I've been playing PS2 also. Playing that soccer game; think it's called Winning Eleven. I conclude that I just suck at playing the game haha. Either that, or I'm just a slow learner. Really can't control my players in the game, which is quite hilarious actually haha. And I often resort to desperate/violent measures, sliding and tackling. Jess and I played together..we controlled MU, against England. Obviously, we lost, but what was amazing was that we didn't have a single player sent off, even though we had like 7 players yellow-carded haha. Playing that game really makes me miss watching live soccer matches. Can't wait for the World Cup, which is only a week away! Hope I'll be able to catch quite a few matches free on tv.
On another unrelated note, french open has just started and i wanna catch it too! Reminds me of US Open. Really gotta watch US Open live! (shups...).
Watched Apprentice finale just now. I must say the tasks the finalists got are really tough..managing events from scratch. There're really a lot of details to look out and plan for, and basically they have to make sure that every single thing runs smoothly, without a glitch. Not easy huh. Can't believe that one of the finalists is only 22! Just 2 or 3 years older than me. And he has a shot at becoming The Apprentice! Don't think he'll win though. He's probably quite inexperienced and I just think that the other guy, Sean, is better.
Living on my own has really made me grow and learn a lot. Seriously, I think I really have learned a lot of things. Like grocery shopping and cooking. I mean, it's not the first time I'm doing them, but it's just that I've to do those on my own now and much more frequently. Cooking especially. I've just been experimenting here and there and quite amazingly, the stuff we've cooked have so far been quite good! Still need more practice though.
Been experiencing a bout of homesickness lately. I thought I won't really feel homesick this sem, but I guess I'm wrong. Keep telling myself to hold on. After all, it's only 5 weeks before I go back! And I bet they will pass by in the blink of an eye. Still, I can't wait to be back!
Another song that I've been listening to..
WHAT HURTS THE MOST (Rascal Flatts)
I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house
That don't bother me
I can take a few tears now and then and just let them out
I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while
Even though going on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every now and again I pretend I'm ok
But that's not what gets me
What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do
It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go
But I'm doing it
It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone
Still harder
Getting up, getting dressed, living with this regret
But I know if I could do it over
I would trade give away all the words that I saved in my heart
That I left unspoken
What hurts the most
Is being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do
Think the song is about a guy who is left heartbroken because he didn't get to tell the girl that he loved her. I think that's one of the most painful things about love. I wouldn't want to live with the regret of making that mistake; it'll just be too painful. Love..it is such a complicated thing, isn't it?
Gotta get back to Descartes and his Meditations on First Philosophy. I'm sleepy and I've to read philosophy. Ugh..not a good combination. Didn't do a single work over the weekend, so basically I'm left with all the catching-up to do now :/
Played tennis yesterday and my whole body is aching today. Seriously. It's not as if I haven't played tennis in a long while. Oh well..it was super fun though. And I ran a lot. Really. Haha. Should play more often while we have the sun :)
Had a 4 hour nap this afternoon. I really couldn't bring myself to wake up haha. Oh man..I can really forget about sleeping early tonight. I still have homework to clear anyway. And we cooked for the first time today! Success :) , even though I cut my finger again. It seems that everytime I'm in the kitchen cutting something, I always cut my finger, and this time it was quite bad :/ Cooked broccoli and chicken and it really tasted quite nice. Quite proud of ourselves haha.
I can't wait for the weekend! And victoria will be coming..
Played the game of life last night with the gang, and I won the game haha. Can't believe my luck at people spinning 7 and getting the wheel stuck haha. It was a truly fun game, though I wish I could've played longer (was the first person to retire, so had to watch the rest complete the game).
Did grocery shopping today. Have to start cooking from now onwards. I can predict that the first few times will be a disaster haha. I've more or less packed my stuff. Can't really do much cos the furnitures will only be coming next week. By the way, the address of my new place is:
4614 Fifth Avenue
Apt No. 606
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Summer school starts tomorrow. Can't believe that the whole week is over just like that. School again! Sigh. Chinese and philo haha. Oh well.. guess I gotta sleep soon.
A beautiful song...
