cold day...

Woke up at 8am to a cold cold day. A surprise that I woke up on time, considering that I've been in the Netherlands for barely 3 days. Went online to see whether my parents and friends were online, and talked to some, like Weili, Mark and my parents. The weather outside was cold, like air-con, and I had to go to school in 2 hours. Dang.

Oh and did you know that the Dutch have certain days in which the rubbish collection companies go out to collect rubbish? Like Tuesdays are for household waste, Thursday is for newspaper collection, etc...So does it meant that the rubbish collectors only work once a week??

Morning Breakfast!


It's rubbish collection day today!


Park in neighbourhood


Nice red house!

Went to TU/e in the morning to meet Mrs Ingeborg regarding my study plans, and it was more or less clear to me this time round. She's quite patient and it was really good to exchange students like us, who are totally unsure and unclear of what's happening!

After having a lunch, where I bought some sausages and coquettes and packed my own buns. Quite simple, and it was about €3.50. Quite decent price too, but I think I can survive if I had packed 3 pieces of buns instead. Haha.

Later on, we had an introduction to the faculty done by Mrs Ingeborg, and I met other exchange students there - Ondery and Mike from Czech Republic, and 2 more Bachelor students from Turkey. After the introduction and the visit to Japie (think ChESS in dutch terms), we went outside the building, where we met this other Turkish (forgot his name too!!!) doing his internship in TU/e after his exchange period was over. He mentioned 3 girls from NUS the previous semester, which immediately led me to think he knew Zhi Yi and her friends.

Went to the Auditorium to have a cuppa tea, and we chit-chatted on life in Eindhoven, things to do in Eindhoven, how things work in this place, as well as travelling plans (Well I'm more into the travelling planning. haha)

After the meet-up, the turkish guys left, and I was with the Czechs, who wanted to get a local line. Well, I had gotten mine, and I was pretty much free, so I volunteered to walk with them to purchase their pre-paid SIM cards. After which, we exchanged numbers, and I went to get groceries from the supermarkets before they close. Luckily, I had more time to think and choose, so I got myself some eggs, minced pork, sausages, potatoes, peanut butter and bread for tomorrow's lunch.


Reichtestraat


Under a bridge

And as I stepped out of the supermarket, it started to drizzle. Dang. I quickly doubled my pace (limited pace due to the load I'm carrying - 3kg of potatoes!!!) and tried to reach home in the shortest time possible. Luckily, it did not rain too heavily and I managed to reach the safety of my apartment.

After placing my groceries in the fridge/cupboard, I proceeded to cook my dinner, since my roomie aint back it's easier to cook my food, and I aint wanting to cook after it's dark!


The Kitchen


This is dinner

Ok... I think it was a rather good attempt (got people say so!!! I've got evidence! haha) with potatoes, egg and noodles. Wanted to make it as cheap as possible, and also to try out the potatoes and eggs which I just bought. Apparently the egg has dark orange yolks o.O And I wanted to use the sausages, but just did not know how to cook the entire length (because once you open it up you have to cook the entire length right??) Therefore, I hesitated with the sausages and just dumped in the noodles. Problem is, I'm having too much starch and carbohydrates in my meal, which is bad because they add bulk. Ugh. And Junyong was complaining of french fries. Seems like the food which I can cook will be severely tested -.-"

Current Mood: Full

Current Music: Wang Lee Hom - Luo Ye Gui Gen

Good luck

Phew...A rush of good luck for me today. Simply cannot believe it.

Woke up early in the morning today to take the train from Nieuw-Vennep to Eindhoven via Utrecht with Aunt Babe. Being an early morning train (7.15am!!), it was rather crowded and full of working people (in their suits and ties, and the ladies all dressed nicely). Nicole was kind enough to wake up early to help in the transportation of my bag using her bicycle, but I was kinda paisei also la (Beauty Sleep lehs).

