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.

6 degrees of winter

I've just watched the morning sky change from velvet hues to a cloudy light grey (you know, #333333 in html) as the construction workers begin their morning ritual of assembling Southside hall. The building works don't look as if they'll end anytime during my stay here in Linstead, so I've already developed an immunity to the cranking of the drills and trucks and loud, brash workers.

It's supposed to be 6 degrees out there. I don't think so, it feels pretty warm in here. Maybe it's just me because my brother says he's shivering on the cold hard floor. Lionel on the other hand will probably say its still raining buckets in Singapore, so don't complain.

In other words. I'm back in London. And not so ready to begin another term of late nights, overdue assignments and procrastination.

Keep an eye on this blog. I have stories to tell.

Saying farewell to the winter freeze

I'm outta here!

In approximately 4 hours.

I can just about smell the hokkien mee!

The term ended on a good note with our Entrepreneurship presentation finally being put to rest. (The lecturers liked us, they REEEALLY liked us!). Deep down, I probably felt sorry for the mainland China team who were after us and presented a business plan that was not only incomprehensible, but incompetent... which resulted in several politically incorrect messages being typed on my laptop...

me: aku benci sgt org cina cakap bahasa inggeris!
iylia: but ur disowning ur heritage
me: eh, keluarga aku sudah 3 generasi di tanah melayu, okay....

...and several members of our team hiding under the table while trying to quell their desire to laugh out loud. We finally left for drinks at Harringtons where we sat in a corner and laughed at the poor China team.

I said a lot of my goodbyes last night at the Linstead Christmas party, where the nativity play really was a good laugh once I stopped being a prick about the immaculate conception not being Jesus (No, really! The immaculate conception is Mary!) and took up my part as... no, not a cow, sorry to dissapoint everyone... but as the angel Gabriel.

We ended the night with a round of horrible karaoke-ing, and I woke up this morning with a sore throat after belting out Uncle Kracker's Follow Me a few times last night.

Now for the important details. My plane will probably be touching down on Saturday evening, sometime after 7pm. And then I will proceed to spend the next few days eating everything in KL and working off the jetlag. Call me, you know my number.

I took a walk...

It's dark out. Not the 5pm winter twilight kind of dark.

Proper dark.

My muscles are aching crazily after an overenthusiastic weekend at the gym. Hobbling past the library, out Falmouth gate in the cool evening breeze towards Sainsbury's. Nostalgia hit pretty quick.

A weird kind of nostalgia. Bits of 2003, 2004 and 2005 all rolled into one. As if forming a dizzy patchwork design of memories.

The aching pain after M-Nite dance practices in the first year. And I saw myself, gingerly making my way back through the darkness of Princes Gardens, back to Linstead. Looking out for the light on one of the sixth floor windows. Maybe Lionel will still be awake to hear me grouse and grumble. Maybe he'd be writing Spanish essays and I shouldn't bother him.

The lights bring about a strange glow to Gloucester road as the remaining drops of rain glisten like watching eyes in the dark. And I see myself, running home to Emperor's Gate after long hours of M-Nite rehearsals. Running home to the welcoming warmth of its kitchen. Maybe Yi Shan and Lu would be teasing each other like little kids. Maybe Lionel will be waiting with an episode of The Amazing Race to watch on the sofa under fleece blankets and I'll fall asleep before the hands on the clock touch midnight.

The cars racing down Cromwell Road towards Earl's Court make me want to follow them. Back to the strange rustic mess that is Earl's Court road. And I see myself, Sainsbury's groceries in hand, a bunch of experimental recipes in my head, and my keys are nowhere to be found as I buzz the doorbell to the apartment and Lu answers with reluctance. Maybe there'd be CSI on the telly. Maybe Lionel will be up in the attic blasting sappy James Blunt music. Maybe there'd be a welcoming, cosy duvet to snuggle under and a plump and well-fed boyfriend to cuddle.

And then I find myself walking the other way down Cromwell Road. Back towards Linstead. It still feels strange and unfamiliar to be on the other side of college. But would I rather be walking the other way?

I've been blogging a lot these days, you say? Yeah, naturally when I've been so used to constant company (i.e. taking for granted my being able to bug Lionel at any given moment, even when he's sleeping), when I'm in my room in halls and there's no one to talk to... I just have to talk to myself.

Linstead, I'll be back!

So here's to another year at Linstead.

