Hullo all stations, this is Charlie...

Let's see how much I manage to write in the... 20 or so minutes I have left before I have to leave to send some people to the airport (yes, at this insane timing).

So we had our thanksgiving dinner earlier. Well, basically my house, two of the freshies, your two friends, plus some other random people (sorry I can't think of a better description) who dropped by later. Oh, and hy's sister. Well, it was fun enough I guess... although I kinda felt that some of the fun was at the expense of some people hmm... oh well... but the food was good :)

Speaking of food... I still have a slice of cheesecake from Monday in the fridge... shld eat it soon. Yeah, surprisingly I got two cakes this year... well, the cheesecake was expected (from them both yes), the Coldstone cake wasn't. I know Sir didn't want to do anything, but I guess somehow over the course of the day the peer pressure became so great he gave in and went to get it hahaha (he had a lot of ppl msging him asking him to do smth about it). Well, I appreciate it lah, really. I really really really wasn't expecting anything.

So my thanksgiving break started a little earlier cos I conveniently pretended that 15212 doesn't exist. Seriously it's not difficult to tell that I have no interest in that course whatsoever, which is bad... *sigh* Hopefully I'll manage to get work done over the next few days, as well as other stuff that I should have done long long ago *sigh* I guess I really just haven't been in the mood to do anything. I still ain't, to be honest. Oh well... work still needs to be done. That's the baseline I guess...

Building Virtual Worlds show next Wed... shld be good I hope. Thank goodness I got a ticket to the by-invitation-only session, cos there's no way I'll be able to make it for the session open to public...

Since it's Thanksgiving break, Happy Thanksgiving all. I hope you all get to enjoy it with people who mean the world to you. As for me, I'll be glad to just get some work done. Hopefully. We shall see...

Right. Airport, here I come...

Charlie, nothing further, out.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09240/993892-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09241/994124-298.stm?cmpid=news.xml

Goodbye Rohan.

I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to talk to you this semester yet. I shall remember you as a good guy. Easy going, friendly, and somehow always seeming to see things in a more positive light than I can.

Rest in peace.

I feel that I've been lied to. Twice. This week. That's 2 times above my weekly quota.

And honestly, I dunno wad to think about them.

Gah. Heck, shall get back to work.

Err... yeah, I'm back. In Pittsburgh that is.

So let's rewind to Thursday morning. Woke up in Singapore with a fever :( So went to see the doc, who figured that it probably wasn't anything serious and said I should be fit to fly if I really need to (which I really did need to). Anyway fever came under control at about noon, so that was good. I'm currently still having this really annoying cough though :( Just do the usual I guess...

Flights were pretty much uneventful (save for one incident). No delays (surprisingly haha). Just that I think the steward on the flight from VHHH to KSFO was seriously amused with the three of us... probably totally gave up on us. But well, it's SIA, and they were seriously really really really nice and good about their service :) So much so that when we reached KSFO, Sir commented that "okie, the easy part is over. Now comes the hard part" even though the pacific flight was significantly longer than the cross-country flight.

Anyway we got back in one piece Friday morning. Took the bus back and basically have been spending almost all our time cleaning up the apartment. And you know what, I wouldn't even call it half done :( the amount of trash that the previous tenants left behind is seriously amazing. In all honesty I haven't seen a place of residence that's in a worse state.

I think I mentioned this before, but basically we're staying at this house with 3 floors, so each floor is one apartment. Sir and I are taking the 3^rd floor. So our apartment has one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen and a bathroom. Sir's taking the bedroom while I'm taking the living room, this arrangement decided on based on convenience for moving in (well, the moving in thing is a bit complicated). Well, the nice thing is I get a queen-size bed :p tt's about it I guess haha...

Well, so basically wad's done is I've cleared my tables so that I can use them to get some work done. And a small area at the back of my space for the clothes rack. The floor and other stuff still require work, which will hopefully be done over the coming week. We cleared all the junk out of the kitchen today (to get an idea of how much junk it was, check out FB). And yeah, the kitchen still needs work... *sigh*

Had to go attend the Graduate Students' Potluck yesterday evening (they invited the committee). Which was a little awkward cos I really dunno many of the grad students. Well, watching the kids running around and playing was fun enough I guess haha...

