The Rain Came Down

空から落ちて来るのは...

あれは雨ではなくて。

[Ending lines from "Broken Wings" by Tane - Trinity Blood Ending Theme]

Last Minute Packing Part 1

Talk about last minute. I'm going to be flying in about 4 days and I'm still slowly spring cleaning my room. Tell you on Monday I'll be doing very last minute packing and Tuesday afternoon will see ultimate last minute packing.

I've bought new underwear!! Wahahaha... I must be mad to announce it to the whole wide world. But some of it is quite cute. If this blog weren't a G-rated blog I'd post a photo here. (^_^) And no, they are not Hello Kitty thongs. Hello Kitty is evil.

Anyway, remember this checklist?

I have most of the Essential Must Brings already, except:
1) Pocket Bible
2) Walk-about shoes
3) Personal medicine stash

Ok well the medicine is all over the house, I just haven't put a small box together for myself yet.

So I'm basically all set I think. My documents are in order, tickets are printed out, got some warm clothes to start with, got the Lonely Planet guide, and even have a suitcase ready. Am I missing anything??

Hmm.. Ok people, I have four $10 Isetan vouchers left (used one on a pair of sweat pants. I love shopping!! Hohoho!) . What else do I need to get??

Siew Mai Flickrs!

In preparation of all the photos I will be taking in Scotland, I have set up a Flickr account! Apparently I've got sort of a default account already because I've got a Yahoo! account. So cool hor!! Hahaha...

Anyway here is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/veetwo_siewmai/

And here are the photos for SSS: http://www.flickr.com/photos/veetwo_siewmai/sets/896138/

Sorry that there aren't more photos of the gang, I wanted to take the group photo too but I hadn't figured out how to set the camera to the self-timer mode...

Oh. And have I mentioned that I have a new camera? Well, I have a new camera. Lalala!

Reply to Mrs Budak

What can I say but "Thank you."

Part of me still cannot believe that I'm leaving. Part is raring to go off on this brand new adventure. And yet another part can't bear to part with the comforts and loves right here...

The depression and denial I went through one year ago is still a fresh memory. With that in mind and with the support I realize I have back home, I will take care. (^_^) I'll be ok.

Thank you.

SSS Post-Mortem

Lalala... This post is two days late. Hehe...

ONCE AGAIN!!! The Triple Letter Gang surfaced to wreck havoc on the stomachs and cholesterol levels of unsuspecting siew mais. And I do believe that this round was PARTICULARLY sinful. I mean... Main dishes aside, the two very rich cakes were enough to give us all cardiac infarcts. That and the ridiculous albeit very amusing discussion on toilet behaviour, the finer points on pimple squeezing and farting, which Budak was all too glad to demonstrate. A lot. Much to the chagrin of Mrs Budak and Monkey (who got the bulk of the "shooting").
Sadly, Ash couldn't join us due to work. (T_T) But I'm sure the "scenery" made up for the loss of good food. Heh heh. And of course, a certain Phoenich had ISSUES... :p Resulting in his absence as well.

Well, if you guys had come, this is what you'd still be digesting:

SSS Roll-Call


1)算盘子 Yam abacus balls - Joelle (I don't know why but now I will think of lacy underwear and crabs when I think of you. Imagine crabs wearing lacy underwear... (O_o) )
2)Various fried tidbits - Monkey
3)Otak - Monkey
4)Carrot basmati rice - Siew Mai
5)Babi sio - Siew mai (peranankan host must have pork dish. haha)
6)Nutella cake - Mrs Budak
7)Fruit crumble - Mrs Budak
8)Strawberry cheesecake - Laurence (sam sui women... *snigger*)
9)Wine - Joelle & Monkey LHam (sorry Ham!! siew mai blur)
10) One bar of chocolate - LHam (eh... forgot to take it out.)
11) 2 salads - Siew Mai's mum

It was a lot! Although I think less than usual. On the other hand, we had more desserts than usual. Homemade nutella cake and Mezza9 cheescake. *pengsan*

[3pm: must showcase Mrs Budak's fruit crumble. She say never take picture... See more of her nutella cake *drools at the memory*...]

