Our Monkeying Days...

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Singapore Garden Festival!

Went with Wan yesterday morning to go view the Singapore Garden Festival at Suntec...Thanks to her friend who's working there...we managed to secure $2 tixs for the exhibition! :D

The exhibition on the 6th floor showcased designer pieces...using living plants to create numerous artworks and gardens...I esp LOVED the christmas tree and chandelier ones...:P (3rd from left in 3rd row and 1st from left in 4th row respectively...) Amazing how the entire exhibit is actually made up of plants...and with wonderful effect too. :P

The 4th floor pieces were less spectacular...mainly cos they're only showing winning pieces from orchid competitions...The orchids certainly weren't lacking in colour and variety though. :)

Then met up with bern, peiyin and xinjie for a mini christmas party/dinner in the evening! Here's a glimpse into our menu for the day (all done using bern's cousin's microwave oven! Haha the wonders of modern technology...:P)

Menu:

Starters-

Couscous

Nachos with Salsa Sauce

Main Course-

Chicken Drumstick Marinated with Bern's Secret Recipe and a Touch of Wine with Pasta in Honey Chutney Sauce

Hawaiian Pizza

Cheese Hotdogs

Gyozas

Dessert-

Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream (Marsha Marshmallow and Chocolate Fudge Brownie Flavour)

Drinks-

Ribena with Gin

Coca-cola

Here's a look at some of the food we ate!

And the entire table setting!!

Haha, cos we took a long time fiddling in vain with the gas pipe trying to switch on the gas stove, and cos xinjie didn't arrive until 9plus...had a REALLY late dinner...Still, it turned out to be a huge feast!! :D

Bern was somewhat gone by the end of dinner though...cos peiyin and i were rather...liberal in adding gin to her drink...which apparantly ended up tasting like she was drinking pepper! (haha to quote bern's words...:P) Don't know how she managed it, but she still downed 3 glasses of that pepper-like concoction...so no wonder she ended up a little drunk! :P

And Peiyin must be the first person I know who measures alcohol amount by the number of caps! Haha, she was so afraid that she might overdrink that she painstakingly poured the Gin bottle cap by bottle cap into her drink! Which...btw...she only poured in a pathetic ONE bottle cap full per drink...Lol...no wonder Bern was complaining about how unfair that was...:P

Oh, and dinner convo was DARN hilarious! Cos xinjie went to visit the zoo earlier on in the day (which explains why she was SO late), she kept bringing up topics related to the animals...

Xinjie: -out of nowhere- You know...i tell you...the animals there look bored.

(everyone else stuns for a while...)

Bern: -trying to contain laughter- Really? They told you that? How come you didn't try entertaining them??

Xinjie: No i'm serious! It's probably cos they're locked up in the enclosures too long.

Bern: -jokingly- Oh ya...only being able to look out through the glass panels...

Xinjie: -seriously- Nono...there's not much glass panels at Singapore Zoo. Didn't you know, Singapore Zoo prides itself in...-quoting- 'recreating the natural living environments of its animals'.

Bern: Haha...how much are the zoo people paying you a month again?

(a while later...)

Xinjie: oh...and the polar bears there are...

Peiyin: bored?

Bern: Haha, I swear the two bottle caps' worth of Gin is making you wittier...

Xinjie: Nono...the polar bears there are hot.

(everyone but xinjie bursts out laughing...)

Bern: Ohh...haha...the polar bears...told you that? hahaha...

Xinjie: -seriously- No...it's just that they're showing a lot of distress signals. The Zoo has already installed big fans and stuff to keep them cool...but it's not effective...so they are going to send the bears off to a temperate zoo soon.

Peiyin: why don't they just shave off all the polar bear's fur??...

(everyone but peiyin bursts out laughing...)

Peiyin: ...but isn't it cheaper than installing fans?

Bern: haha...i think you have been watching too much of that Halls' advertisements...