Aunt Babe was with me through about a third of the journey, the remainder of the journey was kinda boring for me, as there was no nice scenery around and it was kinda cloudy for the whole of the morning. Nearly fell asleep, in fact. But luckily, I had my book to keep me awake. Haha.

There was, in fact, another student studying Masters in TU/e sitting behind me, and he had just arrived in Amsterdam and making his way to TU/e also. He's from India, and luckily, he had arranged for a meeting with the TU/e International Office, and a Mr Ward from the IO had driven the vehicle to pick him up. So luckily for me, I could put my luggage on the vehicle, get a ride to TU/e (instead of walking), and settle some stuff at the university.

First, I placed my bags and seeing that it was still early to meet the administrators, I went over to Vestide to get my keys to the accommodation. I walked, and it was a great one too! The weather was cooling so I did not break out a sweat, and I passed by the shopping district (city centre of Eindhoven) and the Philips Stadium (home to PSV Eindhoven!) Soon, I managed to get my stuff, and returned to TU/e, stopping by for a snack.


Eindhoven

Spent some time trying to settle my administrative issues and to get an internet connection, it was to no avail. In the end I went back to the IO place to get my luggage, and I was in luck once again - another student who was helping out was free, and he offered me a ride to my apartment, which was very much appreciated since I need not lug my luggage over. Haha! Somehow, I wished that I had brought my other luggage along this very day. Sighs.

After settling down my stuff and cleaning up the room a bit (the room's clean!!), I walked over to the nearby strip for shopping and finding my pre-paid card for the local line which I intend to have. And I met Mr Smith, a friendly old Dutch guy who brought me to Woenselse Markt and Kruisstraat to introduce me to the supermarkets there. Quite a nice guy, and I managed to get my pre-paid call SIM card soon enough.


My apartment's on the top right ;)


My room

After that, I bade farewell to him and moved on to TU/e (yes back again!) to meet my study advisor Mrs Ingreborg, got my student cards and also managed to get my proposed schedule (for 3 modules). Also managed to setup my laptop with help from the Computer Centre guys.



After that, I made my way back to the supermarkets, and went to shop for some food to cook. There were 2 chinese supermarkets there, as well some other cheap supermarkets like Aldi, and they all close at 1800hrs! Dang. Luckily I was still in time to get some groceries and food for tomorrow, so I was pretty much set.

Might need to eat out for lunch, din get bread. Grrr.

Reached home and met my room-mate Emma, she's a China girl from Shenzhen studying in another university near TU/e. Quite a chatty person, but imposing I guess. Haha. Had dinner together and it was simple and edible. Lol.

The night is long! I realised it because it was 9pm, and it was still bright. Look below:


Had time to chat with some late night owls from SG, but most of them were kinda asleep by the time I was online. Those overseas in the USA were much more easy to talk to, like Arvind, Patrick and Junyong.

Damn. I need a factory outlet store.

Current Mood: Happy

Current Music: Lifehouse - First Time

Off to the Netherlands!

After the really wonderful send-off by my relatives and friends (OMG...there's so many ppl! Rovers + Kraken + Scarela + S09 + Fuego + a lot more...) really thanks and glad to see you guys there, sorry that I had to rush off as I had a plane to catch! But seriously, I was glad for the turn-out, but I had to disappoint some by not having time to talk/take pictures, so hope that you guys dun blame me for it k?! :)

Thanks to the following for coming (and to those who sent their smses, thanks a whole lot! Lub u deep deep!):
My cousins, Cynthia, Tiffany, as well as my uncle and aunts.
26ths - Candice, Lianguo, Kheng Hui, Laiyee, Jorin, June, Heng Hong
27ths - Hwibee, Pei Geok, Geraldine, Mufeng
S09 - Guanyu, Weichuan
Fuego - Anqi, Weili
Kraken - Ryan, Ghim Song, Yvonne, Junrong, Weihong, Michelle, Aprine, Yingxi
Scarela - Ethan, Matthew, Samantha
Okailer - Yihui, Jian Long
Others - Amanda, Huijin, Sara, Yi Si, Zhanwei
And of course....my parents..

