make me your superHero......

the poetic past n future

2009-09-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

the death behind with
noise that binds what we recall
the memories in a hidden breath
blowing through the open moor

the life ahead but
in phases of the crooning sparrow
the tune lays silent in the cards
for one can only pine for tomorrow

- Ziwen

tryin, tryin, trying

2009-06-14T05:37:00.000-07:00

waitin,
what we want in life they so often ask,
to be contented. But isnt content itself a measure.
waitin,
i'm prepping myself, prepping myself everyday, prepping myself for.
waitin

the summer, the atrociously HOT summer

2009-06-11T08:15:00.000-07:00

i have eyes for which i cant find u;
i have voice for which i cant tell u;
i have ears for which i cant hear u;
i have heart for which i cant give u.
Yet,
end of the day isit about you?
Or isit just I

(inspired by Kazuo Ishiguro's new book, Nocturnes)

anybody wants to sing with me? (not that i can sing to start with)

2009-05-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

主唱：方大同
作曲：方大同

歌詞
I wrote this song
It’s not too long, cause I've been thinking bout you

I wrote this song
Maybe I’m wrong, to be called all about you
I don’t know what you think about me, Maybe you think nothing at all
But,maybe you could just lie to me. We could be in love, you see

Oh its a sing a long song that not too long
It’s when I think about you then I hear songs
and you can sing along,
Maybe if you won’t want to
Cause baby i wrote,
i wrote this for you

photog update..

2009-05-05T18:29:00.001-07:00

was browsing thru Trekearth this morning in class saw this cool picture

Titled: Until the Cows Come Home

By : Brian Graney.
"Out for a walk high in the Yorkshire Dales.There was a storm coming and the cows in the field could sense it's approach so they were heading down to shelter."

listening

2009-05-05T11:36:00.000-07:00

(for a Gantang like me, the lyrics are pretty simple)

作词:阿沁陈天佑吴易纬
作曲:阿沁
演唱:萧敬腾

请不要分了以后, 还记得亲吻过的承诺
你的永久已不属於我
默默低头那时我很多话梗在喉咙

你的笑你的快乐不是我爱太多想太多
我能感受他比我适合
爱放了手我伪装冷漠比你先说分手

请原谅我
原谅我不成熟
不爱你是藉口
好让你离开我

请原谅我
好想自私将你占有
一个寂寞就给我承受
换你过更好的生活

爱过恨过哭过也笑过
亲吻过你的脆弱
其实我比谁都要懦弱

antonym

2009-04-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

for a time never to be
a want never to leave
and the one who's never to begin

for-never..

for u

2009-04-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

Footprints in the sands - Leona Lewis (no its not bleeding love)

You walked with me
Footprints in the sand
And helped me understand
Where I'm going

You walked with me
When I was all alone
With so much unknown
Along the way

And just when I I thought I'd lost my way
You gave me strength to carry on
That's when I heard you say

I promise you I'm always there
When your heart is filled with sorrow
And despair

And I'll carry you
When you need a friend
You'll find my footprints in the sand
When I'm weary
Well I know you'll be there
Cause I can feel you
When you say

Pisa n Cinqueterre ~ the adventure of my life

2009-03-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

So Pisa, as always is the Leaning Tower of Pisa (cliche as it may sound) but yea i saw it, actually its not leaning anymore haha.

The highlight of my Italy trip had to be the NEAR-DEATH encounter that i had @ Cinqueterre, off La Spezia. A little brief before my story, Cinqueterre (the 5 worlds) is a quaint little town by the coast that houses 5 very prettttttty small villages directing facing the Sea. As such, it's also known as the most romantic place that Italians go to, one of the town has a connecting bridge called the Lovers' Path (nope, i went alone)

The adventure of a lifetime:
So i reached Cinqueterre around 2ish in the afternoon, after my visit to the leaning tower at Pisa. And after walking the Lovers Path, i wanted to continue walking towards the next little village along the sea. Unfortunately, there was a landslide the previous day and the coastal path was blocked. So this "KIND" lady at the tourism office pointed an alternative route that lead into the mountains, she said, "oh senore, if you want to experience the life of Cinqueterre, you can go by this mountain route which will lead you to the same place, and you can avoid the coastal path and see really pretty sights. You can take a rest at the top of the mountain in the Church even!"

There i go
Alors, so obviously i thought ar might as well since i'm all the way here. So i started walking up towards the mountain regions. And after half an hour of walking, i realized the path was getting steeper and steeper. So with my long legs (thk god for them) i started climbing alil and raising my legs higher each time i went on. After another 15 minutes of climbing, i wanted to turn back cause the route was getting way too narrow and the path became a nature's walk on big rocks and branches. I looked back and I saw that F!@#, it was way too steep for me to go the same way back down cause i was already 3/4 up the mountain (Yea i'm afraid of heights). Alright, so the Church came to my mind, so i picked up a stick and decided to quickly go up the mountain n maybe hitch a ride back down.

Maybe HE wasnt there:
So i climbed and climbed and walked and walked. And all this while there was no one in sight cause it was already 4 and the sun was starting to set! (Did i mention i was all alone for this trip?)
So i started to be alil panicky and walked really fast all the way until the top of the Church. What greeted me was no friendly, Senore, can i help you, it was merely some candles in the Cathedral and Christ. I was like OMG, there is no one at all and honestly that place spooked me alil.

The Sun was kind:
Judgin from the sun, i knew i had to get down the mountain quick if not if it gets dark i'm a goner. So i started to walk down the EVEN FURTHER path (more gradual slope but way longer). I started to pick up my pace and walk really fast along the slope, but the path merely led me to yet another mountain. And the entire path was right beside a steep cliff kinda place, those that you know once you fall, u're a goner. I slipped once or twice when i was blasting music thru my phone to keep myself awake and not paying attention and it scared the hell out of me.

Keep goin, just keep goin, have alil faith
For the first time in my life, i pry open my small little eyes, and i guess because of the fear, there was a whole lot of adrenalin rush. So i kept walking and walking, at 100% level of awareness to avoid falling down the cliff. Then out of no where, i heard wolves howling i guess the sun was setting. So i started to really pick up my pace and walked on n on n on really fast. It didnt helped that both my phones had no connection and the GPS on the Omnia was not working either. I knew i just had to keep going, if the sun sets, without connection nothing, i'm finished. After almost 2 hrs around 6, i finally finished all 3 mountains and i met an old Italian Couple. I was so FIRKing happy to see life around me that i shouted "OMG LIFE!!!"

I can take on the world
After some sign language conversation, i realized the Italian couple took 5 hrs, they started from noon, to reached where we were, and i bloody hell tok 2 1/2 (thks long legs). So i tagged along with the 2 of them n peacefully made my way down. (I was way too scared of losing sight of life again). This was definitely the highlight of my Italian trip, and i was dead beat at the end of the day, but just happy deep down that i made it .................................

Florence river, love the reflections

The Duomo of Pisa

The Field of Miracles

The Leaning Tower of Pisa of course.

The first Cinqueterre village

At the mountain top (sun was setting, from the following pictures u can tell)
Yes i was really at the top of the mountain

I thought i was goin to fall off

The little sticks are used to prevent ppl from falling off, obviously too small to serve its purpose

The sun almost gone

Finally on my way down.....

Florence

2009-03-13T03:42:00.001-07:00

Alright its down to Florence now. And off to a really good start cause i met a really nice Florentine woman ( she's the caretake of the hostel) and she told me alot about the culture of Italians and of course the fantastic dinner place Il Contadino that you will see later. Something she said about one's second life is quite intereting.

She believs that people are often on face front nice which is why when you're a tourist and you smile a lot (like Moi :> heh), people will generally treat you real nice. However people are often forced by circumstances to do stuff (ugly ones like drug trafficking and all) in the so called second life.