We convoy-drove down to Ikea at Robinson Town Centre today after I came back from church. 2 cars. And as expected, there was no way on earth I'll be able to catch up with ZQ's car... we both just have totally different driving styles haha... got myself a new chair, a new chest of drawers (both of which I haven't found the time to fix yet.. tmr!), and a small pillow to hug when I'm doing my work :p Oh, and we bought a new rubbish bin for the apartment... the thing is, the "bin" was in the flower pots section :p hahahahaha.... and then we popped by Toys r' Us so that Sir could get his GPMG plus extra ammo (GPMG = general purpose machine gun)... I'm seriously starting to fear for my life haha... :p and then we drove all the way past the city to Waterfront to respond to a SOS call (someone bought too many stuff and needed a car to drive the stuff back). Got myself a fan there too... yepz, that's about it I guess.

School starts tomorrow :( am totally unprepared to be honest. But I'm not worried about it for now. I know that once things start kicking in I won't have the time to feel sianz about it anymore. Besides, I'm hoping that this sem won't be as bad as the last one. Last sem was really bad. There's still plenty of rubbish to get rid of, and lots of cleaning up to do, so hopefully there'll be time for that. Will probably post pics when this place starts looking like humans can actually survive in here :p the vacuum cleaner is gonna see a lot of work in the days to come.

Anyway, if you're interested enough, my schedule this semester can be found at http://scheduleman.org/schedules/ueAwUAH35h.

I'm really not looking forward to school starting for various reasons, some of which really shouldn't be posted here I guess. I mean, I'm totally fine with coming back here. I'm just not fine with school starting haha... oh well, here we go.

Fine, so the email finally came today. You know I really felt like replying with a "no excuse", cos in all honesty that would have been the most honest and direct answer to give. Unfortunately I figured that wouldn't help things any and so typed up a nice email that was, in my opinion, pure rubbish.

Fine, I know I fell short, you dun have to remind me. Just send the damn letter and be done with it.

So Sir and I were manning the CMU booth this afternoon when this guy came along and started asking all the usual questions. While Sir attended to him, I continued sitting down and staring at nothing in particular and was just listening in to the conversation.

And then he was asking about student life there and all, and after Sir was done explaining that part, this was wad happened:

Visitor: Oh, why does he look so depressed? *looks in my direction*
Sir: Oh, he always looks depressed one....
Visitor: Oh, errr...... o.k.i.e....... thanks... *goes off*

Hmm... opps? *thinks I just scared someone from applying to CMU*

But hey, that's how I normally look most of the time what. Depressed, that is.

And you know, after burning 02 x Sundays, I kinda figured that people who haven't heard of CMU probably shouldn't come to CMU...

Oh, bought camera yesterday :)

Whee we've been ordered to telework for the rest of the week :p haha... seriously, it's a little scary... like a lot of people really didn't make it into the office today cos they all fell sick (go draw ur own conclusions). And we even had one sup coming in today saying he was there to "breathe in the air" hahahahahahahaha..... :p oh plus the fact that two more people fell sick today too...

Of course, there's the thing about whether I (and for tt matter, Yunxiu) shld still go for the class gathering tomorrow... and seriously. Facebook is powerful, one small comment and 30 new comments follow... (check my wall)

The cleaning auntie (who, by the way, is a really nice lady, and she remembered me from last year haha was very surprised) came in today and vacuumed the room (as she does once every few weeks). Wad really shocked me was that when she was done, she went out for a while, came back in, and came to my table with this log book in her hand and asked me if I minded entering and signing an entry in the log book to certify that she did come by today to vacuum the room. I was seriously shocked... I mean, the issue is not that I minded signing the paperwork for her, tt's a small thing. The issue was that I think this is seriously ridiculous paperwork... I mean, wad, dun trust the auntie to do her job? Like the auntie put it to me, it'll be darn obvious if she wasn't doing her job cos the state of the room will show for it. And furthermore, it just doesn't feel right to me that I have to sign off on the work that somebody so much older than me has done to certify that it was done. Just doesn't feel right. I'm in no way above her, so to speak.

I never knew CMU is so popular in Singapore. At least I had the sense to keep some of our stuff at home to give out next week... I think UIUC's out already :p but it was really tiring.

