It's been a long time since I've updated this blog, a very long time indeed since I last felt compelled to put my thoughts down on paper (or electronically - to be more accurate). The main reason, I suppose, is because for a long time I felt uncomfortable putting my photos and thoughts up in public domain. A more subtle, underlying reason I think, is because I haven't really got anything interesting to say all this while. =)
It feels like it's been a long journey since graduation, but at the same time it seems that the time has just flown by and with the blink of an eye, everyone has progressed further in the "cycle of life", settled down comfortably in their careers or basically settled down. As for me, I seem to be moving slow motion in the grind of things, having moved off to another country to do a PhD (yes, study again) and satisfy my innate desire to travel around the world. I've learnt (and am still learning) a good few things along the way, tried assimilating into the Irish culture (only succeeded in obtaining a northern Irish accent) and acquired a newfound appreciation for family and homeland. Never have I missed the good old island of Singapore so fondly ever since I embarked on my journey to the Emerald Isle. And never in a million years (imagine the atrocity!) would I have thought I would actually be homesick and yearning for some Singaporean food and sunny weather.
Homesickness and food cravings put aside, life here has been pretty good and I am thankful for the wonderful opportunity that I have been given. Being placed in a unique environment that encourages creativity and feedback has done wonders in developing myself both personally and professionally. Accessibility to and interaction with established and renowned scientists has also given me lots of inspiration. Best of all, I feel that I have become closer to God and renewed my faith, and that is the greatest feeling of all.
Well, here's to greater times ahead!
The event was titled, "Incandescence", which basically is a pretty and convoluted (or some may say pretty convoluted) name for the word, "light". Not much meaning apparently.
It was strange that I didn't really feel like I had graduated; it felt more like just a company's annual DND or a small gathering with friends. Perhaps it was because there were only 60 people there. (With so little people you would have thought I would be able to win one of the lucky draw prizes. Well apparently I wasn't lucky enough.) Or perhaps it's because I'll be working for another year in NTU, and I'll be seeing all the professors again. I do, however, feel quite sad that I won't be able to see most of my friends in school anymore. I'm sure gonna miss the times we spent chatting on the stuffy 172 bus, going for lunch at nie together, complaining about insubstantial stuff and attending talks for free lunch (haha).
Ok I guess I'll just leave the pictures to do the talking. =)
I'll blog about the korean trip some time later, when I finally get down to uploading the pictures to my computer. (Yes I know I'm a huge procrastinator.)
P.S. Visit my blogshop at Harvest Creations !
I've just signed up to learn driving today! After much prodding from my mum who basically "manhandled" me into going to BBDC today and signing up for it. I know I should have done this much earlier in my freshman year, rather than waiting till my senior year which I believe will be much more hectic and crazy as compared to the last 3 years.
Talk about lousy planning. Oh well. At least I've ended my 3 year procrastination huh? Haha.
(By the way, I'm going to procrastinate some more on completing my entries for the summer trip...=P)
After having gotten to used to life in Seattle, it felt a little strange leaving my "familiar" lifestyle behind and gradually, the thought hit me that I would probably not be coming back to Seattle again. All of a sudden, I felt like doing so many things, like visiting the Cascades, Mount Rainier, Portland etc and I regretted not having done them when I had the time. Oh well.
On a happier note, leaving Seattle means that my summer trip on the East Coast has finally started!
The flight from Seattle to JFK New York was a harrowing one. I thought that Northwest Airlines was bad enough, but Delta is even worse. I had a massive headache straight after takeoff, the first time this had ever happened to me. The guide who picked us up at the airport was pretty rude and kept hurrying us (our current tour guide is also like that, sheesh!). That's why I prefer to travel free and easy, tour groups are always not as fun and we are herded around blindly like sheep all the time.
Well anyway the first place we visited in New York City was Chinatown, where we had breakfast that was surprisingly cheap and tasty. The Chinatown here is the largest in the whole of USA, but like all chinatowns, it was dirty and dilapidated.
