustrated... now)

Spring term ended yesterday, on a rather unexciting note because I had no last lectures to celebrate having missed most of them in the process of catching up on sleep and collecting orders for EEE polo t-shirts.

The EEE Malaysians tried to celebrate the end of term by dragging 27 overworked, fatigued and coursework drained Malaysians for a Lebanese dinner in High St. Kent (which XQ aptly called the Rombongan budak-budak Malaysia dari IC ke High St. Kent).

We tried to squash in as many people as we could into one photo!

I say tried because dinner turned out to be excruciatingly slow and many starved to death. Nevertheless, for a first time department gathering, the company was fun!

The 4th year seniors - or also known as the oldies!

The 3 EEE girls - we lasted till the very end!

And the many photos we took should be up on facebook soon.

As for the many photos taken of me when I had (drunkenly) concussed at Nimalen's place in the wee hours of the morning...
I'm still trying to figure out how I can bribe my way out of this... obviously cheesecakes aren't going to do the trick this time.


In other news - I got a Japanese haircut for 5 pounds! And I'm loving it, even if no one else can tell the difference.


So it's the last 3 months of life in Imperial. The curtains are closing, hopefully not before I finish revising for the last 6 engineering papers of my life!

Stupid things...for kicks!

Level 1
( ) Smoked A Cigarette
( ) Smoked A Cigar
( ) Kissed A Member Of The Same Sex
(x) Drank Alcohol

SO FAR: 1

Level 2
(x) Are / Been In Love
(x) Been Dumped
( ) Shoplifted
( ) Been Fired
( ) Been In A Fist Fight

SO FAR: 3

Level 4
(x) Had A Crush On An Older Person
(x) Skipped School
( ) Slept With A Co-worker
(x) Seen Someone / Something Die

SO FAR: 6

Level 5
( ) Had / Have A Crush On One Of Your Facebook Friends
(x) Been To Paris
(x) Been To Spain
(x) Been On A Plane
(x) Thrown Up From Drinking

SO FAR: 10 (this is not looking good so far...)

Level 6
(x) Eaten Sushi
( ) Been Snowboarding
(x) Met Someone BECAUSE Of Facebook
( ) Been in a Mosh Pit

SO FAR: 12

Level 7
( ) Been In An Abusive Relationship
(x) Taken Pain Killers
(x) Love/loved Someone Who You Cant Have
(x) Laid On Your Back And Watched Cloud Shapes Go By
(x) Made A Snow Angel

SO FAR: 16

Level 8
(x) Had A Tea Party
(x) Flown A Kite
(x) Built A Sand Castle
( ) Gone mudding (offroading)
(x) Played Dress Up (all the time!)

SO FAR: 16

Level 9
(x) Jumped Into A Pile Of Leaves
( ) Gone Sledging
(x) Cheated While Playing A Game
(x) Been Lonely
(x) Fallen Asleep At Work / School (countless really...)

SO FAR: 20

Level 10
(x) Watched The Sun Set
( ) Felt An Earthquake
( ) Killed A Snake

SO FAR: 21

Level 11
(x) Been Tickled
(x) Been Robbed / Vandalized
(x) Been cheated on
(x) Been Misunderstood (every single time!)

SO FAR: 25

Level 12
(x) Won A Contest
( ) Been Suspended From School
(x) Had Detention (no I really wasn't an angel in school)
( ) Been In A Car / Motorcycle Accident

SO FAR: 27

Level 13
(x) Had / Have Braces
( ) Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
( ) Danced in the moonlight

SO FAR:28

Level 14
(x) Hated The Way You Look
( ) Witnessed A Crime
( ) Pole Danced
(x) Questioned Your Heart
(x) Been obsessed with post-it-notes (omg! It's like I'm being spied on!!)

SO FAR:31

Level 15
(x) Squished Barefoot Through The Mud
(x) Been Lost
(x) Been To The Opposite Side Of The World
(x) Swam In The Ocean
( ) Felt Like You Were Dying

SO FAR: 35

Level 16
(x) Cried Yourself To Sleep
(x) Played Cops And Robbers
(x) Recently Colored With Crayons / Colored Pencils / Markers
(x) Sang Karaoke
(x) Paid For A Meal With Only Coins (haha, all the time in Msia!)

SO FAR: 40

Level 17
(x) Done Something You Told Yourself You Wouldn't
(x) Made Prank Phone Calls
(x) Laughed Until Some Kind Of Beverage Came Out Of Your Nose
(x) Kissed In The Rain

SO FAR: 44

Level 18
(x) Written A Letter To Santa Claus
(x) Watched The Sun Set/ sun rise With Someone You Care/Cared About
(x) Blown Bubbles
(x) Made A Bonfire On The Beach or anywhere (so many times, i miss the
campfires)

SO FAR: 48

Level 19
( ) Crashed A Party
(x) Have Traveled More Than 5 Days With A Car Full Of People (my family
every single holiday!!!)
(x) Gone Rollerskating / Blading
(x) Had A Wish Come True
( ) Been Humped By A Monkey

SO FAR: 51

Level 20
(x) Worn Pearls
(x) Jumped Off A Bridge (well off a pier)
( ) Screamed "Penis" or "Vagina"
( ) Swam With Dolphins

SO FAR: 53

Level 22
( ) Got Your Tongue Stuck To A Pole/Freezer/ice Cube
( ) Kissed A Fish
(x) Worn The Opposite Sex's Clothes
(x) Sat On A Roof Top