I finally made up my mind and sent an email back to Anthony, the warden, accepting the position. And then a letter to the Willis Jackson warden, rejecting the position. And then a letter to Teresa telling her how sorry I am that I won't be living with her next year. I really am sorry. Teresa's been like the best senior from the start of my days at Imperial, and now its closing in on three years and the words Final Year are growing clearer.

It's vague, it's unpredictable, it's scary... but worse of all... I'm afraid it's going to be oh so lonely.

Anyway, congratulations are in store for the new EESoc committee, and their new treasurer. Gary's going to be a great chair. And when I think of it, does anyone get to be a great table? I'm disappearing until Gary starts putting bags of money in my hands. THEN we'll talk!

Will be watching Asian Boys tomorrow. Yes, it's as every bit as dodgy as the title implies. A play on the Asian homosexual scene. Anyone else wanna come along? Fidel's acting!

Linstead's Going Down dinner was yesterday. I made a bet with Rich that I would take only an hour to get ready. I was out of my room in 45 minutes and carefully trying to climb 6 flights of stairs in my high heels to Lionel's room to fish for compliments before Amar could take me down a peg or two (I stupidly told him I was going to wear my birthday dress earlier... without thinking of the repercussions...)
Dinner was of course a dissapointment. But the pretty balloons kept me happy. There was clearly less excitement as there were many missing Linsteadians. Our own group was a rather small, only Amar, Soha, Fong May, Darren and me. And the music at the disco was all cheese! Oh well... an expected end to the year at Linstead.
Best part of the night: Rich impersonating Karim with the head of a mop under a baseball cap over his own hair!

And this would be the one where Charlotte had an excellant night playing barmaid at the Linstead bar and ended it by being part of Amar's legion of bodyguards.

Bartending is pretty easy and fun, especially if it's not too busy a night with just a steady flow of 2 or 3 people ordering drinks every 15 minutes. No absurd orders tonight (if I disregard the three double JD cokes I made for Phil Loh who was in depression... third time round he didn't even need to ask, I automatically grabbed a glass, poured 2 shots of Jack Daniels, popped in some ice and handed it to Phil with the Coke bottle).

We're playing the Bond Game in Linstead now. So everyone's afraid... nah paranoid... about walking around halls alone. However tonight's assasination attempt on Amar will go down in the annals of Linstead history. Imagine 5 tall beefy ang mohs waiting to pounce on Amar and drag him off for Rowan to kill. Then imagine Amar hiding within a circle of 10 rather small sized Malaysians and Singaporeans (more than half of us girls) while Lionel calls Darren on his handphone for back-up in true ah-beng tai-kor style and Jaq runs off to get her fencing saber while Amar gets Aaron to bring down his pen knife for him. The Ang Mohs not wanting any blood shed start to circle around us like hungry sharks but not daring to approach us... because maybe it's taken 4 months for them to wake up and realise they can't bully us into submission and we won't go down without a fight. Darren arrives with Zi Ming in tow... NS guys to the rescue (Darren's all ready for a fight... "my hand very itchy wei!"). Operation Relocate Amar proceeds with great care... 12 people escorting Amar to his room (and to the toilet as well so he won't have to come out of his room in the middle of the night without any bodyguards). We only leave when we're sure Amar is safe and sound in his room and we've made sure he knows he owes us! Big time!

And so it's already lin chor sum (third day of CNY), and we're still in the festive mood. Our large appetites and constant cravings for Chinese food are definite signs. The angpows are still hanging on my door and my lovely little paper fire crackers with the word fook(luck) written on it is still perched on the edge of my shelves. When I get the little blinking red lantern lights back from Trinh, they will go above my windows so that my room will probably look like Geylang from the outside...