So it kinda makes me wonder if life is really as multi-layered as it is and perhaps sometimes we dont even know whose lives we are living

Btw i've been walking around a lot by myself recently and meeting random people on the streets. I'm quite glad most people tell me i look like a friendly chap and if there's one thing i know about life from all these is that: The easiest way to connect with people is to Flash you big Bright Smile (No Not the maniac, pervertic kind), but the genuine Hey nice to meet you kind.

The Florence Duomo

Light shines thru the foot of the hill

Micheangelo statue on the top of the Piazza Micheangelo

A bird's eye view of Florence

For the Vroom Vroom riders, Viv n Jiannie, paiseh ar no VESPA made in wood

The Florence River

Yummy traditional Florentine dinner at Il Contadino (means farmer in Italian)

So i ate RABBIT pasta yep Piong Piong RABBIT

Streets of Florence

IF you look close enough, u can see the crescent moon n a little star above it

Rome Day 3 - of beasts and gladiators .

2009-03-11T11:22:00.000-07:00

What's a visit to Rome if I didnt go to the infamous Colosseum and experience the life of the gladiator right?

So i headed to the Colosseum on day 3 of my stay in Rome n this place was a WOW-er. EVerything about the Colosseum, the architecture, the concept, the ideal of a platform for the commoners n royalty to enjoy excitement tgt, everything is simply WOW. Its like a picture coming alive in front of you. And not to forget the ruins where those who saw Apocalypto will probably remember a scene, where the guy is supposed to run away while being attacked by some warriors. So here is the COLOSSEUM AND THE ANCIENT RUINS........

Arco di Constantino

The facade of the Colosseum

The entrance of the gladiators and the beastssssssss ROARRRR

The Colosseum grandstand

The concrete slab in the middle of the picture were the seats of the Royalty

The Palatino (the apocalypto scene i was talking about)

The Ancient Ruins around the Colosseum

The lonely tree left behind

Ruinsssss

More Ruinsssssss
The majestic Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II

Rome Day 2

2009-03-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

(The Vatican city panoramic view, blogspot constrain the proportions so cant b too big)

Its time for Vatican. And seriously after visiting Vatican, the next cathedral that you see is just Bahhh...... Vatican City is apparently the place where the grave of the first Pope, Saint Peter was first discovered. In the history of time, it says that someone once found a rock saying, St. Peter is here with an arrow pointing downwards. Then the entire Vatican city soon was erected on top of the tomb with St Peter's remains being the sacred relic of Vatican. and Nope, nothing Angels n Demons around this place that i saw, heh maybe i wasnt looking hard enough,can't see the intricate details of the freemasons! aaha

The big cathedral ceiling

HOLY!!!

The art piece of Micheangelo

The cupola
A Bird's Eye view of St Peter's Basilica Square
Some random picture which has lotsa artists!!

Rome Day 1

2009-03-06T01:58:00.000-08:00

So i spent a good 3 days in the most beautiful city of Italy, in ROME!!!! hahaha. Arriving on the first day, i obviously had to try to famous pizzas in Italy right. Yep so had some pizza before heading out to look around Rome. ITs a small yet big place. Small because its really convenient to walk around yet big cause there's just endless amount or artifacts, monuments, churches, buildings that all had a real great deal of historical value in them

The pizzas in Rome are made really BIGGGG n whatever u order they just weigh them and charge them accordingly. No Pan Pizza, no super thin crust no nothing, just YUMMY CHARCOAL BAKED PIZZA with lotsa ingredients!

Hard Rock Cafe Rome, there just had to be one everywhere.

The Spanish Steps

A lighted street, view from the top of Trinita Del Monti

Piazza del Popolo, the 2 cathedrals are built absolutely identical

The Tribunal Courts

Ponte St Angelo - The bridge is line with angels at each column of that leads to the final destination, feels like u're goin up there you know you know

Castel Sant Angelo - Micheangelo used to stay here

Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II

The pretty ceiling of Sant Ignazio di Loyola

This is OBVIOUSLY the Pantheon

The Pantheon facade

What is Rome without the world famous Trevi Fountain

Piazza della Repubblica

The River - Fiume Tevere

Carnaval de Venice - Bal Masque, which one do u like?

2009-03-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

I'm in the land of masks and hidden identity!! haha Its quite cool seeing the city that everyone says is gonna sink soon with all the wonderful masks around. Personally i think its a conspiracy theory just to make more tourists come to Venice every year :P. Its quite amazing seeing how people are really dressed up for and event like that, even on the train toward venice you can see all the funky dressed up dudes and dudettes.

On a sidenote, the festival actually aims to celebrate freedom of expression and equality where the poor can also dress up and be treated equally like the rich in the past. Coolsz. We should have 1 in Singapore to celebrate zero differences between races. lol

P.S. i took so many shots of mask-ed people that i was quite sian at the end of the trip haha. So guys take your pick choose which outfit u like best hah.

P.S.S really happy i've been able to come on this cool trip (thks dad n mum) such an experience to remember, when will you ever walk in the streets with a fancy mask right ?

Fancy masks on the display shelf

Dont want a mask? you can always paint it on ur face instead

The classic Venice gondola! (60 Euros for a ride around Venice, no way!)

The mask i chose, its black n white and have cool musical staves n notes on it

Oh n we crashed a cooking lesson there in Venice!! haha too bad everything was in italian so dont understand a shit

Someone tell me how to read this clock pls

Port of Venice

The Central Piazza

I think the guy wasnt too happy when i snatched her wife to take a snapshot

The streets of Venice at Night~

Ok so here begins the many many MANY costume-ed people that i saw along the streets, they were everywhere! (and i love to name them haha)

1) the 4 seasons

2) The accidental collision of fabrics

3) Romeo n Juliet with a red vengeance
4) Peahens can be pretty too
5) The double-faced shorttie, he was really short, hrmm maybe he was a she?
6) the colours on the Italy flag
7) Oranges come in Pairs, which explains Gong Xi Gong Xi
8) The joker at the corner
9) The act cute duo
10) The beanstalk without Jack
11) Furry carpet

Fashion Capital Milan!

2009-03-02T14:06:00.000-08:00

First day in the fashion capital of the world. And wAAA the people here all carry branded bags and look pretty. Lol so went to the Duomo of Milan and apparently its modelled after some scary gothic theme which explains the numerous spokes on the facade of the cathedral. A nice place to be in if u're in Fashion studies i guess (yoohooo Eunice, this is your place)
Scarla Theatre, one of the oldest theatres in Europe

The Duomo in Milan

The interior of the Duomo

Fengshui in Milan??

The super big shopping mall lined with ENORMOUS Gucci, Prada, Armani, Dolce, lalala. P.S most of the shops have cafe inside the shops itself WAAAAAA

2009-02-17T13:28:00.000-08:00

So there is this big Citrus festival (le fete du Citron) going on at Menton around 40 minutes off Nice which i went with my exchange friends the Sunday before and here are the pictures! It's basically a festival where every year Menton's best production of Citrus fruits (lemons, oranges, lime, pomelos) are used to make big parade themes. Think Chingay jsut that everything is made of citrus fruits. Combined with some funky parade from all walks of life, the citrus festival is formed!

The first woman with a Huge wheel feathery thingy stuck on her

Some masque theme (i'm gonna go to Venice n see the real ones haha)

Funky blown up clowns that purposedly fell onto the crowd
Care for some tango?

Its Disco time!

I dont think i can stay in this house, i'll end up eating the walls and roof off
I call this car Lao Pok Kum

Me n Sofie trying to do some failed tango move, apparently Menton is holding the international dance Tango competition this year i think

Anyone knows what this instrument is called??

Jenny n I in front of a Big Hat way too big for both of us

Babuska Dolls in Orange of course

For Viv n Hanwen, no Zara heels, but there's Orange n Lemon one hahaha

funky 80's lemon billboard with live music!