SO FAR: 55

Level 23
(x) Screamed At The Top Of Your Lungs
( ) Done / Attempted A One-Handed Cartwheel
(x) Talked On The Phone For More Than 6 Hours
(x) Recently stayed Up for a while talking to someone you care about

SO FAR: 58

Level 24
(x) Picked And Ate An Apple Right Off The Tree (jambu lah, can?)
(x) Climbed A Tree
(x) Had/Been In A Tree House
(x) Been scared To Watch Scary Movies Alone

SO FAR: 62

Level 25
(x) Believed In Ghosts
( ) Have had More Then 30 Pairs Of Shoes (Aku Nak!!!!)
( ) Gone Streaking
(x) Visited Jail

SO FAR: 64

Level 26
( ) Played Chicken
(x) Been Pushed into a pool with all your clothes on
(x) Been Told You're Hot By A Complete Stranger
( ) Broken A Bone
(x) Been Easily Amused

SO FAR: 67

Level 27
(x) Caught A Fish Then Ate It Later
( ) Made A Porn Video/got asked to make one
(x) Caught A Butterfly
(x) Laughed So Hard You Cried
( ) Cried So Hard You Laughed (can meh?)

SO FAR: 70

Level 28
( ) Mooned/Flashed Someone
( ) Had Someone Moon/Flash You
(x) Cheated On A Test
(x) Forgotten Someone's Name >>so many times
(x) French Braided Someones Hair
( ) Gone Skinny Dipping
(x) Been Kicked Out Of Your House (yeah by mum... for not practising the
piano)
(x) Tried to hurt yourself

SO FAR: 75

Level 29
(x) Rode A Roller Coaster
(x) Went Scuba-Diving/Snorkeling
( ) Had A Cavity
(x) Black-Mailed Someone (xiaokai lots of times)
(x) Been Black Mailed (by xiaokai too)

SO FAR: 79

Level 31
(x) Been Used
(x) Fell Going Up The Stairs
( ) Licked A Cat
(x) Bitten Someone
(x) Licked Someone

SO FAR: 83

Level 32
( ) Been shot at/or at gunpoint
( ) Had sex in the rain
( ) Flattened someones tires
(x) Rode your car/truck until the gas light came on
( ) Got five dollars or less worth of gas

TOTAL: 84

84 out of 132 stupid things... hmm... how is killing a snake a stupid thing?

The end of the beginning or the beginning of the end?

The end of term is just a short 3 days away. As usual, I haven't started revising anything. So many things to procrastinate, so little time.

I've added back blog links on the right but I'm missing a whole lot of links because I've lost my old template for good. Give me a holler if I've missed yours. This Guy, you've changed your blog address so many times... I've given up remembering it.

If all goes well with Lionel's interviews, I'll be popping over to Chicago for a short holiday during Easter. Yay! If all doesn't go well, I still get to stay in London and do stuff... I guess.

These few weeks have been very trying, but at the same time quite self-gratifying. It's nice to know you have so many friends who care when you thought you had none. I still miss the old people though. More than ever now! Nevertheless... cheesecakes all around, when Christina finds me some Oreos! You can't find Oreos in London! Believe me, I spent half a Saturday trying.

It's really reeeeeally cold now. The middle of March just decided to go all frosty on us! *shiver*

If Charlotte made shoes...

They'd be pink...

... no surprise there!

Cook your own shoe at the Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ

One day I'll go dancing on the moon

Echoes of thoughts bouncing back in the darkness

I don't read much Malaysian news when I'm too stressed with work/societies/MSoc elections (lol at that one) etc.

But I can't ignore the blaring trumpets heralding the brilliant SPM results (16, 17, 18 'A's?). When will the fanfare stop? Remember the days when 9A1s were almost impossible to obtain? Tell me now what happens to those 15 or 16A1 students when they reach university? I just need to look around Imperial and I can easily tell you that of the Malaysian scholars (JPA, Mara, Petronas) sent here, a good 5% fail and are never heard from ever again, or else repeat a year at the expense of our tax payers money. While the Singaporeans are always in the top percentile, a few rare Malaysians make it there and many more appear to be only mediocre or even at the back of the pack. Why make us feel good about our brilliant SPM results only to be outshone during our prestigious overseas education period?


On the British frontier...

Malaysian Society elections are heating up. Chien liq says I'm suffering from a common disease that afflicts some 'warga emas' of MSoc, namely 'IC-MSoc-Withdrawal-Symptoms'. Yes, CL, no insult of yours goes unnoticed! However this is a society I care too much for to lose to the Malaysian disease of apathy and cronyism and playing of racial cards. Our committee took great pains to build it up, it'll take only a day to tear it apart.


On the academic side...

Andrew says "FYP going up in smoke? Who cares?". Lol... you made my day lah, tai kor!


On other Charlotte-ism's news

Shopping is an afliction and Zhern Yoong will not let me go out unless he approves my dressing style and co-ordination.

I sang at the EE Revue yesterday, and if I get hold of the videos and recordings - they will be posted everywhere - blog, youtube, facebook, etc.

I also stepped on a foot with my 3 inch heels yesterday. That foot belonged to Prof. Peter Cheung head of undergraduates in EEE. If he hadn't been so impressed with my singing, I'm not sure he would have allowed me to graduate.



And on to the weather...

Spring is here!!!