Howdy-ho! 'Tis been a long time since I have last updated this. Since right now, I'm in school, there shall be no illustrations until I reach home to my under-utilized wacom tablet. Anyway, the primary exciting event that occured in the past weeks was my trip to Bangkok! It was so wonderful, I am still basking in my holiday mood right now. But ugh! All that is facing me currently is the extremely sterile and unexciting environment of my laboratory. School week is starting!

Right, let me yak more about my trip. Actually, Bangkok is only exciting to poor folks like me, because what I can't afford in Singapore can be easily afforded in Bangkok. So for instance, at a nice middle-class coffee house called Black Canyon Coffee (I believe there is a branch at Millenia Walk), we ordered the following:

1) A Tom Yum Spaghetti
2) Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken Wings
3) Appetizer of Fermented Chicken Wings
4) Corn Soup
5) A Bowl of Thai Dessert


Tom Yum Spaghetti!

Green Curry Fettucine.. (From another meal)

Long macoroni with seafood (From another meal)

Thai Fried rice with Chicken wings

And it cost us a grand total of 275 baht. Woah! 275 baht may sound like a lot of money, but in actual fact, it is only a miserable sum of S$10. I think you can get a plate of spaghetti in Singapore for that sum. So you see, that is what's so grand about Thailand. You can feel filthy rich over there, plucking out 100-dollar, or rather baht note, randomly. Heck, you can easily be a millionaire over there. Million-baht-aire, that is.

The pedicures and manicures are additionally dirt-cheap. Usually, I am too stingy to spend any amount on such luxuries in Singapore. However, the prices over there are simply too attractive to ignore. We went to a high-end salon, at the recommendation of my Thai tai-tai (what a tongue twister) auntie. So there I sat on a murmuring massage chair, feeling like a queen, with plenty of pretty Thai girls fussing over me. Some were exfoliating my feet, cutting my nails, adjusting my mini plasma tv-set. At the end of it, it cost me a grand total of S$25 (plus tips for all who served me). Well, that is about the price of a low-end manicure session in Singapore. Sigh.

Well, that is not all. Thai massage sessions come at only 150 baht per hour. That comes up to about S$6. The foot massage is slightly more costly, at about $10. Don't ask me why, perhaps feet stink more and therefore, is a more dreadful job for the masseuses. Hee. They are so good, I went for a massage almost everyday I was there. Pure, total bliss.

Of course, there are plenty of shopping paradises in Bangkok. The whole of Sukhumvit road is like our popular Orchard stretch. Shopping centers, here, there and everywhere. However, if you are a rich tai-tai looking for branded stuff, this is no place for you because their branded stuff sell at higher prices as compared to Singapore. Unless, of course, you are looking for cheap spin-offs. I personally enjoyed myself tremendously, blending with the local crowd in the weekend market of Chatchuchak. I bought mountains and mountains of stuff - from t-shirts, leather slippers to pet's food. For the two days I was there, the things I bought didn't exceed S$150. This American tourist was complaining, "Tried as I might, I couldn't even spend US$100! Look at the things I bought, I can't carry anymore if I continue. This place is fantastic!" And it is.

Loot from the 1st day at Chachuchak!


Ah, of course, there is the cheap transport. The cab fare is well, disgustingly cheap. It almost NEVER exceeds S$3. Most of the time, we paid slightly above S$2. But like Zhang Ziyi appropriately and sexily put it in the famous ad,"Traffic was a killer" to the swoonsome Pierce Brosnan, Bangkok traffic is a standstill 75% of the time. You can choose to travel via the Sky Train or the newly minted-condition subway to avoid the horrendous jams. The subway costs only 10 baht, regardless of which station you are going to. A steal, really.

Oh, and it pays to have dark skin, like me. I get mistaken for a Thai local all the time. All I have to do is to point at some item I want to purchase at the Chatchuchak market, and the seller will give me the best price, thinking I am some local. If you are a tourist, chances are the seller will quote you an incredibly high price. So! Slap on some self-tanning lotion and get yourself a Thai-look for cheaper prices. *chuckle*

I look so much like a Thai, foreigners come to me for directions all the time. A Singaporean-like woman came to me for directions at the Chatchuchak Market.

Her: Hello, do you know where is the pet section?
Me: Er, actually, I don't know.
Her: *Astonished at my Singaporean accent* WHAT? You mean you are not local ah?
Me: *Gives a duh-look* No, I am not.
Her: Chey! *Waves her hand in my face*

Shortly after, some caucasians approached me at the train station. I hereby conclude I have a I-am-good-with-directions face.