Avignon n Aix En Provence

2009-02-15T08:41:00.000-08:00

Nothing much to do this weekend so i went to Avignon and Aix en Provence for a short day trip on saturday. The first thing i get when i got off the train is, WA THE WIND SO STRONG!!!! Avignon is a pretty plain city, nothing fancy just the pretty River Rhone and the Palace of the Popes. So those who read the Knight Templar stories will know that for a period of time in history Rome was not that safe a place for popes to reside, so in seeking refuge, they found Avignon. Nice place to visit but definitely a 1 day visit

The River Rhone

Pont St Benezet

Hotel Monnaine

Palace of the Popes (entrance)

Palace of the Popes (inner wing)

Palace of the Pope (the cathedral with the Crucifix and a golden statute up on top)

Inside the Cathedral Notre Dame de Dons

Sarcophagus/Coffin of the popes

Nasi Lemak!!

2009-02-12T04:44:00.000-08:00

craving for nasi lemak and after a few hours my craving came true! Muahahah

Breaded Chicken Drumstick
Fried Egg
Cucumber
Sambal Chilli
And some heartwarming pork floss from SG! heh

any orders for Lemon Cheesecake ?

2009-02-10T12:12:00.000-08:00

so i've been craving for some good old cheesecake so what better way then to make it myself!

Its a really easy to make recipe that i found online and Voila my lemon cheesecake, YUMMMYY

Things u need:

Mascarpone Cheese

Full cream yoghurt

Milk

Whipped Cream Topping

A pinch of honey

Lemonade Flavour Mix

n a pretty good right hand to whisk it like crazy

I'm gonna make it for the people back at home when i'm back home haha i'm gonna try the Peach Soufflés recipe next :)

Had a few BIG bites off it heh First time i eat such a big cheesecake all by myself INDULGENCE

Trip to Bordeaux

2009-02-08T07:31:00.000-08:00

So this weekend i'm taking a 10hr train all the way to Bordeaux, so before i leave i decided to have a sumptous n yummy dinner. So i made this roast chicken stew and macaroni and cheese :) This is for the worried mum at home who thought that i'm not eating just because i never post pictures of food.

Jianwei's gonna give me the "This is not a FOOD blog speech............."

Parcel from the all my crappy friends in SG. Itinerary:
Scary Chinese New Year music in CD (I bet this came from Jianwei)
2 Lightsticks in case of power shock
Soya sauce 1 packet
1 Alcohol swap
1 Box of Javanese curry (the only thing i like in this pack)
Lotsa heartwarming messages or NOT
Thks ppl hahaha, no wonder u're my crappy friends

First you roast the chicken and stir-fry the veg with butter then u combine everything n TADA

No rice this time, but Macaroni Cheese Salami!

The people at Bordeaux and Robin from Toulouse

Pont Neuf De Pierre - 9th Bridge of Pierre

Mini Arc of Triumph ????

The Cool museum and City centre of Bordeaux

Some flying statue

This building is kinda cool as the top of the building is laden with lotsa different sculptures all different from the other

This is called Antoine a specialty of France

It taste like Nian Gao to me heh

The Macaroons which are super expensive here in France

There was a Circus goin on in town

Eglise Notre Dame - the french ppl are how creative always naming the churches the same names

We decided to have a picnic at the City centre of BordeauxSome Eerie looking building hahahaThe Night Sky of Bordeaux

Paris, Je t'aime (part 5)

2009-02-05T13:29:00.001-08:00

So finally i've reached the blogging of the first day that i arrived in Paris. Its for around 3pm that i reached Gare de Lyon Paris and for all francophile fanatics like myself, Paris is a sight to behold. Somehow Paris, je t'aime is the only thing that i can say about it.

Its funny how the architecture is so magnifique yet it just gently tinkles your heart everytime you see it. I guess thats what they called love, and Paris is not the city of romance for nothing

Somehow or rather when i'm posting all these, i feel that i'm a really lucky boy. My parents themselves have never been to Paris or London and yet at the age of 23, they've done everything to fulfil my little wish of travelling the world. Thks mum n dad!

Notre Dame Cathedral at the back with its flying buttress roots trees

The entrance of Notre Dame Cathedral This darn place took 300 years to build. WOW

The pedestral of Notre Dame

The stained glass culture. When light shines through the stainglasses at Noon, the shadows will be cast on the floor and it tells the story usually of Christ in the Old Testament and the New Testament

Evening shot of Paris

The National Opera House of Paris

Lourve at night

The Greek/Roman/French sculptures in the Lourve. By the way there was a impromptu i'm guessing by arts student going on in the museum when we visited. So basically they're topless and running around shouting weird foreign language and re-enacting the scene in history

Somehow this statue reminds me of Vivien, abit gila looking but a really strong person actually. By the way, she's St Jeanne D'Arc

The Mona Lisa, it is actually quite small and though its priceless i think its a little eerie looking to me. Like errr where are the brows man?

The beautiful Lourve at night

The Night scene of Paris. The Eiffel tower has a beacon that spins around 360 degrees at night so i waited and waited on the bridge for this shot

The Parliament House which is adorned with numerous lights that blink endlessly in the night. Apparently, every year for Xmas this place will have a special theme to it so i'm guessing this year is Starry Starry Night

For Hanwen: I found aNOTHER XMAS TREE for u in front of Notre Dame Cathedral!

Paris, Je t'aime (part 4)

2009-02-03T05:13:00.000-08:00

So today's the touring day of the major city sights around Paris, so we managed to find this free tour under Sandemann to bring us around the city. As you can see, we reallly went AROUND the city. Paris is essentially divided into different arrondissements which spirals outwards and the best way to view everything is to spiral inwards haha

Musee du Lourve in the morning (I've better shots at night will post them soon)

So this is our funky tour guide with Pink MOehog hair for the day and apparently he used to be an actor of some sorts in States. Yea i know American in PAris

The Square Courtyard behind the Lourve Museum

The very melodramatic atypical artist drawing on the bridge

The National Institute of Translation - Apparently the french are trying to dominate the world by translating everything that comes into France into French!!! hahaah just kiddin

The Golden Obelisk - engraved on the sides of the obelisk are instructions on how to put the obelisk back up if it ever falls, how innovative right, they had instruction manual all the way back then
Let me telll u something about this horsey.
1) If 2 hoofs are lifted, the person was assassinated
2) If 2 front hoofs are lifted, the person died valiantly in battle
3) If all 4 hoofs are on the floor, the person die a natural death

Garden Tuileries - Think summer will look nicer though

Along some random bridgeLa TOur EIFFEEEEELLLL - Finalllly Finallllly finalllllYYYYY so pretty
Zi pai on the way

The arc of triumph of NapoleonThe Eternal Flame at the Arc of Triumph. Apparently some years ago a few Brazilians were depoted after peeing and extinguishing this flame after being angry that France beat Brazil at the World Cup. Guess what the brazilian president then had to come back and light the flame for France. Talk about national pride

Moulin Rouge - Come what mayyyyyyy

The PLace where PICASSSSSSSSSO first started painting

The then house of Vincent Van Gogh - Yes i think Van Gogh and Picasso live quite near each other, say 3 mins walk?

Cathedral Sacre Coeur (Sacred heart at the top of Montmartne)

Paris je t'aime (part 3)

2009-01-29T10:48:00.003-08:00

its with despair that i'm postin tonight

its with love thats parting this light

its with mockery thats laughing at best

its with the wind that blows abreast......

First shopping then Disneyland PARIS

So u've seen in part 1 that i bought quite alot of stuff haha and most of them came from here!

The first of a series of Hats in Disney, i believe this is the wizard's edition

The disney shoppppppp , lotsa them everywhere!Me with the piglet earsThe Disneyland Paris castle, the french are so passionate even the castle is in PINK!Piglet for Vivien, hope she doesnt become oneThe EE-orrrr for the eeeeeeeeeeeelaine luiBig microwave gloves with mickey hand, HOT?!The mickey nutella bun eating baguette , the french waywhere's my alicethe haunted tower in Disney Studios (Disney in Paris has 2 parks, disneyland and disney studiosThe 2009 mickey hatYESSSS i went to Hollywoooood tOOThe pinkish girlie disney entrance castleresortI'm genie in a bottle or notThe Stitch ears!No i'm not Jack, looking for the golden goosePoooooh Bor Kia in actionI like Donald Duck more than Mickey actually though he's always bottomless The Evening sky at disneyThe disney castle at night

The last shot i took at Disneyland Paris. Very fun trip indeed but i think the Disney Japan was better somehow!

