Thursday, September 29, 2005
successful pasta! oh joy. although it was embarassingly foolproof. yvonne and i still managed to screw up initially, by failing to remove the price tag on the bottom of the new pan. so for the first horiifying 5 minutes of out first cookout, we smelt burn and never knew where it was coming from. joel's cooking is much better. does it really take 3 years to get to that level?FINALLY i got my bank account settled. the level of inefficiency is appalling. especially for a bank like HSBC. i mean, with an international standing like it has, i would really expect alot more than being ping-ponged about between an understaffed market hill branch to a completely clueless regent street branch, the fort being held up by an indian woman and a chinese woman who don't get along and know close to nothing between them, and a big ang moh jock who can't even operate his own photostating machine. its amazing. today i went through the harrowing experience of being told that my account had actually been open since last week, but that my cards and documents had been sent mistakenly to singapore. i was told that they would be reported lost or stolen. thereafter there appeared to be some security issue with my new account, and it was :inhibited". i waited for a couple of hours to see a senior banker, who, upon further prodding and questioning, managed to surface my cards and documents ("oops, must have slipped my eye") and realised that the supposed security issue was really non-existent. no wonder they're overworked. if not for all the shuttling around i've been having to do on that account, i might actually have found this whole thing rather funny.
yesteday we watched stomp at the theatre here. the theater is called the corn exchange. it brings back memories of the peacock theatre, the totally forgettable SDT dance, and that memorable escape with aaron and elaine to unforgetable jazz.
Posted by i confound myself at 10:44 pm
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
its 1018 on a chilly camb morning. i am sitting in a dimly lit room with whirring fans and using someone else's dell computer. i feel really disorientated, in spite of all the bravado. yesterday was an exhausting and highly emotional day, understandably. it began at the airport, where an unexpectedly large number of people turned up to see me off. i was so touched! thanks guys, you really made the day special for me. my wunderrful ny babes were there-- bry, bust, lan, hong. i was so so happy to see them! and of course yy and monster, permanent fixtures at the departure hall (sorry i won't be there cum!) and peiling and haresh, who gave me an absolutely me book EXCEPT that it weighed a ton in my bag. i only feel bad that i didn't even manage to talk to everyone properly. that's the irony of having too many people at once. given the luxury of time i would love to have sat down and have an hour of coffee with every single one there. but well, we'll still meet virtually! tech bridges all divides. ha.well, there's still a million things to do today. all the usual housekeeping stuff. the seniors have been excetionally helpful; yijin helped me with my embarrassingluy volumnious suitcase at the bus station and ryan and ben...facilitated..my first dinner. haha. today i shall... buy groceries, get a phone, get the net, lunch with yvonne, and....bank. woosh.
Posted by i confound myself at 10:28 am
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
ahead of me, a great craggy rock rises out of the surface. entirely white, shrouded in mist and glistening in the light, it is altenately inviting, and impregnable. a great, frozen fortress of dau huey. i rub my hands together and prepare to conquer the rock.of late, dau huey has become my best friend. a gastronomic miracle amidst a motley selection of less-than-delectable semi-solid foods. these foods range from boiled oats to minced spinach, pumpkin squash and lumpy tchok which mum, out of her undeniably good intentions, invariably mixes with a disgusting plethora of enriching substances that don't match. so, as you can see, dau huey is such a welcome relief. not only is it soft and semi-solid, it is also sweet, and doesn't give me guilty pangs the way other soft, semi-solid and sweet things usually do. (think nutella paste, soft noughat, ICE CREAM, pudding, milkshake...sigh). over the past few days, i have scaled literally mountains of this wonderful soya subsidary. on one particular day, i actually forwent all other types of food in favor of 5 bowls of dau huey, 2 cups of soya milk and an enourmous but unfulfillable craving for soya bean ice cream. mama ( my grandma) has often warned of the dangers of consuming dau huey in such unreasonable amounts, which include, of all things, soft bones. i never really believed her; the link seems too...literal. anyway, some time ago i actually read that the gelatinous substance in dau huey can actually give you slimmer cheeks, which is something i've always wanted to have, ESPECIALLY NOW. (see previous entry). i fully understand the folly of believing some trashy beauty mag writeup instead of my almost omniscient grandma, but i just love dau huey too much. my only other dietary consolation this period has been some divine bing pei mooncake that i ate last week. melts in your mouth. but since that is no more, i guess i'll just have to contend with my beloved dau huey.
Posted by i confound myself at 9:59 am
Sunday, September 18, 2005
here i am, with a face that's twice it's old size (breadthwise), a sad semiliqid diet, and 3 luggage bags that can;t close. but its not all bad. i was forced to rest, drink water and sleep early-- 3 things i havn't been doing for much longer a time than my body should be put through. the only thing i feel so bad abt is not being able to send mich off. SORREEEE BABE! take care, don't get mugged/killed for your ipod, jeans, or japanese noodle sauce!! its been such a blessing having a friend for, what's it been, 7 years, and counting, plus everything that's ever happened-- aep, the big water splash, council, gilles et angie, and of course, chillipadi. i really thank god for it. but hey, anyway i'll seeya soon-- nottingham here i come! hahaas to cambridge here i come.. well, that'll have to wait till i figure out how to close that luggage bag.
Posted by i confound myself at 4:29 pm
Saturday, September 03, 2005
this willl be a most trying trip. but i am trying to see it as a test. so that at least there is good reason to perform. i don't care about abacus at all. abacus is the easy part. hainan is the holiday after the work.Posted by i confound myself at 7:12 am
Thursday, September 01, 2005
reasons why i want to go alone:1.there is nothing that i really, really couldn't somehow do on my own. absolutely anything can be worked out.
2. going for the first time is part of the whole "independant" experience that we're, dammit, paying 18000 pounds per year for. why dilute it?
3. i'll be more ready to handle alone if i start alone
4. i operate better and more effectively when left to my own devices.
5. i want to part on good terms.
6. it'll be a sucky holiday
7. we can save money
8. i can get more help from ppl who know the place, and they can give me help without paining themselves.
