CNY Pot Luck & Ban Korh's B'day

Yesterday...

It was after all, still CNY, so a small group of us decided to hold a reunion pot luck. Not that we do not see each other. We see each other till sien already, but we wanted to call it a reunion, and so be it. I brought a simple version of trifle. Don't know what it is? Well, I just learned about this dessert 2 days ago too. It's supposed to be dessert made of a layer of cake, then jelly/custard and fruit. Many versions. I had to keep it in an improvised model of an ice box.

My version of an icebox. Box with ice in it. You can see the ice has melted.

Participants of the pot luck were able to showcase awe-inspiring culinary skills, which made our lunch much more enjoyable than I initially expected it to be.

The main course.

I have to thank my mum for teaching me about this dessert in the first place. The cake layer at the bottom was her work. I only helped out with the fruit and jelly. I don't mind telling you I can't cook. If you told me to fry chicken I would probably leave the chicken in the garden and hope that the sun fries it for me.

...okay maybe I'm not that dumb.

This is what I brought. It's partly missing I know.

Pity the cafeteria uncle. We ordered nothing but borrowed his plates. He was actually nice enough to let us use them.

Today...

Ban Korh's birthday is tomorrow, so we decided to just throw a mini celebration for him. It lasted about 10 minutes due to lack of time, but at least we managed to wish him happy birthday.

Due to an inside joke that I never understood, his cake was replaced by 20 pieces of Singapore Popiah. Yes I have creative classmates.

So we sang him his birthday song and gave him his present (which was as weird as his birthday 'cake'), and he blew the candles.

We did stick candles onto the S'pore popiah, but they kinda implied he was only 4 years old, as you can see.

So Happy Birthday Ban Korh, you're 19(not 4)... and may your year ahead be a fruitful one.

CNY - Zhong Yang's New Home Plate

Not long ago in this very galaxy Zhong Yang moved into his cozy new home, and just yesterday I had the honour of visiting it. Lovely place. Very spacious. Nice scenery too. Thanks to his parents for welcoming us warmly.

What do the Chinese do when visiting each other during CNY?

Play cards la.

It wasn't as simple as I thought. I did learn some stuff. Some.

One of the most important lessons?

Make sure you're always on the right road when you drive.

I wanted to go to Zhong Yang's house.

Ended up on the INTI hill.

Subconciously missing college? No, more of 习惯成自然. Automatically drove to INTI. Me being my usual self. Heehee...

Happy Chinese New Year!

Ox go tiger come.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! May you prosper and advance in this Tiger year! I'm staying up till 12 to see the old year out and the new year in. Then tomorrow can collect consultation fee... no I mean Ang Pow.

So qi ke long dong qiang dong qiang, wo yao qu bai nian. Esok la. Enjoy yourselves folks :)

The Parking Lot

It's just a little square

what could be the fuss

you leave your vehicle there

and waddle off for class

But 'ya know from where I come

they ain't not many there

of course there are some...

but most times they are rare

*sing*

Yep you're rushing on your way

gotta get there in time

but parking's the delay

'cos double parking's a crime

So you circle round and round

just trying out your luck

your mind is classward-bound

but don't forget, you're stuck!

*chorus*

Oh you can drive to the north

drive to the south

let those curses fly from your mouth

drive to the east

drive to the west

or start prayin' and hope for the best

you can search every nook

search every corner

floor the pedal and burn tyre rubber

but facts are facts

and it's crystal clear...

there ain't no parkin' for you here!

*dance to whatever music you have in mind*

.

.

.

.

*sing*

You come here everyday

to face the same old problem

yeah to your dismay

you've got no way to solve 'em

You can hook up with some buddies

arrange to block each other

or get ready some twenties

and then get clamped together

*repeat chorus*

*sing*

Oh it's sickening for you and I

and it's stressful too

and you wish your car could fly

like in Harry Potter 2

The roof would be your personal place

no worries about being late

unlike me, to find parking space

class at 12? I'm here at 8!

*Clap hands to beats, repeat chorus:*

Oh you can drive to the north

drive to the south

let those curses fly from your mouth

drive to the east

drive to the west

or start prayin' and hope for the best

you can search every nook

search every corner

floor the pedal and burn tyre rubber

but facts are facts

and it's crystal clear...

there ain't no parkin' for you here!

*Continue here*

but facts are facts

and it's crystal clearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr *pause*

THERE AIN'T NO PARKIN' FOR YOU HERE!!!

In College...But With CNY Mood

It's very hard to actually sit down and study with Chinese New Year around the corner. Yes I love CNY, and it has to do with more than Ang Pows. It's the atmosphere and the festivities that really count.

The first week of college being the first week, I actually found myself lucky to meet some friendly lecturers from both the previous semester and from this new semester, despite the confusion a new academic year usually brings. A few of my CLHS friends have also come to INTI, meaning I'll have more people to talk to. Excellent to meet some old pals. Even the cafeteria food has improved substantially, although it's still far from meeting our expectations. Improvements should be recognised, and credit goes to the Big Bite team for actually taking the initiative to produce something more favourable to our taste buds.

But as expected not everything was pleasant about the new semester.

I was given the chance of actually meeting a very troublesome lecturer, one very different from any others I've ever met. Pity. Everyone else was just so nice and friendly and approachable, except this one. Even smiling in class was an issue. I became the subject of this particular lecturer's attention twice just because I SMILED. Attention wasn't from a positive light in both cases. Can't I even smile at you when you look at me in class?! You're not going to stop me. I'll keep smiling at you till the end of this semester! Oh and this lecturer walks around everywhere with the "I shall have my revenge" facial expression. Even a hearty, happy, jolly 'Good Morning!' didn't wipe that sour look away. All I received in return for the greeting was a slight nod, a 1/10 smile that hardly qualified as a smile, then that same sour look again. Reminds me of Ebenezer Scrooge. Baaaaaah, Humbug!

Hopefully this one will cheer up and warm up in the next few weeks. I do not intend to spend months in contact with a grumpy person. I'm not here to make enemies. I have very few of those but there're more than enough. Do not add to the list.

But let's not let this small matter ruin our CNY mood, okay? :)

Chinese New Year is not the time for grudges. Let's all be jolly instead of frowning upon these little bumps in life. Keong Hee Huat Chai and may the Tiger be a steadfast friend for all of us!

Back To School

First day in Semester 3 back at INTI. A rather freaky but not too messy start to the new semester. Hopefully things will settle down soon. I realised my head was getting slow, which would explain why I'm having problems with some little matters I rarely had problems with. Senile? Maybe. Things rust when you don't use them for a while. Proven.

Extremely tired after a mong cha mong cha first day back. Need sleep desperately. If I don't pick up my momentum soon I'm screwed. Everyone knows Semester 3 is a killer, and at this point I'm still a sitting duck. Obviously there are more important things in life than academic grades, but you can't deny academics is always a pain in the neck. Have a good night folks.