Sis n i were shuttling between school and the hyatt trying to have dinner with our parents and watch the AMAZING semifinals between nadal and verdasco. it really felt like I was back on exchange when i would run around trying to find which bar was showing the football matches. especially when in the 5th set, fireworks started going off at i think the padang? felt like i was back in valencia!! its moments like these that make me think, i HAVE to work in sports. I will willingly put in the long hours to make these events come to life. to witness these moments. And I really want to live in a country that supports so many of these events in which I can always just drop by when I can. whyyyyy was i born here!?

Match Facts

Verdasco hit 95 winners to Nadal’s 52

The 14th seed had 76 unforced errors; the No.1 seed had only 25

Verdasco served 20 aces to Nadal’s 12

Nadal converted just four of 20 break point opportunities, while Verdasco was 2-for-4 on break point chances

Nadal won 193 points to Verdasco’s 192 for the match

The match lasted 314 minutes, an Australian Open record

i think i really need to do sth sports related in my life.

spent a large chunk of cny break on all things sporty. started with wii tennis ahah then attempted to reduce my kaki bangkuness with a teeny bit of football.. then tennis on sat morning! plus spent a good chunk watching the australian open and fa cup. I have a new idol and he's the same age as fabregas. aye.. all the good ones are always 1 yr younger... His name is Djokovic. sadly though he had to retire in the quarterfinals agst roddick due to fatigue. Why would I choose him over world ranking no 1 or 2? (yes he is no 3) Because, as we watched him play baghdatis , he was always calm and collected which means great things when you're 21yrs old. and even when he played roddick today, everytime they went into a rally, djokovic was dominating play and won! that was before the exhaustion kicked in and even when it did, he could still hold serve while expending as little energy as possible while making roddick run all over. it also doesnt hurt that he has the best physique out of the top 3 hahaha.. (& there are so many pictures of him topless!)

case in point:

Today's been a very spanish-centric day... was teaching some spanish words to my parents and realised how much I enjoyed that. and I knew how much I would enjoy bringing them around Spain... i cant help it.. as much as I am proud of how sensible our country can be, my heart isnt here.... who ever said they loved someone passionately for their sensibility... i've always been a fan of the cheeky grins :)

& then... this was the email I crafted when I found out Sarah is going for FAllas 2009.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

yes im freaking jealous that you are going for fallas!

Things you CANNOT miss out on
1. the plentiful churros and bunuelos stands! i personally prefer bunuelos which are these fried balls dipped in sugar

2. the FREAKING AWESOME fireworks! they are the mostttt amazing things ive seen in my life i swear! they are so big and so frekaing hugeee that ull need sunglasses! they are held at the alameda bridge which is very near the purple nest hostel every night at 1am. thats right 1.. not 11..

3. mascleta - they are like fireworks but they are in the day! so u only get the noise and smoke haha.. they have it every day at 2pm at the plaza ayuntamiento. but it gets pretty packed.. so much so i never watched it cos im people phobic... but if ure lucky, ask them if theres the beach mascleta. they had it at the beach, higher and not so enclosed by buildings, so its less suffocating and kinda cool ahhaa. i think last year it was towards the end of fallas

4. the INSANE street parties! i found that the best one was beside the mestalla (stadium) there were cool bands (yes in spanish) and pple were happily dancing in the streets and it was the 'safest'.. by safest i mean there were no effing idiots throwing 'petardos' or firecrackers at you. well, they dont exactly throw it at you, but they love to buy those crazy ones that go in all sorts of direction & throw it into a random crowded area... the party at plaza colon (its sort of near to the hostel) has PLENTY of that.. and one more nearer the nightlife.. in the town centre SHOULD BE avoided at all cost. it was effing scary! I swear, for the whole week, it really felt like a battleground. my roomie actually had a dream where she was in war!
Warning: the parties last till about 7am? i think.. i normally left by 6am. even if you dont join in the partying, its just super fun to walk ard the entire town and witness the insanity.
You can even buy the firecrackers in a shop near the town centre haha

5. Valencia is pretty small so u can pretty much walk around everywhere ok mebbe not until the beach. (its possible but v tiring n i heard that the public transport was quite packed during the time.. i didnt know cos i was biking ard places) so take the time to walk around to see the fallas - paper mache figurines.. some can be sooo sooooooo awesome!! so scout the ones tt u think are pretty or the bigger ones or the ones u think u can get a good view of the burning. we scouted for abt a week, before deciding on this pretty tall one near the piscina (swimming pool) that one had loads of space.. but a stupid tree tt blocked the view. anyway, the winner ie the prettiest of all the fallas has always been the neighborhood of campanar. its kinda far out.. normally they advise u to take the bus.. but i think, the ones ard town are pretty cool too if u cant be bothered lol.