Haha...ironically...bern was explaining before xinjie arrived that drinking alcohol helps facilitate intellectual conversation...cos such topics just seem pretentious when brought up in daily convo when everyone's sane...but then no one can tell that it's pretentious when they're high...LOL seems like her theory has quickly been proven wrong...:P

-XL :)

P.s. Disclaimer: I seriously have nothing against animal conservation...just that it was a funny topic to bring up at dinner...:P (in case all the animal activists out there decide to slam my blog entry...:P)

P.p.s. Since i doubt i'll be blogging again before the 25th, here's wishing everyone an early MERRY CHRISTMAS! :D

~*4:27 AM*~

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

goodbye!!

im leaving for italy in about a few hrs time..

have a blessed christmas everyone! see u in 2007!! :)

xoxo,
xiufang

~*6:35 PM*~

we feasted :):)

salmon was oh so yummy!

qi sheng and bertram came down from the states and we feasted like maddd in jinfeng's place. hahaha we had like a spread...chinese styled fried noodles, chicken wings, omelette, salmon, veggies and sparkling mango hahahha. these guys can really cook..and two of them made teriyaki sauce which was superb. i didnt know that teriyaki sauce is so easy to make...it's just soy suace, sugar and white wine (tho we had to do away with white wine.jinfeng had baileys but that's just gonna taste so wrong) haha.

we realise that asians have a fascination with oyster sauce and soy sauce. it seems like we were having an oyster sauce and soy sauce dinner cos almost everything was cooked (or rather, drowned) in those sauces.

bertram:
"i think our kidneys will fail if we eat like this everyday."

haha.. the guys left for a musical while i went back to my room, bracing myself for more packing.tho i did minimal of it and fell asleep. its gonna be busy in my room todayyyyy

.:Xiufang:.

~*8:50 AM*~

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

this spells H-E-A-V-E-N!!! :):)

which also sadly...screams FAT!!!

to eat or not to eat, that is the question

.:Xiufang:.

~*9:41 PM*~

Monday, December 18, 2006

Xinling! beijing looks like truckloads of fun! did u freeze ur butt off like what im doing now? haha.. :) aiks no snow?! i doubt i will see snow here either...chances of it snowing in london is like what, less than 1%?hahaha. apparently, the last time it snowed here, there was mayhem in the capital. Ooo i really like ur hotel in beijing! it looks almost like a real palace..did u live like a queen there? heee.

ok im procrastinag here when i should be doing my lab report.so much work to do before i fly off and im getting so distracted thinking about it. nooooooooo. and i shudder at the thought of having to pack my room... ok back to turbulent flowwwww. =)

.:Xiufang:.

~*11:52 AM*~

Hey peeps I'm BACK from my holiday in Beijing, which was FUN!! :D The only pity was that there was absolutely no snow at all...sadz...not fated...Anyway, reckon it'll take me too long to write about the whole trip...so just enjoy the photos! :P

Day 1

This is some garden that apparantly used to be a dump site...But was later converted to a nice park that's open to the public for free.

Day 2

Palaces! Visited the Summer Palace and Imperial Palace. Pity part of the Imperial Palace was under renovation in preparation for visitors during the Beijing Olympics 2008, so all I could see for those parts were cardboard photos of what the buildings are supposed to look like. Bleah.

Day 3

The Ming Tombs, where the Ming Dynasty Emperors were buried upon their deaths.

And how can i go to Beijing without climbing up the Great Wall of China? :P Two kids in my tour group actually made it the furthest up the wall, one tower higher than me!! Haha makes me feel so lousy in comparison...:P

Day 4

Riding on a trishaw to look at what is called a Hu Tong, aka one of the living quarters of oridinary citizens in the past...

