10 days of lastminute fun & tiredness

so glad i went. wud have rotted at home otherwise. travelling does make me quite happy. needs to figure out how to do it more glamly next time.

a gist for my memory

nice emirates in flight entertainment and seats. watched shopaholic/the duchess/bride wars/monsters inc on the way there and the dark knight/the incredibles/toy story2 on the way back.

met siti at heathrow. went back to her nice flat. she cooked me dinner yay n then saved energy for our trip

flight to barcelona following day. hostel near plaza catalunya. did the sights on the first day. dropped my camera kerplunk in parc guell. byebye lens. shopping n beach on 2nd day bershka/strad/zara/mango/pullnbear. barrigotic n la boqueria on 3rd.

night bus to valencia. showed siti ard vlc till 2pm n cabbed to sch to meet the boys for a bite. fede drove us to the beach with loud ahbeng music with windows down eek *hides face* windiest and cloudiest day in vlc tt day boo. visited ciudad de las artes y las ciencias to see latest additions of bridge n tennis courts. walked back to the hostel using what i remember of the place because i thought i lost the map. found it in my bag all along when in the hostel. hehe. walked a bit away from the hostel where i realised was where the library which i borrowed books from was to wait for carlos soria to pick us up. went for the feria at the turia near the alameda (which i just found out is called the bridge of uhrm... sth that is supposed to mean n be in the shape of the 'crown' that theyput on top of the traditional costume of the fallero's head) met zaira, natalia and jesus. feria ended but played at the playground with the west-coast like climbing stuff n randomly chatted till 130am. Soria sent us to bus station. said our goodbyes before getting on the 2am bus back to barcelona.

back in barca. left bags in locker and window shopped/find lunch and head for the airport after getting a little lost and walked like 1km each of changing freaking train lines. reached london bought instant indian food off M&S. sleeepppp

packed up next day and headed from ealing to belsize park where christina hosted me for the next leg of the trip hehe. found our way to her place from the station using siti's iphone gps thru a secret garden dragging my luggage ard. lunched at gourmet burger. sky high burgers with fries. siti went home to sleep. went with christina to regent park on a VERY hot day to meet roony & lauren to play frisbee n hear interesting tales of getting punched. ow. xtina went home. met heather and siti at tottenham court station for goood italian food at spaccanapoli - 101 Dean Street. poached salmon with avocado sauce yum! softest salmon everrrrr! only italians were the other customers.. very authentic! msged alvin to ask if he was in london. he was in italy instead. after dinner, had desserts at princi - another authentic italian dessert shop for chocolate/passionfruit/raspberry cake (separately). Left and walked thru chinatown and leiceseter square(?) to find a toilet that wasnt locked where u had to pay sth to use. tempted to go to a free entry for women club for the toilet. haha. deemed too dubious and too lazy to show id. search continues. wee a mcdonalds toilet was open. bough mineral water at grocery store next door and sat in mcdonalds for the next hour. hee.

next day. explored xtina's neighborhood. hampton heath for breakfast n crepes n carnival. took a rather exciting ride weee! afternoon headed to kew gardens in the South West. biggest botanical gardens in the world. pretty flowers but tropical glasshouses felt too much like singapore weather. eek. bees. peonies. rose garden. water lily. walked legs off. ow. went to waitrose. bought supplies for dinner. tomato filled ravioli with tomato n escarpone sauce with salad & mushrooms.

next day. made brunch with baked hasselback potatoes, caramelized carrots, salad, mushrooms and pancakes with icecream/chocolate n dulce de leche. yum! crazy crowded shopping gah at primark n h&M while xtina learnt to knit at john lewis. tea-ed (scones and berry feast) at sketch. interesting toilets. met siti n heather for dinner and a halal dimsum place. but ironically only i had dimsum. desserts at waffle house. packed.

last day boo. brunched again. this time laksa off primataste and more saladd. printed checkin ticket. cold day. slacked. lugged luggage to oxford circus. english afternoon tea-ed at liberty with xtina, heather n siti. said byebye. off to heathrow. watched last 30mins of champs league finals. yay barca. haha man u fans. get on plane. byebye london.

GRR TO THE MAX
i knew it! STH HAD to happen while i was away.. well at least its just a briefing.. in any case, do point me out to anyone who is going so i might get some info.. thanks!


RE: wth. found out its actually more than a briefing.. i was waiting for reply for over a mth and now I'm sprung with this? Is this why I was contemplating so much about going? Is this on my conscience then if theres no other oppor? Or am I simply thinking too much? sigh, sometimes my brain wastes too much neurons on things that don't matter rather than those that do.
________________________________________________________________________

Hi all

Thank you for your interest in SMRT’s Management Trainee Programme 2009.

We would like to extend our special invitation to you to attend a briefing session to find out more about the Management Trainee Programme. This session will give us a chance to get to know you better, and help you to understand more about SMRT. You will also have a chance to listen to first hand accounts from our staff and current Management Trainees and discover what we have to offer for you as a Management Trainee.

Details of the briefing are as follows :

Date : Thursday, 21 May 2009

HIMYM S4 E3 Car Scene Ted & Stella

sigh.

Some excerpts from What Makes Us Happy? - The Atlantic (June 2009)

In an interview in the March 2008 newsletter to the Grant Study subjects, Vaillant was asked, “What have you learned from the Grant Study men?” Vaillant’s response: “That the only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people.”

pessimists seemed to suffer physically in comparison with optimists, perhaps because they’re less likely to connect with others or care for themselves.

lecture to Seligman’s graduate students on the power of positive emotions—awe, love, compassion, gratitude, forgiveness, joy, hope, and trust (or faith). “The happiness books say, ‘Try happiness. You’ll like it a lot more than misery’—which is perfectly true,”

while negative emotions tend to be insulating, positive emotions expose us to the common elements of rejection and heartbreak.

For 30 years, Denmark has topped international happiness surveys. But Danes are hardly a sanguine bunch. Ask an American how it’s going, and you will usually hear “Really good.” Ask a Dane, and you will hear “Det kunne være værre (It could be worse).” “Danes have consistently low (and indubitably realistic) expectations for the year to come,” a team of Danish scholars concluded. “Year after year they are pleasantly surprised to find that not everything is getting more rotten in the state of Denmark.”

Perhaps in this, I thought, lies the key to the good life—not rules to follow, nor problems to avoid, but an engaged humility, an earnest acceptance of life’s pains and promises.

A few posts ago, I wrote...

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams" - Dr . Seuss

but till then.. I'd rather stay in my dreams. In my own imaginations. I'm always sad when I finish a tv serial, not because I get so involved with the plot (ive yet to cry for any movie) but because it means I come back to reality. This time around, I spent a good deal of it watching with the sister who I'd thought would sleep through the first episode and be completely lost thereafter, pissing me off as she always does when she talks while I'm trying to hear the dialogue. hehe.. but she surprised mee by lasting the entire way haha. now i can't wait for next week when she hopefully gets a full week MC and we can do this again :) I need recommendations of new shows though... always a sucker for romcoms..

Just finished the show below....

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

the official release of results are out.
Meaning my university transcript has been finalised.
Meaning I can actually take some semblance of pride when I go for commencement.
Very. VERY grateful.

trying.
trying to make sure I'm grateful for other things.
help me try.

oh no! How did i forget for the 2nd yr in a row!
HAVE YOURSELF A HAPPY BELATED CESC-DAY! :)
& MAY HE KICK MAN U'S ARSE TODAY!

no wonder i had a tiring good time yesterday house hopping, showing off the north to emily and swimming with the lee sisters :) to more spontaneous days ahead!