miscellaneous lessons from the North

attenzione! this is a public service announcement about important life lessons from the North.
don't overload the dryer. or else your bed will look like a sad pasar malam stall, selling obviously the wrong things.

the North is serene, peaceful and beautiful at night.

but at 6˚C, i had to learn the hard way that it's the air that isn't too pretty. well at least i've experienced cold front weather in tee and shorts. HDB heartland uncles would've been proud.

oh, and if canned heat were for sale, i'd buy it. and stock up.

at night, the animals come out to play; besides the ubiquitous squirrels, foxes, skunks, deer, and even a raccoon have been spotted. i don't even see them in the singapore zoological gardens.

the law of the men's room

it's a long video, but do watch it; it's highly educational, for guys, and especially girls.

she's so cute

my niece megan is super duper cute!

i've never met/seen/spoken to her in real life, no thanks to her living in india and london almost her entire life. i'm a lousy uncle.

put on your skinny pants and dancing shoes

here we go again.

OK GO totally kicks ass.

is love forever?

everybody says love hurts. but to me, most importantly it should bring two people together, and keep them happy simply because they're together. and not because he has a nice car or does the coolest thing. or she has nice boobs or dances like a vixen.

this is a very idealist take on love. for someone who hasn't actually been in a relationship, you can't blame me. so when i do get into one, the emotional stress and strain is gonna hit me like a speeding train. i won't say i'm ready for it, but i'll be waiting.

now, the proof that love is forever, as described by the chinese phrase 天长地久 (credits to lawrence):

Let P(n) be the statement that you love your girlfriend on day n, for all n in the set of natural numbers.

So, I'm pretty sure P(1) is true, otherwise she wouldn't be your girlfriend.

So, now we assume some P(k) is true for some k in the set of natural numbers. So given that you spend day k attached to your girlfriend, then you get motivation to be attached to her for day k + 1. Thus P(k) implies P(k + 1).

Thus, P(n) is true for all n in the set of natural numbers by mathematical induction.

umich september babies

we threw the first big birthday bash on tuesday at gratzi for the september babies. i call them september babies cause they're born in september. but obviously mingcheng's behavior does qualify him as a baby.

hobnobbing in an expensive ristorante; you're chic, i'm chic, we're all chic.

the biggest baby in the center, please. that could mean either mingcheng or jean.

at first, i was skeptical that i could get twenty people down for the party. i felt like i might pang sei the ristorante. they just didn't believe me when i said i wanted a reservation for thirty singaporeans. but we're not all kiasu and poor, you know.
ultimately, the whole jing (pun on "jingga") gang went down to make the ristorante feel like a heartland mcdonald's.

the four babies: crappy jon yap, purple polo tee nick, pool-siao daryl and irritating-and-proud-of-it mingcheng.

the organising exco with nick. (spot the most popular fashion accessory)
from left: charmingly-ditzy lynn, jean-jean, anni bananni-"whatever"nni, squirrels-are-so-cute-and-so-are-big-fierce-dogs lora, "wenji" wenjie.
if we were still in jc we should get CCA points for organising such a brilliant event.

BUON COMPLEANNO!

all highly sought-after pics here!

the random post

i haven't been blogging for awhile. that means that i've got work to do. good and bad. bad cause it's work, i mean, who likes work? good because i actually work instead of doing time-consuming stuff like blogging (which is a really great time-killer by the way. ORD period was nail-bitingly boring).

so this is a chapalang post, where i put in various photos from various events.

and did i mention i'm done with my first italian quiz? i'm so elated! but there's more to come though.

oh, i'm in most of the pics here cause it's my blog. why would i wanna post some other person? unless i'm laughing at him/her of course.

lynn aka "the charming ditz" (so says the big guy) and me at the junior-senior interaction thingy. no prizes for guessing what's in my cup.

some freshies were turned off by some on-goings during the event. i shan't say more though.

for the very first freshie birthday celebration, ah ye was treated like a celeb.

this looks so much like one of those mushy wedding shots. no thanks to the heart-shaped formation on the floor.

the ice cream cake was positively uplifting. the first week of school got some of us quite flustered and the muggers started showing their true colors. ice cream cake had the perfect soothing effect.

next up was the TWSA-VSA-SSA bbq on the diag event. after staying up the entire night (nope, not studying, but playing foosball), i was walking like a zombie. i came late and luckily the burgers, kaya toasts and milo were still in good supply.
the "monday buddies" dressed in accidental matching colors.

the tan family members doing their best T-pose.

last night i went with seniors to Great Lake, arguably the best chinese restaurant in ann arbor (not that there are many good ones around).
a shout-out to marge, ah ye and liyu! we were at the livelier table, even though we didn't have shades.

the "brothers" were at it again.

be prepared? i'm always prepared for gifts!

the stupid things that girls do when left to their own devices. shudder.

freshies to the left, and oldies to the right.

lame joke warning!

what happens when you drink "snake king" tea? you jiak jua, eat snake. and the biggest mugger is posing with the packet. the irony of it all.

an absolute kawai shot. straw brry drink. definitely not one to keep you warm in the winter. brr.

it's time to catch some sleep. 5am is a very bad time for me to go to bed.

the first plastic boy outta the box

yay i finally opened my first action figure in ann arbor!
come any closer and i'll punch yer ass in! capiche?

bye bye poptart. for now.

the djs on poptart are taking a hiatus from their spinning duties. for how long, i have no idea. it's no biggie though, since i won't be in singapore to enjoy the event anyway. i spotted a few familiar faces in the video (mostly rachel's pals). and there're plenty of chicks too, since adrian loves to snap at girls ten years his junior.