Watched Harry Potter on Saturday... it was a good movie, but the overall mood was quite... dark? A little too dark for my liking... and I realised I quite like Ginny (as in Ginny the character, not the actress). Really direct person, and not afraid to go out to get what she wants... but overall, good movie :)

Oh by the way, there's this new shop in PS that sells these things which have the word "Katana" on their price labels... :p

And to end off... this is quite nice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3d6SFcDys.

When it is no longer ethically feasible to remain sitting on the fence, do you decide to take a firm stand and stick with it, or do you continue to sit on the fence, especially when sitting on the fence is the politically correct thing to do?

On a separate note, after sending Ben off at the airport this evening, I've realised that I'm really not good at handling very nice and friendly parents. Hmmm....

Just came back from watching Ice Age 3 with my sis and her husband... in 3D too!! This must be the first time in I have no idea how many years where I actually step into a cinema with my sis. Usually I choose not to join them but I decided that I needa chill for a bit... besides, they largely leave me alone anyway, which suits me fine.

The only thing of interest that has happened recently is that I went kayaking on Sunday. With the barrage up and all, the waters off the Esplanade are no longer off limits. So we paddled down to that area from Kallang... nice, too bad we didn't have a camera. Uh apparently the limit is 100 metres from the shore (Esplanade and Merlion), but we thought it was 50 opps hee.... oh well :p hey, we'll just claim that we estimated the distance to be 100... And then went roller skating with my cousins in the evening. I guess you can call it my first time... I actually do wanna learn how to skate. Unfortunately, time ain't really on my side, seeing how I'm gonna be burning Sundays in the next few weeks :(

Today, something happened that further reinforced my view of how small this country is. I finally realised today why I kept finding XY so familiar ever since the first day he reported for work. Turns out he too was from 2 SIG. He was from MC Coy though... so we spent some time today exchanging gossip and stuff heh... basically pretty much the same stuff that WH and I were talking about that night (morning?). Seriously, for such a small unit, you meet people from that unit surprisingly often...

Just wanna record this small incident that happened just before we left for the cinema. So just before we left, my sis and her husband were having this little argument (it was nth big) about smth, and each didn't look like they were about to give in. So I just sat there and waited while they ding-donged about until finally my bro-in-law turned to me and asked me for my opinion (err, well, let's just say that I had a small interest (on his side) in the matter of dispute too). And then I did what I really seldom do at home, and that is to make a decision and make it final. (For personal reasons I rarely choose to make any decisions at home). So I basically told him to give in to my sis. At the point I made the decision, I made it just because she was my sis. It was only afterward while sitting at the back of the car that I realised how logically right my decision was... I figured that well, even if I didn't give in, it wouldn't have made me any happier. Besides, it would have made her upset. On the other hand, when I gave in, she was happy and I realised that on my side, it didn't really matter to me that I didn't get what I want. It really didn't, cos even if I got it, I wouldn't have been any happier.

Oh yeah, I'm trying to find out the title of this Japanese (I think) song... I think I've got the tune, unfortunately I dunno any of the words so I can't Google it. Besides, I speak no Jap. Although if my memory didn't fail me, I think some people sang it that night during the karaoke... haha oh well...

Hmm. If you went about life without expecting anything whatsoever, so that if you actually do get anything it's a bonus, would life be much better and filled with less disappointment?

Sidenote #1: Michael Jackson passed away yesterday in LA. Myocardial infarction apparently. While there's no denying the fact that he had been involved in quite a number of controversial issues lately, there's also no denying the fact that he was a legend. Although I'll have to say that Singaporeans are quite a strange lot. Or maybe it's not just Singaporeans. But when my dad and I heard the news on the radio this morning, his first comment was something along the lines of "wah, he must have left a lot of money behind". As I stepped into the lift at the office later another person was commenting "wow, I'm sure he left plenty of money behind", at which another person commented that he thought that MJ was bankrupt. And I was thinking to myself "wad the heck?"

Sidenote #2: I've realised that there's actually something specific to Pittsburgh that I do miss. Q 92.9 FM, the best radio station I've ever listened to so far in my life. I especially miss it when I'm freaking stuck in traffic in Singapore *sigh* I mean, Class 95 is fine I guess, but it gets annoying sometimes too.

Sidenote #3: Have been stuck in a grand total of 4 traffic jams this week. ALL due to car accidents. Am seriously annoyed *sigh* Really....