Paris, je t'aime (Part 2)

2009-01-28T10:02:00.000-08:00

Ok so after spending a couple of days sight-seeing, partying and looking around Paris, its time to shop!!. So we woke up early in the morning and head to Cimetiere Pere Lachaise where we found Oscar Wilde and Chopin's place. I know its a little hoohah to go to a cemetery on the first day of Chinese New Year, but u know some people believe that the cemetery is actually a holy cleansing place, I feel cleansed!!

The tombstone of Oscar Wilde, go catch the movie if u havent. All the red marks are lipstick marks left behind by his fans
The tombstone of Frederic Chopin, for the piano lovers like myself. Maybe he will show me some divine inspiration in playing his pieces lol

After which, I started a long walk from the Garden Tuileries towards Champs-Elysee. Oh we were at Tuileries because there is a super cool shop called Coulette there that sells all the limited edition goods around the world. I bought a pair of Starck's shoe laces that were really nice!
Pretty sights and architecture en route to Champs Elysee

Its Louis Vuitton time in Paris! This is the biggest LV in the world if i'm not wrong which has just opened recently. Here unlike that of Singapore, u get served like a King. U can even request for drinks and just tell them the bag designs u want and they'll bring it to u in a giffy. Fantastique! And i met some Singaporeans here also shopping for LV haha the accent was unmistakable, think her name was June. Cool person who bought at least 5 LV bags haha.
Crazy shopping at Champs-Elysee, Alright so i've got LV, my aunt's Fendi and Lacoste and Gstar n Celio and ........
The famous night scene of Champs-Elysee. Took this picture in the middle of the huge road, scary!

Ray, Sarah and I at a wonderful FRUITTY restaurant (every dish they serve has some fruit theme to it)

Sarah and I enjoying our (Fish coconut rice and Chicken pineapple riceeeee)

The super Cool Ray who loves Wong Kar Wai movies. He's Shawn friend in fact and it was gre8 that he was willing to put us up for our trip in Paris. He works at HERMES ok dont play play. And he stayed at the top floor of some building which had a panoramic view of Paris and u can even see the light from le Tour Eiffel!

Paris, je t'aime (Part 1)

2009-01-27T14:43:00.001-08:00

Since i'm back from my love love love PARIS, lets start from today and move backwards.

the view from the Bullet train back, yummy chocolate!

After a 6 hours bullet train back from Paris, I, finally with the help of Karenm managed to get all my stuff back to the room. Yes i know, its horrendous and it didnt help that the LV paper bag handle broked so i put it into the CK paperbag which handle came off as WELL....... So i have to hug the LV box back, with Fendi slinging on one side and my new CK bag packed with prezzies slinging on the other

So this is taken in my room haha, abit kua zhang but yea thats how much i bought ! lol i'm thinking of Italy and Spain n the amount i'll buy there haha, u guys think i can bring everything back to SG?? any bright ideas??

ziwen's first Opéra

2009-01-22T09:26:00.000-08:00

Yes, i went for the hardcore Opéra kind of opera at the théâtre de l'Opéra de Nice yesterday. I must say i was pretty impressed with the interiors and all. Think of Phantom's setting as in with box seats, red velvet chairs, long red curtains, victorian carvings, Picasso paints on the ceiling, big chandelier ...............

Oh well the opera was impressive especially the soprano who definitely had some lung implant to have some a LARGE BURST of some super HIGH note *STUNNED. I doubt she has very friendly neighbours with that voice of hers. haha. The opera yesterday was by Offenbach, titled Les Contes d'Hoffman. It supposedly comprises of 3 acts about romantique fantasie. And it was all in French so i have no idea what the hack they were saying but their expressions kinda made in easy to understand. I guess thats where the music afficionado will claim that music (even in the opera form) is one which requires no common medium.

The most funny part of the opera was like i said there were 3 acts but we left at the 2nd!!! haha thinking that the intermission at 10 plus was already the end. Funny crap.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

2009-01-19T12:58:00.000-08:00

To everyone in SG who is swarmed with CNY goodies, HAPPY CHINESE new YEAR

Minestrone soup in the making

Tada Done!
Had Carbonara that day and decided to make one myself too ahaha

CANNES ~ NRJ Music Awards! (like real)

2009-01-17T13:12:00.000-08:00

Had my first lemon fish for dinner ytd, not bad can do for chicken next time haha

Haha so aujourd'hui (today) i visited the famous CANNES where the annual Int'l Cannes film fest for 2 weeks in June is held.

First stop in Cannes was of course the Palais des Festival and the red carpet walk! Haha after seeing the red carpet i kinda wonder why ppl make all the effort to go there to start with not that impressive afterall wa.

Oh and coincidentally today was some NRJ Music Awards thing and stars like Gwen Stephani, Beyonce, Rihianna and some other int'l stars were gonna walk the red carpet at CANNES!! Haha no we didnt catch them in the end cause our train ticket was at 7 odd and by late 6 they're still not here. And besides i was turning into smoked chinese bah kwa cause EVERYONE around there was smoking like nobody's business and they didnt even bother to blow the smoke to somewhere where there was no one, they just blow it str8 at u.

The red carpet waitin for the stars to arrive

Darn if not i would have caught int'l celebs in real life. (haha not as though i'm a star chaser to begin with, just thot it would b fun to see Rihianna and tell her Ella Ella Elllaaaa eh eh ... Or tell Beyonce: Hey girl too bad, :P you're not a boy)

Had a nice lunch (Calzone pizza and Carbonara Spaghetti at La Piazza by the port of Cannes)

In the afternoon visited the Saint Maguerite island off Cannes and went to the Fort Royal. Its the place where there's the famous prisoner who head was sealed with an Iron Mask back in the 1600s. 4 centuries later n still no one knew who was behind the iron mask, cool eh

Scarily deserted (imagine the ticket seller n the museum curator's job)
An emo shot outside one of the dilapidated blocs

Inspirational or plain boring? i really dont know

2009-01-16T22:35:00.000-08:00

I've been taking this module called French Attitudes towards Self n Nation and boy i must say that our professor, Jean-Luc Vannier, for that module is really a very passionate guy. He speaks about the French History and the french revolution like it is his blood bleeding and something that he so firmly believes in.

He's really a nice guy cause we were discussing something about the Violon Concert that i attended and he started sending my some nice email invites to Barouquen music in Nice and Phil-harmonie Opera de Nice that kinda stuff. However i have to admit that his classes can be a taint boring especially when he drifts on to talking about philosphers like Descartes, Voltaire, Rosseaux, Aristocrat ............. zzzzz Oh well at least he kinda hint hint to us that no one will fail this course which is good enough for me haha.

Something he said last lesson struck me. Its about belonging and the rewinding of the quest of individualism. He mentioned something about how people from the past always stood up for individualism in a society that was bounded by hierachical system and all the regulation crap. But now as our society becomes more civilized and developed, people are instead looking for a group to belong in so desperately, especially in the younger generations. He mentioned "Where has individualism gone when all you do is to mould and shape urself to belong to a group, there are people who need others to tell them who they are so much that they cant live for themselves outside the group"

Oh well i cant help but wonder if its the people that makes the group what it is or the group that makes the people for whom they are.

and what if u dont even have a group to start with..

Sushi day!

2009-01-15T09:50:00.000-08:00

Today is Sushi day, had my first packed lunch to school and i woke up at 7am to make sushi. Oh well didnt finish all of it in the end so i had it for dinner again haha.

Things that went wrong

1) Did not use short-grained rice so it isnt exactly sticky

2) Did not wait for the egg mayo to cool down before putting in onto the sushi

3) Too greedy, cut too big a slice and i cant even stuff it into my mouth in one mouthful

The super big Fan Tuan hiding behind, its wrapped with my favourite Tuna :)

But a good FIRST attempt i must say, not bad right quite professional.

