The Place to be (Part II)

This is the Florida Keys Atlantic Ocean Snorkeling Group of 2005! We so rawk :D

Can't forget those times. I had so much fun in Florida. I worked in a mexican-themed cafe in Seaworld, Orlando, called Mango Joe's. Steak and chicken fajitas were our specialty. It came with 3 nice hot fajitas, pico salad (which had guacamole and sour cream on it.. mmm), and your choice of chicken, steak, or both (aka combo) which was grilled then cooked in a saucepan of extremely tasty sauce, making the chicken tender and the steak juicy. Green peppers and onions were cooked with it, giving it the added aroma and just making your mouth water when you see them drizzled all over the meat. There were also other dishes like Fajita salad which was essentially chicken salad in a fajita fried bowl, Southwestern Chicken wraps, Veggie Wraps and Fish Sandwiches (the most humongous dish, comes with fries..mmm). On top of that there were lots of sides and desserts to choose from, fattening, sweet, yet extremely tempting desserts. Chocolate, Cheese and Carrot (my fav) cake.. big hulking hunks of cake occupying the whole plate and being satisfiyingly thick, creamy and nutty at the same time. Strawberries, watermelon, and the famed chocolate chip cookies served with choc fudge in a Shamu bowl.. mummy, I want one!

The people I worked with were just as diverse as the menu. Coming from all over the US and even Micronesia, Haiti and Jamaica. The leads were all nice in their own way, sweet and caring, doing the best they can to manage the huge lunchtime crowds in the summer. The girls working with me were da bomb, other students from Thailand worked there too and they were good workers with a sense of humour. The Europeans came to replace them after they left, Czech Republicans, Polish, Russians and Lithuanians. All very nice to me, I miss 'em. :( They're even more crazy than the Thais. Haha. The local workers were mainly minors, the girls were sweet but the boys, man oh man, how they loved to play. They did their job (well, sometimes) but all they really want is to have fun. Drove me nuts sometimes them taking their own sweet time cleaning the floor to earn extra hours, or fooling around playing with water and getting everything in a mess!

Florida herself was beautiful, clear blue skies, fluffy white clouds, hot summer sun baking your skin a nice honey brown, big lakes, 24hr eating joints, $3.99 breakfast buffets, themeparks, themeparks and more themeparks. I used to miss New York when I went to Florida, everything seemed to move at a pace that was 10X as slow, and the weather was dreadfully hot and uncomfortable at first, and the transport was a killer, and everything was just so. spread. out. But the 2 places are unique in their own ways, and now I love them both. :) We did almost everything in Florida, eat, partay, sit on them nasty but helluva-ride roller-coasters, shop, beach-hop. We saw real beaches. Not that teeny narrow strip of dirty sand you see at East Coast, but real motherf*cking huge beaches. Nice white sand, getting in between your toes, up your swimsuit and everywhere else. Big wide beaches, with people suntanning and living it up, ice-cream trucks roamed the beach selling us 3 majorly huge butter-pecan flavoured ice cream scoops on a big tasty cone (for US$4.. oww), T-shirt vendors selling souveneirs, rover trucks sprinting down the beaches driven by also majorly hot bikini babes. The waves rocked us off our feet, literally. Geez, what fun.

We even drove down to Miami, got stoned, and drove back. haha, not before snorkeling in the Florida Keys tho, the most beautiful expanse of Atlantic Ocean I'll ever see. Too bad the oceans were rather choppy, it made everyone sick and woozy. :P But even that was fun, come to think of it. Sigh I am just so missing Florida now!!! Even the people, them fellow Sporeans. Disco-ing with them was fun, shopping with them even more, and theme-parking, who can beat the fun in that. Whoever invented roller-coaster rides must have been a wild thang, and he/she must have lived in Florida cos all the rides are there! The worst must have been Disney MGM studios Hollywood Tower of Terror (wooo~~). A haunted dark hotel with service elevators that moved through ghostly corridors before coming to a stop then dropping you like 100s of feet down then rising up again only to drop you even faster, making your hair fly up and your stomach leap up to your eyes. Truly terrifying, I'm glad Shan was by my side for me to grab hold and squeeeze!