WHEN THE STARS GO BLUE
Dancing when the stars go blue
Dancing when the evening fell
Dancing in your wooden shoes
In a wedding gown
Dancing out on 7th street
Dancing through the underground
Dancing with the marionette
Are you happy now
Where do you go when you're lonely
Where do you go when you're blue
Where do you go when you're lonely
I'll follow you
When the stars go blue
Stars go blue, stars go blue
Stars go blue
Laughing with your pretty mouth
Laughing with your broken eyes
Laughing with your lover's tongue
In a lullaby
Where do you go when you're lonely
Where do you go when you're blue
Where do you go when you're lonely
I'll follow you
When the stars go blue
Stars go blue, stars go blue
Stars go blue
The past few days after exams have been quite an emotional rollercoaster for me. Happy, sad, angry, tired, irritated, frustrated, homesick, longing (for I'm not quite sure what..), nostalgic, etc etc. The last three days have been a blast, albeit very very tiring.
The last night in New House was spent over at the guys' place, playing bridge, bang, drinking and just talking rubbish haha. I guess I'm still not quite used to the things that guys can do when they get high/drunk, and all their dirty halk haha. But it was fun. And as I walking back to my dorm room that night, I realized that that would be the last night that I'd actually be coming home to new house (I know, I'm a very nostalgic person..). I haven't even gone to mudge in a long while, and I won't be able to go there for some time at least.
The whole of Wednesday was basically spent on packing and moving house. It's such a chore I tell you..both packing and unpacking are just very irritating. As always is the case with packing, you don't really know that you actually own that much stuff until you actually start packing and find that you have this and that that you didn't know you have. That was the case for me too. Had to give Champions League final a miss just to finish packing. What a pity cos the match was really good, and Barcelona deservedly won. But I eventually finished packing and moved over. A big thank you to the three guys who helped us move. Don't know how we could have done it without your help, so thank you so much, xh jq mw!
Went to Ikea and Target on Thursday for furniture shopping and just buying random stuff for our new place. I spent so much..can't believe it myself haha. But I had a lot of fun just being in the company of the 4 of them, who complement one another so well and talk so much rubbish haha. And then we watched Match Point at night. I thought the show was very similar to Wimbledon, partly because of the title and from what I thought I heard the show was about, but I couldn't have been more wrong. It was actually about a love affair, nothing like a romantic comedy, and I must say I'm still quite disturbed by how the story went and movie ended. Oh well. And then saw the opening sequence of the latest season of The Apprentice. Donald Trump's car is just..oh my gosh!
And yesterday, we went to Grove City for shopping :) Didn't buy as much as I thought I would though. But retail therapy always worked, to get my mind off things, at least for a while. And the singing on the way back was just hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing whenever I heard the two guys in the front singing haha. Went back to New House after dinner to clear the rest of our stuff. I was just plain exhausted after that, after walking for the entire day, plus not having been able to sleep really well ever since we moved. Had an interesting talk abt philo with xh after that. I'm just wondering how I'm gonna survive doing philo over summer, seeing that I'm not the sort who's interested in thinking/reflecting about life and in questioning and discussing issues. I know very well that I'm not a philo person (though I guess that can change); wanted to take philo just to see what it would be like.
Waiting for the grades for my last 2 courses (math finance and psych freshie sem) to come out is just killing me. I just want to know that I get As for those 2 courses so that I can get above 3.8 for my GPA. Oh well..
I remember reading from the Bible once that the most harmful part of your body (the one that can cause most hurt, or something to that extent) is your tongue. How true that is. I just want to say sorry to all those whom I've offended the past few days. I know that I'm often not very tactful with the things I say and that the words I speak can be very hurtful. And I just can't believe my knack of saying the wrong things (at the wrong time perhaps..). I thought I was already bad enough with "big red apple" on thurs, but yesterday's (mis)slip of tongue definitely took the cake. "Pass me the c***". I think the rest were just stunned; even I can't believe I said that haha. Especially coming from me haha.
I'm determined to play Moonlight Sonata on the keyboard/piano. But right now, think I should start packing again. Our house is really a complete mess of random stuff thrown all over. Won't really have time to pack once summer school starts. The thought of going to school after such a short break is just disheartening. I want a longer break!
What a way to start the day though. I woke up at 8.10 for an 8.30 paper! I must have either switched off the alarm (which I don't recall doing) and went back to sleep, or the alarm didn't ring at all. Made it anyhow for the exam. Hmm..guess my luck must have run out a bit. Cos I was supposed to have revised a bit of stuff this morning (cos I knew it may come out), and it really did come out. Oh well..what to do? Did my best and I'm just happy it's all over!
Now for the packing. It's going to be tiring.