An all NEW Cre8tion

2009-01-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

Alright today i was trying to b innovative so i made something special for myself haha

Its called the RICE Lasagne though it vaguely resembles baked rice / MOS's rice burger

So basically i followed the exact same steps as making lasagne.

Prepared all the materials for the different layers

So these are the 3 layers, the first is Sausage on Cheese, second's Mushrooms and Onion, third's a huge serving on minced pork, tomatoes, basil and cheese. And to end it off i added Mimolette Cheese and Blue Cheese on top tgt with Kraft cheese

And if you look beyond its facade which kinda reminds me of a birthday cake, it tastes GREAT!! It's like a combination of good heart warming ingredients with my favourite RICE.

The finished product

My Last mouthful of it, YUMMY!

First day in school & Meeting the Fencing Olympic Champ :)

2009-01-12T13:18:00.000-08:00

First day in school:

Ok today is my officiel premiere jour d'ecole and there is only one word to describe it, SLACK! I have lessons like twice or thrice a week and then maybe only 1 lesson for another week. The following is my timetable:

p.s. Apparently the french education system promotes EXTREME flexibility so profs can anyhow schedule lessons and change lessons as and when they want. It explains why the timetable is so FLEXIBLE. If u look close enough you can see that i'm finishing European Tax Law (ET Law) by 03 Feb, what rubbish ?!!? :P but oh well we all learn i guess, different culture different ppl.

Met up with Nice-Visite members, aka The ppl who speak English in Edhec, aka the Overseas Exchange Buddies, aka Classmates (all those who were present at the Welcome session will be those taking the English track tgt with me). Nice ppl who are really friendly and for some reason, i think i have the clubbing face, everyone's asking if i have been to any clubs and whether i wanna join them, weirddddd

Fencing Olympic Sydney Champ 2000, World Champion 2003:
Jean Noel Ferrari (yes his surname is Ferrari)

Met up with Maitre Ferrari for a random fencing session at his salle at le Stade du Ray. Hais but after fencing some 15 year old boys who fenced epee for fun, Maitre Ferrari said that its quite pointless for me to learn fencing here unless i merely want it for leisure.

Due to the lack of Epee enthusiatists in NICE, he no longer teaches Epee so he only teaches Sabre (the no.1 weapon in Nice) and the Fleuret. He does teach Epee but only for the visually handicapped. Yep so i guess no fencing for poor me here in Nice.

But all in all it was gre8 to meet an Olympic Champ afterall and he seems really willing to share and explain in English and tried very hard to understand my broken french haha. Still i think i wanna buy some blades and maybe a jacket back since there is VAT reduction :P

Ppl place ur orders plssss

trip to MONACO.

2009-01-10T10:55:00.000-08:00

Went to Monaco for a day trip here, all i can say is MONACO is DARN SLACK! Today's saturday and all the shops were closed until 3pm and even then only a pathetic number of shops were open in the entire street
Oh before that, the bittergourd here costs 10SGD!!!!
Fried chicken fillet with CHeese, and my uber expensive Bittergourd, Carrot and Egg soup
Here we're at the MOnaCo Monte-Carlo Train Station
Casino MOnte-Carloe, we had to surrender our camereas so can only see the outside facade of it. But trust me, the inside of the Casino looks way more grand than the outside. With Angel carvings, paintings, painted murals, yadayada
Oh and i think the mirror in the centre is a giant Ba Gua Mirror, Darn i lost 50 bucks here in the Casino playing Xuehui's fav game. JACKPOT! I think xh wouldnt like the casino here cause even if u win at jackpot here the machine doesnt scream, it merely rolls out ur winning no atmosphere at all

Fancy a game of Basketball beside the Cathedral wall against the Ocean front?

The Institute/Museum of Oceanographie, looks more grand than our supreme courts haha
The inside of the National Cathedral of Monaco, almost all their royalties are buried here
The outside of the cathedral
The port of Monaco
Yes, they're fishing by the OCEAN! woohoo
Oh, we went to a nice Old car exhibition and caught side of some of the oldest cars in the world

Where's my Cinderella for a nice Pumpkin Wagon ride??

Concert Exceptionelle ~ Simply Fantastique

2009-01-09T14:42:00.000-08:00

Took a chance off to catch the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice in action tonight. Its 1/2 hr walk to and fro to Avenue de Brancolar from my place to the Conservatiore Region De Nice but the walk was certainly worth it.

Tonight on the programme booklet

Lutoslawski - La Petite Suite, not my favourite piece as it is actually made up of many small and short movements

Schumann - Concerto pour violon en re mineur ( Violin Concerto in D Minor). I tell u the violinist is DAMN ZAI wooohooo. He performed an extra piece as an encore performance and even though i dont know the title of the piece (he's German and i think its either his french cmi or my ears cmi) its still superB!

Beethoven - Symphonie n^6 en fa majeur, op 68, "Pastorale" ( Symphony No. 6 in F Major, op 68 "Pastoral" )As always Beethoven always deliver and this piece was really majestic, combined with the conducteur who was darn Dramatic the piece was delivered seamless

Overall, FANTASTIQUE!!! why cant our SSO play like them haha. But most of the players of the orchestre are really old say at least 50? as compared to that of SSO. And for some weird reason they're all quite big size. First time seeing 2 ladies leading the Cielo group and their size says it all hees

p.s. Oh and i learnt that in France, they dont do musical scales as C D E F rather they do something call the Solfege (where notes are replaced by Do Re Mi Fa) apparently it seems as though French belongs to one of the many Romance Languages and so they prefer to sing it rather than to name it like in English, coolsz

its wedNesday

2009-01-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

Apple Onion Pork Chops found this at this website www.allrecipes.com Easy to cook n super yummy, i didnt know that apple can go so well with Porc haha
Diced apple and onions sauce on Pork Chops

Its wednesday here in Nice. Today on the Menu

Oh and i just realized that even though i dont have an oven to make baked rice here, you can add cheese to cooked rice and Microwave it to melt the Cheeeeze on top WAY FASTER THAN an OVEN. oh and the CHEESE here is FANTASTICcccc
Melted Cheese on Tuna and Ham Rice

Chinese New Year Came EARLY!

2009-01-06T03:26:00.001-08:00

My parcel all the way from SG, woohoooo CNY goodies

Too bad all the love letters were crushed

Tried a new yummy recipe today, Yoghurt Cheese on ham and mushroom + Tomato Baked Rice and MORE french ONION soup!

french onion soup in France

2009-01-05T07:42:00.000-08:00

I was reading 7 types of ambiguity along the beach today and listening to music to the extent that i almost fell asleep hahaah. Unglam asian in France lolz. So i've decided to take a slow walk back to the room to cook french onion soup. Haha how ept eh, french onion soup in France :)

Addicted to cooking

2009-01-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

As the days go by and I cook everyday, i cant help but wonder whether its getting addictive. Today i tried one of my mum's favourite food Pig Trotters with Vinegar. Decided to replace the trotter with some other part of the pig that looks less intimidating.

Somehow i feel that its not Gao (Thick) enough like what my grandma used to do. Speaking of which, its Tong Zhi (Winter Solstice time) and i miss the tang yuan that she used to do when she was still around haha

New item to the list! I'm going to eat Tang Yuan when i'm back in SG! :)

part of my daily routine is to sit beside this beach and read 7 types of ambiguity
The port of Nice

i took this from on top of a little mountain/tower called La Tour Bellanda and sipped milk while listening to music

F1 lookalike in NICE! and Zi Pai with messy hair haha

糖醋猪脚 though technically i didnt use the Trotter part... anyone knows how to make it really Gao (Thick)?