See those little rectangular windows on the right hand side of the building? That's where we could peek out from while being dropped to the basement like a tonne of bricks.

These days, I live looking forward to the next holiday, or the next adventure. I wonder if that's healthy. :S

This is Patches. She lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, with her playmate Bailey. Described as the 'mellow' one, she will gladly wait to be picked up and cuddled. Laying on her human's tummies, she'll do a flat-out sprawl, complete with toes hanging off the sides. Now who wouldn't want a guinea pig like that??

Ever been haunted by sleepless nights? Or the craziest dreams ever where everything seems to be happening at the same time in a totally different world and you wake up whirling and disorientated? Been getting alot of those lately. I am never sleepless at home however, only in hall. Perhaps its the room, light from the corridor always floods in through the holes on top of my door, the room is bigger therefore not as cosy, and the bed seems narrower. I can never sleep when I'm uncomfortable, or when I'm thinking too much. Thoughts jump from one place to another and never seem to stop for a breather. And even when I do fall asleep I dream of fantastic things. But when I wake up I can hardly remember a thing. Sighs, stop this torture!

Exams are coming and its a clear signal to start bingeing. A new can of Sour Cream Pringles sits on my desk, Mr Pringles beckons me with his thick curly moustache and beady eyes. Studying has been going surprisingly well, if I can't sleep in my new room at least I can study in it. Kind of reminds me of my freshman days where I could coop myself up in my room located in a quiet corner of the block with the window overlooking the forest and study the whole day from 9am till 3am. That was the sem that did the most justice to my CAP, hopefully this sem will do the same *keeps fingers crossed* But its hard, with few modules you kind of get complacent, but alas, thou shalt not be tempted by pirate games and beckoning bedsheets! Boyfriend was surprisingly sweet this morning when he gave me an early morning call at 7.30am to make sure I wake up for my test. Realised its the little things like that which show how much you really care. We're hoping to get a guinea pig and name it Pete (after bf's imaginary parrot). Guinea pigs are the cutest things! They never bite, they're cute and cuddly and podgy and just plain lovable. The only minus point is I hear they stink. Me wants a non-stinky GP for christmas!

Rather bemused about my neighbour Ally's situation.. she has 15 baby praying matis' stuck on her window pane, they're alive and moving but they're all clustered in one spot, one unmoving stubborn spot. Even after being beaten on by rain water, blown by strong winds, they persist. They apparently hatched out from an egg casing (also on her window pane) which had been sitting there for a few weeks. I say she should let her hamsters at 'em. Haha, but make sure to leave some on there to see how big they grow!

Oops, this just in (always wanted to say that), apparently all the praying mantis' have disappeared! Maybe the hamsters really got to 'em.. :P

This is the best roller-coaster I've ridden in my life. Is described as a 90 degree 200 feet vertical drop which will send you a-shrieking! It looks terrifying but is actually sheer fun and not in the least bit scary, thrilling yes, but you'd want to do it over and over again. Whee~~~

Did alot of talking today. With many different people. Some people are so lovable, some others are not so. Its funny how that is. Some people you just want to hang out with the whole day, drinking down teh bing and chatting the night away, be it bitching hilariously about other people or talking about serious life topics. Other people you run out of things to say, or are not sure how much to let out. It isn't because of how close you are to the person, although that does play a part. Sometimes you just know. You just know this person is genuinely nice and warm and you're alright with sharing the most inane issues with that person knowing you'll have a good laugh about it anyway. It takes a good deal of skill however, to become lovable. But tis' really rather simple.

