bad luck day

Hai. I put my phone in the washing machine last night. It will switch on but the keypad won't register. Hopefully the water inside will evaporate and it'll work again. And I also shrunk my jumper. Ugh. Let's see what else is in store!

I've been meaning to post this for some time too. Last week's University Challenge on tv had London Business School v Trinity College, Oxford, and the Oxford team was captained by a Singaporean! Wow!

colorquiz

Haha, this is really funny!

Link to read.

Oh he he he :)

I got quite tipsy after work on Sunday - having two and a half pints of cider in three hours isn't much so it either means I'm getting really old or it's just I haven't been drinking much that's all. Working in a pub is so much easier than being a waitress. Guess it's also because it's a local pub so people aren't as demanding. I think I miss having lots of attention too. I don't think I'm usually an attention seeker (I hope) but it's nice to have guys around who want to talk to you. =D

Pete's final week at the Isle on Wight and he starts work at the Science Park next week! It's actually a bit scary thinking that I'm going to see him every day. It's just been weekends so far and I get my-time-along on weeknights. But it's been a bit more difficult for him having to drive nine hours every weekend. Anyway, hope things go okay!

cold cold

It's 8am and sunny. And it's two degreess.

stupid door

I got locked out of my flat today. I saw my keys on the table. I put my coat on and took my bag. Went down the stairs without my key and shut the door behind me. Uh oh. Crap. Oh no! Call Pete. Argh. Took bus to work. Read about coding rules. Took free bus to letting agent in city centre. Got my keys from them surprisingly effortlessly. Wait and wait. Took bus home to get bike and my own keys. Cycle and thanking god (or whoever the higher being is) that I didn't have to pay for a locksmith. Phew!

undercooked salmon again... grr

It's getting really cold here - 5 degrees at the moment. Like every year, it's summer one moment then winter the next. Brrrgh.

Pete and I went to CUMSA Asian Food Fest last Saturday and for the first time, it's held in New Hall and catered to 120 (apparently) people. It's become quite a big event now - lots of non-Chinese people there too. I think I still like the HMH hall and being served (instead of having to be kiasu and rush to queue) better. Not many recognisable faces left either. There were only two teams this year in the food competition so that wasn't too exciting either. But I got to eat some nice homecooked food so yay! I think we'll need to get a small ricecooker the next time we go back to Singapore - need more rice.

I've also started work at a local pub called The Plough. It's a small hassle-free place and almost the same people come in every night. People say "Ta!" instead of "Thank you!" Hah! I don't do (PhD) work in the evenings and can always do with more money! I'm only working two nights a week anyway. I'm not telling my mum that I'm working cos' she probably won't like the idea very much. She'll say stuff like, "Is it safe or not?", "One girl come home so late wait something happen how?" or "You need the money meh?" etc. I'll tell her when I go home in Jan la. My boss reminds me of my dad, both being skinny, and smokes, and drinks a lot. Heh.

PhD-wise: Martin (sub-supervisor) and I did some scans (yes on a hospital MRI machine!) using the technique that I would be optimising - the image is very noisy which (I think) is due to motion-caused artefacts. I spent the whole of today Java-coding. It's just always the simplest thing that's hardest in coding. I stared at the screen all day, trying to read in some data and then converting it to some understandable format but am still stuck. How annoying! I hope I will get that Java book tomorrow. Reading notes from the screen is just cruel - even though one has two screens.

Oh and I've got internet at home! Wahey! And I've got a very sweet iMac G5 too! Yes, I've decided to come off Microsoft. Furthermore, iMac has got all the coding tools (C, Java, TeX) that I need and is best part, based on UNIX and entirely configurable. Yes, it will probably take me forever to learn how to do that well but I'd like to know that it's possible. Of course, and that the screen, drive, disk, processor and camera is on this one piece of beautiful case is too tempting to resist. There's also the IR remote that controls the Front Row cinematic experience. Oooh. Thus I am now broke (and that's why I need the money!) but a very satisfied person.

materialistic me

You scored as Materialist. Materialism stresses the essence of fundamental particles. Everything that exists is purely physical matter and there is no special force that holds life together. You believe that anything can be explained by breaking it up into its pieces. i.e. the big picture can be understood by its smaller elements. Materialist 94% Romanticist 69% Modernist 63% Cultural Creative 63% Fundamentalist 44% Existentialist 44% Postmodernist 44% Idealist 38% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

Yeah, I think that pretty much sums up why I did physics. I like the picture.

Cold and Hot

Feeling quite good today. Had a meeting with my supervisor earlier this morning. Work is progressing pretty slowly at the moment. The department is busy with getting abstracts in before the deadline, which is for the huge conference that is happening next year. I hope I'll get to go too but I doubt it. It's in Seattle... mmmm.... *Homer style*

Pete and I have booked our tickets home for CNY! Yippee! We're only going back for a week since we're a bit tight with money and not too sure about how much time Pete might be able to take off work. Guess we won't be doing any diving this time round then. Boo.