Scrumptious Siewmai Suppering

Update 10.29pm:

SSS-ed!!

More Updates to Come. Hehe.. I know I've been a lazy blogger.. (T_T)

**********************************************************************************

At the pleadings of a certain furry mammal, SSS shall be pushed back one day.

Date: 4 September 2005
Time: 5pm 1pm
Area: Sin Ming (obviously I'm not going to post my precise address on the WWW am I?? Perverts.)
Dinner Category: Oh, the usual potluck. Lemme know what you'll be bringing.
SM's Menu: Carrot Basmati Rice and Babi Sio or Babi Tempra. Plus a salad of course. (^_^)v

*Fake lucky-draw-host accent* Do a comment or e-mail RSVP and you will receive ONE directions to Veetwo Siew Mai's place!!

Yee-yah. Anyway, let me know if you're coming and what you're bringing and you'll be put onto the guest list below:

Dim Sums/Animals/People Coming:
1) Monkey!! (Something Columbian... such prompt reply!)
2) Phoenich (threatens to bring pizza)
3) Strawberry Cheescake (Teutoburg)
4) Mr & Mrs Budak (Wine + ...)

Expected to Come (or else. wahahahaha!):
1) Joelle
2) Ash
3) Nekoweenie
4) Aronwy
5) Jemalelinh (got a wedding to attend.. (T_T) )

Mizuno Siew Mai!!

I've signed up for the Mizuno Run!! Wahaha!! 10km here I come!!! Training starts now!! Even though I only signed up for the Fun Run category... My mum signed on for the women's open. Siao. And... *ahem* Since I signed on for the run, and seeing how I've been needing new sports shoes for a while *proud smug look*... Heheheh... I have bought myself a pair of Mizuno shoes!! 40% discount!! Wahahaha... Now I am all equipped to run 10km. (^_^)(^_^)(^_^)

It's easy enough to finish 10km in 2hrs by brisk walking... So the aim shall be to finish in 1hr 30min. *superhero pose* YOSHA!! Siew Mai Banzai!!

Checklist

Cheap thrill of the day: I just realized that my nicknames combined, Veetwo Siew Mai, and my real name share the same initials: VSM. How cool is that?? Whahaha. Ok cheap thrill over.

These couple of days I've been thinking and thinking of what I should be packing into my 23kg for Scotland. So I've written out a list of things I can think off besides the obvious clothes, underwear and toiletries. This is a list of the extra stuff and it's split into 3 parts: Essential Must Brings, Non-Essential But Still Brings & Would Like To Brings (although most probably I won't).

Siew Mai's Checklist

Essential Must Brings:
Bible (shall go and scout for a small pocket one)
1 winter jacket (got an old grungy one I took to China and South Africa)
Woolen cap + scarf (got new ones liao. (^_^)v hee…)
Laptop (old dinosaur though it is, it is still functional)
Handphone + charger
Digital camera (Dad is going to buy me one!! Whee!!)
Travel alarm clock
Extra pair of shoes to walk around in
Small hand torch
Small personal stash of medicine (panadol, clarinase, nasal spray, etc)

Non-Essential But Still Brings:
MP3 Player (if my mother buys a new one, I will inherit her old Creative which is still way better than my Samsung Yepp which is now falling apart at the seams. *cross fingers*)
Discman
Sketch book
Books to read (Trinity Blood novels + Leather-clad woman on cover book)
Electronic dictionary + travel Japanese-English dictionary (otherwise how to read my ToriBla, you tell me?)
Drawing pencils
Bits of accessories (earrings mainly)
1 or 2 small carry bags/purses

Would Like To Brings:
Photo Albums
Anime (NO NO NO!! Focus Siew Mai, FOCUS!!)
My scanner
My speakers (but obviously, this is not going to happen. (T_T) So sad.)
1-person rice-cooker or crock pot
Oil burner (it’s shaped like a teapot and stove! Very cute!)