It was a heartwarming sent off, so I was still busy sms-ing after reaching the gate (phew) and boarding was easy and quick. Soon enough, SQ324 was already up in the air.

But anyway...the plane ride was kinda tiring, and boring. 12 hours ride is crazy. Luckily, I got enough sleep 'cos there was absolutely no interesting movies on board the flight, and I was left with a boring movie called J'et Aime, which totally bored me to oblivion. Haha. So much so, that I slept.

Woke up in the early morning (define morning on the plane??) and it was time for a little snack, as well as stretching of legs. Breakfast soon followed, and it was really really nice! Perfect food and start to the new day! :)

Also met a Dutch couple with their kids. They had gone over to Indonesia for holidays and were on the way back, and the father is an Indonesian Chinese living in the Netherlands now. It was a great conversation regarding the 2 countries, and we even exchanged contacts...a possible farmstay contact in Amsterdam. HAHA.

Reached Schiphol Airport pretty early (about 7am) and waited in the airport (whilst walking around looking to break down my big notes) for Aunt Babe, who was my father's friend. I had met her and Nicole during their holidays in Singapore, and they had arrived in the Netherlands just 2 days ahead of me.


Schiphol Airport: 19th August 2007

Schiphol Airport is really huge! Kinda finished exploring the entire arrival hall area, with their vast arrays of shops, and it is so much like Changi Airport! (though I find Schiphol more noisy and therefore, much more interesting.) There's a Yam Yam To Go shop, with its interesting design, as well as an outlet which sells fries! Simply great food...tsk they aint open only -.- Soon, we were on the way to Nieuw Vennep, a nice little town near Schiphol.

Nieuw Vennep is roughly 10 minutes ride from Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands, so that's pretty near, considering that the train which took us here was a 'semi-fast' train.

After settling down and placing my luggage at Babe's house, Nicole brought me out to view the sights and sounds of Nieuw Vennep on an early Sunday morning, with most of the shops closed for the day. Sunday's a day for family for the Europeans, so most of the shops are closed and the neighbourhood's pretty quiet, which is good 'cos you can just walk around and enjoy the nice weather (cooling!) and the scenery. Can't believe I am in the Netherlands! OMG.


Sights and Sounds of Nieuw Vennep

Then...there is a very interesting place which we went...the Animal Farm. It's a nice smelly place with many animals, like donkeys, guinea pigs, chickens, rabbits, etc. Furthermore, the zoo keeper was hardly in sight; we could pick up (or try to) the guinea pigs and play with all the animals in the farm!



After all that, we went to get some lunch - French Fries, a frikandel & croket. Nice food!




stampot & rookworst

 
The flowers are very nice there too! Oh my...and after getting my train ticket, there wasn't much as could do, so whilst waiting for dinner (seen above), the 'army' of sotongs were very much a talking point. Haha.

Gonna do more updates. Jetlag settling in...now. *yawn*

Packing my stuff...

When I got my approval for SEP last semester, I couldn't believe it and couldn't contain my joy, at getting a placement in an overseas university. After all, I wished to really get a chance to be overseas and learn more about other countries' culture and society. It's definitely going to be a great learning experience, or so I believed.

As time passed, more stuff kept popping up. Rovers, treks, camps, orientation period. And while correspondence with the University there was slow and inefficient (Who thinks that NUS is more inefficient? I think NUS is quite good le...lol), I managed to map 4 of my core modules over, with some help from my lecturer.

But...as the date draws nearer, I realise that I'm actually leaving behind a lot of stuff...family, friends, Rovers, trek buddies, freshies whom I've just met and got to know, etc...

It's a wonder how your personal feelings for the impending overseas trip can change so rapidly.