Not only am I mistaken for a Thai, I get mistaken for a Japanese too. In fact in Singapore, I have gotten a fair share of Japanese approaching me and rambling in Japanese to me, even before I could stop them to tell them I am not one. For several times, thai salesgirls greeted me,"Konichiwa! Konichiwa!" It was rather weird at first, but I could not pinpoint what was wrong. It was after a while that I realised the proper Thai greeting should be Sa-wa-dee-ka! and not Konichiwa! Thai people, ranging from the hotel waiter to the manicurist, asked me, "You - from Japan?" NO!! I AM NOT. I am from SINGAPORE. Too bad, there is no such thing as a Singaporean look. How sad. I should really hang a sign around my neck - "100% Made in Singapore".

Ah. Yes. I can go on forever, harping on what a wonderful paradise the place is. I shall save up and go there once more! Talking about it makes me feel really pathetic, sitting in the corner of my laboratory. Ugh.

Pics to be updated later!

Updates:
Photos can be found here! (Psst..password needed though! Email me if you don't already know!
Posted at 03:50 PM by missjellybeano/">missjellybeano | 4 beanoes

Right. Again, I am currently trapped in the sterile laboratory environment once more, handicapped by the absence of Mr Wacom - my useful drawing tablet. Actually, Mr Wacom leads a rather tragic life because I am an untidy and disorganized person. Many a times, he has been cruelly defaced when I absent-mindedly utilized the ink-pen I had in my hand instead of his trusty sidekick - Wacom Pen. So, if you look carefully on my tablet, you would realize there are alot of nasty ink-stains on it. Very tragic. *shakes head*

Anyway, school has started! Although I am not required to undertake any more modules, I went around shopping for some modules that struck interest in me. Personally, I enjoyed one of the marketing lecture so much! The professor's mannerism resembles Mr Harrison of South Park! He speaks with a "You knooooooooow....." "Waaaaayyy coooooool" with a very funny drawl, and his self-depreciating, spontaneous remarks always have me in stitches. Oh, and he has very funny anecdotes too.

Apparently, he said Business Faculty leads the most boring lives. The professors in there always think of 'The BIG Establishment'. Hence, any actions they take will be in the consideration of the bigger picture. On the contrary, he said, the Psychology Department enjoys the most exciting (or rather, scandalous) lives. They have affairs with one another, with doctoral students, divorces here and there. SO SCANDALOUS! Tsk. What about the Computing Faculty? Perhaps it could give the Business Faculty a run for their money. *Chuckles*

Okay, long time since any movie updates. Most recent movie I caught was The House of Flying Daggers. My mum was so insistent in watching it, so I finally brought her on Tuesday. The scenery was breath-taking, the story-telling masterful... but nothing beats Takeshi Kaneshiro!!! He is just so swoon-some. Too bad, he is gay.

Moving along: Don't Watch The Village! You have been warned. It is so un-scary, I actually laughed when the 'monster' appeared. The twist in the story is really un-climatic. Bleah.

On other minor notes, I came to school in a taxi driven by an ang-moh! Weird, huh?
Posted at 11:53 AM by missjellybeano/">missjellybeano | 2 beanoes

Someone should really conduct a study on flying cockroaches' intelligence. I suspect that somewhere out there, a bunch of cockroaches are congregating somewhere, discussing and exchanging a list of vulnerable victims. Why are cockroaches smart? Well, frankly, they may not be smart. But their memories are so darn good, it is creepy.

Yesterday, while I was uneventfully brushing my teeth in my semi-blindness, I heard an unfamiliar buzz around my head. Must be some lost moth, I thought, for such moths incidence happens ALL THE TIME. So the thing buzzed around the bathroom, occasionally breezing inches away from my head.

Damn it! I thought as I reached out for my glasses. Now unblind, I realized to my horrors, it was a HUMONGOUS FLYING COCKROACH!

Fortunately, I have quick instincts. *Ahem* (Or rather, I like to think I have quick instincts.)

I ducked out of the bathroom in a flash and slammed the bathroom door shut. HA HA! I smirked. You can't get me, you piece of oversized flying maggot!

Being a considerate sister I am, I wrote a warning on a piece of paper and stuck it on the bathroom for my brother. I mean, nobody should be traumatized by a flying cockroach while naked in the bathroom, right?

Anyway, despite the warning, I heard my brother come home half hour later and take a bath. Hmm, I pondered before succumbing into drowsiness, the cockroach must have left.

***

TODAY! After my night jog, I decided to take a shower. As I was taking out my contact lenses, the flying cockroach arrived RIGHT ON CUE! Heck, it was as if it totally recognizes my fear and despite for it and was coming back for me! I bet my entire life's savings it is the same huge oversized tick! We used to have this cockroach which came right on time for World Cup matches in 1994. Cockroaches' sense of timing is strangely, yet deadly, precise.

It buzzed its wings, as if taunting: We meet again, Young-Stupid-Cockroach-Fearing-One.