Sidenote #4: I'm starting to wonder if my arms are a little too short for my own good. By right, when driving my dad's car, I'm supposed to be sitting further behind (as in, shifting the chair back further) than wad I'm currently doing due to the length of my legs. The problem is, if I move the chair any further back, my arms have issues reaching the steering wheel. This thought suddenly came to me because earlier this week I realised that I have a little bit of issues reaching out to insert the cashcard into the machine even though I think I've moved quite closed to it already hmm....

Sidenote #5: In addition to a new camera, I need to get some new pairs of jeans, and coincidentally, I do want a white short-sleeved shirt. Wanted one since last year actually, but never found one that I liked... shall see if I can find any hmm...

Sidenote #6: It's getting difficult to go out in peace nowadays.

Sidenote #7: It's getting difficult to sleep in during the weekends.

Sidenote #8: My weekends have been so filled that I'm kinda tired. I mean, weekdays are taken up by work, and every weekend it's gathering after gathering after gathering... I dunno. Just feel like i don't really have time for myself? Or maybe it's just the pace of life here or something.

Okie, now to the entry proper :p

This is actually a collection of thoughts over the past many many months, just that I never got down to writing them down anywhere, nor am I sure if I actually know how to write them down.

But I guess in some ways I'm just tired? I dun actually know how to describe it. (By the way, this is in NO way referring to one specific issue or incident but rather is aimed at things in general). I mean, over time I've had friends who have been contacting me for help (and sometimes I don't hear from them until/unless they need a favour or something, although I have to admit that I've probably been guilty of this at times as well), or to just lend a ear, or to get some opinion etc... well, I'm busy sometimes (more often last sem), but I think I've tried my best to always make sure that I find some time to attend to all these because you folks are my friends. I'm not blaming you folks, in fact, please continue to feel free to approach me for help for anything. I promise I'll get to it if it's within my means. And I'm sorry if I've failed in that respect.

But when things happen, or you just need someone to talk to, or if you have no idea how to put things into words and just need someone to help bring some cheer to your life, and you look around you and realise you can find no one you can really talk to, and you check your MSN and realise that the people you can talk to are not around (sometimes never), you just keep it inside you. If it gets bad enough and you have a chance, maybe you'll just go out somewhere for a walk (even if it's freaking -20 degrees outside).

Then again, looking at it from another angle, I really shouldn't make my problems become other peoples' problems too right?

And at the end of the day, you just sigh to yourself and tell yourself to carry on.

*sigh* carry on.

Since it's summer break, I thought I should catch up a little on reading (I know there's work, but you see, I refuse to bring any work home). So I've been reading The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, which I bought from Barnes and Noble (Squirrel Hill) last Thanksgiving but never had the chance to finish reading no thanks to the end of winter break and the start of 15-251. So I'm starting from the front *sigh* You know what? I've decided that my favourite character in there is Marvin the Paranoid Android. I think his outlook on life (or the lack thereof) and his personality fits my current one quite nicely hmmm.... anyway, for those who haven't read the book (or at least, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), you should :p

My sis's on her honeymoon now. The amazing thing is, neither my parents nor I have any idea whatsoever on exactly which spot on Earth she is at now, cos we have no idea where the island she mentioned she was headed to is. The only thing I know is that it's not that far, cos she took a ferry there. Well, the good thing is, this means I get her car these few days :p My ex-roommate suggested to me this morning that I steal the car and drive far far away... until he suddenly realised that you can't exactly drive very far in Singapore.

Speaking of my sis... I found her present! haha... was digging through my luggage for something else for my dad when I found it. Which is strange cos I can tell you I've been digging ard it forever since I got back and never found it and was already convinced that I probably left it in Pittsburgh. Oh well...

Hmm what other random news... oh, was talking to ZH this evening just before knocking off and mid-way into the conversation I realised that it was a very cmu-ish conversation (ZH was from CMU, so no surprise). Well, it was good... but still, a cmu-ish conversation.

Hmm I've got too many broken planes lying around my room (those who ever get the chance to see my room will know I have plenty of planes). I'm half wondering if I should fix them, but the thing is even if I fix them, many of them will again be broken by this time next year. *sigh* Maybe I really should go fix new ones when I go back.

Okie, I shall get outta here... although I'm quite sure I forgot something... STM.