30th December

2008-12-30T07:58:00.000-08:00

Had a hearty breakfast cum lunch this morning

And ooo cheap find, 90 SGD for a pair of limited edition Onitsukas! loving it (luckily i didnt see them in London, if i do and i can't buy due to excess baggage then 1@#!@#@#$%$^& ) No the legs do not belong to me, just some random photo i googled
if u look closely there's an X behind the gold stripes, Kewlzz

My First Breakfast in NICE is niceee

2008-12-27T00:19:00.000-08:00

Had a big omelette with onions this morning, not bad eh looks pro haha. Side - Bread with Butter and SUGAREyyyy like kaya toast of Ya Kun! lol

As i was quite tired mentally, i've decided to take some time off today and just slack in the room with home cooked food. By Vivien's Request this is my room, oh and lunch (Tomato sardine egg rice with stir-fried random veg haha)

The wardrobe
Study Table et TV
Bed beside the long cascading window, somehow looks like hospital bed
And the little kitchen
n the toilet with my Niang stuff

Day 11 - Its XMAS!!! MERRY XMAS to everyone

2008-12-25T03:40:00.000-08:00

ITs Xmas and we're back at Eunice's place

Gonna have our turkey dinner tonight

Blog again later

Its Day 10 - which is better known as Xmas Eve

2008-12-25T03:34:00.000-08:00

Where are all the parties in SG!! I wonder what the people are doing back in town now lol. Another Nuahz day slept 10hrs again and we jsut need to find somewhere to head to before our bus today back to london at 1630

Oh and my new year revelation came to me early this year: I wanna be more of myself and less of someone else you know you know.... Sometimes its simply now or never when i'm still young though i dont think 23 is technically considered still young. Met ppl who are way more adventurous in the backpack hostels and it really inspired me to do what i want NOW NOW NOW. Taking the leap i guess

Called back to Sg to wish my darlings Merry Xmas and good to hear that they are all heading out for parties and xmas exchanges * JEALOUS

After travelling around for 2 weeks i think i really have to give it to those who can live off a backpack for months, i think they rock. The thing that makes me tired the most is probably the constant nomadic lifestyle if i may call it and the hours that you spend on the train, plane bus wadeva and btw did i tell u i HATE PACKING AND UNPACKING lol. Oh well trying to make the most out of the least i guess.

p.s. No one feeds Ziwen as well as his mum can hahaha *GAPING MOUTH

Day 9 - 23 Dec

2008-12-25T03:29:00.000-08:00

Today's NuaHZ Day even under Viv's definition. I slept 10 hours non stop and woke up to see acouple whom according to Karen was making out beside me the whole night right beside me with creaking bed sounds and all. Luckily i was way too tired and slept like a log with all my jackets over my head and i didnt hear a single din at all last night. If not i think i'll stay up to peek at a Live RA show ahahah and i do mean LIVE by the way

Went to the pasar of UK, not bad but darn i left my facial wash at KEvin's place and i can't find it anywhere else, wish me luck in Nice, COME TO ME NIVEA !! Today i felt like i'm losing weight given the amount that i normally eat back in town I think i really dont eat enough over here with all the BORING FRIES!

Ok i'm gonna eat a lot more in Nice and try to grow FAT Wish me luck for that as well eh

Day 8 - Its about the simple things in life sometimes

2008-12-25T03:22:00.000-08:00

Staying over at Kevin's place showed me Whooohoooo how shiok a hot shower can actually be. Heading to Birmingham this morning, just maybe i'm not such a good long-distance (by that i mean a month or more) traveller afterall

The Birmingham Central Backpackers hostel is quite a nice place brimming with LOTSA COLOURS.

Today we conquered the BULL RING of Birmingham and the famous frankfurt xmas market along Victoria Square. Xmas's markets here really pretty with Big Carousel, Yelping kids and hrmm FOOOD that's real xmas-y. And i seriously suspect the people here don't work at all. Its 4 and the shopping places are swarmed ith peple whew. Haven't slept in a double decked bed for ages kinda reminds me of the days when I used to share a room with my bro and we fought alot. ALOT i mean in the little flat of AMK.
Lotsa Hand Crafted Dolls
Bloops Bloooops

A True Reindeer doubt its Rudolf though no red noseBig RED CHILLI
Jianwei in Birmingham haha
The Bull Ring

Day 7 - First to Man U now to Liverpool

2008-12-25T03:18:00.000-08:00

The day's 21 December, we've decided to travel to liverpool for a day trip and nope i'm not a liverpool fan as u can tell from my previous thread. Its also the Home of the Beatles in fact. We Started off good and not so good actually. Not so good cause we had to run for both the shuttle and the coach but Good cause we caught both in the nick of time haha. Overall: A Lucky Start!!

Arriving here in Albert dock with good weather is fantastic and the wind here's really strong. Went to crash a choral evensong at the HUGE Liverpool Cathedral for an hour, kinda reminded me of the days back in Cat High with the Initiation mass and daily prayers.

The Beatles Story in Liverpool

More Xmas Tree for Hanwen

Today I Missed my Monster TRUCK! Vrooom

Day 6 - Glory Glory Man United! or not.....

2008-12-25T03:02:00.000-08:00

CAme to Manchester after a long 5 hours journey from london. Clean air here feels good and thks to kevin and his housemates for hosting us lol. Had a HUGE plate of char siew and roast duck rice, one of the best meals i've had for this trip till now the first thing to do is GLORY GLORY Man United

Went all the way to Old Trafford Stadium, in the rain! haha but too bad no match was on and the shops are closed at 5 darn. Bought a Man U Towel for my fanatic Man U brother, and seriously the flags are ugly la haha. (Btw i bought the towel from Birmingham gonna just pretend i bought it from the stadium heh) 0 for planning 100 for effort! haha

Met up with Eunice's friends, Danielle and Dan from bath at a MExiCan PLace called CHIQUITTOS and i tell u the MARGARITAS and MEXICAN food here rocks with a huge discount from Eunice's friend, NICE! I Miss Cafe Iguana and chilling out by Clarke Quay.

Sleeping bag time at Kevin's place now

Day 4 - I always walk 500 miless (by that i meant 2hours)

2008-12-18T09:39:00.000-08:00

Walk past Harrods again all the way to NOTTINGHILL (one of my fav shows btw)

1) National History Museum (this place looks way too much like Hogwarts)

2) Kensington Palace

3) NOTTINGHILL!!!

This place rocks for the residents, wanted to get into the legendary NOTTINGHILL park (also called Lamgrove Square Park) but apparently its for private residents of NOTTINGHILL only, no wonder Hugh Grant has to climb the fence to get it that time, oh well did get a peek in and saw the benches in the film.

Met Eunice at Camden Town station for OKOK japanese food but its nice to be in a place where u're not the minority and have asian food around u, unfortunately the table that we got KINDA smells like the toilet? washroom? or should i say lavatory now i'm in London

Day 3 - 17th December 2008

2008-12-18T09:37:00.000-08:00

Hrmm seems like Walking is a good way for a slacker to work my muscles since I can’t run here in London for the moment
Today’s itinerary:
1) St Paul’s Cathedral: Majestic, Awe, Impressive, Timeless.
Paid the entrance fee of 8.4 pounds and went into St Paul’s, the place was very serene indeed kinda reminded me of Cat High’s Chapel just a million times nicer and more impressive with all the carvings and shimmering chandelier and décor all around. If there ever was a place God would wanna stay , I’m guessing it’s there.

Cool words eh

The Red British Phone Booth

Climb up the Whispering Gallery (257 steps), apparently a spiral up the dome of the cathedral, the place was supposed to be able to echo even a whisper and be audible even if u stood 32 metres on the other side DAMN I forgot to try when I was there, and then the Stone Gallery (119 steps MORE) saw a panoramic view of London not too bad. There is a higher gallery called the Golden gallery (530 steps) right at the top of the dome of the cathedral but no luck, closed for refurbishment. The crypt is quite CRYPTIC here at St Paul’s caused all the remains of the people are buried right under the slabs of stone that u stepped on. Who wants to be stepped on after you die?

