White december

It's snowing in Ithaca! I'm actually having a white December for the first time in my life! Snow makes me so happy :)

Memorable Potter quotes - a tribute to all the characters who fought to the very end!

Before begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words and here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!'
- Albus Dumbledore to the rest of Hogwarts, book 1


"Never," said Hagrid irritably, "try an' get a straight answer out of a centaur. Ruddy stargazers. Not interested in anythin' closer'n the moon."
- Hagrid to Harry, book 1

Before begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words and here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!'
- Albus Dumbledore to the rest of Hogwarts, book 1

'What happened between you and Quirrel down through the trapdoor is a complete secret, so naturally, the whole school knows.'
- Albus Dumbledore, book 1

"And Snape said..."
"That's Professor Snape, Harry"
"Yeah, him."
- Harry to Dumbledore, book 1

'It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs.'
- Albus Dumbledore to Prof. McGonagal, book 1

'Scars can come in useful. I have one myself above my left knee which is a perfect map of the London Underground.'
- Albus Dumbledore to Prof. McGonagal, book 1

Harry got a shock the first time he looked in the mirror over the kitchen and it shouted, "Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!" -book 2

"Can you believe our luck?" said Ron miserably bending down to pick up Scabbers the rat. "Of all the trees we could've hit, we had to get the one that hits back." - book 2

There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair that wasn't pink and fluffy. - book 2

Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention. 'You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments.'
'Yeah, but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone.'
- Draco Malfoy to Harry, book 5

"Worrying about poor 'ickle goblins, now are you? Thinking of starting up S.P.U.G or something. Society for the Protection of ugly Goblins."
- Ron to Hermione, book 4
'

"Dobby is used to death threats, Sir. Dobby gets them five times a day at home." - Dobby, book 2

"Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells, we'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox." - Severus Snape, book 2

"I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once - long story - but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to." - Harry, book 1

Harry was just thinking that all he needed was for Dumbledore's pet bird to die while he was alone in the office with it, when the bird burst into flames. - book 1

"I'd have to see what the Ministry'd do to me if I blew up an aunt. Mind you, they'd have to dig me up first, because mum would've killed me. - Ron, book 3

'Kreacher is cleaning, Kreacher lives to serve the Noble House of Black -'
'And it's getting blacker every day, it's filthy.'
'Master always liked his little joke. Master was a nasty ungrateful swine who broke his mother's heart -'
'My mother didn't have a heart, Kreacher, she kept herself alive out of pure spite.'
- Kreacher and Sirius, book 5

'Well, as everyone thinks I'm a mad mass-murderer and the Ministry's put a ten thousand Galleon price on my head, I can hardly stroll up the street and start handing out leaflets, can I?'
'And I'm not a very popular dinner guest with most of the community. It's an occupational hazard of being a werewolf.'
- Sirius and Remus to Harry, book 5

"Well . . . when we were in our first year, Harry - young, carefree, and innocent -"

Harry snorted. He doubted whether Fred and George had ever been innocent.

- book 3

"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody," said Mrs Weasley sternly.

"Yeah, well, Dad collects plugs doesn't he?" said Fred quietly as Mrs Weasley left the room, "Birds of a feather..."

- book 4

"Percy wouldn't recognise a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby's tea-cosy." - book 4

"If Hagrid's half-giant, she definitely is. Big bones . . . the only thing that’s got bigger bones than her is a dinosaur." - book 4

'I'm not putting them on," "I like a healthy breeze around my privates, thanks.'
- Archie, an old wizard wearing a night gown to a Ministry wizard trying to convince him to wear pants at the Quidditch World Cup, book 4

'There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it.'
- Prof. Quirrel, book 1

'Ah, of course. There is no need to tell me any more Ms. Granger. Which one of you will be dying this year?'
- Prof. McGonagall, book 3

'Won't say nothing if you don't say please!'
'Alright, please.'
'Nothing! Ha! Told you I'd say nothing if you said please!'
- Peeves to Filch, book 1

'Mr Moony presents his compliments to Prof. Snape and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.'
- The Marauder's Map, book 3

"Vell, ve fought bravely."
"You can speak English! And you've been letting me mime everything all day!"
"Vell, it vos very funny."
- Cornelius Fudge and Mr Obalonsk (Bulgarian Minister for Magic), book 4

"You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts ... but you cannot deny he's got style ..."
- Portraiit of Phineas Nigellus to Cornelius Fudge, book 5

'Don't put your wand there, boy! What if it ignited? Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!' (Moody)
'Who d'you know who's lost a buttock?' (Tonks)
'Never you mind, you just keep your wand out of your back pocket!'
- Mad-Eye Moody to Nymphadora Tonks, book 5

'And this is Nymphadora -'
'Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus, it's Tonks.
'Nymphadora Tonks, who prefers to be known by her surname only,'
'So would you if your fool of a mother had called you Nymphadora,'
- Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, book 5

"Interesting effect," said George looking down at Crabbe. "Who used the Furnunculus curse?"

"Me," said Harry.

"Odd," said George lightly. "I used jellylegs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face."

- book 5

"Kreacher wasn't quite as devoted to him as mother, but I still caught him snogging a pair of my father's old trousers last week." - Sirius Black, book 5

"I'll look for him later, I expect I'll find him upstairs crying his eyes out over my mother's old bloomers or something. Of course, he might have crawled into the airing cupboard and died ... but I musn't get my hopes up."

- Sirius Black, book 5

"Yeah, Montague tried to do us during break," said George.

"What do you mean, "tried?" said Ron quickly.

"He never managed to get all the words out," said Fred, "due to the fact that we forced him head-first into that vanishing cupboard on the first floor."

- book 5

"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat." added George, pointing at Professor Umbridge. - book 5

Fred: "Give her hell from us Peeves."
And Peeves, who Harry had never seen take an order from a student before, swept his belled hat from his head and sprang to a salute as Fred and George wheeled about to tumultous applause from the students below and sped out of the open front doors into the glorious sunset.