Well, almost anyway. Still gotta help my sis mail the paperwork back to ROM tomorrow.

Besides the stupid weather, it was a really good day I suppose. So I was tasked to open the car door for the groom this morning. Well, first, they locked all the doors (and gate) to the house before realising that I was still inside the house and had to unlock it all for me to get out again. And then, after the groom arrived, we all suddenly realised that I have no way of getting into the house until after the groom manages to convince them to open the door for him. So essentially I was locked out of my own house haha... and it's interesting that none of the neighbours have realised that I'm back.

And so after all the fun was over... and so they were paying their compliments to my grandmother before leaving for the groom's house... and as I stood at a corner watching them pay their compliments and looking at my grandmother's expression, I seriously almost cried. I'm pretty sure my grandmother was that close to crying too.

And then we realised that as her brother, apparently I'm supposed to follow the bride to the groom's place. So I went without any idea whatsoever about what I was supposed to be doing there haha... it was my first time there though, and met his parents for the first time too. Went down to Seletar Dam for a while to get some pictures taken... it was interesting how all the cars suddenly slowed down at where we were haha...

And then it was back home for tea ceremony (I was told that not many people still practice this today). So it was them serving tea to the elders, and me serving them tea at the end. Feels weird addressing my bro-in-law as 姐夫 all of a sudden.

Oh when taking family photos... so my parents and I sat in front and the couple stood behind us. So after the usual formal shot, the photographer was telling the couple to kiss and for my parents to kiss as well... and then as he was preparing to take the shot, everyone suddenly realised that something wasn't right because... well, let's just say I felt really bright.

And then nothing interesting happened until dinner. At Marina Mandarin! So I was the receptionist for the relatives on my side... met one of my cousin's husband for the first time (they got married last December), met the girlfriend of another cousin for the first time (didn't even know he was attached until last night). And apparently another cousin is gonna get married this December (will probably not be around again). And my goodness couldn't recognise any of my sister's old friends haha... well, to be fair, they didn't recognise me either hahahaha....

Well... dinner was dinner I guess... I think my cousins were quite amused at some of my responses and reactions to some of the comments being made on stage, and I think none of them realised (until the proposal video was played) that it has indeed been a 9 years courtship. By the way, the music for the proposal video was really good... Wedding Day, by the Bee Gees :)

Well, drove my parents home, and that's that. I'm done here.

Edited 220609 2049 hrs GMT +8

I forgot to mention that halfway through the dinner, my bro-in-law started this surprise (well, wasn't a surprise to me, but it was supposed to be a surprise for my sis) performance for my sis and he and his friend started playing the guitar and he was singing I'm Yours by Jason Mraz to her. Well, first of all, I had no idea whatsoever that he could play the guitar. And besides, he was more of singing than playing anyway hahahaha... but he was saying before the start of his performance that whenever this song came up on the radio in the car, my sis would cheer him up by doing her patented rabbit dance (yes, he says its patented). So while he was singing, my cousins being my cousins (those who know my cousins will know what I mean), started shouting "rabbit dance! rabbit dance!" hahaha... so that was also the first time I saw the rabbit dance hahahaha.... quite amusing, I have to admit.

And now that the paperwork is mailed out, I'm really done here.

I blame Sir for the title.

But yes, I got my warning order this evening. From my sis that is. So this Friday is gonna be my see-(some)-of-my-relatives-once-a-year day... didn't expect tt I'll get such a day this year actually. But that's besides the point...

Apparently I'm required to serve tea to my sis and my bro-in-law. I didn't know that haha... don't get me wrong, it's not tt I mind, I don't. I just didn't know tt haha....

Anyway... would a white shirt go better with a black jacket, or a greyish black shirt (the one I wore for the graduation)? Hmm...

Need to remember to wash the car on my way home from the office on Thursday... got a sneaky feeling I'll forget actually haha

On a totally unrelated note, I've got a bad feeling about something.

So it was my friend's mother last week.

This evening I just got news from another friend of mine who is (or actually by now, probably was) in London, telling me that he's on his way home now because his grandfather just passed away.

You folks now see why I try my best to always keep my immigration documents in order? It's cos of times like these when I'll actually need to leave and get home fast.

After all, like you once pointed out to me, life really is quite fleeting.