And of course, Nekoweenie mentioned I should bring make-up... But I'm still debating whether or not I really need to bring any over. I hardly wear make-up in Singapore as it is...

It's not a complete list, I'll probably add and erase stuff as I go along. Suggestions and tips are most welcome of course, especially from those of you who've been overseas studying before.

Flight Confirmed

First must report on my treadmill achievements! (^_^) Did a full hour today!! Yay!! Only breaked for about 5 seconds after 15 min to change treadmills coz the headphone console thingy on the first one was a bit wonky. Have no idea what my average speed is. Was too whooped after the whole thing to notice the scrolling numbers on the LCD display. Top speed was 9km/h though, the jogging/running started at 7.5km/h and lasted for about 45min (yes, i take 15min to warm-up... :p). So I'm guessing total average speed is about 7km/h? Yay!! So happy. Legs all tingly and threatening to give way after that.

Mum is suggesting I join her at the Mizuno run for the 10km route. Wondering whether or not I should give it a try. Actually I'm more interested in the 40% discount off shoe purchases after you register but then I'd actually have to do the run. (T_T)

Anyhow, after my dad and I ok-ed the proposed dates, it is now confirmed that I will be flying 13 September, Tuesday. Suddenly seems so fast hor... My goodness. I'm really going over!!!

13hr 30min flight time to London, followed by another 1hr 30min to Aberdeen. (O_O)'" My joints will lock and freeze...

Siew Mai Play Water

Wheeee!!! So long never swim liao!! So fun!!!

Went to the NUS pool to go swimming with Monkey, who attempted to go one further than her other zen monkey cousins. The result was a lot of talking between every 2 laps of the small pool. Wanted to swim in the big pool but it was being hogged by all these poser jocks with bad tans and thinktheylookdamnhotbutactuallydamnugly faces. Don't these people have lectures to go for or tutorials to bid for?? So free ahr... Ok lah, some of the bodies were worth looking at. But most of them were just... Ew. Especially those in silver swimming trunks. EEYER!! *pui*

After treating the YIH canteen to the rare sight of one monkey and one dim sum wolfing down cooked potential-chick and briyani-ed dead bird, the monkey went off to an interview whilst I went off to the bank to get a new passbook and apply for a debit card.

For some reason, the supplementary card my dad is applying for me is taking forever to process. Just last week I had to re-submit some form for the card. So in case this card doesn't come through, I will be getting a POSB debit card. I've been avoiding this for the simple reason that it's one more temptation for easy-spending. (T_T) 忍，烧麦，忍！

Things Are Speeding Up!!

Hehehe... My legs are tingling. (^_^) So proud of myself. Even though only walked/jogged/ran for slightly less than usual (40 minutes only today), I did manage to push my average speed up to 7.1km/h with a top speed of 9.5km/h. *satisfied look* So proud of myself!! And did 3 sets each of leg presses and hamstring curls. Want to to do quart extensions but 1)the machines were all taken and 2)I had to rush off to the UK Visa Application Centre to collect my passport. They only allow you to collect between 4pm to 5pm. Damn weird lah.

In any case, I got my entry clearance!! Hee hee!!! So cool!!! Ok cheap thrill. But it's so exciting!!! Heheheheh!!! Now I just have to nail down that travel agent... He's supposed to have come back from leave on Friday.. Hmph.
[8.44pm Update]
My mum just forwarded me a tentative itinerary from the travel agent. Tentative date to leave is 13th September. Once things are confirmed, I'll post again for anyone who may be interested.

