National pride

I have to admit, when I first heard Singapore was building its very own Universal Studios, I was pretty darned skeptical. I guess I've just never had a very good impression of this tiny red dot on the map, in comparison to all the other great countries in the world and the beautiful things they have to offer.

So when I made a visit to the almost-completed Universal Studios this week, I was very much pleasantly surprised. The entire Resorts World was simply impressive. I felt like I was in another country or something. From the rows of elegant shops to the majestic hotels to the beautiful infrastructure to the theme park that gave its sister in LA a run for its money. And... I couldn't help but feel a pinch of patriotism.  

That's right - I, the Americanized girl, actually experienced a tremendous wave of national pride swelling up and engulfing my entire being.

Such an unfamiliar emotion. Well, I guess I do feel patriotic from time to time at National Day Parades, but that's about it. So this is probably the first time outside of August 9 that I feel like patting my country on its back and saying, 'good job, good job.'

Maybe Singapore isn't so bad after all. It's safe, clean, there's good food everywhere, shops don't close till 9pm, movies are cheap, and I have a house to stay in for free. Of course, it has its flaws, but this is a positive post about Singapore, so I'll stop here and finish off with photos from the theme park.

Post-graduation return home

It feels really weird to be back home after being in Indiana and New York and France and Germany. But I guess it's good to be home. Home is where the heart is, after all. Plus there's great food here. Also great friends and family.
After all that traveling in the last 4 years, I can safely say nowhere can beat Singapore in terms of food. There's seriously all kinds of food you can ever ask for here, and they're all of pretty good quality.


cousins :)

So I did the usual stuff... met up with friends, ate tons of dim sum/ramen/sushi/every asian food imaginable, watched a ton of movies - Prince of Persia, The Karate Kid, Killers, and The A-Team. Gotta love the cheap movies here. Also did some shopping, gotta love the annual Great Singapore Sale.

Watched a NTU chinese hall production, which was actually rather interesting and I surprised myself because I understood it and didn't fall asleep! Went to Sentosa with cousins on a rainy day, saw some of the completed construction on the resorts and on Universal Studios, it looked pretty good. Went to church and heard all about the crazy changes happening... as usual. Did my hair and had a facial... and got lost trying to find the places alone. And met up with a Taylor friend who's here for a summer camp job. It's been a pretty packed 10 days, going out everyday and meeting different people for lunch and dinner. But it's been good. I like being busy. Keeps me from thinking about other things, like how I'm a college graduate and I still don't have a job and I have no idea what to do with my life.

So... after being here only about a week and a half, I'm kind of bored. And ready to go on to someplace new. I don't know why but I'm just always itching to travel and go places and meet new people and experience new things and SEE THE WORLD!

I think I've definitely gotten more adventurous and brave in the last four years. I mean, I liked traveling in the past, but it was more of just going on vacation with the family. Now I wanna live somewhere, immerse myself in the culture, do crazy things, before I actually settle down and live a boring life. haha. I don't know. I've been researching things I can do, like working abroad, interning abroad, working and traveling, working at resorts/cruise ships, and they all sound so wonderfully exciting! I can't decide! Plus they all require money, of course. sigh. Why is it so hard to find a job that allows you to travel and get paid at the same time?!

Oh well. Kind of excited about going to perth, since it's a new place to be explored and new experiences await me. And I'll get to see my two little brothers who hardly talk to me since they're always in front of the TV/their computer but I still love them anyway. But I don't know anyone there, except for my family, so... it could potentially be boring. And since I'm not going to school or anything, there's not really a place I could meet new people, except at church I guess. So here's hoping perth will be a good time :)

Goodbye Singapore, see you.... sometime.

the last of summer

homieeee

me n little miss neat clar :)

funny faces

at the airport waitin for hours and hours and hours for fish n co

outside expo!

ignez is sooooooo cuuteee :)

listening to TIME AFTER TIME by QUIETDRIVE!!! the best song EVER! at least for now

simpsons! was pretty lame

girls

yay new outfits :)

lm looks scary

at bugis

on the mrt

me n lou


so....can't believe how fast summer has zoomed by. school's starting soon!! mixed feelings. half looking forward to orientation n meeting new people n new classes n stuff, but half wanting to never leave good old shopping n food paradise s'pore! really dun wanna go back to ulu-ness! sigh. feel kinda bad too. everyone's been making good use of their summer hol. except me! pple are like, going on mission trips..doing ministry for kids..helping out in summer camps..making themselves useful..and what am i doing??? um. slacking and hanging out with friends n family. heh. that's nice. and useless!!!

oh well. don't care. i like slacking. and i didn't slack that much. there were the thousand and one church camps i went to/helped out in. plus i totally lost weight! like 5kg i think. my pants are looser. haha. i'm convinced it's the food. evil american food!!!!! pure tempting evil. speaking of food.. i'm craving sambal stingray. AGAIN! for the 5th time this wk. just love it.

i love my family. overflowing with love for my bros. they're so adorable. who cares if they're not 7yrs old anymore. so cute. i love that i can squeeze jedi's cheeks anytime i want now. haha. gonna have another family photo shoot on fri! yay! and my ah ma..forever stuffing me with food. but it's food home-cooked food. :) feeling very loved.

anyway, total favorite song of the moment..the song that's on repeat 24/7 on my ipod.. TIME AFTER TIME!!!
'if you're lost, u can look, and u will find me
time after time
if u fall, i will catch u, i'll be waiting
time after time'
even the lyrics rock :)

pics!

flight

ooh forgot to say..
COMING HOME ON 17DEC 7AM!!! aaaahhhh!! only like 3 more wks! super duper excitedddd :) :) :) :)
can't wait! miss u all!! miss the food too!! miss the gd old sunny weather too!
but lookin forward to the flight though.
have to transfer flight FOUR times plus wait SIX hours at newyork JFK airport. uggghhhhh. hope i can make it for youth service on sun!~!~!!~!~!~!~