Transiting to Reality

I'm so bad in keeping up with this blog. :(

5 months are gone in the blink of an eye and I'm now thrown back to reality - back to school, back to a place where grades matter. This transition process is almost like a rehab, 'cept without cold turkey.

Despite me grieving over the fact that my 5-month long holidays are over, I'm so happy to be back in school and be surrounded by familiar faces (and the familiar Singaporean accent that I need to get used to... lolol)! And the fact that everyone's being so welcoming warms my heart :')


So everyone's been asking me the same questions about my exchange so I thought it'd be good to blog about my exchange FAQ!


1. How was your exchange????
It would be an understatement if I ever told you that 'it was good'. I think the most apt way of describing it would be 'IT IS THE BEST TIME OF MY LIFE!' I'm not even exaggerating. It is a once in a lifetime experience and deciding to go is one of the best decision I've made in my life. I get to take in so many dumbfounding scenery, explore so many beautiful cities and meet so many wonderful people from all around the world! There's no way I could've done all these without exchange! :)


2. How much did I spend and was it worth it?
I spent approx. $15,000 SGD, including accommodation, food, air tickets and ALL my travelling! Basically everything! That excludes the $2.5k I get from NASA scholarship. IT IS GODDAMN WORTH IT AND I WILL DO THIS OVER AND OVER FOR 999999 TIMES. It might seem pretty hefty but if you think about it, it's like going on a 5-month vacation at only $15,000 SGD! Within this span of 5 months, I covered about 9 states and 19 cities!

I had my doubts before deciding to go because of financial issues. But Yumin told me something that I felt made a lot of sense, "You can always earn back the money spent, but you're only young once."


3. Where did I cover on this trip?

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Raleigh, North Carolina

Asheville/Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Richmond, Virginia

Atlanta, Georgia

Miami, Florida

Orlando, Florida

Washington, D.C.

San Francisco, California

Los Angeles, California

Las Vegas, California

San Diego, California

Santa Monica, California

Alhambra, California

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Page, Arizona

New York City, New York

Buffalo, New York

And also some cities we stopped by along Highway 1 between San Francisco & Los Angeles!

4. Which is my favourite city?

This is a pretty difficult question. I visit most of these places as a tourist and I don't get to experience life like a resident would everyday. But if I really had to choose, I would pick San Francisco. Simply because it is a beautiful place with good commuting system. It's not a fancy city with lots of theme parks whatsoever. I just like its simplicity!

But I would say Las Vegas left the deepest impression in me (just like it had when I went to US for the first time in 2008). I love skyscrapers and the lights! It really awes me!

5. What's my favourite thing about the US?

The people. I met so many nice people while I was travelling around! There were a fair share of nasty ones but they were mostly helpful and friendly! I guess it's just in their culture to be so willing to offer help when needed.

The 2nd on the list for this has to be cheap Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's!

6. What's the thing I dislike most about the US?

Food and cost of food. And it's a place not built for walking. I guess the latter it's more attributable to the fact that it's a gigantic place so it isn't as easy as it is in Singapore to build a developed commuting system. I guess the things I dislike is more of how I'm just not used to things. I love chinese/asian food so I just cannot bring myself to eat burgers/fried chicken/french fries/donuts/soda everyday. I need bubble tea, rice, noodles, soup and chinese desserts!

7. Was it cold? How was the weather like?

For people who's never been to the US, the climate varies across states and cities. The cities I visited in California don't get too hot or cold because they are along the coast. LA probably had the best weather. It ranges around 14 - 22 degree Celsius on average I think. North Carolina got pretty chilly during fall and it went to around -10 when winter approaches. It is pretty periodical though. I can be wearing shorts this week in 16 degree celsius weather and be wrapped up in my down jacket the next because of sub-zero temperature. The more north you go, it gets colder. New York was about -14 degree celsius to 2 degree celsius during the week I was there. The coldest I've been was in Buffalo, when there was a snowstorm. Temperature dropped to about -17 degree celsius.

It was burning when I went to Florida in September for Fall break. It was like Singapore (30-35 degree celsius) except it was a tad less humid!

8. Things Americans do

I came up with a short list of the top 4 things you should do if you wanna live a life of an American. 

Disclaimer: It is based on my humble experience and should not be taken too seriously!

#04: Eat Cheerios

It's even better if you eat honey nut cheerios. It's Americans' No.1 favourite cereal and almost everyone in the suite has one box of it in their room!

#03: Order Chinese Takeaway

Just like in movies!!! Given the sheer size of US and how difficult it is to commute, it is really common for people to order takeouts! It's one of the best things ever. No matter what you may feel like eating, just order it through the web/phone and wait for your food!

My chinese takeout during my 2nd week in UNC!