Simple rules to follow:
1. Listen. This is so important I can't stress it enough. People love to be heard, but so often than not they miss out on the fun of listening. Listening opens your mind to so many different opinions, thoughts and basically STUFF. You learn so much more listening to people talk than hearing yourself talk, because you know only so much. And trust me, it gets boring listening to yourself after a while, especially if you're talking too much, because you're basically repeating the same old stuff and people will eventually tire of it once they realise you're just another broken record. One may find oneself lacking an attentive audience because they lack this essential skill.

2. Be light-hearted and humourous. Some things are not meant to be taken so seriously. All things have a funny side to it if one only lightens up and agrees to laugh at yourself at times. It makes life a whole lot more enjoyable. And hell, you know what's the funniest thing? Laughing about other people! Hahaha. Because some people just have the weirdest quirks ever, or sometimes you just can't stand their guts, so pure bitching is required to really lift some spirits and get laughs from fellow evil accomplices. I know tis' evil. But hey, we're all sinners. And tis' really rather harmless as long as it doesn't go overboard and morph into conniving back-stabbing.

3. Be warm and supportive, yet tactfully honest. Everyone needs validation. And they definitely do not need to be shot down. The only reason shooting (i.e. criticizing in a mean-spirited way) occurs is purely for empowerment of the shooter and establishment of an ego boost from making someone feel small. This is mean and against the warm-spirited nature of adorable lovable people. Making other people feel better however should not go against one's own principles. This is where honesty comes into play. Should one's views clash with another, settle it maturely in a game of mud-wrestling and no one gets hurt. Either way, with 6 billion people around, disagreements naturally happen daily and in excessive amounts. No harm having a difference in opinion. The world would be boring if everyone thought the same way.

4. Share yourself. It's important to let others know what you're about. This way they'll know how cool you are and be agreeable to hanging out with you more often. Of course if sharing yourself involves digging out boogers of different shapes and sizes and laying them out on the table in plain sight of a disgusted dinner companion then STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW!!! Spare the poor soul. And don't share excessively either, then it becomes boring because you ain't doing step number 1 enough!

Cheers to being lovable! :D

This is a glass of orange juice being served aboard a Singapore airline plane, specifically in the Raffles Class section. It's equivalent worth is 2000+ sing dollars. Of course, accompanied by automated chairs with ample legspace, in-flight entertainment, and scrumptuous food with appetizer, main course, and dessert (usually Haagen Daz Ice cream). They also give these cute little socks for you to walk around comfortably in (and yes, I know my feet look tiny):



The difference between noxious friends and nutritious friends.

Nutritious friends stand by you when you're down, give encouragement and support and never put you down when you don't deserve it. Noxious friends make digs at you, laugh at you when you're obviously miserable and reroute conversation to focus on themselves, making it plainly clear that the world should revolve around them.

Nutritious friends go shopping with you and don't complain about your taste in clothes, or criticize the horrible bags below your eyes, they know you have it tough, and they're there to make the day a whole lot better. Nutritious friends sit with you at the coffee place, the bar, the hawker centre, the canteen, and have fun, truthful, and witty conversations no matter where. Noxious friends sit with you, look at other people, and occasionally nod when you make an interesting comment or two, they then proceed to go into a whole list of detail which is as interesting as an investment talk which no one really understands.

Nutritious friends make an effort to keep in touch, calling on you for the occasional supper or drink, and turning to you if shit happens in their lives, and of course it is your duty to listen, console and counsel. Noxious friends call you out, whine and complain while wallowing in self-pity, then drown their sorrows in alcohol which automatically seems to go on your credit card, after which they puke on your shoes and make you drive them home at 4 in the morning.

Nutritious friends buy you things you really want for your birthday, like that Phillips epilator you've been talking about for months. Noxious friends buy you vouchers (of which they get free of charge, since they're members) or give you what you bought them for their last birthday.

Nutritious friends are playful and love making you laugh. Noxious friends are sly and push all boundaries knowing clearly how it would upset you, but doing it anyway.