- book 5

But not even the users of the Snackboxes could compete with the master of chaos, Peeves, who seemed to have taken Fred's parting words deeply to the heart. Cackling madly, he soared through the school, upending tables, bursting out of blackboards, toppling statues and vases; twice he shut Mrs Norris inside a suit of armour, from which she was rescued, yowling loudly, by the furious caretaker. Peeves smashed lanterns and snuffed out candles, juggled burning torches over the heads of screaming students, caused neatly stacked piles of parchment to topple into fires or out of windows; flooded the second floor when he pulled off all the taps in the bathrooms, dropped a bag of tarantulas in the middle of the Great Hall during breakfast and, whenever he fancied a break, spent hours at a time floating along after Umbridge and blowing loud raspberries every time she spoke.

- book 5

Indeed, a week after Fred and George's depature Harry witnessed Professor McGonagall walking right past Peeves, who was determinedly loosening a crystal chandelier, and could have sworn he heard her tell the poltergeist out the corner of her mouth, "It unscrews the other way."
- book 5

He had just made Harry feel rather better by telling him how he had told the examiner in detail about the ugly man with a wart on his nose in his crystal ball, only to look up and realise he had been describing his examiner's reflection.
- Ron, book 5

"And from now on, I don't care if my tea-leaves spell die, Ron, die - I'm just chucking them in the bin where they belong." - Ron, book 5

Professor Umbridge left Hogwarts the day before the end of term. It seemed she had crept out of the hospital wing during dinnertime, evidently hoping to depart undetected, but unfortuantly for her, she met Peeves on the way, who seized his last chance to do as Fred had instructed, and chased her gleefully from the premises whacking her alternately with a walking stick and a sock full of chalk. Many students ran out into the Entrance Hall to watch her running away down the path and the Heads of Houses tried only half-heartedly to restrain them. Professor McGonagall sank back into her chair at the staff table after a few feeble remonstrances and was clearly heard to express a regret that she could not run cheering after Umbridge herself, because Peeves had borrowed her walking stick.
- book 5

Snape: "Do you remember me telling you we are practising non-verbal spells, Potter?"
"Yes," said Harry stiffly.
"Yes sir."
"There's no need to call me 'sir', Professor."
- book 5

Madam Pomfrey: "You shouldn't overexert yourself."
"I don't want to stay here overnight," said Harry angrily, sitting up and throwing back his covers."I want to find McLaggen and kill him."

"I'm afraid that would come under the heading of 'over-exertion'," said Madam Pomfrey ...

- book 5

WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT

YOU-KNOW-WHO YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT U-NO-POO! THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!!

- Fred & George's advertisement in Diagon Alley

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia froze where they stood, staring at Dudley as though he had just expressed a desire to become a ballerina. - book 7

"Well, none of us really fancy it, Harry," said Fred earnestly. "Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky, scrawny gits forever." - book 7

"Oh, of course," said Ron, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I forgot we'll be hunting down Voldemort in a mobile library." - book 7

"Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?" Harry interrupted again.

"So he can sneak up on people," said Ron. "Sometimes he gets bored running at them, flapping his arms and shrieking ..."

- book 7

"And the rumours that he (Lord Voldemort) keeps being sighted abroad?" asked Lee.

"Well who wouldn't want a nice little holiday after all the hard work he's been putting?" asked Fred.

- book 7

"Tell me one last thing," said Harry. "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"

Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry's ears even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure.

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

- book 7

Back on the road

I think it's about time I cleared the fine layer of dust covering my blog. Sorry about the lack of updates lately, peeps, been too lazy to write...haha that, and my extensive use of facebook! Anyways, recently life since coming back to good ol' Penang has been a dream. I can't believe the fun I had hanging out with the girls last week. Mandy, Cheryl, Christy, Dini and Ru, we should do it again soon, this week, before Dini here goes back to Sri Lanka for good. Is anyone gonna watch Potter??


And lastly, another update: I'm leaving for Cornell on the 4th of next month. Taking the UA flight to Atlanta first, then later on going to Syracuse (that's as close as I can get to Ithaca on a flight) and then to Ithaca on the 11th for pre-orientation. Then things'll really get crazy then.

I've got just a little more than 3 weeks left here!! Let's party!

I'm COMING HOME!!!!!!!!

Words are redundant.

Back from oblivion

Heya people!! Oh wow, I miss you all. Ru, Serena, Mian, Yih Ling, Maria and especially Ed. Thanks for your comments on my previous few entries, btw. Somehow they helped me move on haha. What have you guys been doing when I was AWOL? Tell me all the juicy details!!!

I'm done with the 2-week Europe trip. It's been insane. In response to your 'why on earth would i need a vacation from this vacation?', Ru, I'll tell u why. Have you ever woken up at 6 in the morning everyday, travel in a bus for hours, then spend the rest of the day rushing from one location to another with no chance to freshen up, to say nothing of taking a shower and then checking into a different hotel every night?? It's unbelievably exhausting. And I've been doing this for 2 weeks, to say nothing of my 4 days in Barcelona before that. There was one day where I woke up at 5, travelled from Austria to Germany to Liechtenstein to Switzerland all in one day. When we checked into the hotel at night, I was so exhausted I barely had strength to brush my teeth, wash my face and take a shower before collapsing into bed.

There was another day when we travelled from Holland and stopped in Belgium for the afternoon then travelled for hours to Paris. Do u guys have any idea how many hours on a bus that is? Then on the last few days we took EuroStar, the underground metro from Paris to London with all of our luggages. Ugh. Jo's mom fell sick somewhere between Germany and Amsterdam. This was how hectic our schedule was. I'm never ever doing a tour again. I prefer staying in one place for at least a week and take my own sweet time eating the local food and meeting the local ppl (ahem).

Grand deluxe tour of the HOUSE!

Aren't these roses just lovely? They're everywhere here.



View of the river from the house in Poio



Where I've been blogging the whole month.


The pool from my room. That's Aida on the left


That's the house!! It actually has a name: 'Mi Jacal'


Garden, pool and beyond. Lovely view


Steps leading to the doorway


The living room


The dining room


Staircase



And...voila! My room!


