Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year!~

A household rule, written in stone. new year's eve has to be spent with family if i am back home. it's always dinner and countdown at one of the hotels around kuantan and then some time at the overcrowded beach, usually. this time, i think i will settle for watching the fireworks at london eye from diana's room. it's too much of an effort to bundle up and head out for a party. And this year's resolutions are.......

*drumroll*

Eat less, exercise more. Touch my toes.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

let's hope for brighter days

he sat slumped, looking slightly defeated. i saw it all through the brief time we spent together. the big 'if' running though his mind. what if, if only. the slight pain and the immense loneliness accentuated by familiarity. he wanted it off his chest. just a few simple words that's so hard to utter, afraid that nobody would understand. but i do. i really do. more than anyone else could. it's something that you and i have had and lost, that we miss.

All good things come to an end

boxing day had me spent. jostling the crowds and wading through piles of clothes strewn on the floor i searched for worthy purchases to mark my first post christmas splurge spending. the ridiculously slashed prices lured and tempted me to buy buy buy. trudging home weighted down by shopping bags, we would all gather to parade our finds, even the boys!

but now, all the gallivanting is catching up with me. with new year around the corner, i feel no urge to step out of my room. no desire to celebrate. the pile of work and exams in two weeks has dampened my spirits. *sigh*

Thursday, December 25, 2008

All i want for christmas

Dear Santa,

I have not been the best this year. In fact i have been rather naughty and slightly obstreperous. But there is one thing i really want. I don't think it will fit in my stockings even if i had one here. But i wouldn't mind it being delivered in a giant gift wrapped box, with some crackers and a bottle of celebratory champagne on the side.

love.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Part 3-France

Days 7-10

Somehow we managed to book ourselves into a very ghetto part of france. the elephant and castle of Paris. Garges-sarcelles, that is where we stayed for a night. Just one night, then we packed our bags and left the hood for a nice little hotel near Notre Dam.

The eiffel tower was lit blue, giving it a slightly seedy karaoke lounge appearance from far. As we came closer it was very pretty against the red night sky. Naturally, we went on a photo snapping frenzy. This place is filled with monuments and stunning architecture. One evening spent at the Louvre had me gawking at Picasso's work of modern art, all inspired by Delacroix.

Strolling down Champs Elysees, Louis Vutton beckoned. Everything there is outrageously expensive. 220 euros for a keychain. Hanad says that he will buy a titanium case to protect his LV bag if he ever got one.

Endless paninis, baguettes, cheese and chocolates filled my tummy in france. It sure was one heck of a trip.

Part 2-Belgium

Days 4-6

it was dodgy, the coach terminal. shady characters were hanging around. the metro station stank of urine and solid waste. like an animal shed. Thank god the city center was worlds apart.

Deep breath. The sweet smell of chocolate waffles and nutella crepes wafted through the air, tantalising and taunting my bottomless stomach.
Bruxelles. Sani with his sharp sense of direction became our tour guide as we explored the city. Going in and out of the cobbled streets we soaked up the sun and snapped tonnes of photos. The manneken pis was very disapointing though, for all the hype about it, i expected a statue taller than a foot-long subway sandwich. But the yummy mussels soaked in white wine and escargots seasoned with peper and salt made up for that.

I wanted to see the atomium very badly, thinking it was a planetrium as well. It turned out to be a product of an expo, very similiar to the Eiffel Tower-with nothing much inside. There was a magnificient view of the whole of bruselles from the highest metal atom-like ball though. But that still didn't justify the 6 Euros entrance fee.

Coach tickets out of Brussels to Paris was sold out the day we wanted to leave. We had to stay an extra night and being the cheapskate students that we are, the 9 of us squeezed into a 3 persons dorm to wait out the hours before our 6 am bus to France the next day. Bonjour Parisj!

Part 1-Netherlands

Days 1-3

Deep breath. I took in the crisp morning air. It was laced with the smell of marijuana. Damnnn...i'm in Amsterdam. Staying around the corner from the red light district, the shops that dotted our street sold the quirkiest things. Hash pops, moaning pen holders, vibrators, dildos, booby stress balls, just to name a few.

I finally got to visit Anne Frank's house. Now I can put a picture to the words in her diary that i read as a child. A visit to the coffeeshop before going to her home left me feeling like i was on a swaying ferry ride as i climbed the steep stairs into the hiding den of the Frank family during the second world war. The space cake i had had was really yummy though, top class chocolate brownies.

I was looking forward to seeing what the flesh trade is all about. The legal prostitution in amsterdam is like a magnet that attracts flocks of tourists. Boy, i was not disapointed. Rows and rows of girls in skimpy lingerie sat in windows soliciting customers near Dam Square. I even watched a live sex show with several fascinating acts. One of it had a tall willowy young girl puffing on a cigar with her vajayjay. amazing.