Anyway, it's actually quite exciting to be moving into your own apartment and furnishing it and stuff. (Keyboard came on Saturday and spent 3 hours playing it haha). But I don't really wanna leave my dorm room either. It's so bittersweet eh. No more card keys, will be having real keys instead. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. I've always thought that having my ID card as my room key is better cos it's not so easily lost, but then again, I've lost my card once and "thought" that I lost it countless times haha (only to be found in various pockets), and got locked out of my room 3 times this sem alone, 2 of them in the wee hours. Ah..getting locked out..that'll be something I'll remember from this sem haha. And having to call the campus police once to get them to open the room for me. Haha.
Oh man..facebook craze is really here. Imperial just got facebook, so a few mg friends added me. And now..NUS, NTU and SMU also have facebook! What the heck!
Hmm..people think I'm fierce. But I don't think so leh. And I sound quite hyper now. Shall attempt to study a bit more before sleeping. So looking forward to Tuesday and end of exams! At least my paper ends in the morning haha. And then it'll be moving and Champions League final!! :)
Anyway, Liverpool won the FA Cup final on penalties! A very exciting match! I pity West Ham though. They didn't deserve to lose, certainly not on penalties. Penalties are the most cruel way for a team to lose a match. Oh well..Liverpool's comeback abilities cannot be underestimated..or rather Gerrard's comeback skills. He's such an inspirational captain..scored a really stunning last-minute equalizer even though he was limping. I really miss the excitement of watching soccer matches live on tv, though I won't deny that I get overly-excited at times haha. Will not miss the World Cup..
People here are starting to pack their stuff and everything. It dawned on me this morning that I will only be staying in my New House room for 4 more nights. 4 mere nights before I have to move out. I'm really gonna miss my room, people on the floor and New House in general. I can't believe that the coming week will be my last week as a freshman. Where has the year gone to? Whatever happened to my freshman year? So unbelievably fast huh. Can't really put down in words what I feel about my freshman year. To sum up, it has been a memorable and exciting year full of ups-and-downs.
Some things from my freshman year which stand out:
-The friends I've made. Especially jess (aka roommate), xinghao, jiaqi and mingwei. Thank you for all the beautiful memories. You guys have never failed to cheer me up with all your crankiness and corniness haha. Will never ever forget the crazy and out-of-point msn convo, dinner convo, eat-and-park/geagle saturdays, russell peters imitations, bang/bridge/poker+wine friday nights, table tennis/pool nights, bday celebrations, etc etc.
-Mid-sem break. Going down to fallingwater and ohiopyle (such beautiful scenery!), and to grove city the following days. I'll never forget us singing loudly inside the car haha.
-Chicago during Thanksgiving. First trip with friends, and it was so impromptu and arranged last-minute haha. And I'll never forget us waking up late and rushing to the airport to catch the flight back..it was so amazing race haha. Had such a fun time there, even though it was really cold...
-Christmas light-up. Mount Washington was really gorgeous.
-Spring Carnival/booth, which left me with both good and bad memories. It was really satisfying to see the final product though, and even though it was disappointing to get third, I guess what really mattered in the end was the process of building it and seeing the whole booth itself, and not really the result.
-Being in exco and organizing events which is actually quite fun, though it can be really stressful at times, especially if you have a ton of schoolwork to be done at the same time.
-Programming! Haha. Which really drove me nuts. I thought last sem was bad enough, this sem was worse. So far the hardest course I've had to take. I definitely learned a lot, but I'm just glad I don't have to do any more programming. For now.
-All the all-nighters. Due to bad time management heh. And as a result of all-nighters, I ended up skipping classes too.
-Having to be independent and doing things on your own. Not to mention getting homesick.
-Classes...hmm the discussions that went on during classes were really something. And it was quite an eye-opener for someone like me, who usually dare not speak up in class and who's forced to speak up in class now. And attempting to speak in American accent no less. Haha.
-My dorm room! Love the room and its view. My floormates, my RAs, etc.
-Meeting new people.
Hmm..trying to remember more but nothing else came to mind. Of course there're plenty of things I've missed out. But yup..will definitely cherish my freshman year. Sophomore year isn't gonna be the same..
Anyway, finals aside, I found out Victoria, my distant cousin (and Jess' ex-classmate..small world huh), is coming here in summer for her internship! Haven't seen her in a while, so it should be quite exciting. I also found out that Edwin was thinking of applying to CMU for next year (and maybe Yanxi too). I hope they'll come here..quite cool to have your ex-classmates in the same uni haha. But I think I deterred him from applying to CMU cos I mentioned that he cannot finish Chem E here in 3 years..oops.