More uploads later.

Ed´s Theory

Shit Happens.

But what about his other theory?


Do miracles happen as well?


I find that the only one proven and affirmed is that Shit Happens.


Real life, smelly, stinking, puddles of shit that catch u unawares unless u keep ur eyes on the ground u´re walking on at ALL times.

I know I will come back from this tryst stronger than before, but I´ve never felt so weak and unhappy and crappy. I feel like cutting my trip short and just flying home.

Depression

I was robbed. last night. I got adventurous and went clubbing with Krista and friends last night.

Around 7 am (at my 3rd, albeit shady discotheque-the only one still open at that hour) I left my bag on a stool for a few minutes underneath my coat. I turned my back on it for a moment and the next thing I know, it was gone.

Some dude said he saw someone wearing glasses go off with my bag. We were screaming where?? Dondé?? so damned many times, and the FUCKER kept on talking and asking RIDICULOUS UNECESSARY questions while no doubt the culprit was escaping. What made me so mad was even after I got hysterical and tlked to the bouncers, they took the whole damned thing so lightly! I resorted to broken spanish/hysterical English to communicate the situation. I even suggested/demanded that no one leave the perimeters until they´d been searched. They said they couldn´t do that, and while they were talking nonsense and asking their fucking questions, people were happily cruising in and out of the door. I felt so powerless and I´ve never felt despair like this in my life except once last year.

I lost:

1. my new nokia E65 mobile phone with ALL of my contacts, messages and important notes
2. Aida´s mettalic pink sony ericsson flip phone
3. my iPod (fully charged, containing 2000 over songs which is thankfully backed up in my laptop)
4. AND my new Nikon digital camera in which I´d taken over 300 photos since I came here.

What made me so DAMNED ANGRY is that they never bothered to do anything, the bouncers, or any of my so-called friends. Bastards. They continued laughing and dancing and talking as if I was just talking about the fucking weather. In the span of a few minutes, everyone in the club had found out that I´d lost the contents of my bag, but of course, other than succeeding in spreading the word,nothing was done, and the fucking who took my shit probably got off scott free laughing all the way home. A few minutes later, someone found my bag in the ladies´, empty except for my green half-length long sleeve top. The robber was so thorough i almost broke down in hysterical laughter if I hadn´t been so upset. She/he even stole my lip gloss, a slip of paper with a friend´s contact on it, and a bottle of half-drank mineral water I chucked in. It´s utterly, absolutely ridiculous.

I was so desperate to get my things back I broke down and cried in front of the club and nearly resorted to begging, but they wouldn´t have understood what I wanted to say, or who to say it to, anyway.

I feel so down like I´ll never be happy again. And why did I have to lose the 3 things that I can´t live without, right now? Did I do sth so wrong as to deserve this?Is it karma? And the fact that I lost my very important iPod and my new phone doesn´t help either. Nobody is giving me the support that I need here...Aida and Enrique told me that it´s life. What´s happened has happened so just let it go. Buy new gadgets. But how can I let go of the CONTENTS in my gadgets? My contacts? My songs? My 300 over pics taken?There are just some things that money can´t buy.

Ru, Serena, Yih Ling, Mian and Rina, I so NEED u guys´ support right now. Nobody here seems to understand, even Krista. She sympathised with me, for about 10 minutes and resumed her flirting with the guys she was with and talking about the guys she was with and was so flippant about the whole thing.In short, she couldn´t care less since it didn´t happen to her. She almost made me cry again.

I know I´ve been DAMNED stupid to leave my bag lying around in a club, esp since I never do tht in Penang, but I´ve already got the guilt trip from my mom when I called her to inform her and to ask her to cancel my SIM card. I´ll prolly get the number back. So the next week, guys, dun message my number. I´ve cried so much my eyes are perpetually burning.

Aida told me tht even if I report the incident to the police, they won´t be able to do anything. My things are gone for good. Why oh Why was i so stupid? I should have glued my bag to my skin. I just woke up from a nap hoping all this was just a nightmare...but no. I still smell like an ashtray from the clubbing. And I can´t bring myself to do anything but come to the computer. I feel like I´m having a nervous breakdown. Please, someone save me from myself.

Maybe it could have been worse. I could have been stupider and left my passport and wallet and money in mybag, but I didn´t. I keep telling myself it could´ve been worse, and maybe it could´ve, but I just don´t feel comforted. I feel so stupid and worthless. What´s more, there are so many pics I wanted to upload that I now can´t coz of obvious reasons. what´s even more painful, I met a cute guy, a friend of a friend who was interested in me, super popular in the clubs, is a lawyer and wants to practise speaking his english with me. His name´s Alejandro, or Alex. He left before this happened, and I don´t have his contact number, so he doesn´t know what happened. I dunno if i´ll ever see him again, but the reason i went into the seedy club in the 1st place was because I thought he might be there, since he left the 2nd club without us. I FEEL SO STUPID NOW. I shouldn´t have done that for a guy who in the end isn´t even worth losing the 3 most important things to me.

Can anyone save me from myself? Please? I´m breaking down, for real. I can´t do anyth but cry. And now I´m so tired of and from crying that I just get this heaviness in my chest that tightens everytime I think about what happened. I feel so lost.

UpDatEs!!!

In more than one sense. First things first.

Ru, I expect a DETAILED account of how ur b´day went. Or Else. (In case u´re wondering, yes, I am threatening u. ROARR!!!)

And next, I got into The UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA. I realize it´s a dust speck compared to all the other schools I´ve got into lately, but hey, it´s the school ranked with a big fat A for the hot factor of all guys and girls there. In short, it´s hottie central!!!

Now I´m really in a dilemma.

Please do me a gargantuan favor, people, and help vote!! Well, only the votes for the first 4 school counts, but I thought it would be fun to post all the universities I got into (I haven´t actually gotten into Cornell, but I stand a VERY good chance, too). So vote! And help me decide by Next Tues!