Good Times, Good Friends (^_^)

I just had to put this in a separate post. To put yesterday's August MMM & today's outing together in the same post would make either one seem less significant somehow. And they were both very important to me in their own special way. So they both deserve a separate post. My weekend has been made, thanks to the Triple-Letter Event gang and a very good friend. :)

Today was spent hanging out at Cineleisure with Phoenich (who STILL hasn't updated his blog. Tsk) who paid for my lunch (soft shell crab & prawns) from Cafe Cartel. Thank you! (^_^) And he even had a very sweet surprise. What I thought was a new handphone for himself (although I didn't tell him that. Wahahaha) was actually a matching winter cap & scarf set for me to take to Scotland. I think the waitress thought he was proposing or something though. Bwahahaha... She looked embarrassed at having to interrupt just to tell Phoenich that they'd run out of rodeo ribs. *snigger* But it was very sweet. Thank you Phoenich. (^_^)

After a rather fishy lunch [tip to everyone in general: just go with the red meat.], we went up to watch 七剑 Seven Swords. It was quite an enjoyable show, although I didn't quite get the ending. I guess it's one of those wuxia movies which leave space for future directors/scriptwriters to pick up where it left. And I can't decide if the kids were reciting a poem with all the swords' names inside. Didn't quite catch the words. Ah well, who cares about the kids when there's 甄子丹 Donnie Yen!!! *swoon* So cool!! Oh the swords were quite cool too. Of all the swords I liked 天瀑剑 the Heaven's Fall sword best. (^_^)v Donnie!!!

The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to find, then navigate the children's section of Kinokuniya; trying to send each other off by MRT even though we were both actually just going to take a straight bus back to our respective homes, and walking one big pointless round through Orchard MRT to the Orchard Boulevard exit when we could've just walked right through Popular.

How to say this without sounding mushy (I've actually backspaced this line countless times already)... Phoenich, you'll be one of those friends I'll miss tonnes, even though you never knew my real name until months after we first met and that was AFTER Guowei had to tell you. :p Ok enough mush. *shiver shiver cringe cringe*

Good food, good time spent doing ultimately meaningless things and good company. What more could a siew mai ask for.

Well. Ok. The food was a bit suspect but hey! Two out of three ain't bad.

Another Successful MMM

And may I add, extremely filling. I'm still feeling the effects of it since yesterday actually. Fwoooh.

As usual, the polite dinner conversation just disintegrated into a lot of talk about sex, pron and big... assets. And since this time round we had some guests from the other side of the globe - Andrew from US and Roger from Holland - the Monkey even treated us to an online flash animation of international "comings". Andrew seemed rather embarrassed by all the sex talk, though I can't imagine why. :p His Dutch friend though was just unfazed by it all.

It was 5 hours of wholesome great fun, companionship, laughter and too much good food which passed by all too quickly. And who could forget the lessons in Singlish 101. ("KSM NB KNN!!!")

Apologies are in line though, as I totally forgot about the onesingaporeminute item that all the guests were supposed to bring. Even the Budaks brought Mr. Budak's duck. In the end, we never took the OSM photos as many of us forgot. Truly sorry for spoiling your plans Monkey. (T_T) How can this poor dim sum make it up to you...

Also as usual, I cannot post any photos as the siew mai does not own a digital camera. *hint hint to anyone in general* So here is my monthly report on the menu:

August MMM Food Roll Call
1) Beef, seafood & vegetable kebabs - Monkey
2) Homous - Monkey
3) Mini chicken pies - Ash
4) Not-so-lumpy potato salad - Joelle
5) Fried sausages - Siew Mai
6) Spiced cous cous disguised under.. Stuff - Siew Mai
7) Vegetarian soba - Mr & Mrs Budak
8) Wines - The Budaks & LHam (who brought "the best chateau in France!!" according to Roger)
9) Evil poison Hagen Daaz ice cream cake - Laurence
10) More evil poison NYDC brownies - Andrew & Roger

(O_O)"' I still cannot believe that we practically wiped out the whole spread, except for half of the cake and half the potato salad. My conscience is killing me after all that. I have to confess.

Forgive me Treadmill, for I have sinned....

