this cut-out map of London is SO PRETTY. *____*

okay, this facebook group? uhh, no. NO. no no no no no. BAD idea -_- how else am I supposed to stalk track people?

(yeah I know it's one of those 'mass invite' fake things but I'm baulking more at the idea behind it haha :P)

naples, in contrast, was grittier, grimier, but more down to earth, realistic and somehow more lovable.



( some photos: )

instead of big churches, bigger churches and art galleries, the tourist attractions of naple were a lot (dare I say) more interesting and well, quirkier haha. the ruins of an ancient city buried by ash and lava, an old castle by the sea, a beautiful little island etc. I loved the island of capri the best, it's hard not to- it was absolutely beautiful and was definitely the highlight of our entire trip.





okay capri was beyond beautiful, and I imagine all the islands in that mediterranean area was similarly stunning. and we had such fun, going around on a boat and seeing the grottos and rocks, getting rowed into the blue grotto, then renting our own boat and going around on our own and the other three even went swimming in the water. *___* skipping pebbles on the pebble beach (okay, I tried). such a perfect day!

( and a few more: )

rome was very grand, very epic, but also very overwhelming- too overwhelming for me. you know that let rome in tiber melt and the wide arch of the ranged empire fall line in Antony and Cleopatra? I can't even comprehend that, it's too big for my brain to handle. nonetheless, the line is very appropriately rome with all its grandeur and grandiosity. and rome was a very proud and beautiful city, with all its culture and art and history.



( some photos; )

so, that ability I used to have as a kid/young teen of being able to sleep properly on a plane for hours and hours? I have lost it. ):

but at any rate I am home! and this time I know what to expect; that slight feeling of displacement, not having to stick religiously to the right side of the escalator, new MRT lines, prices in a different currency, a whole phalanx of singaporean accents and black hair around. hehe.

and even though I only slept for three or so hours on the plane I er had a great time watching the animated wonder woman origins film (oh how I laughed. it was so rgs girl. and so very enjoyable), three episodes of HIMYM (I want moooore), an episode of House, Teen Titans, etc etc. oh and WATCHMEN. which I was almost afraid to watch earlier because I thought it might not meet my expectations of it because I enjoyed the comic book so much. but I liked it and it was appropriately atmospheric and oh, walter kovacs REALLY LOOKED LIKE THE COMIC BOOK ONE, so I was appropriately happy. only wish the thermodynamic miracle speech was word for word but oh well we can't all get what we want! and it was probably too unwieldy for film anyway?

there must be at least twenty people outside my room, judging from the noise they're making. the guy who used to stay opposite my room was bad enough with the noise and I was quite glad when he moved out last week, but then some new guy moved in for summer school and he's even worse. what also makes it worse is that they all have horrible drawly american accents I hate it horribly. ugh. standing in the immigration queue in stansted in front of this group of annoying american girls talking loudly with their awful accents made me realise I cannot do my masters in america leh. I'd rather go to beijing than have to tolerate the worst of the accent for a whole year. I realise I am being very vehement and vitriolic but I DON'T CARE I DON'T CARE I DON'T CARE (for now). sigh I need much louder music to drown them out.

I have been easily extremely irritated the past few days, have you noticed?

on the other hand I'm not going to be here for much longer. but that itself makes me kind of sad because for the better part of a year this room in this hall has been my own personal space and I feel a certain sense of attachment to it. the people that have made my hall experience are all gone now (except for one), then again I'm used to being the latest. all in all I am going to miss my room ):

( cut for nostalgic photos of room for own memories and reference- )

the best thing about spring and summer here has to be the flowers. not the nice warm weather, but the flowers- they're so incredibly pretty!

I had a v v v nice day out on tuesday in canterbury :) we went to the mandatory cathedral, then decided to skip the more touristy church and abbey and went out to a small town called sandwich...and had an awesome afternoon! spent hours in the sandwich secret gardens. I felt so english haha. wandered around admiring flowers in a small english town, had tea and cake, strolled through a park and beside the river etc. going off the beaten (touristy) path is great.

there is so much to do in england, let alone neighbouring scotland and wales, I will never finish it in a lifetime if I lived here forever, and definitely not in my three years here as a student. nonetheless I can try right? haha. and the skies and the fields and the flowers are so beautiful when it's not raining, especially during summer, oh my. I was constantly stunned by the beauty of like everything around me, both the manmade monuments and the natural scenes, although I confess to liking nature's prettiness better haha. this is what I like best about post-exams; being able to go around enjoying myself and seeing pretty things without any guilt or nagging conscience telling me I should be studying for the exams, or I have an essay due the next week etc. happy summer days indeed.