6. the burning! go to their tourist information centre and get the schedule of whats happening. then ull know what time the burning is cos i cant remember! i think it was 12. the smaller ones go at abt 10 or 11. (btw every neighborhood has their own fallas oh yea and dont bother going to the museum of fallas, u have to pay when u can see it all on display outside for free!) lemme just tell u, that EVERYONE wants ot be in front for the burning, but when it starts its some serious scary stuff.. I was about the 6th row i think? and when the fire got so big, everyone was escaping backwards cos u cud feel the heat and pple were just pushing n shoving.. so its some chaotic madness there! so be careful yea!? and when it burns, fireworks go off abt the same time for the big ones, so tts pretty cool too.. The entire burning takes quite a while to finish esp for the big ones.. so i believe u will have to be prepared not to sleep on this trip.. (they throw firecrackers and have fireworks in the day too)

ps valencia is fireworks city. they have fireworks for no good reason any time of the day or year.. (i kinda miss it!)

7. The city of arts and sciences (Ciudad de las artes y las ciencias)!! The onyl one worth entering is apparently the aquarium but its worth it just to pay a visit to see how the entire structure looks like. I used to live opposite the place and I loved it! The best time in my opinion is to go down at sunset. When you get it with the beautiful pink skies, and when the place lights up as darkness approaches. Its just gorgeous. Especially if you have someone with a damn good camera.

8. Horchata! Its a local drink meant for summer. TAken cold and made out of chufas (tiger nuts)... There'll be quite a number of stands I believe around.. but i know theres always a stand at the city of arts & sciences. it shd be ard 1.50-2,50 euros per cup.. just take a sip each! Some pple love it. some pple hate it hehehe.. tastes like nut with a milk aftertaste.. haha ok.. mebbe like soyabean

9. oh yea!! walk around at night to find the street parties BEFORE the fireworks.. these street parties are more civilized.. People come together, pool resources and cook paella straight off a pan on the streets! using charcoal! and drink sangria while they wait for the food to cook. Find a nice person, make frens and try some! They should be quite generous because I think they overcook portions!

10. its too bad u didnt exchange in valencia because it is a pretty amazing place to jog/cycle in. If you take a look at the map of valencia city, you can see that there is this major thing surrounding the city center.. ending off at the city of arts and sciences.. its like this major canal.. because.. it used to be a stream! in fact its called the turia. but because of major floodings, they decided to redirect the water, empty out the stream and make it into a major ass garden! i LOVEE it. u can never get lost because the turia acts as the perfect guide. (Warning im not sure if u realised it in barcelona, but spanish streets are majorly tricky and winding.. even on my last day, i was walking home from the town centre and i still got derailed cos there are just too many roads!) just walk in the general direction until u hit a landmark then find yr bearings again would be my advice! lol. So if you just need to chill out, pack a picnic basket, and pick out a spot along the turia. the one at the city of arts and sciences is especially pretty! but i think the most fun would be to head to Park Gulliver. its a playground for kids but its INSANE! n i mean it so in a safety issue kinda way.. the park is in the shape of gulliver from gullivers travel. so its this huge guy, and there are ropes and slides all ard him.. making the kids who run ard him look like the little people tying him down! the slides are kinda painful! meant for kids.. and the ground is made of pebbles/rocks so its freaking ass dangerous.. especially since there are some serious cliffs and wet patches on GUlliver himself.

my suggestion: 5-6pm head to gullivers park to chill out or join in to play.. >6pm the park closes yes they actually close up the fences.. then if its not sunset yet, go to the palau de musica... they've got some musical fountains sometimes or just watch the spanish mats or kids skateboard/play ball ard the area. then just before sunset, head to the city of arts and sciences to catch the sunset.. this routine was always my favorite thing to do whenever friends came over...

Those are DEFINITELY my must-dos!
And if i could ask for a teenyyyy favor!? Could you grab me a fallas 2009 poster? they give it out for free at the tourism centre. & erm.... i would love u if u grabbed me anything that had either david villa or silvas face on it! hahahha or a random valencia cf (football club) thing!
do enjoy yourself!!!! it will be crazy but it will be super fun!!! tell me everythingggg!!! :)

loveeee
ili

(im so happy I have spanish class tomorrow!)