i hope poptart will be resurrected next year when i return.

the thing about the foot

a little update to all.

while reluctantly playing soccer on thursday, i injured my foot in a horrible clash. as a result the second metatarsal on my right foot was in excruciating pain. i feared the worst. it could be a simple bruise, or worst of all, the rooney-owen fractured metatarsal injury.

i was petrified. my lessons schedule on friday is punishing, so there was no way to squeeze time in between classes to go for a consultation at the university health service. it didn't help that the spot started swelling, reddened, and heated up.

to be honest, i'm not sure if it was the homesickness, depression or the feeling of insecurity that comes along with being in a foreign without my mom or brother, that exaggerated everything, or caused me to exaggerate everything.

but i do know one thing for sure: it's very much better now. besides one reason being the x-ray results showed nothing broken, i must mention the care and concern which i've received from my pals.

anni: for rushing over past midnight and providing the most appreciated ice-pack in the world.
lynn: for pretending to stomp on my foot (and eventually did later on in the day. ow! mean girl!), then handing over the 'magic' anti-inflammation cream.
wenjie: for listening to me rambling over the phone.
kai jian: for letting me hover in his room and fuss about the foot.

a big thanks to all the above and many more. you guys make umich a home away from home. i'm not saying i don't need my mom or brother, but you guys just make everything more enjoyable.

new numa

as if we need another video of the fat guy bopping his head off. oh, he does speak english. and has a buncha very enthusiastic friends.

hooray for geeks

every time i wear my autobot tee, people will notice and say stuff.

the first time, carolyn from the floor above said it was cool. but today, some guy pointed at my tee and went "cool t-shirt!" while i was struggling up the staircase of the modern language building. he had the decepticon insignia across his chest. whoa!

beware, i'm more geeky than you know. wait till i level up to super duper geek with bad teeth and thick glasses. with my tee tucked in shorts worn so high it's impossible to pull down.

yay for the geeks.

the killer fog!

it was cold yesterday morning. and what's more, there was a killer fog!

the view was amazing, although technically there isn't much view during a fog.

beware the deadly killer gas!

oh and i just went for a late night run with the temperature at a chilly 13 deg. the cold air only made the run easier. i feel invincible.
daniel 3 cold night air 0
muahaha.

the new simile

let me introduce a new simile: as plentiful as squirrels.
because they outnumber even the singaporeans over here.

my room

finally i've put the stuff in the right places. finally i have the courage to take pictures of my room.


the door opens...
welcome to my humble abode!

this is my desk. very messy. i try to tidy up whenever i get the chance to. the red eye poster is free. yay! from the artscapade.

my bed isn't the neatest, but it's comfy, and keeps me warm at night. here's an interesting fact though: the wall beside my bed is the outer wall of the building, ie it'll be cold in winter. yikes. i'll have to wrap my comforter around me.

the complete view of the room.


and lastly, the chosen ones. stuffed into my bag all the way from singapore.

when you get bored..

..you take cool pictures. XD

trip to ypsilanti

yeah you read it right, you don't have to rub your eyes. ypsilanti is a place in michigan, not nepal or some far off end-of-the-earth place. or mars.

after passing the driving theory test (which was so easy, yet someone with a singaporean license still managed to fail badly. i shan't say who), i had to get a temporary permit to practise driving. so on to the ypsilanti secretary of state.
as usual, the carparks are huge and the buildings are more low-rise than girls' jeans. america has lotsa a land, and they don't use it very efficiently.

the whopping air conditioner = technicians' nightmare. the ones in singapore are teeny oh-so weeny in comparison.

no proper shopping is available, so i find comfort in megamart-crawling.

i rushed back to campus just in time for the closing of maize craze. i don't really know what the craze was about, but i was there anyway.

students' staple food: the sandwich/wrap.

hands down, the coolest tee on earth. period.

more tales from the U of M

it's been a busy busy week. there's not a single day that i'm sitting around clipping my nails or organising my room. there's so much to do, see and experience. the only reason i'm blogging right now is because terence (with his mom as usual) came into my room and i'm not supposed to be up till at least an hour more. ugh! i can't sleep now. bloody hell.

but well, let's not waste time eh?

of all the ads i've seen, this has gotta be the most hilarious one. the ads here are so imaginative and original, unlike singapore's.
briarwood mall has all the cool boutiques: A&F, aeropostale, hollister, american eagle, banana republic, victoria's secrets (ooh la la!). the best part is that every store has a clearance section at the back. so that means you can get every brand at clearance. like US$19.90 for a pair of white A&F jeans. but i was just too stingy to spend. i'm a student what.

the symbol of american consumerism:

WAL*MART

here, i got my first action figure: House of M wolvie.
over here, it costs US$7.83, which works out to S$12.52. in singapore, specialist stores sell these for S$35 at least. look at the whopping margin of profit.

somehow campus looked really colorful yesterday. hence the pic. from left: me, wenjie (americans call him wenji!), jean the stalker, and lynn.

it was terribly chilly yesterday. in fact, we could all feel the temperature drop. but i decided against a sweater. i'm determined to force myself to acclimatize. oh, and the satisfaction of knowing that you're doing better than the caucasians; i was just in tee and jeans at the bus-stop, when i saw three ang mohs wearing sweaters and cardigans with their arms folded rather sheepishly. but there were just as many in shorts and slippers.

my room is almost done, and i promise pics will be up soon. hopefully not when terence wakes me up again.