( a few more photos! )

my full canterbury album here :D

aeterna. says:
whatcha doing in your holidays?

whipermr5 <4S228> says:
today, tomorrow and wednesday i'm attending a workshop on computer security at defence science organisation

OMG MY BROTHER IS LIKE SUPER COOL LA

it's been a hectic past week! now I am tired but happy which means I need alone-time to recharge again but I am happy! I had three final exams from 20-22 may and then had to cloister myself away in the library while my hallmates who were done went out to pretty places like brighton. went out with nyx on saturday and we went to watch hairspray!, and she slept over at night which was fun but unfortunately v short ): finally had my last exam on 3 june :D then went to belgium- bruges and antwerp- from 4-6 june, just got back late this afternoon and just finished uploading photos. happy times, happy times.

I liked belgium, but then again I've liked and will like every single holiday/trip I have been and will be on, even when it involves many extra $$$ to go on it and it rains all the time (spain) or I forget to apply for a visa and get kicked off a night train (romania) :P I'm like...why complain about something if you're already there! find the happy things and focus on them! and I really appreciate all the opportunities to be able to visit many different countries and cultures. it's one thing to be studying overseas, and I am still grateful for that opportunity even though it's been a year, and it's another thing to be studying in europe- so much culture!- and london is a springboard to everywhere. budget flights like easyjet and ryanair go for £5 for a single trip when you catch the right offers, and st pancras where the eurostar runs from is 15 minutes' walking distance from my hall. I feel so well-placed and it would be such a shame not to take advantage of this. I also feel like I shouldn't even be here by right, so like everytime I get to do something cool (like travel) which I couldn't if I wasn't studying here, I am v v happy. haha.

and besides, it could always be so much worse. and it was nice that we were able to go in a group of twelve from college hall- kind of like a final trip before we all start heading back for singapore- and nothing bad happened. I have immense respect for de facto group leaders and navigators, by the way, I think it takes imba leadership-ness to marshall and mobilise and MOVE such a large lazy group hahaha.

I liked belgium; it was...nice. laidback and western european and old and cultural and kinda germanic (?) and peaceful and...very nice! then again, we did take things slow and mostly ambled around eating lots of food hehe.











here be the rest of my photos :)

you know, I don't think the justice league could have come from any other country than america. I'm studying american dominance and whether it is an empire for my international relations paper, right, and so much of it resonates with what I know of the JLA. for instance, check out this sentence-

In a new era where old forms of deterrence and traditional assumptions about threats no longer held, it was up to America to impose its own form of peace on a disorderly world: to fight the savage war of peace so as to protect and enlarge the empire of liberty (Boot, 2002)

heh it reminds me of one of the Justice League (Unlimited) episodes (season 2, episode 22, Flashpoint) where Lex Luthor hacks into their tower, turns it into a giant nuclear weapon, fires it and the entire world subsequently fears them- and they simply cannot understand why. Superman really didn't get it, his complete and utter inability to understand where everyone else was coming from was quite laughably sad. Batman on the other hand, being one of the few non-powered heroes in the League, totally got it. I think the Green Arrow got it too.

...er I lost my train of thought, but I think my point was something along the lines of I really do think the JLA is a good metaphor for America in the international system. superman even more so; I remember having a conversation about whether superman or captain america was more 'american', and concluding that captain america was more what america is (what it actually does), and superman more what america wants to be (the lofty idealistic version). because capt seems more gritty and realistic, having to deal with military stuff, top secret things, politics, human-made wars; superman is in a class of his own, is the leader of the world's superpowers and helps others benevolently while guarding the world against twisted villains with warped ways of thinking. if you'll excuse the sometimes-false dichotomy I think it's largely true!

also I don't think the x-men could have come from China (for example) either, but I'm still working on that explanation. :P possibly it has to do with a much lower tolerance for minority groups and a tendency to crackdown/radicalisation? so the mutant-human divide (especially with radical groups like the Brotherhood and the firepower they have) would more probably have erupted into a civil war or extremely unstable and volatile situation, rather than continued to exist and simmer within a state?