Tian An Men and Ren Ming Da Hui Tang. Haha sorry don't know how to translate...but these are pretty much iconic buildings in Beijing, so doubt they'll need much explanation. :)

Day 5

The temple that the emperors went to pray and send offerings to the gods in the past. The pic in the middle is the spot where the emperors used to kneel when they prayed...:P

Later on in the day, we went off to Tianjin for a day tour to buy their famous clay sculptures, to taste and purchase some of their unique tidbits, and to eat the gou bu li bao zi (or dog don't care buns, if you go by a literal translation...:P). My family bought SO MUCH food that we ended up having to buy an extra luggage in Beijing a couple of days later! As my dad said, it's such a waste that we had to spend 140RMB on a luggage to store what cost us 80RMB to buy...:P

Day 6-7

Went to Chengde, which is a small town surrounded by mountains a 4hour ride away from Beijing. The temp there was -5 degrees in the day! Brrrr...Also experienced what was a rather primitive toilet system on the way there, as the group stopped over in a small village for a short toilet break in between. Had all the girls going up in giggles. What was funnier was cos the door was only covered halfway, and then when you bend down, ppl outside can't really see if there's anyone inside...So there was this person who actually stuck her head underneath to check if there was anyone in there! Needless to explain what she saw. :P

Anyway, we toured the 'resort' where the Qing dynasty emperors went in the summer to get away from the heat, which is incidentally also where Huan Zhu Ge Ge was filmed. Then, also visited a temple based on the design of Mongolian temples, except that whilst you have to actually climb up a MOUNTAIN to visit those temples, this one is just on a HILL, which makes it easier to climb up. :P

Day 8- Shopping in Beijing!

Haha, so i was pretty much too busy looking around and bargaining to bother taking any pics...:P

One of the hotels I stayed at!

This hotel was built to imitate the Imperial Palace, and is DARN majestic! Pity my tour group only stayed there for a night, probably cos the hotel prices are too exorbitant. :P They even have a parade of the 'emperor' going out on the streets every morning, which is what we watched before setting off to our next destination...:P

Random pics of scenery that i took along the way...

My Tour Group!

We had 42 ppl in all, which is a darn BIG group...Filled up the entire tour bus...:P

Natasha, this really cute 9-year-old who sits next to me during meals and grills me with riddles...:P Kevin and I also taught her some of the usual jc orientation riddles like Fuzzy Wuzzy, how many sheep jump over the wall and Black Magic. Haha, and she thinks we don't make sense, esp for the sheep one cos the answer is simply to count the number of words that are said before...:)

-XL :)

~*3:05 AM*~

Sunday, December 17, 2006

candlelit carol service at kt!
=)

it was a wonderful carol service at kt this evening=) we sang manymany christmas carols and the church choir performed quite a number of items.it was mostly carolling, with bible passages being read out after every two song items...one of which was done by pastor colin dye's son.he was adorably cute :):) haha. the christmas spirit was definitely in the air! it was so good i was contemplating whether i should stay for the next carol service as well.. hehs.

oh holy night,
the stars are brightly shining...

we were each given a mince pie at the end of service :):)

XOXOXOXO
(this is how the brits like to do their hugs and kisses)

.:Xiufang:.

~*8:09 PM*~

wheeee! basking in the sun; on a natural high!

i ran for half an hour today..towards camden market, and the sun was strong and nice!!though the wind didnt feel good against the skin, cos i was dressed only in shirt and shorts. haha. it always perks me up after a nice morning run.initially i wanted to go hyde park, but then again it's kinda far from my place... owell.but i had fun exploring the area around pic court, the scenery along the road towards camden market is really pretty, i was absorbing so much of everything around me that i practically forgot the time. luckily i didnt get lost! knowing me, with the worst sense of direction in the world (hurhur). yes i didnt get lost today! greatest accomplishment of the day! *pat pat* =)

im looking forward to the caroling service at kt tonight!

.:Xiufang:.

~*12:02 PM*~

Saturday, December 16, 2006

far away for far too long

.:Xiufang:.