Xuehui's gonna roll down this flight of stairs

Oh and we cooked lunch in the early morning and had lunch outside St Paul’s Cathedral. Cool stuff

2) The sun was partially setting at 2pm on the London Eye

3) Buckingham Palace: The Queen sure knows how to enjoy

4) St James Park and the FAT inhabitants

Roast Duck
Roast Pigeon

5) HARRODSS HARRODSSSS

Oh and we found the Enbassy of Singapore in London!

The Most Expensive Caviar for my brother who loves CaviAR!

Day 2 ~ London, 16th December 2008

2008-12-16T22:31:00.001-08:00

Let's Play MONOPOLY!

Second day of London is meant for exploring. Since the weather is all cold here we decided to take the best (cheapest) way to tour around London which is by WALKING! So after breakfast together with Jiamin and friend (Eunice’s housemate and friend) we started the first stop of our journey at Holborn station which is where Jiamin’s studying her Masters in Banking and Finance at the London School of Economics, kewl stuff

After that we headed STRAIGHT STRAIGHT STRAIGHT down some road where we found the first O2 shop where I got my local number. (07593221563 call me here if u're looking for me) A must deal for anyone who’s goin to be in London for awhile. For 10gbp, u can call any international number for 50 mins which is pretty darn worth it considering if an int’l call will cost you 3.50 SGD per min

First stop that we walked by is the Somerset House. Cool ice ring in the middle of the big round podium, guess they can only do all these in Winter hahaha if not they’ll have to build a Jurong Point and dump an ice ring in there

The National Gallery

Ice Ring in the middle of Somerset House

Somerset House

Xmas Tree with a Ice-skating shoes theme

En route to Hyde Park, we happen to pass by the National Gallery which houses pretty darn lotsa paintings for famous artists (Botticelli, Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Claude Monet). But as per all museums, photography aint allowed but oh well the front façade of the the museum with the massive fountain and monument is good enough to see on its own.

We walked past St James Palace and like typical Singaporeans, we followed the crowd and started queuing to see what everyone’s looking at and we saw a kinda pirated change of parade outside St James Palace.

Hyde Park, lucky us got to see the Winter Carnival at the park which was swarming with little kids running around. Not that fantastic a carnival if u asked me but oh well what’s a Xmas without carnivals right. On a sidenote, Hyde Park is HUGE, and its pathetic to compare our puny Speaker’s Corner to Hyde Park. Come on now SG, if u want to compare, close down a town district and say Ang Mo Kio and convert it to a PARK ? hahaha dreaming early in London

New Zealand War Memorial

Its not Red like u normally see cause GREY is for Winter, guards also have fashion sense !

Walking to Oxford Street – Oxford street is kinda like our Orchard Road if u were to ask me. Just that Oxford Street is say 5 times longer? Precious finds along the street, saw lotsa shops that u can find back in SG, Topman, Selfridges, Clarks, Gap, and my dear ZARA!! Haha. Clothes here are dirt cheap as compared to Singapore a typical Zara button down shirt sells only for 29.99gbp which is only 60 dollars sing due to the VAT reduction I guess. Didn’t get any though since I don’t want to incur any more EXCESS baggage for now until I settle down in France.

Bottled Tshirts at UniQLO

For Jianwei

For Young

Tottenham Court Road
Walked past tottenham court Road, nothing impressive just an extended portion of Oxford street with lotsa shops haha

Leicester Square
CHINATOWN!! Haha bought my first 1kg of rice. The supermarket in Chinatown rocks though I doubt they really have everything that a Chinese will want to buy. Oh and I’m beginning to appreciate the fact that Roast duck and Char Siew look way more appetizing back at home. All the shops hanging roast meat here in Chinatown looks as though the meat are starving rather than glistening with honey and charred portions lol

Westminster:
Took a bus down to Westminster and caught sight of the Westminster Abbey and the Parliament House. The grandeur of the place rocks! Too bad it’s way too cold to spend walking down the bridge. Oh btw, the sun sets here at 1630 and though its only 3 degrees, we’re definitely freezing. I wonder what the English is thinking when they see two Asians whizzing in and out of shops just to avoid the cold wind blowing haha

Elephant and Castle:
The last stop before we head back is through Elephant and Castle (aka the district for the Afro-Americans or should I call them Afro-English?) Somehow I do feel safer when I’m at Mustafa though the two places look awfully similar except the not-so-fair people here are way bigger in size and looks as though they wrestle u down any minute lol

Day 1 : 15 December 2008, London

2008-12-15T09:13:00.001-08:00

Day 1 - Le jour que je commence mon exploration de Londres

Arrived at Eunice's place at Borough, Becket House, Tabard Street. Nice cosy place that's really accessible to MRT stations(i believe they call it the TUBE here)and shops like grocery and all

Went to Liverpool Street station during lunch intending to meet Eunice but damn couldn't get through to her, guess she was still having her exams decided to leave her a message that we're goin exploring so went off to explore the area. Had chicken burger for lunch that costs BLOODY 5.5 gbp. WOW but the portion was big so i aint complaining. Decided to randomly walk around the area found some nice pictures.

London Bridge is falling downnnnn

Big Burger!

Most of their pubs here have these kinda old English house theme to it

Bought groceries that i think can last for a week at only 14 gbp! Much cheaper than if we ate out. What's with the Queen and her uber expensive cost of living here in London, lizards

Shall cook dinnerrrr

Independence day ----> Day 0 ~ 14/12/2008

2008-12-15T08:43:00.001-08:00

Day 0 of my exchange trip

Numero 1: Le premier fois pour un tres long vacances

Went to this Nonya restaurant (in theme with Xiao Niang Rer) at Joo Chiat Place near Eng Seng Restaurant for dinner before jetting off. Nice food, shall return after my exchange in May. Things to recommend for food

Babi Ponteh - Stewed Pork with green chilli
Ayam Bua Keluak - Spicy Chicken stewed in the traditional Bua Keluak (the essence is in this ok!)
Fishhead Assam Pedas - Not a big fan of Assam but since its fresh why not
Otah in Cabbage Roll - okok only
Sotong Hitam - Grilled Sotong in some weird thing
Highlight of the Night - Desserts (Chempedak Chendol, Sago Pudding & Chin Chow Sea Coconut)

Airport time - checked in my baggage with 2kg extra thks to the staff of Qantas who apparently struck a deal with Karen to waive our luggage until 35kg. Mine's only 32kg alright! haha

Flight - PHewwwww longest flight ever, luckily the nice staff of Qantas did a last minute swap for me at the gate that allows me to take an aisle seat which has no passenger behind (since its the last seat) so i could lean all the way back LUCKY! Long but not so long flight, its kinda cool when u fly 12 hrs and yet u still fly in the dark due to the change in timezones

.....pictures to be uploaded later

SugareEeey

2008-11-21T10:05:00.000-08:00

Sometimes in the midst of things, you just feel sugareEeeeey

Absoluteeeeee

2008-10-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

First it was insomnia, then there was boredom, now came the sickness

Lol

Falling heads over heels

What if i'm just falling in between .

Lost in dream

2008-09-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

'A reflection, a sunset, a dream, a poem, Love - Gilad Benari'

Life is but ..

2008-09-28T10:35:00.001-07:00

sch's gruelling and its part of life, so aint life gruelling too? Haha

someone once told me that life has its fair share of surprises installed for everyone, oh com'on now surprise me in my boring life !

Pour Que Tu M'aimes Encore ..