Can't wait for tomorrow to be over! Shall attempt to study now.
I'm just wondering how I'm gonna cope with the coming days. It's gonna be a blur. It starts with a DE review tomorrow night, history final thurs morning, matrix final thurs evening, DE final fri morning, and psych paper due fri. I haven't started studying for matrix/DE/history and only halfway through my psych paper. Oh man. Just realized yesterday that 4 of my 5 finals papers are 8.30 papers (the other one is 5.30 paper). Argh..not used to waking up so early in the morning!
I'm so tempted to buy so many things, but I feel bad spending so much of my parents' money. I wish I can just be the sort who clicks buy and not think about it after that. But I don't think I can. Keyboard coming over the weekend. Something to look forward to at least. And I just realized that I'll only be staying in new house for one more week! That's fast.
EPL has ended, MU finished 2nd as expected, but Ruud is gonna leave! =( Oh well. FA Cup and Champs League finals coming up! I wanna watch those! And after that, there'll be World Cup. Woo hoo! I'm so gonna catch it on tv haha.
Just found an opening for finance research position over summer. Hope I'll be able to get it. Meanwhile, back to the novel. I desperately need to stay awake!
Where is the moment when needed the most
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
They tell me your blue skies fade to grey
They tell me your passion's gone away
And I don't need no carryin' on
You stand in the light just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee to go
You tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces everytime
And I don't need no carryin' on
Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
Well you need a blue sky holiday
The point is they laugh at what you say
And I don't need no carryin' on
Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
Sometimes the system goes on the blink
And the whole thing turns out wrong
You might not take it back and you know
That you could be well oh that strong
And I'm not wrong
So where is the passion when you needed it the most
Oh you and I
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
You've seen what you like
And how does it feel for one more time
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
It's one thing to make fun of someone in front of her, it's another thing to make fun of someone behind her back. And making fun of something sensitive no less. I just find that extremely offensive. I'm actually quite amazed that I've managed to tolerate all that all this while (and getting embarrassed in the process), but this is just too much. I'm not sure if I'll be so tolerant after this.
It's so paradoxical, isn't it? I want this sem to be over quickly, cos well, it's been a tough ride and I just want it all to end. But at the same time, I don't want to become a sophomore. How I wish I can just stop the time (I guess all of us sometimes wish that as well).
I just realized that it's almost halfway through 2006! And it's freaky to know that my parents are already booking my plane tickets back to Singapore/Jakarta in December. Where has the year gone to? World Cup is almost here, but I still remember vividly World Cup in 2002. How me and my youngest brother were glued to the tv all the time and our excitement when Beckham scored the penalty that won England the match against Argentina haha. And how two of us were so down when England lost to Brazil (think we were on some road trip in Melbourne that time), and my other brother was gloating cos his beloved Brazil won..bleahh haha.
Was just looking through prom pictures yesterday (no motivation to do work at all..) and saw everyone again, people whom I haven't seen in a while. Prom was like 1.5 years ago (that's long!). Wonder how everyone is doing right now..
I hope furnishing our new apartment won't be a pain. Even though we've gotten most of the furnitures already, I'm quite sure it'll be the little things that will drive us crazy haha. I'm wondering whether to get a piano or keyboard too. Someone is selling her piano for 600 and another guy is selling his keyboard for 200. My mum (surprisingly) let me buy the piano if I want haha. But don't know if our place has space and if it's worth the money.
Last week of school! So fast! But it's gonna be a very fast and tiring week, not to mention stressful. With all the midterms, presentation and preparation for end-of-sem bbq. Hope I can survive!
I think I've more or less made up my mind already, which is good. Comp finance dinner yesterday was enlightening, literally. I learned quite a lot of stuff, which sort of helped me make my decision. But I can still change my mind..it's not that I must decide now anyway. As of now, I'm leaning towards double degree in business. The more important thing is to decide on the summer courses I want to take. I think I'm gonna be taking Chinese instead of French now. Can't believe this myself haha. And deciding between accounting and philo. I heard accounting in fall is pretty horrible (lousy prof and hard to get A), but I'm a bit scared of doing philo and psych together in 1 sem cos there're quite a few readings and papers. Haiz.
Shall not think about that anymore. Sigh..I don't even have time to rest this week. With all that madness coming up.
2 weeks left as a freshie!