Next up: SSS. Who's coming? (^_^)v

Ignore This Gripe

A couple of LJ-using friends have been trying convince me to switch over. The main draw being the user's ability to make certain entries private and accessible only to the user's friend list. Never really saw the point of it really. Don't want anyone to read your blog? Make like Monkey and remove RSS capabilities or if, like me, you're technologically-challenged, just don't blog about it! Private story-telling is what handphones and relay chat applications were invented for. But after reading a certain recent entry, I began to see the advantages of a private entry, so to speak. Since, as we all know, anything put on the WWW is ultimately never actually private. So rather than risk discovery, I'll just stick to the proven method of not saying anything. And I doubt I'll be switching anytime soon. I still find that LJ is rather unfriendly.

Maybe when I start a Siewmai’s Scotland Stories blog. We’ll see.

Guess The Word of The Day

Gym this morning was no shiok. Usually I'd walk/jog/run 45min to 1hour at an average speed of about 6.8km/h (Mrs Budak still win hands down. *bows down and kowtows* My mother confirm also win me. Actually I think my sis also win me... (T_T) ), followed by about an hour of weights training. Today only walked/jogged/ran 30min at average speed of 6.6km/h. And only did 2 super-sets of shoulder press and upright rows. (T_T) Absolutely no shiok. But then again I promised Shane I'd blanjah him coffee during his 8am break. So bo pian.

Went to watch 江湖阿嫂 (Mob Sister) after that since there was nothing better to do. At first I thought I was going to be the only person in the theatre. So cool!!! (ok cheap thrill...) But after about five minutes some uncles started to walk in one by one. (-_-)"'

I have come to this conclusion about Hong Kong mob movies:
1) It's all about the 义气. Brudderhood!!
2) There must be the obligatory tough bitch 阿嫂 and obligatory SYT (read: sweet young thing)
3) Must have a fair share of betrayal (whereupon one betrayee will scream at the betrayer: 《去你妈的!!我们是兄弟!!!讲义气的!!!》 simple translation: BRUDDERHOOD!!!), romance - unrequited or otherwise, and plenty of car-crash-car scenes.
4) Fight scenes or death scenes must either be slow motion or (dunno what the technical term is) overlapped, like those going mad scenes.
5) The point of the movie is that there doesn't have to have a point. ... ... BRUDDERHOOD!!!!!

Actually watching movies alone is quite fun, as I've discovered recently. At least during the more poignant moments in the movie, your emotionally unstable very sentimental friend doesn't lean over, grab your sleeve and go "Ooooooh!!!". And there's no one squealing into your ear just when you've managed to convince yourself to ignore the lousy acting and believe that the character IS that character. Can you just watch the MOVIE already??? Egads.

Of course, watching with friends (BRUDDERHOOD!!!) is still a great thing which I wouldn't replace. But hey, once in a while it actually isn't that bad to be the lone siew mai in a steamer. Or in this case, single pack freeze-dried siew mai.

Kuching Thoughts

The closer 19th September gets, the more I start to think about what things I'm going to miss when I'm there gawking at kilted bums studying.

At this moment the thing that is one my mind the most is Kuching. I'm sure as hell going to miss the food there. Especially...

[Image from Kuching Guide]

Konlo Mee!! Argh... Just the thought of it is making me salivate. And how to forget Sarawak Laksa!!! ARGH!! Dammit. Haiz. But food aside... There is one very very important reason why I want to go back to Kuching before I leave...

I want to see my grandpa. But timing seems to be a little tricky. Sigh. (T_T) I miss my Gonggong.

Signs of Growing Old?!?!

1) I'm losing hair. Seriously.
2) I've got about as much white hair as my mother. Beneath all that dye that is.
3) I've forgotten what I wanted to blog about besides putting up the SSS notice. The previous 2 points were just to lead up to this point. Really.
4) I'm sleeping a lot.
...
But then again I always sleep a lot. Oh well. Lalala!