I hate buses in Cambridge. I don't understand why they bother to put arrival times at the bus-stops, and to the minute as as well, when they SO don't come on time. Someone should teach the bus-timetable-writing people about significant figures. It's ridiculous that I should wait half an hour for a bus that's supposed to come every 15 minutes. AND they want people to park-and-ride. Yeah sure. I hate waiting for buses. I guess I just hate waiting in general.

My colleagues were having a very sarcastic and taking--the-piss conversation the other day and it reminded me of the book Watching The English that I'd recently finished. It was rather amusing to me so I said "English humour!" I think they were quite surprised but recovered quickly and then went on to challenge me to tell a joke. Well, I refused saying that it's silly and I can't tell jokes. Then one of them (sort of my second supervisor) told me to go home and find a joke. Over the next two days, I was then thinking about what happened and tried to think of a joke. And I can't. I must have heard or read like a hundred different jokes but I can't remember any of them. Well I managed one and it's utterly embarrassing with "What's brown and sticky" which is poor! I guess what I'm trying to say is, I really can't tell jokes. Baby, I am not funny. =(

Anyway, I am still at work. Feeling quite good about myself despite not being able to amuse people. I went into the department where I did my project last year to meet up with the new group of students who are doing stuff related to what I did. It's so satisfying to see my work being continued or used in my ex-supervisor's presentations. Ahhh. I might even get mentioned in a paper! Wahey!

Typing this from Churchill's dining hall landing computer. Nothing has changed much except that it really really cold!! I'm wearing three layers of clothing and am down with flu/cough. Ugh.

Anyway, we saw our new flat in Great Shelford and are busy doing it up. We've managed to get a some free stuff from Pete's family to bring down. We can't afford to spend since we haven't been paid yet. Boo. I can't wait to get some savings. Anyway, the flat is really nice - living room, hallway, toilet, kitchen and bedroom all are good-sized and clean. The living room looks onto a road lined with a fair number of shops. The town is filled with more old than young people which is cute. I don't think Pete thinks the same. There's a nice bread/sandwich shop beside us and a travel agency just below. There's also a butcher shop, greengrocer and bank nearby. We're also within walking distance (5 minute?) from the train station. There's a big recreation field across the road with a couple of tennis courts and some playground what-you-call-it-things.

Two more weeks to starting work now. Pete will be starting his work on the Isle of Wight so we'll get to see each other on the weekends. There is no phone/internet in the flat and I haven't got a computer so I won't be updating soon. =D

bad tv

So sad... I won't be able to finish watching the korean drama before I leave for the UK. I keep telling myself that it's only a tv program and it's not important. Sigh, but it would be so nice if I could watch it all the way and see how it all ends happily every after. *boohoo* So now, I'm sticking just to Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, MTV and National Geographic.

My dad just bought me a birthday present (it's two months away!) and I can't help but feel very *paiseh* about it. Maybe it feels nice for a dad to buy his daughter nice gifts but this year has been a bit too much. Hmmm, what to do leh. Have to get something nice for his birthday soon. I think my mum is also feeling a little jealous, but she can buy nice stuff for herself right.

last few days

Just a few more days till Pete comes back on Monday. I can't wait to spend some time with him. If you're wondering why I've switched to LJ, it's because lots of people have this so, ahem, it's a good way to keep in touch since I'm going back to UK almost alone now. I don't know if I'll post often and you have to pay to put pictures on their Scrapbook! Grrr.

You know those Horlicks or Ovaltine malt sweets? I really liked them as a kid and I still do. It's like a childhood thing. And only at sixty cents. Cheap cheap.

I went to visit my grandma today and she's not doing as well as before. She had an X-ray recently and they found a black spot somewhere in her heart. The heart chambers are expanded - don't know what that means. My mum and my uncles/aunties are not going to tell her what the radiologist said and don't intend to go on to do further checks. I really don't agree with what the "adults" are doing but I can't say much. I would be terribly upset if my children tried to run my life and think they know what's best for me.

I've been going to more socials and getting to know people. It's really quite funny this thing. A new experience. Like David said Jolene said, we play a game and start with "hey do you know (insert name)?" and then "yah yah yah, how about (insert another name)?" and so on. It's interesting but also like at the end of the meeting, I can't say "Well, see you soon." or "Meet up again okay? Take care ah." So weird.

Anyone seen The Wayward Cloud yet? Yes I know it's R-rated and I hope it's still open next week. I told Pete that I wanted to do watch it with (guy friend). We didn't in the end and watched the rubbishest show Seven Swords instead. But the trailers were so good. IMO, watching a R-rated movie in Singapore is rather innocent to me. I mean, I've seen blue films with my brother and mum before. My family isn't weird okay. So I'm sorry I caused Pete some alarm in not having thought about this carefully for him. But then again, I think if he did go Amsterdam and watch some sex show (the thing to do there) with his girl pal, I doubt I would be upset. I would be if he kept it from me on purpose but otherwise, it's okaaaay whaaaat.