(but I wouldn't make that statement unequivocally because I know very little about China .__. the impression I have of China is full of fire, pride, stern strength, steel and dragons. mind you, this mostly comes from isolated historical episodes and period drama episodes. :P)

hey cool. without my piles of clothes around on the floor, my room actually looks quite big!

augh it is so hard to study for history. it's ideas, concepts, overarching arguments you need to get in your head, not facts, and these are a whole lot less solid, more nebulous, difficult to grasp- like smoke. but it's not smoke, because when properly controlled they can make very powerful essays; but to put them in your head, keep them there and train yourself to be able to flexibly twist these around to answer a whole array of questions, angles, and then do all this in a very limited time under a whole lot of pressure- it's hard, to say the least. and furthermore a lot of it is down to what you do during the exam itself, because you can study well and still be unable to perform. actually, I think this applies to a large majority of the social sciences as well. but not law- or at least, not the stuff I'm studying in my international law module anyway.

ps: I know I'm also probably watching too much tv when I read the sentence "Neither Paris not London understood the essential dual function of Hitler’s colonial demands", and my first thought is that Paris and London are girls. AAAAAAH

...this is SO geeky but I have something to say about the latest two (or three?) bleach anime episodes haha, the hisagi shuuhei (v findor carias) and kira izuru (v avirama redder) fights.

I swear, those two vice captains are the most mature, sensible and grounded characters in the entire bleach universe and I think they're awesome for that. I don't think they're simply emo (with the connotation of disdain) characters who sit around looking cool and are there for the sole purpose of basking in the adoration of fangirls! hisagi's philosophy is all 'you should fear your own strength and your enemy's strength; those who do not fear the sword they wield have no right to wield a sword at all'. and kira is all 'the essence of war is despair' and doesn't revel in mindless fighting and its exhilaration and adrenaline without thought for the destruction and death. they were both quite ruthless and functional in striking down their opponent at the end of the fight, too. I er totally agree with them and find this quite interesting, because they were both under captains who defected. and yet they're so strong (in character), practically unflappable, somewhat cold and functional and efficient, and realistic. makes you wonder if they were like that to start with, or whether they shaped up like that under their captains' guidance, or whether they developed this way because of the responsibilities they had to bear leading their respective division after their captains defected. hinamori turned out so incredibly differently.

anyway- I really really like them! but then again you can't have too many of this kind of character around, because you need tremendously-energetic, noisy, powerful big dreamers like ichigo and naruto to push the series forward, and incredibly emotional, wilful characters who vow to be the best and strongest they can be that support the series like sakura and orihime.

I realise while I may do well in school this will not carry over to my working life simply because of why I am doing well in school. I am good at making revision notes and can write good essays after like, extensive research and time spent neatly structuring my argument and points and searching for evidence. but this also means that I won't do as well during the exams because I don't have the luxury of time and elegance, and even more so that I am horrible doing things on the fly. so when I am, say, rushing out an article before offstone or trying to come up with questions on the spot for a newsmaker when the prepared questions turn out to have been irrelevant I won't be using these school skills.

and I tend to go deep rather than wide when I am covering a topic, the former to the latter's expense, but right journalists are supposed to have insane general knowledge because they have to cover a wide range of stuff (until you carve out a niche for yourself anyway, and even then. haha I can hear one of my editors' voice booming MASTER OF ALL TRADES!! MASTER OF ALL TRADES!!) anyway the point is, I am horrible off the cuff!! ): maybe this means I am better at editorials and like, economist-type content & analysis articles but haha that is and probably will stay far beyond my level. gwargh this will have to be fixed

hmm. over breakfast today, we were talking about whether we were going to do a masters after this undergrad degree, where we wanted to do it and if we were gonna do it right after. all four of us down today are on scholarships (which is the MINORITY in my hall), right, one girl's on this scholarship and two are army scholars. one of the army scholars is an air force guy who really really loves flying, it's quite obvious it's his passion and all. so he was saying that he didn't really want to do a masters because he wanted to go back and fly sooner, and was studying mostly for fun (although it was fun), and the girl on this scholarship said something to the effect of why would you want to start work if you can study more and get a masters?

her almost explicit (if not unintended) disapproval and almost-disdain was so strong! she is normally a nice person so I was quite taken aback. and I don't think she realised the implications of what she was saying. the other army scholar (who is much more worldly-wise, a lot less sheltered etc- I actually like him because he is v grounded and v Heartland) obviously and understandably defended him. this went along the lines of if the alternative was staying in the office all day pushing paper I'd much rather go out to the jungle, it's like how working can be a lot more fulfilling than mugging for a subject you don't enjoy at all or as much. anyway he loves flying and enjoys it a lot, so it makes sense for him to go do what he loves instead of mugging for the sake of mugging.