While doing a spot of random surfing tonight, I chanced upon a blog that revealed to me that I have been wrong about something for the past few months.

And right now, I'm actually feeling a little sorry for that guy...

This entry isn't about me. Well, not directly anyway. Probably a first...

But the more I think about it (and the more I discuss it with a few other people), the more worried I get. Actually, it's been at the back of my mind for a few months now.

But I seriously see a friend of mine walking down a path that I myself have walked down before. And you know what? It's not a path that I would ever, ever, ever wish upon anyone, no matter how much I hate them. And since I'm calling this person a friend, there's obviously no hate involved here.

And of course, the thing is, I have no good advice whatsoever to give. Sure, as another friend put it to me today, it's sometimes amusing to be a bystander. But on a deeper level, I realise that it's not amusing at all, and I'm seriously afraid that at the end of the day, this friend of mine is gonna end up like me.

*sigh*

But anyway. My job here is done come the end of next Friday... (or maybe the early hours of next Saturday, depending on what time the event finishes ehh?)

So I went west today! And drove on some roads which I believe I haven't driven on since Daytona... hmm... and I made 2 small detours on the way home.

Well, it was a nice drive. Driving alone is good sometimes really. Although driving with good company is better... the problem is that good company is really hard to find... and of course, the thing is, drives here tend to be short (unless you're driving a MID vehicle).

Anyway! You know how in the US when you go buy stuff they usually wish you a nice day? (Or a good night, depending on wad time of the day it is). And so I usually reply with a "you too". So wad happened this evening was I went to buy some dinner, so the person told me "here is your change" and I thanked her. So her next sentence was "Your food will be served to you shortly"... just that the thing is I'm so used to the other side now by reflex action I went "you..." before I stopped myself. It would have been quite embarrassing if I completed the sentence wouldn't it?

Hmm sports update. The Penguins are currently drawn with the Detroit Red Wings for the Stanley Cup finals... and it seems like it's Lakers vs Magic on the basketball side? haha... go Pens! :)

In a slight continuation of yesterday's entry...

So I was flipping through the pile of junk on the table beside the door this (actually yesterday, since it's after midnight now) afternoon (during lunch hour, official lunch hour :p), when I came across the following:

And I really couldn't help it but laugh to myself. Literally. Oh, and right below it was the stack of Mas Selamat posters that were printed out last year and posted on the door at various times while we were there.

I'm extremely amazed that after one year, these few pieces of papers are actually still lying around the office, and that no one actually bothered to clear them. Seriously amazed... I never in my life expected to see them again. So of course the thing is, I figured that I was about the only person in that room now who can remotely claim ownership over these papers, so I took them :p the sad thing was there was no one available in the room to share the joke (well, can it be called a joke?) with.

And then afterwards, I found myself the only joker left in the office at 1700 hrs.

So yes, I link items with people (and places) too. And I also link songs to certain people, event or places.

Anyway! I forgot to mention yesterday that Farrer Road is still one huge construction site. I'm freaking sure that it's been a huge construction site for at least 5 years already, cos I'm dead sure it was already in this state when I was in J1. Seriously... and it feels weird that Boon Lay is no longer the last station on the western end of the line.

And seriously, Singapore is too crowded for its own good. *sigh*

By the way, I've been told that I've been described as "stone" by someone whom I met recently. There's probably some truth in it.

And I'm very surprised nothing happened tonight. Very surprised indeed...

Not. Andrew Carnegie would be so disappointed in me... ahh well, who cares?

Well, it's not my first time back there (it's my third actually), so I guess I know what to expect. And I also know not to expect too much of myself. Was quite amused on my first day when the first paper that I got was from CMU (somehow I think my sup did it on purpose). Of course, the thing is that they published the paper but they didn't release the tool, so I've put in a request which is still pending... hmm....

Well, the work itself is not the problem (yet). I'm taking it really slowly. The pay is really pathetic, but I can't really be bothered about that. The problem is the place. It feels kinda strange actually. It's the same place, same room, neighbouring table (I'm taking Chris's old table), but very different people. The atmosphere is different. And it feels really weird.

I mean, I usually link places with certain specific memories. Which is why I feel that when you return to a same place with very different people (or if you stay at the same place while the people change), you'll just feel really lousy.