The Confucius statue - landmark of Chinatown
After that we went to the Empire State building, currently the tallest building in NYC after the twin towers were demolished. We took 2 elevators to get to the 86th floor and there were LONG queues everywhere - to get up, to get down, to the toilet (guess everyone wanted to use the city's highest toilet haha). The observatory was basically packed with trigger-happy people stuck to the walls and we had to squeeze our way through. I guess the New Yorkers are generally less polite and friendly than the people in Seattle (and there's also probably no such thing as good service here).
Panoramic view from the top of Empire State
Interesting road sign
The next stop - Broadway! Not enough time to snap some proper photos, much less watch a musical. -_-
Look at all the chocolate signs!
After that we went to the Intrepid Sea and Air Museum, where we went into an old battle submarine and battle ship. It was a rather boring expedition for me as I have no interest in such things. Haha. What did interest me though was this:
A fragment of the Berlin wall next to a tank
Next we took the NYC water taxi from the South Street Seaport to look at Manhatten from a different point of view, the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and a couple of islands whose names I've forgotten. =P It was kind of surreal looking at the Statue of Liberty so close up - I've seen it many times in the movies before and it felt like I was in a movie myself when I saw it up close. Haha.
Brooklyn Bridge
The famous bull that supposedly grants wealth and hence everyone clamours to take a photo with it. Garr didn't get to go into Wall Street because it's closed to traffic - must make a mental note to go there during the last 2 days in NY.
As we were behind schedule, we had to make a mad dash to the United Nations general office. However, it was in vain as we reached at exactly 4.30 pm, which was the closing time. The guards were kind enough to let us in for some quick photos though.
That is the reason why I hate going on tours with groups. -_-
My family's finally here in Seattle! =) *beams*
I went to meet them at their hotel in Downtown after school, and it was great seeing the much-missed familiar faces and finally being able to hug them after 5 long months. The feeling of euphoria is indescribable, and it was truly at that point in time that I realised how much I've missed them.
Brought them down to the heart of downtown at 3rd and Pine, then we walked to Pike Place Market to see the first Starbucks and the pig that's supposedly a tourist attraction. My parents are really funny though, they didn't want to take pictures at all! The first thing my mum did when she reached the market was to buy a piece of halibut fish for our lunch tomorrow, and the fact that a small piece cost $12 didn't even faze her; she bought it straight without blinking. My goodness. And she even told me it was cheap. I was pretty much stunned for quite a while. Haha.
After that we walked along the waterfront and enjoyed the cool evening breeze. We also had dinner at "The Crab Pot", where we ordered "The Clambake", which consists of a pot of dungeness crab, snow crab, clams, oysters, mussels, prawns, salmon fillet, halibut fillet, corn on the cob, sausage and potato. It was a thoroughly novel experience for me: we had to wear bibs, we had small wooden boards with digging forks to eat our seafood on, and the waitress poured the entire contents of the pot in the middle of the table for us to eat. Shall put up some pictures of the feast soon!
...Running around in my head. I have totally zero mood to study right now, must be post-excitement from the Olympic Peninsula trip, pre-excitement from my family's arrival tomorrow (!!), looking forward to a whole month of travelling after the finals, and returning to Singapore where there's great food and I can eat what I want without constantly worrying about the price. (Not that it's any good for my weight though. Haha.)
On another note, I think I'll miss the independent and "adventure-filled" (relatively) life I had here, communing and interacting with the rest of the GIP people, and travelling to different parts of Seattle.
My life will return to its original routine again when I return to Singapore, and everything will be like it used to be 6 months ago, or will it? I wonder how I have changed these past 5 months, and whether I've even changed at all.
One thing's for sure: I will definitely start complaining about how hot the weather is for the first time in 6 months. =)
My subject registration is screwed up. On the STARS website, my registration year is listed as year 3 (?!) and even the time is for year 3 subject registration. GAHHHH!!!!
Lousy system. Why didn't the GIP office coordinate this with OAS?! Sheesh. Like I have a lot of time on my hands now, especially when my exams start NEXT WEEK.
Just felt like ranting for a while. =)
On a slightly happier note, the prof under which I'm working gave me a Fred Hutch keychain as a souvenir and thank you gift. Haha. And I'll be seeing my family in 6 more days!
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