2008-06-18T08:04:00.000-07:00

J'ai compris tous les mots, j'ai bien compris, merci
Raisonnable et nouveau, c'est ainsi par ici

Que les choses ont change, que les fleurs ont fane
Que le temps d'avant, c'etait le temps d'avant

Que si tout zappe et lasse, les amours aussi passent
Il faut que tu saches

J'irai chercher ton coeur si tu l'emportes ailleurs
Meme si dans tes danses d'autres dansent tes heures

J'irai chercher ton ame dans les froids dans les flammes
Je te jetterai des sorts pour que tu m'aimes encore

Pour que tu m'aimes encore

Fallait pas commencer m'attirer me toucher
Fallait pas tant donner moi je sais pas jouer

On me dit qu'aujourd'hui, on me dit que les autres font ainsi
Je ne suis pas les autres

Avant que l'on s'attache, avant que l'on se gache
Je veux que tu saches

J'irai chercher ton coeur si tu l'emportes ailleurs
Meme si dans tes danses d'autres dansent tes heures
J'irai chercher ton ame dans les froids dans les flammes
Je te jetterai des sorts pour que tu m'aimes encore

Je trouverai des langages pour chanter tes louanges
Je ferai nos bagages pour d'infinies vendanges

Les formules magiques des marabouts d'Afrique
J'les dirai sans remords pour que tu m'aimes encore

Je m'inventerai roi pour que tu me retiennes
Je me ferai nouvelle pour que le feu reprenne
Je deviendrai ces autres qui te donnent du plaisir
Vos jeux seront les notres si tel est ton desir
Plus brillante plus belle pour une autre etincelle
Je me changerai en or pour que tu m'aimes encore, que tu m'aimes encore

Pour que tu m'aimes encore

Alone ...

2008-05-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

Alone I drift away,
Alone I walk a thousand miles,
Alone I fall asleep,
Alone I stare at the sky,
Alone I sit under a tree,
Alone I cry.

Alone I dream of you,
Alone I hope and pray,
to God who is oh so merciful and powerful
to let me find my way.

Alone I drift away,
Alone I live today,
and alone I'll die someday

- Angela Ferrer

Days of our life ~ (No i dont watch soap opera)

2008-05-04T05:03:00.000-07:00

Its somewhat surreal - SMU Fencing Elections 2008/09, Ziwen is stepping down

It was a vid the spoke so little yet so much, it was a 8 minutes that showed a year. Taking over President to start with wasn't easy, but handing it over seems worse at times. First it was HK, Pesta, AVFC(woohoooo), CCA Day, The Clinic, Rookie Challenge, the Fencing Camp, Novices, did i miss anything out?

New blood, new inspirations.

I walk on with my head up high, with my firm belief 'Delivering what I promise without compromise', the Cat High Students' Council pledge, remembered.

A boring trip, an interesting trip, a friends' trip

C'est un simple mais incroyable vacance, c'est un promenade avec mes amis.

Irony -
i like looking at people and their environment, the relentless eye looks upon quietly but surely. Its wierd how disparity sets people apart from each other. The Pavilion - KL is a Uber-mega-shopping mall with every single top-notch Designer brand that you can think of, but right across the little road, it replaces it with countless road stalls. Sometimes you cant help but wonder, is it the road thats separating the two, or are they already separated by some innate force....

The Twin Towers!

A Funny Sight 1

A Funny Sight 2

The Funny Sight

Fine Italian Dining at l'Opera in Piccolo Hotel along Jalan Bukit Bintang

Jetting off

Ziwen is ticklish, do not tickle or risk ziwen whacking you, that masseur guy at Jalan Bukit Bintang, u beware.....

lazy me, crazy me, zany me ...

2008-04-15T06:44:00.000-07:00

FIMM was crap, and i Bet uber lotsa ppl will score in it. Fill in the blanks, HUH?! Read this and see if you know the answer.

Open end fund is generally a specific type of fund__________________
(It goes something like this but i cant recall anyone of those 75 questions. Was supposed to fill in the blank but i had the innate urge to put a big full-stop to it)

After Crazy FIM, went to try new food as per always

Macdonalds ALL NEW Sausage McGriddle, McGiggles? Or something along those lines, Hotcakes with honey stuffed in it replaced the usual bread that you have on a sausage mcmuffin. DO NOT TRY, I wonder what the people were thinking when they invented that, might as well take a pail, dump honey, hotcake, egg, cheese and meat patty into it. Not all food goes well like that ok ~ (people of Macdonalds must be getting old and senile, hence the saying Old Macdonalds yeeee yaaaaa yooooo)

Played the 3-couleur game that Vivien calls bishibashi. I Rocked at that

Slack whole day, dont really have the urge to study Law and Int'l Business

But oh well, slacker by day, slackest by night hahaah

dinner at Boon Tong Kee

2008-04-13T04:56:00.000-07:00

the day before my Finals, had dinner with family at Boon Tong Kee. Great food they have there and to think i ate 4 bowls of rice with all the rest of the yummies ~ Must order:

Bai Zan Ji - Nice and tender though i seriously think they should co-operate with The Soup House to provide the ginger/garlic sauce to accompany with it

Steam fish-head with bean sauce - remember to change the Fishhead to some fish that the person recommended was from the Sea rather than those that were home-breed)

Sambal KangKong - good on first try, still good on second try, its getting spicy, ok way too spicy, back to my rice)

Spinach with Eggs - a bountiful of nice green spinach top of with 3 kinds of egg, Century, Salted and the lotsa normal ones)

Deep-Fried Toufu - As Eileen describes, its like FRIED Tau Huay, ermmm its just crunchy out there and uber soft inside

My Nose picked up great smell from the Shark Fins with Fried Egg and Pork Ribs from the next table too, shall try it next time

Can check out the cool website www.boontongkee.com.sg

Thats all for my first official record of GOOD Food in Ziwen's Life

Signing off,
The Rice Devil ~

to be a Better Man !

2008-04-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

Robbie Williams - Better Man

Send someone to love me
I need to rest in arms
Keep me safe from harm
In pouring rain

Give me endless summer
Lord I fear the cold
Feel I'm getting old
Before my time

As my soul heals the shame
I will grow through this pain
Lord I'm doing all I can
To be a better man

Go easy on my conscience
'Cause it's not my fault
I know I've been taught
To take the blame

Rest assured my angels
Will catch my tears
Walk me out of here
I'm in pain

As my soul heals the shame
I will grow through this pain
Lord I'm doing all I can
To be a better man

Once you've found that lover
You're homeward bound
Love is all around
Love is all around

I know some have fallen
On stony ground
But Love is all around

Francais ~

2008-03-11T03:28:00.001-07:00

Soleil couchant dans la rue en Saint-Malo.

Sometimes you can see the light when your eyes are closed, cause thats when you know

2008-03-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

"a person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it" - Jean de la Fontaine

where does my destiny lie?

" Francaise pour Samedi, 1st Mars 2008 "

2008-03-01T02:33:00.000-08:00

Depuis que les berges du Rhône ont été réaménagées, nous avons droit à Lyon à une promenade au bord de l'eau de 5km de long. Nous sommes ici à côté de la piscine. Le passage était auparavant très étroit et malcommode. C'est devenu maintenant une large et agréable promenade avec les éclairages que vous pouvez voir la nuit. plutôt sympa.
---------------------------------------------------------
Since the river banks of the Rhône have been redevelopped, we have access to a 5kms walk all along the city. This narrow and impractical path next to the swimming-pool turned out to be a pleasant and large walk, with agreable lighting at night. Kinda nice.

New Word of the day !

2008-02-27T21:38:00.000-08:00

Latest edition to my english dictionaire

ATTARS
- (formal) a fragrant essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers, Eg: attars of roses
- (informal) a phenomenon in Singapore of making glam oneself and the uplifting of one's self-esteem

Verb - attarize/attarise
Process - attarization/attarisation

Synonyms/Association - camwhore, narcissistic, metrosexual, et cetera

HaHa!!

Wonders si il y a un traduction pour ATTAS dans la dictionaire francais aussi?

Resonance ....

2008-02-21T22:51:00.000-08:00

爱的故事有很多
你一定听过
她们说
最美的爱情像湖泊
美的忍不住停留
而任性的风
吹过了
却飘下一片片叶落
放开手往北方走
留下伤心的树独自忍受
你离开我连一句话都不说
只默默看着今晚天空星光闪烁
看今夜的流星
划过了天际
笑我的心
我无法再冷静
请你要倾听
你是我的唯一
我不愿去相信
我们之间
隔着海洋的距离
我的爱
已融化在空气里

who cares what i write, its my blog ~

2008-01-29T23:05:00.000-08:00