There is only one thing I could do.

END THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL.

SO! I ran to my parents' bedroom and woke my mother up. (What do you expect? There is no way I am going to touch the damn thing.)

My brave mother groggily got up and tried to drown the damn thing into the pothole thingy in the bathroom. However, IT JUST WOULDN'T DIE!! It is just like in the horror movies, where you think the bad egg is dead. But no! It just comes back alive and grab your legs or something.

Yeah, so the undead cockroach clawed its way up back to the slippery bathroom tiles and slidded its way clumsily up to my mother's legs. But my courageous mother fought on! She grabbed the showerhead fiercely and drowned the creetin mercilessly.

Finally, she took a piece of paper, grabbed the struggling creetin and dumped it inside the toilet bowl, before executing a few powerful flushes. My mother! My Heroine!

I wish I could inherit some of my mother's cockroach-sparring skills. Sigh.

Anyway, I am taking NO CHANCES AT ALL. I kept the toilet bowl closed in case the stupid creetin should claw its way up once more. After all, you never know... Those horror movies always have a sequel. . . . *trails off*
Posted at 02:25 AM by missjellybeano/">missjellybeano | 4 beanoes

The Procastinator strikes once more! The Theory of Anything-that-is-non-work-related-will-seem-interesting-once-there-is-work-to-be-done. For instance, watching my toenails grow. Ordinarily, on a vacation day, watching toenail growth will be a mere silly thing to do. However, when there are piles of work to be done, challenging myself to watch my toenail grow becomes strangely stress-relieving. The same can be said for blogging. Blogging is a chore during vacation. On the contrary, it becomes tremendously enjoyable once school term starts, and work starts pouring in. Ho ho.

Anyway, school is a little sucky. People from everywhere seems to be hinting to me that a PhD program in NUS holds no future. It is so demoralizing to know that I might be jolly well wasting my years studying? Just when I thought I have sort of settle comfortably into the pace of postgraduate study, a stream of people come along my life to turn it topsy turvy. Ugh, exactly what I don't need.

Right, but let's digress from unhappy topics. So! Today, we had our final lesson of tennis. Honestly, if you ask me, I am still as lousy as ever. My serves totally suck! They are so ghastly that whenever I actually did a correct serve, the whole group break into cheers and my coach would said something that dripped of sarcasm: "Wow! Wonderful! Let's sign you up for competition! What's your IC number?"

So, after tennis, Sandy and I decided we lead very boring weekend lives, and decided to head back my home for some DVD entertainment. With Mean Girls DVD playing in an air-conditioned room, we settled ourselves comfortably with a pig-out feast of bbq-chicken-wings, frozen strawberries, tapioca dessert, chocolate sticks, apples and glasses of cola. Ahh..ultimate chill-out session.

Tomorrow, we will probably join the human jam in marvelling the wonders of fireworks at the Esplanade.

PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE DOWN! You have be WARNED!

I drove down last week with my mum, grandma and maid in tow. There was a massive traffic jam, and it was the first time in my driving-lifespan that I actually pulled the handbrakes on an expressway to wait out a 1/2 hr jam without moving an inch. It was a torturous wait. The parking situation in Suntec City was a pandemonium. What's more, my poor maid was puking her dinner out due to car sickness. It was a traumatizing experience.

For now, it's bedtime.
Posted at 02:38 AM by missjellybeano/">missjellybeano | 3 beanoes

I am currently nursing a very sore throat and a nose that can't stop running. The latter can give Marion Jones a run for her money. Ugh. Somehow, only my left nostril is very stuck, leaving my right nostril overworked. And I can't stop sneezing! People out there! You have gotta stopped cursing me!

Because my mum said: Sneezing = People cursing you.

Now, I am a very logical person. So when I was bored and twevle years of age, I did an investigation of my mum's illogical mythological theory. When my brother was in the toilet, I started repeating in a robotic fashion,"SI KOR KOR!" (which means DARN BROTHER!). Ha, hookay, in case you think I am some evil sister, you must remember I was only twevle, and it was possibly my brother did a big bully thing and that IT WAS ALL IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE.

Anyway, after a few tense moments, I actually heard my brother SNEEZED one time in the toilet. The myth could not be disproved! This theoretically means that the myth remains (mysteriously) true until someone disprove it. Heh.

Yes, back to the main point of this entry. I am now quite convinced that I am a jinx. Usually, the teams which I support, be it World Cup, Euro 2004, Tennis, any sport, will LOSE if I watch them play. In fact, I think I have indirectly caused Singapore's only hope of medal to be dashed away! I am so sorry, Ronald Susilo.