~*9:12 AM*~

Friday, December 15, 2006

YIPEEEEEE! HOLIDAYS ARE HERE!!! :):):)

yvette and i finally finished our research for italy! we are good! hahahah.. the fact that holidays are here make me feel high! i just dont feel like doing anything AT ALL wahahah. gymed with yvette today.i was so hungry after gym i finished an entire roll of custard cream biscuits myself.hahaha today we tried working out on this funny swinging machine..which is a bit like skiing cos u have to hold onto the handles and move it back and forth, and at the same time u are running on the step pedals and its SO SO TIRING.ohmygosh i felt as if my legs were gone after that haha. but it felt so good. and we ran for half an hr on the threadmill... all the running made us so super duper hungry, so we went tesco to get two big bags of apples and i tink yvette walloped three apples at one go! HAHA. amazing.she can eat apples like anything.

and yes, i still feel so guilty about my custard cream biscuits haha. owell. i realised that ive turned into a sucker for biscuits ever since i came here..hehe but ever since anita left, there is no one to stop me from junking.heehee.so...shhhhh

some of the guys have left for france to ski! and im counting down so so eagerly...6 days to italy!!

.:Xiufang:.

~*5:22 PM*~

i am in such a good good mood!!

aerodynamics DONE. mechanics DONE. design DONE. done done done!!! wheeeee :):):) and it's the last day of school tmr so im high! because it means one more week to italy! one more week to two whole weeks of holiday in italy.yayy.today yvette and i stayed in the com lab for 4 hours researching on our italy trip and boy, are we productive pple! our italy trip is so nicely and fully packed now, im so proud of ourselves! now we've just left with pisa and venice to plan..so everything is going according to plan =) goodie!

since im in such a good mood tonight i shall prison break the whole of season 1!

lalala ~

.:Xiufang:.

~*12:01 AM*~

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

adrenaline in the court :)

last night's training was one of the best so far.havnt had proper training like that since i left spore...they brought in a professional coach from india.its such a small small world indeed cos he said that he knows Zainal cos he's sparred with him before!! wow. he's pretty good...i like his training style and the way he organises drills for us to do. we did continuous drives, disciplined our drives within one quarter of the court.then we did cross court drives and he made sure we hit the balls till they died in the back corner.aim! and i have to hit deeper! 9 point game, three quarters and full court, both backhand and forehand.then we did the corner screws...aiks, my volley corner screws suck.somehow, i just couldnt seem to get it right..training ended with PT.we did figure of 8 sprinting whereby we had to catch our partner, and then we did the usual court sprints and ghosting.ahhhhhh im so unfittttt.

my legs are tired and wobbly now.not a good sign.

ANITA IS LEAVING TODAY!!! :(:(:( looks like i have to entertain myself tonight.

.:Xiufang:.

~*8:18 PM*~

Monday, December 11, 2006

more of mambo!

.xiufang.

~*7:24 PM*~

Saturday, December 09, 2006

create in me a clean heart
as i come away with you
wash away all of my stains
and restore to me the joy i have in you

~*7:48 AM*~

Friday, December 08, 2006

wentworth miller is so so dropdead cute!!!

omg im so hooked onto prison break now i cant stop watching.when im supposed to be studying for my aerodynamics and mechanics tests next week.

.:Xiufang:.

~*10:01 PM*~

Thursday, December 07, 2006

argh this is so unfair...oxbridge have ended school term, lse is ending tmr!but im still stuck in school for one more week! one more week one more week to winter bliss :) lala. just when i thought i could just slack off this last two weeks before jolly christmas break starts,work seems to be non-ending! urgh,what a way to end my school term. ive got two tests next week, aerodynamics and mechanics.then ive got to submit the material sheet for my application design(designing the gusset plates and bolts are so tedioussss)...and and and ive got fill up my lab book for three frigging lab experiments, because i got three labs in like what, the past two weeks?! its so terrible cos my labs keep getting postponed and rescheduled so everything is piling up now. why now.eeks.

in the back of my mind, i simply cant wait for my italy trip! YAY.i will be in italy from 21 dec to 4 jan! rome venice milan florence tuscany here i come!

ok back to work..mechanics mechanics mechanics

.:Xiufang:.

~*10:10 PM*~

Friday, December 01, 2006

Say Mambo Jumbo! =)