Of cheeky smiles and sweltering heat days

no matter what, i still need a happifier :(

I hate to admit it.. but i am super homey.... (& enjoy water vacations)

I bold my choices :)

Cancer Honeymoons: Cancerians are tied to the home, so you might not want to go that far away. If you travel, bring sentimental mementos with you. You love being near the water, so a private bungalow on the beach or traveling to Mexico, Hawaii, Tahiti, or Niagara Falls might suit you. (Technically, Santorini should be an ideal honeymoon location too hahaha)

Cancer Cities: Boise, Idaho; Eugene, Oregon; Fargo, North Dakota; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Omaha, Nebraska; Providence, Rhode Island; San Diego, California; San Francisco, California; Quebec, Quebec, Canada.

Cancer Countries: Argentina, Bahamas, Canada, Madagascar, Romania, Seychelles, Thailand, United States, Vietnam.

See: http://blogs1.marthastewart.com/weddings/2009/01/your-wedding-astrologer-.html#more (from sarah's blog)

I love this banner :) Thank god for some sanity in this world.

Monday Mahjong Madness

Yes. we spent five hours of a monday afternoon playing ONE round of mahjong ahhaha.. in which Yvonne trashed us.. i blame it on my fengshui. Remember, never gamble with yr back towards the door.. NOT that I was gambling.. weee.. we shd make this a weekly affair :)

--------------------------------

I don't get it. I don't get people who don't know how to enjoy what they've got, who plans everything right to the minute detail and doesn't understand the meaning of spontaneity. Just give me the god damned opportunity instead please.

Week 2 is over. zoom!

at least it seems this sem is about catching up with friends.. ironically, my free days have already been choped... not tt im upset. uber long day friday with strat, urban econs, random networking session (in which I apparently have the same green zara shirt as the edb head of HR note: what good taste we both have:) and coffee with filza, hana and her frens. FINALLY met with filza's soontobehopefullybyjune husband & im excited to hear her wedding plans! partially because she's gonna get sarah to do her wedding setup. when she asked me if ill be sg in june, i secretly wished that I was going to be overseas, with a job i liked. of cos not because i didnt want to be there.. i guess if i do want to run away from this island, I would be missing out on friends stuff like this, which wd be quite a pity. I think i secretly love weddings although I would not want one myself. all that attention! n so many fotos.. eeks.

had my first spanish class in a year. After some oiling of rusty parts, I remembered why I loved Spanish. I don't know why but they always sound like they are muttering to themselves! its cute! haha a mi, me gusta espanol mucho. Y aun es dificil escucho porque les hablan muy rapido, creo que es divertido a probar. y hoy recuerdo muchos palabras no utilizar desde pasado julio. debo toma DELE! espero. :) (con mucho serioso, si me gusta espana mas, puedo vivir alli por siempre?)

Going to the zoo seems to be a fad these days. So I went as well after a last minute invitation by Hana since she was bringing Clement, her friend from exchange whom I've met when I visited her in Troyes last year. Lucky girl! I don't know when I'll see those friends next! (since i have no clue if spain 2009 is going to materialise) & I've somehow lost all will to fluen-ise my spanish. sigh. bad timing considering im going for my diagnostic tomorrow

Anyway, I ended up going to the zoo with them both and other nanta alums who clement knew before. some parts of the zoo have changed but im pretty sure a chunk of it is still the same since I was there last, 10years ago. I especially wanted to play in the kids water area. With the massive pail of water falling over their heads every 5mins or so. I was however surprised that KFC didnt jack up their prices like in sentosa. But the ahmeng cafe was ridiculously overpriced! But then again, 3sgd = 1.50 euros for a 150ml bottle of coke and 18sgd=9euros for zoo entrance fee is pretty cheap!



At the end of the day, Hana and clement had a fish spa and I thought I should have joined them considering the amt of dead skin i have on my feet. BUT that thought ceased when hana started yelping in pain/ticklishness from the fishbites. clement on the other hand was all calm and collected but well, he had leg hair so the fishies didnt climb all the way up to the water level like hana's lol. :) I need a picture of it! classic!

que ir mi gol por practica cada semana? jaja

Por fin, llamarse las lilas ahora por hacer un examen espanol! espera podemos empezar las clases pronto! por eso, debo practicar cada dia hasta la proxima Lunes! nunca tengo utilizar preterido indefinido y imperfecto en practicar.

esto es duro. ¡nunca voy a mejorar! :(

perhaps a somewhat belate resolutions list.

1. (as coaxed by friends) do more random things
2. (as inspired to be somewhat literary) to read classic novels starting with Oscar Wilde's the picture of Dorian Gray

Do suggest titles!
My next must read: Anna Karenina (if I can only find a copy somewhere on this island!)

A new post for 2009 but nothings different.
Just the same old angst. the same old anger. the same old sadness and fears.
Just me being me.
And that means just not being good enough.

a tad late but a proper conclusion to 2008.
A whirlwind for sure. It went by too quickly.
It was one of the good years.