Yesterday after dinner, I bumbled up to the television to switched on the fateful Olympic showdown. Not that I am a big badminton fan, but I was just curious about the country's medal hope. So, the game was in process when I switched on the teevee. The score reads:

10-10

Ah, I thought. Exciting match.

So I plopped myself comfortably down a chair and continued to goggled at the match.

As soon as I did that, Susilo started losing his form. 10-11. 10-12. 10-13. 10-14. 10-15. Game. Thailand won the first set.

Aw, I cursed silently. Well, he may win the second game.

However, he did not. In fact, the losing margin kept getting bigger and bigger (about 0-9, I think), until I was finally quite despaired, and I turned around to switch on my computer. Now, my computer boot-up time was painfully slow. By the time I turned back, Susilo has won 1 point!

My heart gave a small flutter. There is hope for Singapore!

So, I sat down back in front of the teevee and concentrated on the game again.

As expected, he lost the game immediately after that and never recovered.

UGH! Am I jinxed or what?!
Posted at 11:13 AM by missjellybeano/">missjellybeano | 5 beanoes

The drawbacks of living in a house in the humid and hot environment of Singapore stem mainly from the unsightly neighbours. I am not talking about human neighbours (although some of such neighbours can be unsightly and unfriendly). I am talking about the neighbourhood of creepy-crawlies that reside in, out and around my house. Like the cockroaches in my previous entries, for instance.

Houseflies are a norm. But they are much less of a nuisance, than cockroaches for example, because they tend to be smart and not crash headlong into you (unlike stupid humongous flying cockroaches).

Anyway, last night, I was minding my own business on my laptop in the dining room, when a housefly came buzzing in.

Now, this is weird because houseflies only buzz in when there are food around. Or rotting stuff. However, there wasn't even a speck of food around. Besides, since I wasn't reading my research stuff, I decided I definitely wasn't rotting. So, no rotting stuff either.

The housefly must be lost, or just plain senile with bad sense of smell, direction, whatever.

So I continued typing while the housefly buzzed around.

Type. Type. Type.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

And suddenly.

Thud.

No more buzzing.

The dull thud resonated around the noiseless dining room.

From the corner of my eye, I vaguely saw the housefly flying around and then abruptly stopped. And it fell onto the dining table, stone dead.

Uh, wake up you stupid bugger. I poked it with my pen.

No reaction.

Weird, it must have reached the end of the lifespan while flying around.

I hope it was happy.
Posted at 04:11 PM by missjellybeano/">missjellybeano | 4 beanoes

After 2 hours of intensive grill under the merciless sun playing tennis in NUS, I was quite sure I had absorbed sufficient sunlight to be a radioactive entity for the whole of yesterday. I could feel I was emitting heat everywhere I go.

Perhaps the heat emission attracted mosquitoes, and I suffered more mosquitoes bite as usual. Grr. I detest, abhor, despise mosquitoes to the very core.

Anyway, despite suffering from mozzie bites, flu and a very bad cough, I went shopping with Sandy. And apparently, today I must have a I-want-to-buy-something face, because salesgirls (who usually left me alone) keep pitching their products to me.

At Robinson's, I was standing around waiting for Sandy to finish a phone call when a sales auntie startled me.

Auntie: xiao jie, you should try this top this manniqueen is wearing?
Me: *Gives a startled look* HUH? Me? Don't want lah.

(I wasn't even looking at the top.)

Auntie: You should try, you know. I think you will look nice.
Me: Huh? Don't want lah.
(I wanted to say "I am just looking around" but then I realised I wasn't looking around. I was purely standing.)
Auntie: You sure you don't want to try???
Me: Yah sure.

*runs off to Sandy's side*

Later, at Watson's, I was minding my own business, browsing the sunblock lotion department with Sandy. Then, she left to look at something and I turned my attention to mosquito repellent. I was quietly reading what each repellent does against those darned mosquitoes, secretly fantasizing how each of those damned things will shrivel up and die at the touch of my all-powerful repellent when...

"NI HAO!!"

Salesgirls have an aptitude for sneaking up on people like that.

It was a rather sweet looking Chinese salesgirl, but she started spouting fast-speed Chinese which I had difficulty understanding.

So I frowned.

Salesgirl: Ni bu hui ting hua yu? (You don't understand Mandarin?)
Me: Bu! Bu! Qing ni jiang man yi tian.. (No no, but please speak slower.)

She nodded her head, but obviously did not heed my request because she continued yakking at undecipherable speed. She was trying to ask me to buy some oxygen water to spray on my face. The water can moisturize, prevent pimples, heck it may even make you look 100 years younger or something.

What do you think is my potential of buying such product? I was looking at mosquito repellent, for goodness sake! I mean, if I were looking at some facial products, perhaps her pitch will be more relevant.

TSk.
Posted at 07:59 PM by missjellybeano/">missjellybeano | 2 beanoes