So the day I reported, was pleasantly surprised to see quite a number of familiar faces with me signing the required papers. And then, we all went our separate ways and I realised I was the only one going back to that office *sigh* And then I stepped into the office and found 3 familiar faces (YX, ZH and JW), plus another familiar face one level down (YS). Well, not that I'm close to them, but still, at least I know some people right? Those of you who know me will know that I'm not exactly the most sociable or outgoing person on earth, so making friends is not that easy. Especially when it's you with one bunch of people who have known each other for so long. And when you're the second youngest chap in the room. And then I considered the fact that I'm linked to the organisation in other ways, I realised that I'm threading on somewhat dangerous grounds in that room. Not that I'm being elitist or wad, but you just feel... outside?

So I kinda ran away (well, not that I had a choice) for huge portions of the morning on Tuesday and Wednesday to settle the airfare quotes business (which by itself is ridiculously ridiculous). And so while I was there, the HR person and I chatted and I quite liked the conversations actually, because they were pretty frank. (Which, where HR is concerned, might be pretty rare I suspect). So we talked about life in the US, about scholarships (the Singapore kind), plus other realities and facts of life.

Speaking of which, I got assigned the freshies I'm supposed to be taking care of for a while. Two of them. First of all, one of them is going to John Hopkins. Now, how on earth am I supposed to be helping someone going to John Hopkins is beyond me. Second, both are non-CS majors. *sigh* I'll probably meet them next Tuesday though, see how that goes.

You know, somehow I feel like a tourist now. Or maybe just a visitor. Hearing Singlish all around me while walking along the streets requires some getting used to. In fact, I hvn't totally adjusted to it yet. There have been significant changes to the house (some renovation work was done), although my room still looks recognisable as my room (not that it was as I left it, but similar enough). And I'm not a food person, so I've more or less eaten everything I wanna eat with the exception of Roti Prata.

Oh yeah, driving! Since I came back, I've managed to hit the wiper stick instead of the signal stick once (much to the amusement of my bro-in-law to be, who kindly chose not to warn me when he saw me about to do it *mutters*), attempted to change gears using my right hand (and failed miserably since the gear stick was on the left), almost turned into the right (as in, the opposite of left) side of the road once, and stopped on the wrong side at the petrol station (of course, I only realised this after the guy pulled the hose over to the other side opps...). Oh yeah, I'm a guai driver now... have been stopping at every stop sign :p I suspect that sooner or later some guy is gonna horn at me, but that's his (or her) problem hahaha... (Oh yeah, the stop sign that I almost didn't stop at in Champaign? That was my bad... didn't realise that there was a stop sign haha, thanks for pointing it out to me) About the only thing that I don't have to get used to again is the speedometer. For the simple reason that even when driving in the US, I refer more to the kilometre scale than the mile scale of the speedometer. Oh, and there were new road markings to get used to.

Actually, if I have the chance, I wouldn't mind taking a nice long drive to some place back in the US, driving alone. I think if I have the chance I'll do it.

Uh not to mention that my sis (or rather, my bro-in-law to be) did some modifications to my sis's car. My mouth literally fell open at the airport carpark (no, not from the heat).

And of course, the weather sucks. But I've adjusted back to it I guess.

Sidenote: My phone worked in Champaign! And it's a tri-band phone... I hereby conclude it's probably AT&T's fault :p

Actually, in all honesty, I think driving in the US has taught me, above all, how to be a more patient driver. I've been taking things very easily on the road. Not that it matters how good (or bad) a driver I am. But I digress. So yeah, all in all, have been feeling quite sianz actually. Seriously, if you told me to fly back to Pittsburgh tomorrow, I'll probably just go "orh". I might not wanna come back for such a long period of time in future breaks.

And of course, there's the thing that happened last Saturday night that reminded me of one reason why I dislike (hate seems too strong a word) being home so much.

And a bee just flew into my room *stares at it flying around*

Well, there are still places that I want to visit but I have yet to get down to it. Some places are old (remember wad I said about memories up there?), some of them are new. Happened to be in the area of the canal the other day, and so I couldn't resist taking a few pics and posting them.

So yeah. That's the update on my pathetic life. Did I miss anything out? I'll add it in if I remember.

Oh well, I'll live.

Now to go do smth about that stupid bee. No thank you, I dun particularly feel like being stung in the middle of my sleep.