i'm in athens right now. it's at the point where it's all like LET ME GO HOME ALREADY. just about two full days more til i take my 1pm flight on friday and end up home on saturday at 5am. it feels so near yet so far ...

hurry up! i want to go home!!!

+ posted by M @ 7:41 AM

...	Friday, December 08, 2006

i leave tomorrow at 3pm for the airport. i'll be in london at 8am london time. SO EXCITED. and then in a week's time, HOME!!

touchdown 5am 16th december, saturday. yay yay yay yay yayyyyyyyy!

i've already planned my first saturday back. katong laksa, yakun, ponggol seafood. it is going to be great.

+ posted by M @ 4:23 PM

...

as some of you already know, i'm having really bad roommate problems. i'm hoping my next roommate, when i move out, will be asian. i never used to think this way but it's become very apparent to me that asian values are very important. i never even used to be aware of what asian values were but now i am. we never realize it because we've all simply been brought up that way but when you come to America and room with someone that immoral, inconsiderate and brazen, you realize it's probably because she's russian, atheist and american.

i've noticed something about the asian americans who have traditionally asian parents - no matter how americanized they are in dressing, speech and behaviour they always maintain a sort of asian courtesy. i was talking to a texan friend about this. she's vietnamese, loud, parties a lot and generally not very conservative on first glance. but we get along on a much deeper level because of asian values. the saying goes, when you give an asian person a present, they're already thinking of how to give you something back. when you give a white person a present, they don't even think twice. it's not that reciprocation is important - it's the courtesy. i used to think the concept of face and courtesy and never owing a person in asian cultures was obsolete and stupid. now i realize it really is a lot more important than i think and it also makes us very good roommates and pleasant people to be around, most of the time. and being pleasant, is a very important thing i think (and i never used to think it was that important). i'm guessing the british are probably different - a lot more refined and cultured than the obnoxious american roommate i have. why didn't i study in the UK instead? it's not like i'm getting THAT much out of the education system here so far (which was why i chose the US instead of UK). i don't think my classes are AMAZING yet or that much worth the exorbitant tuition.

i've never felt so close to my roots and culture before leaving home.

+ posted by M @ 3:01 AM

...	Thursday, December 07, 2006

foodie list:

straits kitchen
zion road nasi padang
seafood at newton - stingray, sotong, crayfish
ponggol seafood
oluah
katong laksa at holland village
durian puff from goodwood park hotel
curry chicken ipoh horfun at geylang
curry fish head at muthus
hamchimbang, char kway teow and chicken rice from maxwell
kaya fondue from glutton's bay
kaya toast and teh tarik
lime juice
soursop juice
crystal jade kitchen dim sum and duck rice
tung lok seafood gallery
bak kut teh
ALCOHOL
indian/malay food opposite beauty world
banana leaf apollo at little india (thosai and naan!)
westlake venison
chongqing hot pot!
one dollar (lollar) ice cream - yam, sweet corn, durian with the colourful bread!
teochew porridge at that place my dad used to bring us...
shrimp paste chicken wing and milky fish beehoon at KA SOH
purvis street beef noodles
MEEPOK - anyone have any suggestion as to where else is good? now that uncle is gone :(
SHIRO
french food - vis a vis
dapaolo/valentino/the place at greenleaf
the foiegras wagyu burger at four seasons ...
regent hi tea and quiche ...


food poetry!! and the list keeps growing...

+ posted by M @ 2:00 AM

...	Wednesday, December 06, 2006

salman rushdie is self-indulgent. i do not like him. why the hell could we not have read woolf's 'to the lighthouse' instead. i am pretty sure it's because they discriminate against those poor lesbian writers.

+ posted by M @ 6:15 AM