My sleep cycle which had been tuned back to normal is now once again wrecked. Beginning with Tuesday night's 12 till 3am chit-chat (I had 5 hours of sleep and you slept till noon!!! Next time we decide to hold early morning conversations can we NOT have it before my 9am classes!!). Then preparing for the new year's eve steamboat - 2 hours in the kitchen chopping meat and deboning chicken drumsticks!! Followed by a dinner that lasted late into the night, watching everyone get drunk. Then the Chinese New Year party at the bar. I have never organised a bar party before, and even Xinyi couldn't imagine me doing it... but I did! And it was surprisingly successful! Never had this much fun at the bar before. Then there was the Malaysian Soc. CNY dinner on the 2nd day at Chuen Cheng Ku... the company made up for the tasteless food... and then back to Linstead to find everyone playing mahjong. The temptation was just too much. Found ourselves (or rather just me, alex, lionel and lu) playing till 5am in the morning (we planned to stop at 4am, then as I started losing drastically we planned to stop when I'd become bankrupt, after which I started to win miraculously, then we planned to stop when I reached 50 dollars or it reached 5am... which ever was sooner). Today, after very few hours of sleep, I proceeded to go for bhangra dance practices, skived Chinese dance practice, and went to Portobello Market where we found lychees for 1 pound per pound! We then walked an amazingly long way to Nahar for dinner (teh tarik!!!) and then returned to Linstead to find everyone watching Once Upon a Time in China. Proceeded to finish off ALL the lychees rather quickly... and then started to plan for Easter holidays. It's not easy to plan a holiday for more than 10 people... in fact it's impossible. Finally decided on Austria, Switzerland and Germany... while the rest who want to shop will probably go to Italy and Paris. By the time we'd decided it was way past midnight. And now I'm so stoned that this entry isn't even interesting... apologies!

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.

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...

Pyjama Parties bring to mind fluffy slippers, white cotton box shorts, pillow fights and all-night truth or dares. Here in Linstead Hall we had none of that. Instead, I was dressed even less decently than what I normally wear to sleep and that was just no fight for what the other girls were wearing. Think: girls practically in their lingerie with bathrobes on, guys in bathrobes and towels with nothing else on, guys in boxers (honestly if you are going to try and pull that off at least have a body to show for it!) and plenty of beer and JD coke and drinking games. That's London for you! No make overs or gossiping... more like 2 hours of chor tai tee and then another hour of watching what I swear was porn but what the guys insisted was a sex documentary (come on! watching some horny idiots trying out as many kamasutra positions as possible in one minute just to create a new world record... and you think you're still trying to pull the wool over my eyes?... it was 22 out of 35 positions, btw).

*groggy*
It's 10:35am and I just rolled out of bed... literally... which is quite painful because me bed is just slightly less than 3 feet high.
I'm wondering if I can still make it for church! hmm... bad bad me... oh there's a mass at 12:30! Thank god for the Internet. Saves me from walking down to the church in the cold to check what time masses are.
Heating has been turned off this weekend. I have to check every few minutes to see if my toes have turned blue and are in danger of frostbite.
I need to tie myself to my chair today and actually get some reading or problem sheets done. I must be the only engineer who hasn't borrowed anything from the library. Damn you conscientious hard working nincompoops!
I've been on a study hiatus since friday night, beginning with the Linstead Hall coming up dinner (read: black tie event --> omg! what to wear?). Didn't see much point in looking *really* nice just for these bunch of freakazoids whom I see in the halls everyday and treat me like an annoying beatle who's in their way but too defenceless for them to crush to death. But you quickly realise what great stimuli a pretty dress and make-up are for conversations. Guys are now making the effort to ask me compulsive conversation starters, i.e. :"So how was your day?" and "How is it I've never seen you before?". That's because you're a shallow dope and you don't look any girl in the eye who's just come back from college looking like an accident involving files, bits of paper and horribly coloured sweaters.
The night was pretty fun, asians sitting at a fully asian table... making politically incorrect jokes in Manglish and Singlish, knowing no one else would realise we were actually speaking ENGLISH!
We played a fun game that night: guess who's shagging in the guys toilet. It was Yi Shan's fault, coming out of the mens with digust written all over his face saying "Guess who's in the toilet". Wasn't difficult to put 2 and 2 together as more and more guys came out with bemused smiles and a "I know something you don't know" look. Anyway didn't even need to guess since Angela was going to spill more than I needed to know the next morning.
Spent a lazy Saturday morning just being lazy. Finally got dressed and caught a bus down to Oxford Street to do some form of shopping with Soha. Then after getting lost a few times, we made it to Holborn where Ying and Jas were waiting for us with a warm cooked dinner. I love these LSE people... they all cook! Then went over to Ying's hall to play some disastrous pool (specific to me only) and by the time we decided to make a move, it was past 11pm.
I wouldn't have minded the time if it was Spore or KL, but London at night *is* quite scary, as Soha and I found out when we were literally almost running through the empty subways passing by plenty of dangerous looking homeless people. We were utterly joyful at the bright and warm sight of Linstead Hall even though it was past midnight. Must stop all these late night rendezvous, really!