Traffic was insane. The bicycle lanes, car roads and trams routes all interweave. To make matters worse, it's left-hand drive there. I never knew where to look before crossing a road, accidentally jaywalked across cycling paths and into cars, having a few close shaves. The gorgeous sunny days and pretty canals made it hard for us to get on a coach and leave for brussels, the next stop on our 'spur of the moment' planned trip.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

it's been a long road

but you have made it right till the end.congrats sis!!*muaks*

Sunday, December 14, 2008

it's great to have flexibility

at this moment i was supposed to be in the airport, about to board a plane. but since the heavens has decided to unleash its anger in Italy, with torrential downpours in Rome and Venice causing water levels to rise 15 feet above normal, i'm stuck in my room. to make matters worse, snow blizzards have been engulfing milan. that's 3 of the main cities i was SO looking forward to on our grand italy tour. waking up to the bad news of riverbanks in Rome that are on the verge of bursting, today has been crazy as we flipped our christmas holiday plans around as much as possible. our laziness has been a blessing in disguise as we left most of our bookings to the eleventh hour, which was supposed to be done today. cancelling the few things we had paid up for, the revised itenary is, AMSTERDAM...wheeee! then Belgium (probably Brussels & Brugges) and lastly Paris. Hopefully we can slit Lyon in somewhere. I can't wait to see what the next 10 days hold for me.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

therapeutic

retail therapy.

if only there was a panic button

some people lack tact so much, i find them rather obtuse. when stupidity reached rock bottom, the only reaction i had was laughter.

Monday, December 8, 2008

the parliament

a rare chance, i had a tour of westminster last friday. i always thought that the british held strong to their traditions and the whirlwind guided tour reinforced that notion. the many quirky little traditions that still go on in today's modern world is just, hmmm, quirky. like how a man bearing a black rod has to have the wooden door of the house of commons slammed in his face, just scraping the tip of his nose. this is before he hits the door with his baton 3 times. a peephole in the door will then be opened and someone peeks through to make sure the black rod man is alone and the queen of england is not hiding behind (the royal family never sets foot inside the house of commons because many years ago king charles I had crossed boundaries and over-exerted his power there-making it a no man's land for the royal family)??!!@#$!.. he then invites all the members of parliament to the house of lords to listen to the queen's speech.these MPs will then set off in a sprint to the other hall to secure a good spot for themselves as it can get a little overcrowded....i think we just had a very interesting and slightly over dramatic tour guide. i was also told that the queen is a very little woman, not very tall. just slightly taller than me. so if i had sat on her throne, my feet would probably dangle in the air. geez, i know i am vertically challenged. people never fail to reinforce it.


AIESEC City dances in the Westminster Hall

food, glorious food

food has become a key part of my existence. this weekend we cooked up a feast. the menu went something like this.

Starters:
Turnip soup, tempura prawns and salad

Main courses:
Sweet chilli crabs, mussels in creamy white wine sauce, chicken in 5 spices gravy,choi sum, nasi goreng kampung.

Dessert:
christmas pudding, ben&jerrys, mulled wine and mars bars

everything washed down with some budweiser and mental challenges. poor johan, came all the way from Cambridge to unwind and chill, and this is what we subjected him to..

Saturday, December 6, 2008

i know where you are :)

it's funny what technology can do for you. i have been able to figure out a rough itinerary of lis's india trip even though i have not spoken to her in for an ungodly length of time. and facebook, the ever knowing social network, has nothing to do with this.

Friday, December 5, 2008

From the sidelines

i was accused of infatuation prematurely. it was a crime i was yet to commit. maybe their age old wisdom and keen eyes caught the sparks that flew, the chemistry building up. or maybe it was their quick tongues that was always eager to gossip monger. it was juicy. anything involving the new kid on the block always is. being young and naive, i withdrew not wanting to fuel the neighbourhood talk. that was the pivoting point, and i became the pillar of trust. a spectator from the sidelines.

is that what i need...dutch courage?

reflection, my greatest flaw. i have a selective memory, only looking back at the good times. i wipe out the times when i have wronged, when i have been hurtful, when i have taken greedily without giving in return. it's scary because i have been trying to dig up old memories, but they have been locked up so tightly i just can't seem to decipher the encrypted code. this soul searching, however, has managed to stir up emotions i have forgotten and long buried. the answers to some questions that have haunted me for so long are slowly being unraveled. my fleeting attention, my flirty flightiness. my inability to hold on,incapability of letting go.

i am being weighted down by guilt. i have giant steps to take to rid myself of this burden. i'm going to right the moral imbalance that has plagued me. never has the time been more right.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

F.A.I.M

what i learnt in financial and investment maths (f.a.i.m) today.

bees are very smart little things. once they find a stash of honey, they don't actually buzz about randomly but are flying in a pattern, to map out a path for their fellow bees. a specific guide to where the honey laden tree is and this little dance of theirs involves angles, degrees and the location of the sun. they are way smarter than me. random fact, courtesy of sap.

time crawls in faim. well known fact, courtesy of hy.

by next year, i might actually know whats going on in lectures. fact?hopefully. courtesy of dr ben rickayzen.

i'm doing the wrong course. i should be selling ice kacang by the beach in kuantan and be living the life. sun,sea, sand and surf. maybe i should set my business up by the beaches of bali. become old, rich and happy there. fact to be, courtesy of anusha.

freak is back

the crazy weirdo psycho cracko loser phone stalker has started again. and the pattern now is my room phone then hy's then mine then hers complete with music in the very faint muffled background. get a life man. you will never know what songs i like.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

catastrophy can have a happy ending

emotions, it is like glistening snow accumulating on a mountain top. precarious, but beautiful. one day, something cracks and an avalanche happens. it sends you tumbling, reeling, falling, but most of all it hurts and injures you, like hell. and then you never know if you'll ever be the same person again. the memory of the pain can strike a lasting sense of fear and loss, when dislodged from familiarity and comfort zone. it makes me afraid. hopefully i will find the courage to tear down the high fortress that surrounds and shields me and snow will fall gracefully on a peak again, outwitting the tests and tribulations of time.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Learning Excel

His attempts at making me computer literate.

If Weight > 50 Then
"Anusha is chubby!"
Else If Weight < 50 Then
"Anusha is hot!"
End If

Spot the error.