the belated birthday gift

honestly, i thought i was getting some naughty garters and fishnets. not that it's not fine; i'd have no problems handing it to a girl in future. or worse, i could have got pink sweatpants with the word "PINK" on my ass. gosh, no.

thanks clarence and zhenhao. now i can say for sure that i'm well in touch with my moobs and ovaries.

arnold immortalized!

NECA have decided to make action figures of CONAN, although their figures are far from having any action in them, thanks to little articulation.

this one's for arnold fans. check out that trademark snarl: vicious!

london london

i'm so lazy to blog i just put all the pics in a slideshow. enjoy!

snowblind

after last night's snowstorm, i've come to this conclusion.

spring is just a figment of imagination that wolverines invent to remind themselves that they're still living in a sane part of the world.

that said, i'm guilty of that too. look! spring is here and it's so lovely. so lovely that i'm still getting snowblind.

first sights/sounds/tastes of new york

it helps being here the year before, and having almost two weeks to spend here. i kinda know my way around, and i can do it in my own time; it's so unlike the rush that was last year's trip.

so far it's been pleasant and refreshing. the much-welcomed familiar tingle of tastebuds from char siew and wontons made my day yesterday.

then i had some laksa which tasted more like curry noodle.

and super-oily penang char kway teow (woo!).

and chendol + ice kacang.

gimme more! (but not in a britney kinda way)

snowed in/out

the first michigan snow storm arrived with a bang. and lots of howling.

perfect 'encouragement' in the middle of exam-slogging.

how much can a man take?

monday: one homework due, two consecutive finals.
tuesday: two more homeworks due.
thursday: another two consecutive finals.

all these amid -7°C snow showers. and sleepless nights.

by thursday i'll be GOLD. but right now i feel like a hero already.

TG part two: a different thanksgiving

tragedy

i only learnt of this last night. i haven't been able to do anything much throughout the day without this coming through my head over and again.

i am relieved and thankful that my brother darren survived. he was part of the singaporean crew on the dragonboat, and narrowly managed to escape. my mom related darren's account of the accident over the phone to me as i listened in disbelief.

but five others weren't lucky enough to escape. right now authorities are looking for their bodies. i happen to know one of them, from clubbing with darren and his pals a few times.

i'm not religious, but i think this year's thanksgiving has given me something to be thankful about. photos show the entire team without lifejackets, and reports say the current was very strong. it's a miracle that any of them survived, especially darren since he's not the strongest on the team. my thoughts are with the victims's families. and i hope the victims are safe out there somewhere, and the authorities find their bodies.

i'm still shaken.

reuben, you will always be remembered.

TG part one: a nutritious thanksgiving

look at all the food. i don't know who did what, but it all tasted helluva good. and fattening. i'm glad we all ate till we almost exploded.

linguine alfredo

home-made recipe with pork (it was in the freezer for too long), mushrooms and red peppers.

WOOT!