Cornell University (1)

Emory University (2)

The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (3)

The University of Georgia (4)

Ohio State University (5)

(Pls vote with the numbers I have placed in the brackets :D) Click on the schools to check them out 1st :P

EmBaraSSmenT!!!

Stupid old, ugly, lau-ia car. (Ru, since u´re learning hokkien from Si fu Serena, u shud know what lau ia means)

The dumb manual volkswagon polo car I drive here had to go and die on me this afternoon while I dropped the kids off the school after lunch. I usually stop the car at the side of the road to drop them off, coz it only takes a few seconds for the kids to jump off. Which was what I did. Everything went fine.

Until I tried to start the car again. As u ppl driving manual cars know, u have to switch off the ignition to get out of the car, or it´ll die anyway once u take ur foot off the clutch. THE STUPID IDIOTIC CAR WOULDN´T START!!!!! At first, I kept calm. I took a deep breath and thought, ok, I´ll just keep trying. So I did. Again. And again. And again. And again. And again. All this time, with each second that passed and with each of the car´s pathetic inaudible coughs, my panic rose like Moses´ parting of the Red Sea. So I did what any sane person would do in my place.

I called the house.

With Aida´s phone. (she let me carry her mobile when i drop or pick up the kids in case of emergencies) The stupid thing kept ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing (that doesn´t even sound like a word anymore) until I nearly chucked the phone onto the path of an oncoming car in frustration (but I rmbred that it wasn´t my phone - just in time :P). I felt damn panicked and was cursing the stupid lousy old car. THen I remembered that I had another useful number with me -ENRIQUE´S!!! So without hesitation, I dialled his number. He answered, but of course, he said he could only be there in 10 minutes´ time. At that time, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and took out my OWN phone and started fiddling with it just so that I didn´t have to face the curious stares of BLOODY INQUISITIVE pedestrians (got nothing better to do ah???!!). But of course, this being me, it wasn´t the end of my very humiliating experience. Oh no.



A BIG FAT AUTOBUS had to try to pass this particular street too (Damn the typical European narrow streets, and the cars parked on both sides of said narrow streets). There was this loud-ass honk behind me and the driver got down to ask me what was the matter (like the HAZARD signal wasn´t info enough, you big fat retard!!!) and was only satisfied after my distressed claims of ´no puedo!´And coz jumbo here couldn´t pass, the entire line of cars behind it was stuck too, with all the other drivers getting down to see what the holdup was.

OH, THE HUMILIATION!!! OH, THE SHAME!!! I was praying for the ground to open up and swallow me whole. But of course, this being me too, this didn´t happen. So WHAT exactly DID happen, u ask. Well, I´ll tell u what.

The hordes of drivers (ok, 4 of them) came to my car window (I kept praying they wouldn´t talk to me, and that I wouldn´t have to say anyth else besides ´no puedo´ until Enrique came, but of course) and BOMBARDED me with utterly unintelligible stream of gibberish (Spanish, kononnya) telling me to do someth. At this point, I had panicked already and was frantically gettting Enrique on the phone again. And guess what? He picked up just in time to hear the utterly unintelligible rubbish (he was having the time of his life LAUGHING at me over it later on) of what the hordes of drivers wanted me to do.

Turns out, they told me to put the car in free gear so that they can push the damned thing to another side of the road which had more room. Of course, again, being me, I didn´t get what they ACTUALLY meant until i was deliciously poised for humiliation. I got outta the car, thinking that I could help them push the stupid thing until with horror, I realized that it was still in 1st gear! One driver had to get into the car and shift the gear for me while the others pushed it. Then they left to get their own cars, their business done, while I was BURNING with humiliation and frustration wishing the ground would do me a favor and swallow me, along with the pathetic excuse of a car. Haih...wat a day.

Aida and Enrique had the time of their lives laughing at me and joking that this incident would come out in the evening news in Pontevedra :´Chinese girl blocks whole street of cars´.

HA. HA. HA. :P

The sun!! The sun!! My kingdom for a honey bun!!

I spent the whole day today at the beach!!!! In a strange twist of fate, the kids did not have sch today coz their teachers are on strike. The reason for the strike? Coz they refuse to work in the afternoons and evenings. But Krista and I were just discussing this issue yesterday, and it´s unanimous. THe strike is such a JOKE. Even working till evenings as they do, their lifestyle is SO laid-back the reason to strike is MOOT, really. I mean, their sch starts at 10am, they have a 2 hour lunch break from 1 till 3, and finish school at 5.20. What the hell are they complaining about??? (Let´s have a forum about this issue here, Ru, YL, Mian, Rina and Serena. I´m sure u guys have a lot to say). Sheesh. Anyways, enough about lazy Europeans.

We seized the advantage of this sunny day and went to Sanxenxo, a smaller town where their grandmother lives and spent the day at the beach there.

Of c0urse, the beach here can´t compare to the beaches in Australia, but it´s still beautiful. The SUN, of course, is wonderfully hot!! haha...what a bEautiFul day! I got several shades tanner already...I barely recognize myself. We were just lying there on the beach tanning while the children played in the sand. And when we got too hot, we´d run down to the clear Mediterranean Water and dip in it for a few minutes (The water is sUpEr cold eventhough the day´s warm). When I was swimming in there I wished I had a professional photographer to take a couple of pics of me haha...(what I lack in model stature and looks, the scenery would have made up for it). Oh, it was beautiful! The water was so clear and shimmered in shades of blue like a glamor...

We had lunch in their grandma´s house (do you know that the Europeans´ houses are built in such a way that it traps all the cold air inside, and even on hot sunny days it feels as if it´s air-conditioned?) I noticed that the grandmother always soaks the food she cooks in oil...both times i´ve eaten there the food were practically SWIMMING in oil. This time it was grilled chicken with potatoes. The last time it was some sort of rice with meat and chicken SWIMMING in oil (No wonder Europeans only eat one square meal a day; not counting breakfast and dinner which only consists of whatever u wanna munch on - their food´s really heavy ).