Nutritious friends know your quirks and idiosyncracies, they put up with your perfectionistic ways, and idealistic views and accept it as part of you, and never try to change you unless its really necessary (in situations where body odours are involved). Noxious friends tell everyone about your quirks, twist it around and place extra exaggeration, so that everyone else knows that embarassing moment you had, laugh at you behind your back, then pretend nothing happened.

Are you a nutritious or noxious friend?

This is Oscar (blue) and his girlfriend Oscarina (pink). They ran off to get married in Vegas (chapel of Sony Ericsson) and now go under the alias of Mr and Mrs Bombubu. They are currently however experiencing a long-distance relationship. Oscar being upstairs on my bed while Oscarina curiously always sprawled on the couch downstairs. I have no idea what she is doing there, she used to be on my bed too. Perhaps Oscar snores :S

Everyone seems to be in love these days. Well maybe not everyone, but most I suppose. Saw a total of four couples that we both know in town today, looks like Friday night is officially date night.

Couple number 1: Dris and Mel
Met them after dinner at Paragon basement. We had come from Ding Tai Feng and they had come from Cartel. I heard my name being squealed repeatedley :P, turned around and saw lovely Dris, all decked out in a business jacket with sharp pretty pink heels to go along. Boyfriend went "OMG I love your shoes!" I was screaming internally. But it was fun, caught up a bit, teased Mel because he looked like such a kid beside Dris.. but caught them when we were walking away fighting like kids while holding hands. HAH. (Boyfriend says I and Dris are the same, both violent :P)

Couple number 2: Jason and Chuiting
Saw them at Kinokuniya in the lifestyle magazine section. Boyfriend and Jason were army mates so they hit it off in their own world of banter. I learned that Chuiting actually worked in the same company as Dris, although different departments. She was also in a business jacket and looking posh. Hah. While we were chatting to couple number 2, couple number 3 came right by us. Looks like the hottest dating spot is the bookstore :| Damn undergrads, acting god-damned intellectual :x

Couple number 3: William and Samantha
Frankly am surprised they were able to last this long :x Perhaps due to Will's casanova *cough*desperate*cough* behaviour, and his yearly rituals of courting and failing miserably and dramatic lovelorn behaviour, I kind of dismissed him as the shallow-poseurly-wannabe type, therefore do not blame me for being biased now, although I most obviously am. But at least they're happy together *grin*

Couple number 4: Abby and Shaokai
Now this is what I call an old-time couple. They've been together for ages, steady as a rock, they may as well get married now and start having kids. And they're probably perfectly suited for each other, both intellectuals in their own right with interesting and genuinely nice personalities. Met them at Bakerzin where we were consuming previously mentioned strawberry cheesecake ice cream target. It turned out disappointing though, the waffles were overdone and hardish and the ice cream though delicious was just a singular lonesome scoop crying out for company on the big plate. But at least, now we know. Abby and Shaokai sat a table away from us and were happily consuming their little pretty cakes. While boyfriend and I were walking back to the mrt, we met them again walking right behind us and chatted a bit. They were apparently going to the nearest LAN gaming station to play warcraft. My god, they are cute aren't they.

So that was a night for us, came back to BV and missed 95, ended up taking a cab. Poor boyfriend had a sore throat (he still insisted on eating ice cream tho' so don't think I FORCED him to) and was looking oh so tired again. Sigh. But he insisted on sending me back anyways. Ah well.

The martinis with Gigi and her friend P on Wed night were deliciously yummy, so was the horribly oily hawker fare we had after. :P Thanks for bringing me there tho', now I know where to go for great martinis. Gigi was saying how P and I were very similar, but P seemed like a really nice girl so that can't be too bad.. Hah. They were both feeling a lil' depressed over certain issues that night. But am sure they won't stay that way for long somehow, men would be stupid and blind if they did. :x Anyhoo, the weekend is here. And guess what, I'M GONNA HAVE CABLE AT HOME! *beam*

This is a lab mouse. It's fate is sealed. It's doom inevitable. It's future bleak. No matter how freaking cute it is.