Saw this posted on Monkey's and Mrs Budak's blogs. It's a letter written by the mother of a homosexual guy. Originally posted on eddyworld, it is a really thought-provoking letter.

I too cannot stand this thing about a "homosexual agenda". I have friends who are gay or lesbian, and they are no different from anyone else. They have families and friends who love them and whom they love. If they are guilty of anything it would be wanting to be accepted and to be loved.

I think that sounds "normal" enough.

Anyhow, here's the beginning paragraph of the letter:

"Many letters have been sent to the Valley News concerning the homosexual menace in Vermont. I am the mother of a gay son and I've taken enough from you good people. I'm tired of your foolish rhetoric about the "homosexual agenda" and your allegations that accepting homosexuality is the same thing as advocating sex with children. You are cruel and ignorant. You have been robbing me of the joys of motherhood ever since my children were tiny."
(Full Letter )

You don't have to agree with this dear woman's opinions, or with those who support her stand. But if you do, please do repost this letter on your blog or website, and hopefully open the eyes and heart of one more person.

At Long Last...

Actually not that long. Maybe about two months?

Today I finally met my sister's boyfriend. With all the talk about him being from her senior class and now currently serving in NS, I always had this impression of him being much taller than her, maybe a little buffed up from BMT and (hopefully) somewhat mature looking. So this morning after church, mum and I went to Ya Kun at J8 to have breakfast with the both of them.

He is a dweeb.

Scrawny, quiet, lost-looking with geek glasses (there are funky glasses and there are geek glasses. His were geeky.), only slightly taller than my sis... He is a dweeb.

But, I will give this to him - he is a nice dweeb. At least he was polite and when you speak to him he does engage in a conversation rather than go, "erm.. yah.. uhm.." And after further scrutinizing observation, I can say that he's sweet enough to my sis. Helped her buy groceries. *resists cringing from saccharine-ness* Anyway, I can't really make a full conclusion about him since I've only just met him. But he seems nice enough. So that will do for now.

*shakes head*
The bimbo and the dweeb. This will be interesting...

What Was Your Question Again?

Sorry for the lack of entries, been trying to sort out exactly what was going on with the university's admissions office and when exactly I am expected to report there. So now that most of the drama is over, I will hold a short question and answer session, starting with a very stressing question...

Budak: Why no SSS???

1) No SSS in August because my sis is having her A-level prelim exams until the end of the month and my parents are dead against any possible distractions.
2) Because of the situation mentioned in the previous post, it seemed that my entry date into Aberdeen would be a month earlier than expected. Meaning I’d go in middle of August instead of mid-September. So September SSS is out too.

Everyone else: So what’s up with the two acceptance certificates? Do you really have to go in early?

Apparently, the second certificate was sent purely for the purpose of informing me about the pre-sessional course. And it wasn’t the computing course they were referring to. I was supposed to attend the pre-sessional English course, meant for international students whose first language is not English. How thoughtful of them, they must’ve realized that my first language is Swahili.

After multiple trunk calls (my poor phone bill… (T_T) ) and countless e-mails, a conclusion was reached – since my paper qualifications in English (i.e. my O & A-level exams which incidentally were taken in English… Oh such HORROR! (-_-)"' ) were much higher than most (Oh? Not all?) students required to take the course and since I am obviously competent in its usage (Oh REALLY?? Thank you, so are you!), I would not have to take the course. The course, according to the final e-mail I received from them, “is there is you wish to attend to improve your English.” [note: there are no typos in the quoted line. This is exactly how the sentence appeared in the e-mail.]

So the answer is no, I do not have to go in earlier.

Siew Mai (on behalf of the MMM gang): So… SSS…??

Yes, I do believe that there can be a September Siewmai Supper. I will tentatively set the date as 3rd September, Saturday. If there are no audible or visible objections, then this shall be the date of the much anticipated September Siewmai Send-off. Will e-mail again once a consensus is reached. Silence means consent. HAH!