On the drive back to Pontevedra, We had a lovely view of the ocean with the sun glittering off its surface as if it was a sapphire crystal glass. In fact, the day was so beautiful, the kids jumped into the pool again as soon as we were back in the house. Of course, I had to take care of them, so I had to put on my bathing suit again. THen I had an English lesson for Carmen (While in the bathing suit right outta the pool-I was freezing), took a hot shower and am now blogging. And this is how Europeans spend their vacations. Now how´s THAT for a way of life? Do u agree with me that a strike by EUROPEANS is simply laughably RIDICULOUS???


(Of course, without the strike I wouldn´t have been able to spend the day at the beach, but that´s besides the point here. Let´s just isolate the two events and analyze them that way.)


Oh ya, I´m ecstatic coz QUEENSBAY IS OPENING AN ICE-SKATING RINK SOON!!!!!!!! Thanks for the info, Ru. It´s wonderful!!!!! Hopefully it´ll be opened when I get back from Europe and before I go off to the states.

Bad influence

I was actually supposed to speak and teach English to Carmen for an hour just now, but as soon as Aida went out to get Juan from football practice, we went swimming in the pool instead. And conspired to tell Aida that we did study. Well, I did test Carmen on several phrases I taught her on friday. Well between our swimming escapade anyway. Does that count?

I´m such a bad influence, aren´t I??

Carmita y Juanito

Carmen was so adorable yesterday. After having lunch with the family at a seafood restaurant called ´La Peregrina´with the entire extended family, with a beautiful view of the beach, we came home around 6.30 (lunch took 4 hours) and I went into my room.

I was getting all comfortable on the rug, with my laptop and pillows and everything when Carmen came in and lay down beside me. I was watching the bloopers for ´Friends´. Although she couldn´t understand much of what the people were saying, she didn´t really have to coz it´s bloOpErs. Need I say more? Body actions RULE haha...and that´s universal. She was laughing at the part when Ross was shouting ´´Pivot!!´ and Chandler went ´shut up! shut up! shut uuUup!´Oh, and when Monica was dancing in the fat suit! haha...

We watched ´Yo Soy Bea´ after that(the Spanish version of the Latin American ´Yo soy Betty La Fea´) and she was explaining to me some parts i didn´t understand. I must say, Alvaro looks cuter in this Spanish version. Juan joined us halfway, and we were watching on the floor of my room, just the kids and me. They´re so adorable!!

Kids´re back!!

I cannot express how happy I am to see Carmen and Juan back from their grandma´s house. Carmen just came in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Little kids are so sweet and they make you feel important to them :D

Around the block

It seems like when I came to Spain, all of my friends forgot about me after the first few days. Except RINA, of course. Nobody ever asks me how Spain is or how I´m doing. Does anyone ever know how hard it is to go through a new experience alone?

After 10 days here, I remain the only one who´s been asking everyone how they are doing and what´s going on (and getting monosyllabic answers)back in Penang. Come on, man. I´ve been writing in my blog everyday and nobody bothers to even ask me in my Cbox how things are going for me? And now that I´ve posed the question for myself, I´m doing just fine, thanks for asking. But did anyone know that I wasn´t a few days back? No.

I dunno what I would have done without you, Rina. THanks so much!! Guess you finally know who´s genuinely happy for you.

New experiences

Spent the night at Krista´s. We went out for dinner at this cool place called ´La Ibense´ where they have all sorts of ice-cream (and food too!). We ordered a salmon salad and fries, but the salad was really sad, really. It consisted mostly of lettuce leafs and very little salmon and red peppers. They serve olive oil with the salad here. We had coffee and churros after the meal (I´m so addicted to the European´s Café con leche!! Gosh). The coffee serving here is really small (Prolly coz the Europeans drink it 5 times a day). If there´s one thing I´d miss from Spain, it´s churros. They´re a kind of long fried pastries sprinkled with sugar and a little salt that are served with coffee. It´s sooooo good! But kinda fattening though. I´ve gotta cut back on those. Krista and I took one lousy un-glamorous picture. We´ll take more soon. ANd, some pics of churros too, my friends. It´s such a shame they don´t have churros in the States. I´m really gonna miss them.

After that we rented a movie and was planning to go to a discotheque at midnight after watching the movie, but halfway through it I fell asleep. I was that tired!! What a waste. But it´s ok, there´ll be other days. (The movie was ´Finding Neverland´ by the way. I don´t recommend it.)

I came back and guess what? Aida told me that she and Enrique went to a discotheque to dance last night. She had a better time than me!! How sad is that? Haha...but Krista was cool about the fact that I fell asleep during the movie she likes so much. I never got to see how it ended, but to tell the truth, I don´t really wanna. It was kinda dull.

If there´s nothing going on today besides going out to lunch with the family, I might meet up with Krista later.

Nice sunny day...

It was kinda cold this morning, and I was hoping that the weather would be as nice and warm as yesterday, and it seems like I´ve gotten my wish!

It´s such a nice, lazy, sunny day...(it´s such a shame I can´t upload photos here. Not to worry though, I´ve taken plenty and will upload soon.)

And I don´t mean sweltering hot like our M´sian sun. The Galician sun is like a long lost friend - long time no see, and when you do see it, you wanna bask in it as long as possible. Cool temperature, cool breezes, nice, wondrously warm sun that doesn´t burn but warms you within. Ack, is this me talking??

Anyways after dropping the kids off to school this morning I went to driving school for my last driving lesson (had one yesterday). Gosh, I´ve finally gotten the hang of this. I can drive to the city and back without any trouble at all. And when the car ´se apaga´, I was totally calm. It felt weird at first, with the driver´s seat on the left hand side of the car and driving on the right side of the road. But I´ve gotten used to it, and am now good with a very old, heavy manual car, to boot!! I´m so proud of myself. I mean, how many people has driven a car while taking instructions in Spanish??(do not try this at home, though). I did extremely well tho, if I may say so myself. Aida´s letting me drive the kids to school alone on monday. And then I can meet up with Krista.