In a happy mood. Although am still insanely free. I don't understand why everyone else seems to be swamped with work, it's unnerving. I'm even making preparations for exams, and handling all projects with superhuman speed. Perhaps am growing more efficient? *puzzled*

So tomorrow's going to be a treat! Meeting Gigi for chocolate martinis in the evening. And alright, I will announce it. Evening time is from 5pm to 8pm. Not 7 onwards! I thought everyone knew that, but apparently tis not so. Only Gigi and I seem to be the most logical persons on earth :P And as follows, morning is 8am to 12pm. Dawn is 5am to 8am. Afternoon is 12pm to 5pm. Night is 8pm onwards. Comprehende? (Capiche? Is that how you spell it?)

Boyfriend has been absolutely adorable. But am worried he's too swamped in work (just like everyone else *grumble*) and not taking care of himself. He's practically sleeping a meagre 3 hours everyday and with all the school work that I hear him talk about (which seems to pile up to insane amounts) and his JCRC stuff to attend to, I wonder how he can even cope at all. Poor baby. But he still takes time off to see me almost everyday, what a sweetie. Haha, alright shall stop.

My lab mentor just called me saying she developed some allergy and she's itching like crazy on her way to the hospital! Goodness. Must be all those mice she's been handling almost everyday, so that means I'll have to help her out tomorrow, which I was going to anyway. Only thing is she may not turn up tomorrow :S And if I do the isolation all by my lonesome self, something's bound to screw up. Mainly because its her project and I have no clue which mice is which, and apart from that, my isolation techniques are far from perfect. Oh dear, hope she turns up tomorrow, or those mice will really be in for it. Hope she's alright too, poor girl.

I'll be having to kill 20 mice soon too, super duper important experiment which could result in my first published paper should the results turn out excellent :| No pressure, bleah.

It suddenly occured to me that animal activists may be reading this right now and simultaneously sending in a petition to ban all animal experiments, using my blog as evidence on how the poor things are tortured. Am I being paranoid or could there possibly be the tiniest chance that this is occurring? Given the recent spate of events, I would not be surprised. Soo.. just in case.. all experimental procedures in laboratories today follow strict protocol regulations on animal ethics. For every experiment we do, every mouse is accounted for through a blizzard of paperwork which gives even my nice Prof a significant migraine. Every little procedure to be carried out on the stated mice have to be passed by a board of old fogeys who usually take weeks to process them and give the all important go-ahead. So everything I'm doing is legal mind you. So there.

Although I know it is sad that animals are being used to 'test' our drugs on, just think how that drug, if proven to be safe for use, could improve the health of a loved one or even save millions of lives. And let's face it. Humans aren't a very compassionate bunch when it comes to animals. We EAT them for crying out loud! When will that day come where every single creature in this world is happy, carefree and living without a hint of fear of being eaten, mawled, stepped on or squished? Never. Because there will always be a predator. And in the world today, that predator, is us.

This is going to be the next target for consumption on our next trip to Bakerzin. Imagine, warm crisp waffles with cold cold cheesecake ice cream (I'm telling ya that's my fav ice cream flava now) covered in a scrumptuously generous syruppy (with chunks!) strawberry delight.

I'm blogging as an excuse to escape from my books. Muhaha. Today was full of yummy delights, well mainly one yummy delight, cheesecake coupe! Which is actually 3 scoops of the above ice cream covered in sweet strawberry sauce and crumbly shortbread bits. I could probably eat that for the rest of my life, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Boyfriend was such a dear so I treated him to lunch at the pasta place in taka. We were fooled by the pictures in the menu which showed massive lobster tails. In reality of course, the lobsters were pathetically small where a single poke with a fork would be sufficient to dig up all the meat which is easily finished in a single mouthful. The seafood risotto was akin to seafood fried rice, but boyfriend said he had tasted worse. Haha. I still can't forget the amazing pasta I had in the US, at this place called Cheesecake factory. That was quite possibly the best pasta I have had in my entire life.