anyway what I want to say is that junior college -> university with the nearly-requisite undergrad and masters degrees is not the only track in life. going on that track doesn't make you any more of a success (most of the time anyway depending on what you consider success) and not going on that track does not make you a failure. and going on that track might not be the most suitable option for you anyway. I had this conversation with an Irish coursemate* who was all the world needs more technical institutes, most university degrees turn out useless when you work anyway, technical intelligence is no less important than academic intelligence, I really respect plumbers etc because I'm completely rubbish at fixing things and they're so much better at it than I am. I mean, just because someone is a hawker or taxi driver or pilot-who-has-not-done-his-masters does not make him any less than someone who has. it takes all types, you know?

(this reminds me of nyx's it'll actually be nice to be a farmer in the countryside with a nice man happily raising children haha. and my I'd actually really enjoy administrative work and being a secretary!)

*sometimes I really, really wish I made a greater effort to mix with people who aren't singaporeans, because I really wanted to and because I don't want to be so cocooned in my nice bubble, and it's easier for and almost expected of me because I'm freaking doing international relations. but then I feel guilty because I've found a community of people that I accept and who accept me, and they're friendly and nice (and drama and interesting) and I have become part of them, and they are people who I can hang out with so who I am to judge myself worthy of choosing over them and what kind of ingrate am I right? but there's always the what if, and I know this will be the regret of my university years. I usually resolve it by telling myself oh well at least I tried. (I honestly could have tried harder though? but it was so hard, and I was so lonely that I didn't want to stand it any longer even though I could have.)

to be fair the aforementioned Irish coursemate was less cocooned because he's very involved with NGOs and spent three years in Vietnam teaching English etc!

listening to it now, I think the transformers soundtrack just might be my most favourite movie soundtrack ever. it's fantastic and epic and unique and actually conjures up images of robots fighting each other! sure the POTC I soundtrack is awesome too, but the transformers one is more underappreciated and cosmic and feel-good. ie, I'm a whole lot fonder of it. :D

Immediate Music LIVE, seriously?!?!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!! that would be so awesome!! too bad it's in california ): ): assuming this is accurate/true

YES. YES YES YES YES. I AGREE TOTALLY.

haha I have received a good dose of singaporean-ness at singapore day today and am happy. :) happy! the food was awesome (yet admittedly not as good as the hawker fare I remember, but really really awesome all the same because it was singaporean)- repeat after me hokkien mee hokkien mee HOKKIEN MEE, char kway teow, laksa, chicken rice, bak kut teh, roti prata- I was actually too full to go for further helpings haha.

but what really made me all ^___^ (and amused) was how everything was so quintessentially singaporean- the snaking queues for the free food, the way there was a Careers tent with booths for different ministries and corporations, the heavily accented singlish in the air, how the entire event was like a mini national day parade- chattering emcees in the background, rui en singing some song about frogs, a minister (the DPM) giving a speech, comedians making singaporean jokes, the dim sum dollies + HL who cracked me up quite a lot lol. oh oh and THERE WAS EVEN AN ERP GANTRY at the entrance hahaha. my personal favourite was the classic aunty who was seated on her own foldable chair ordering her children to queue up for different foods in a very singlish accent haha. my second favourite is probably how my hallmate brought TUPPERWARE HAHA. and when we were too full to eat we queued up anyway and dumped our portions in the tupperware so we could still eat hokkien mee at dinner. :P

it was extremely bizarre and kind of cool and amusing to hear so many singlish accents in waterloo station, and on the train en route to hampton court- we probably seemed like a giant azn flash mob lol. ran into so many random people, too, it was all really very cheery. and SINGAPOREAN. I'm currently still in some kind of reverse culture shock, lol. was an interesting feeling being part of the majority again, but in london. really bizarre but not unwelcome?

I'm also actually slightly pink from the hot sun! the weather was awesome, and hot, and aiyah I'm just very simply happy la. :)

you know what I miss? small things. small detailed things, like mama buying me new pajamas for chinese new year and cutting me strawberries and putting them in a small orange bowl with a fork and always knowing exactly when I want to eat hokkien mee or the red jelly from the hawker center. hearing papa come home and his keys turning in the gate and setting down his laptop bag. John sneezing loudly and blowing his nose exaggeratedly haha. :(