I was supposed to meet her after lunch, but Aida has like, a million things to do (no idea what) and she has taken the car. I´m blogging coz there are some guys fixing the pool outside (they´re not hot, btw. Que feo.) so i can´t lounge by the pool like yesterday. I shifted my chair to the glass panel so that I can bask in the sun while blogging.

Nice lazy day.

Ah...que vida bonita...

ONe more in tHe bag

Berkeley Schmerkeley. It can go and kiss my feet.

estoy muy muy felíz!

I . GOT . INTO . EMORY . UNIVERSITY .



Is that cool or what??

Una nueva amiga

My Spanish is getting better by the day. I can actually converse more fluidly now than when I first arrived. And just think, it´s only been a week! I feel more comfortable around the house now. I still get a headache sometimes when im outside, when everyone´s blabbering away in Spanish and I´m struggling to match words with meanings. That´s when I feel nauseaous and overwhelmed. Dizziness pervades and you feel like your head is gonna explode.

But that´s not why I wrote this entry. I MADE A NEW FRIEND TODAY!!! Another au pair from Carmen & Juan´s school. Her name´s Krista and she´s from Canada. I can´t possibly express how happy I was to meet someone who speaks English. FINALLY!

But my spanish is getting better too, so it´s a 2 in 1 package. I´m happy! THinking of extending my stay.

Chao. Besos.

C´est la vie

Berkeley admission decisions came out today.


I didn´t get in.


I´m a little disappointed, but I´ll live. If I can manage to submit that check to Michigan on time, that is. I realized today that the deadline for submitting an enrollment deposit is May 1, not May 9!!!!!! SHIT! MERDE!!! .....!!!!(Dunno wat´s it called in Spanish, which is ironic, since I´m in Spain and not France)


THANK YOU so much, Rina for lifting my spirits by telling me that i wouldn´t wanna go to a school filled with nerds like WILLIAM HUNG! Haha...just when I needed a laugh.*ROTFL*


Just had breakfast a while ago here. Mom´s trying to contact steven Kor in US so that he can send an eCheck for me. PRAYING for success...

We´re going to los abuelitos house for lunch today. Carmen and Juan are watching Doce en Casa (Spanish version of CHeaper By THe Dozen)

Chao.

El cuarto día a España

Went out with Javi and friends today. I finally got their names right! They´re Adrian,Victor, Daniel and Hugo. And I made new friends too´, Flor and Saylor (I´m not sure if it´s spelled this way, but it´s definitely pronounced this way.)

I got Victor & Flor´s mobile numbers and MSN. Flor actually lives in Santiago de Compostela, and Victor in Ourense other cities near Pontevedra. And I´m so happy today coz:

1. My luggage arrived yesterday (the 2 dudes that delivered it were HOT. Too bad I didn´t haf my camera with me then.)
2. I went walking around the neighborhood hanging out with Javi & friends just now, and although I couldn´t talk at their speed or join in the convo, I felt totally comfortable with them and actually understood a lot of what they were saying, such as ´te quiero matarr!!´, ´eres tonto!´, ´qui es tonto - Javi!´and all other sorts of locuras y tonterias. Haha...I think I´m starting to think in Spanish.
3. Victor is so nice!! He speaks English and French as well as Spanish. But of course, his French is like my Spanish. His English wasn´t bad at all! I felt so totally comfortable with him, he was like my unofficial dictionary. The fact tat he was naturally chatty and comfortable with me helped LOADS (he already has a novia, though)
4. Now I wish I were staying longer than a month.
5. Even though it´s freezing here, and constantly drizzling. (I was freezing my ass of walking around with just a half-length long sleeve top)

Oh ya

"We shall draw from the heart of sufferingitself the means of inspiration and survival."
--Winston Churchill

In January 1982, American Steven Callahan set sailfrom the Canary Islands in a small sailboat he'd builthimself, his plan to cross the Atlantic. He was 30 yearsold, fit, capable and looking forward to the voyage that had been his dream since boyhood. Six days later whilehe slept content in his berth, the boat struck somethingbig, most likely a whale, and capsized. Awakened bythe collision, Callahan had only a few precious secondsto grab what he could before scrambling to positionhimself safely aboard a five-foot inflatable dinghy.Having managed to grab only a bit of food and somebottled water, along with a solar still for making seawater potable and a fishing harpoon gun, Callahanknew from the onset that his chances of survivalwere not good. He had no way of knowing, however,that he was about to embark on an amazing journeyin self-reliance that would last an astounding 76 daysand carry him 1,800 miles across a vast andfrightening sea....


I got this inspirational message in an e-mail subscription. Feels like God is trying to talk to me, that there are worse things than losing one´s luggage. (Except if you have a date tomorrow) Suddenly, I feel much better after reading it.

Fun facts

Do you know it doesn´t get dark here till 11 pm at night? (Prolly coz it´s going to be summer)



And that la familia doesn´t eat dinner till 12 am?



And that they eat a lot of meat and carbs?



And that I think I´m getting fatter?

Things are looking up

Aida and Enrique took me shopping today. We went to Vigo, the shopping city of Galicia. I must say, Vigo suits me so much better. Busy streets, tall, beautiful European buildings and cute hunks. Kind of reminds me of Singapore, but better, with a European flair.

We went to a mall, and everything´s just like back home, except that instructions, directions and price tags are in Spanish. Things are so expensive. You would think that brands like Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Guess would be cheaper here. BIG FAT MYTH. Do you know that a child´s dress costs 85€? It´s so darned expensive there, and after conversion to RM, it´s astronomical. Good grief. And a bikini costs about 50-60 €. No lo puedo creer.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
In case y´all wondering what those dots are, those represent a pause. Javi came by the house just now, and introduced me to his friends. 4 guys and a girl. Can´t really rmbr the names, I was too nervous. I only caught the names Adrian and Hugo. They are so nice!! All of them. And they will come find me tomorrow to go somewhere (again, I didn´t catch it). But I think I´m finally growing a thick skin and letting go of my dumb pride. I told them that my Spanish is very bad. And today, when I was shopping with Aida and Enrique, I was not afraid to use stupid retarded hand gestures when I can´t find the word. And I kept asking them ´What is this or that/ How do you say...in Spanish´(in Spanish of course). I think I´m finally getting the hang of this. And the introduction to Javi´s friends doesn´t hurt either. I think one of them is interested in me :D

Ru, you might get that hunk after all. If I can get my Spanish good enough to form a sentence telling them abt u, that is. YihLing and Serena, you guys too. There´s JUST enough to go around. Though I don´t know if Javi is interested in joining the lineup. Haha...nothing like communication with the opposite sex to ovecome jet lag and get the ol´adrenaline glands pumping.