As I'm packing and writing this post, I also realise how much I miss some of my friends, or going to miss them. At the very least, there is the almighty handphone here should the person not be free to go on MSN, or check the mail. Over there, gosh, I think Skype and MSN are the only tools to keep yourself sanely connected (somehow) with the people in Singapore.

Not to mention, things might just change.

A little uneasiness...a little wish that I had done more previously than just realising it now.

Time...time.

Okay, back to packing. Managed to get my main suitcase weighed and it was about 19kg. And that's prolly the winter clothes and doesn't include the normal daily wear! (E.g. t-shirts, jeans, socks, shorts, slippers, footwear, etc) Managed to get a MP3 player (Sansa 2gb), webcam (Creative) and a portable hdd, so that's kinda it.

And there's more things to get...
1) Watch (OMG)
2) Tupperware/storage box for sandwiches
3) Locks (more of those! for the luggage and bikes)
4) Pull-over
5) Cloth pouch (put on ur butt/body)

And more things to come are: IPPT, Rovers AGM.

I wanna meet more friends...but limited time. Sighs.

Current Mood: Confused Soul

Current Music: Redwan Ali - Would You Be There

Care Bear Care Bear ooh laa laa~~

And the end of Rag sounded the end of O-week, the start of a new school year/semester.

For me, in a week's time I'm flying off to the Netherlands, where I would probably face the same weather (rain) in a more cold (not to mention, windy) situation.

Funny how the days during O-week just passed me by. Could barely remember the first day of O-Week, when I was late. Or the days of talking cock, playing with freshies...Makes me remember the times during my freshmen year, when we were having fun playing games, with not a concern for the upcoming years ahead.

Gosh...year 3 already...time really flies. What have I done in NUS for the past 2 years? Hmm...Rovers was my main priority, and joining Engineering faculty events was secondary. And through my trips, I got to know a lot of people, though most of them were kinda like hi-bye friends. Committees were much better, in which u got to know people more, through work, through laughter, through *shrugs* arguments. And long-lasting friendships, definitely.

I always held the idea that camps and o-weeks are more to allow people to interact and socialise. To let them get to know new people, have fun, and see how the friendship goes on from there-on.

The most interesting way to transport Mashi-Maro!


And in it goes!


Tasting and smelling the unknown stuff.


A quick picture with the uncle @ Dily's


Mass Game!


Head smasher


Care Bears!


Guess where this is ;)


SP-Nite


Painting in the works!


He's just happy to be bua-ed


The girls having the time of their lives


Kraken @ O-Week!


Blindfold and eat Oreo game


This is one of the many pics we take with freshies who are both blinded. Muhaha. Tells u guys who are the ones playing with u dudes rite??


Spot-on!!!!


Care Bears @ SP-Nite


Kraken Rag


Weihong turning on Amanda (sounds wrong lol)


I pale in comparison to Aprine's kick!


Dinner!


Care Bear mascot


We love our Care Bear!!!


Having fun with our Care Bear


SpongeBob's Patrick - doh?!


Systems...check


Monster house mascots!


Amanda having her make-up put on


Me, Ryan, Huijin


Sara, Aprine and Me. Me attempting to do ballet (FAILED)


Yongkai & Me


Amanda & Ryan

Now...time to sleep. In fact I had typed these before I was carelessly conked up yesterday night. This showed that I indeed had too little rest. Tsk.

Rounded up the day with a visit to Suntec's food court (not impt) and Ben & Jerry's (impt!!)!!! With half of Care Bears there, and the rest being Kraken freshies, it was really a great get-together. A total of 4 Merlionsters were walloped during our stay there, so I bet that B&J must be damn happy for our presence la!

Luckily, had a ride home by Yvonne, so it was faster than I thought.

Heard about the Perseids Meteor Shower tml...dunno whether can see it or not...Hmmz.

School starting soon! Jiayou, all!

Current Mood: Sleepy

Current Music: Wu Yue Tian & Chen Qi Zhen - Si Ben Dao Yue Qiu