This is Bebe and I enjoying our fantastic cajun jambalayan shrimp pasta in Cheesecake Factory, Millenium Mall, Orlando, FL. We are happy people.

Just look at that pasta! We only ordered one portion and it was enough for both of us too! There were such a variety of spices and ingredients in it that every mouthful set off an explosion of flavours in our happy chewing mouths. One of the joys in life have to be eating. Its amazing the extensive and almost infinite menu the world has to offer of delicious dishes ranging from simple Thai papaya salad (which I hear is good but never got to taste :(, is called Pawpaw to the locals me thinks) to the most complex dishes which usually come in really minute amounts served on a big plate with intricate swirls and patterns of colourful fancy sauce occupying most of the plate space. Sigh, I also want.

Anyhoo, I have also received two phonecalls today from men other than my boyfriend. Haha. One served as a rude but essential wake-up call while the other a friendly catching up. I shall be secretive and not reveal who these mystery men are.. haha. Back to them books. Boo.

This is the class of 2005, New York University, celebrating their glorious release from the grim claws of academia on the city streets. Out into the working world they go, waving their silver streamers and 'party' hats.

It didn't seem like it was really happening. I got home (hall), switched on the computer, logged online, checked my mail, reading the messages one by one. Yet another sciency talk given by some Professor about the mechanisms of CDK-dependent cyclins and what nots, emails from project group mates clamouring on when to meet up, then suddenly an email saying "Dear Catherine, you didn't do well in the CA mainly because of qn 1. When will you be free to see me? - Edmund" I did a double-take, read it again a couple of times, and gradually a real heavy 'oh fuck' feeling settled in. "oh fuck I screwed up again now didn't I." I was pulling my hair out by the time I read it for the 5th time. Regained enough composure to settle a meeting date to which he promptly replied. And to think I had not even remembered to check my CA marks that day, oblivious to the fact that it was already pinned up on the notice board. Never knew I was screwing up this badly.

He was nice about it, when we met, he sat me down, asked me what I thought went wrong. I honestly had no clue. Then after prompting it suddenly hit me that I had the whole concept wrong and everything that happened was just a massive oversight which flew in and hit me between the eyes. Nobody told me, I didn't even think about it that much, assuming everyone was on the same page as me, but apparently they weren't. I wonder how such things can only happen to me sometimes. But you know what, it all just motivates me to work even harder. The same thing happened in year 1 actually. For the first CA of the year, I got a D+. Mainly cos I didn't REALLY study and was too busy chit-chatting in the hall kitchen, going for suppers, and doing whatever hall freshmen were supposed to be doing, which was not studying, more like carrying the notes around to make it look as if I was. It shook me up quite a bit I must say, but I vowed to try my best for the Retest. I even had to take a retest can you imagine?! But it was good I did, salvaged quite a few marks, scored an A+ :P Now that's what I call good motivation.

So now its time to pull myself from the pits once again. The bottom of the bell curve, or rather the sigmoidal curve :S Shit happens. He wasn't there when I first got the news tho', he never really seems to be there although I know he wants very much to be. He's just too busy. I don't blame him. He tries so hard. He wants to do well at everything, how can I blame him for that? To be the most successful, to make the most money, to have the most muscles, it seems like he's in a constant rat race all his life. Perhaps its Singapore. Perhaps its growing up in all those snotty schools where the kids laugh at you if you fail at math or snigger while you try your darndest to jump the furthest but only reaching the 120cm mark. Perhaps its when parents compare which schools their kids get sent to, when kids compare their test marks, when colleagues fight over promotions, and when men compare their assets in the toilets. Is life really all about competition? Getting that best job, getting ahead of others, getting that nice car with the big white house and the pretty garden, so much prettier than the neighbour's.

Perhaps it is. No matter what, nobody really wants to be at the bottom do they?