I dunno about you guys, but I´m on the clouds. And you ppl better start commenting soon, or I´ll just change my mind about finding you hunks :P

P.S. I did secretly take some pics of Javi from my room this aft when he was playing football with Juan and Carmen. I took many pics of Juan and Carmen too. They´re so cute!! Sadly, I can´t upload them yet.

P.P.S. My luggage is arriving today. (It better, because I have a date with los chicos tomorrow!!)

Ay Dios mio

I finally met a cute guy today. And he doesn´t speak a word of English. Javi. Apparently he´s a friend of the family, and he looks mexican. Ay dios mio, what a shame.

Aida has asked him to introduce me to his other friends. But what am I going to do?? I´m 99.99 % sure that they don´t speak English either. Nicole, their last American au pair, stayed for only a month too, but she speaks fluent Spanish although she´s a terrible driver. I think sh was from California. Barbara, their Austrian au pair who stayed for 7 months last year, spoke no Spanish at all when she came, but she stayed 7 months, and by the end of it she had a bf to boot! What am I? I speak a little Spanish, drive moderately but sometimes badly (esp manuals) and am staying for only a month. I´m probably the worst, most troublesome au pair they haf ever had. Esp with the luggage situation. Day 3 without luggage. I´m now wearing Aida´s clothes.

Guess what I´m doing? We just had lunch this sunny Saturday afternoon, and Javi and the kids are playing football outside. I just can´t take standing by mute while they jabber away so I´m blogging. Pathetic. At least it´s much warmer today, and there´s sun.

Lost in Translation

My second day here in Spain. My senses are in such an overloaded state I can´t really write about everything. I´m experiencing so much I can´t sum it up in words. Galicia is so different from what I expected of Spain. It feels like I entered a different world with ppl speaking a different language. First of all, ppl, I wanna apologize in advance as i won´t be able to blog as often as I thought I would. The family doesn´t have wireless, so the only internet connection I have is on their computer downstairs. And so, although I´ve taken some pics, I won´t be able to upload them either. But I´m sure that during my 2 week vacation around Europe at the end of May, I´ll be able to upload the photos and blog more as I´ll be staying in hotels.

Now, about my life here so far. Would you guys believe that here in Pontevedra, very very few people, or none at all, speak English? It´s quite a small town, unlike big metropolitan cities like Madrid and Barcelona, so it´s a bit of a backwater. The population count is even less than that of Penang, and I can see the horizon everytime we drive to town to drop the kids off. Those that do speak English speak only the rudimentaries. Kinda like my Spanish. Which is not saying much at all!! When they say ´poco´, they REALLY MEAN IT. About as little English as the word itself.

I feel so lost, and the airport losing my luggage doesn´t help either. Do you believe I haven´t got it back yet? Supposedly, it´s on the way to the house but I haven´t seen the person´s batang hidung yet. Aida and I have resorted to communicating mostly in body language and Spanish. It´s like, when she speaks to me I understand most of it, but I can´t speak what´s on my mind coz I can´t frame the sentence. This is sooooooooo frustrating!! I feel like a simpleton. And when she speaks to her kids or any other adult on the street, their conversation goes wAY over my head. Oh man, what a feeling. I need to learn past tense and future tense.

And guess what? I have to drive their big old volkswagon polo. That´s right. MANUAL. I have to drive the kids to school every morning. Aida and I did a test run just now, and after the first 10 minutes, it wasn´t that bad. But Pontevedra streets are very narrow, and the people drive very slowly. Which is good. Or not. Manual is never good when you have to stop a lot. And ppl cross the street at will, so it´s like an unspoken rule to stop and let any person who happens to be crossing or waiting to cross. I start driving the kids to school next wednesday. Do the math. I have to learn streets of Pontevedra by next wednesday! And let me tell you, it´s full of twists and turns. No easy feat, and I´m scared shitless I´ll crash their car.

I´ve had two cups of coffee since morning. Apparently during their free time, Spaniards in Galicia pump themselves full of coffee. Do you guys have any idea how much caffeine that is? I´m still waiting for my jet lag to catch up with me. I´m so lost in translation you wouldn´t believe. The kids are scarily energetic. Carmen is such a darling. She warms up to anyone very fast. She likes volleyball, dancing, swimming and bicycling. Juan is very fussy with his food. He only takes his drinks and food HOT. He has to be force-fed, but Aida does that. Me? I watch as their conversation goes over my head. He´s always running, kicking, jumping and monkeying about, and he doesn´t listen to me because my Spanish is crap. Everytime I try to tell him to do sth in spanish, like go bathe, eat, etc, he gives me this look that´s between confusion and derision, and goes ´qué??´ or ´no entiendes nada.´ Trust me, my Spanish is good enough for me to understand that. He doesn´t speak a word of English. Carmen, on the other hand, knows how to speak a few words of English, and I´m supposed to speak English all the time with them. But their English is even worse than my Spanish, and they don´t understand sentences. They keep chattering away in Spanish, and I have absolutely no idea how to speak English with them. It´s like, how can you be comfortable speaking English in a household where everyone speaks only Malay/Mandarin/Tamil? It´s the exact situation here. Except that it´s Spanish. I feel like...how do u say it, a shirt on a dog? In other words, extraneous.

Don´t get me wrong. I know what I´m getting myself into when I opted to come to Spain. Total immersion. Gave me a whole new perspective on that word. Although, I came to Spain looking for sun, language, sightseeing and romance. Well, one out of four is fine for now. Sightseeing and/or romance will come when I get used to the culture here. Sun...well I´m still looking for that. It´s pretty cold here, about 15 degrees celcius in the mornings, and averaging 17-20 during the days. Drizzles a lot, too. One thing is for sure. Galicia is quite unlike the rest of Spain. But then, Barcelona is also pretty cold this time of the year. Hopefully it´ll be warmer with much more sun when I go there at the end of next month.

Right now, I´m depressed coz my luggage with all my worldly possesions and NECESSITIES are nowhere to be found. I spent yesterday and today in the same clothes. It´s so disheartening, esp when you´re already feeling lost and incapacitated. Just what I need. On top of that, I start to smell too. I´m lucky it´s cold here. I shudder to think of what will happen if it´s sunny and sweltering. I don´t have my adapters with me, so I can´t even charge anyth, including my phone. It´s on its last bar of battery. I also cannot believe I left my iPod and hp charger in my luggage.

Things have got to get better soon. It just has to, or I think I´m gonna have a nervous breakdown. PLEASE. POR FAVOR.

Picture perfect day

My mom conveniently forgot to tell me that the photos of Aida and her family came in yesterday. I was beginning to get worried. But they are so cute!! the kids, I mean. I can't wait to get to know Carmen and Juan better. Estoy muy muy ilusionado!!

Life after exams

We went to Queensbay to celebrate Yih Ling's belated birthday yesterday, and met up in Sakae Sushi, where my dumb cousin informs me that he's ruined the surprise. Not really surprised. After all, he's a guy. Need I say more? More importantly, we took a crazy amount of pictures!! Most of these pictures are the result of the newly trigger-happy me. Alas, I only possess a fraction of them, but I'm posting them up now!



Aww...look at the lovebirds....ain't they sweet? haha



I really don't know how I ended up so pale in all the pictures from my camera.



Yih Ling and Serena



Yl: Oh stop...u're killing me with your demented lion-face



Whoops! Caught us in the midst of throwing a frisbee plate



Hamming it up for the camera



Isn't it pretty? I chose the cake, you know.



There we have it - Voila, the birthday girl! We made her take each candle out with her mouth, but she cheated, of course.



We finally managed to take a group picture in YL's house at midnight.

The Emancipation of Sara

Need I say more?

Freedom in every language, in every sense of the word.

I'm off to Spain next wednesday!! Of course, I have about a million things to do first. But you people better come send me off on that day. My plane is at 9:10 pm. Please come online the night b4, everyone, and send me off in style (for those who aren't staying over, that is).


Ru and Serena, you guys are staying over right? PLS confirm! And Yih Ling, can you stay over too? Let me know. Btw, I've got a surprise for you tonight (if you ever see this entry b4 tonight, which I think you won't) so just wait!! :)


I'm gonna go bounce off the walls, dance naked in the sun and do whatever else crazy ppl do after exams. Hasta luego, mis amigos!!

One more thing

I got my Michigan acceptance packet today.


Now, if only Cornell, Emory and Berkeley would hurry up. Clock's a-ticking!

Million things

to do. Oh gosh, I need to

1. Get my driving license renewed
   
2. Pack
3. Get Penang prezzies for my host family
4. Buy some stuff I need (toiletries, etc.)
5. Get a new phone (I hope.)
6. Ask Angeline if she can send off my final transcripts for me as soon as they're available
7. Wait for those photos

Gosh, I'm just harried. And the party's just begun :D

S.W.E.E.T. F.R.E.E.D.O.M.

Almost.



One more paper this Saturday, and it's for real! Ah, libertad dulce...


One week and counting! And then it's when in Spain...do as the Spanish do and have a

FIESTA!!

Anthony Callea clips

Here are the Anthony Callea clips I've been dying to share since Feb!!!


The Prayer


The Prayer (in St Andrew's Cathedral-for the Queen)


I Want to Know What Love Is


Hurts so Bad

Check it out! Check it out!

Check out the school rankings!!!

Click here (and see what I'm smiling about)

Flying to Spain

...on the 25th of April. Not the 23rd. I'll be taking the SIA plane to Singapore, transiting, and then flying to Milan. There's a layover there en route to Barcelona. From barcelona, I'll take a Clickair flight to La Coruna, where Aida's picking me up.

I finally heard back from them, and the climate there's pretty much sunny, though a little cold at night, abt 20 deg. They told me to bring summer clothes, with some cold-weather ones. I can't wait!!!

I got accepted

into Michigan. That's 2 out of ten now, with the first one being Ohio State.


And not lousy Michigan State, either. I got into the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Ranked 24th nationally. I'm happy. In fact, I'm elated. If I don't get into Cornell, Berkeley or Emory, I'm going to Michigan. *grin*


On another note, I got denied from U of Illinois. Urbana-Champaign, that is. The reason? they didn't receive my transcripts and other back-up materials in time. Never mind the fact that I'd sent them by courrier WAY before the deadline. Stupid, inefficient babboons. But I'm not bothered. I got into michigan, which is ranked WAY higher than Illinois (41st).


I . GOT . INTO . THE . UNIVERSITY . OF . MICHIGAN .

J'ai grippé

I woke up this morning feeling as though my head had been stuffed full of cotton and my mouth filled with beach sand. That's what I get for staying up till four reading the Civil War. Fat lot of good the Battle of Gettysburg's doing me now.

With finals the week after next, I can only feel a mounting sense of dread, since I spent the whole of Friday after class and today sleeping. Coz I felt like I had been run over by a steamroller. I gotta stop treating my body like a machine. Coz I felt like I had broken down today. Not a nice feeling. Persistent migraines, sore throat, dry mouth and swollen eyes. I could barely keep my concentration enough to do my stats assignment. That's scary, esp when it happens so close to exams, when you need every minute of it to study.

I was supposed to have finished reading 2 chapters of history already, by today. But I still need to get cracking on my stats assignment, or Dini will kill me. I gotta pull through. And I gotta get better before my trip to Spain. I don't want to ruin it with my sickness.

Signing off now. Gotta go get something done. Ciao.