#02: Watch a football game

I realise that this is not just about the strong sports culture in the US. People also watch these games as a family-bonding activity! I always see Dads bringing their kids and wife to a football/baseball game. Moreover, it's American football! Is there a need to further elaborate why you should watch it???

Students get free tickets if it is a home game! I'm not into sports but I truly enjoyed watching football games! :)

#01: CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN!

Franklin St right outside UNC Chapel Hill is the top 5 places to be in the whole of US for colleges to celerate Halloween! Pretty remarkable for a place that is not so 'mainstream' huh! Americans are hell serious when it comes to Halloween! I enjoyed my halloween these year because of the very onz people!

On hindsight, I think Kah Swee should've been joker from Batman Returns instead....

And as a Tar Heel, the most most most important thing that any Tar Heel should do at least once:

WATCH A BASKETBALL GAME!!!!

And we did! For both men and women basketball :) it's a pity we couldn't catch the Duke vs UNC game. Michael Jordan was from UNC Chapel Hill btw! Hehe. And I didn't realise how impressive Dean Smith was until this morning when I read up about college basketball in the US in my case assignment. 

There are of course lots more to do like having a Thankgiving dinner, going on road trips, going for tailgate, grocery shoppin @ Walmart etc etc. So don't think that this is all about being an American!

I'll try to blog about my trips to places. I just uploaded 2000 pictures into my laptop. Till then!

These pictures are now the only thing that convinces me the past 5 months wasn't a dream. 

Me & my lovely suitemates who threw a goodbye party for me! :')

Love note

I decided to start packing up a little so I won't feel out of time when it's time to leave. So all my summer clothes are now in my giant ziplock bag, vacuumed and sealed. While packing, I could feel the distance between me and home getting shorter. I'm more happy and excited to go back home than I thought I would be. I think about how my family and I are gonna sit around the dining table and have a good meal together, I think about how Kw and I are gonna go food-hunting and dating all day over the weekends and how I am gonna catch up with my besties like we haven't seem each other for ever.

Being on exchange made me realize one thing: being in love is not about being inseparable. It's about how nothing changes even when you're separated. I honestly feel that it's very apt in my situation. Kw was in Germany the past 3-4 weeks and we barely talked to each other. The most we can do was to Whatsapp because he couldn't Skype. But whenever we get to talk, I feel happy and refreshed. It makes me excited thinking that I'm coming back home to you, Hun. Before I left, I honestly felt that this is going to be the real test for us, being apart for so long. I was optimistic but I didn't know how it was gonna turn out. I cannot be there for you physically when you're going through harsh trainings. I cannot talk to you as much as we both want to. I don't know if you were gonna be too frustrated and stop trying. Eventually, I realized that you became really understanding. Even when I consistently get caught up with stuff and neglect you, you still send me heart-warming texts that bring smiles to my face. I know we will make it through, love. I'll be back home in slightly more than a month and I'll make up for all the loss of time.

Meanwhile, continue to remember that I love you and you are the best. Happy 47th month to us. :)

Dedicated to a Friend

I know that times are rough. Even sleep is painful because when you wake up, you have to remind yourself all over again that someone so precious is now gone, forever. No one knows your pain because they are not you. Trust me, if given a choice, all of us hope to be distributed a fraction of your pain so you can be relieved of this heart-throb. But no, we can't. We cannot do anything to make you feel better except for lending you a shoulder to cry on, a few words of encouragement, simple gestures that hopefully cheers you up a little and give you hugs so you know you can always lean on us. And I'm sorry I belong to the category of only being to offer words of encouragement and not be physically there.

What we do is so limited, after-all, only you can walk yourself out of this turmoil. We can lend you a hand but you have to get up on your own feet and fight this battle.

Everyone understands that life is cycle. 生老病死不是我们可以控制的。But sometimes it doesn't happen the way we expect it to be, sometimes it catches us by surprise. We often take things for granted and forget that good health doesn't always stay for long. It may not seem fair and you probably ask why this has to happen to you. It maybe cliche to say this I truly believe everything happens for a reason. Even if you may not know the reason now, you will eventually find out. There is definitely a flip side to things.

Meanwhile, 'stay strong' and 'cheer up' should've been told to you a hundred times. I absolutely agree that you have to stay strong, but it is also okay to grief, it is okay to cry. We are all humans, we succumb to emotions. Let it out so you'll feel better. There's nothing wrong with crying. It doesn't mean that you're weak. It's just a milestone to finding your stronger self. Just remember that: 哭有时 笑有时. After all these tears, you need to tell yourself to hold yourself together because life moves on. You should know better than anyone that she wants the best for you and wants you to live a happy life. When the time is here, tidy up your emotions and move on to a new chapter.

We all can vouch for how good a person she was and she is definitely free from suffering and pain now. At the end of this post, just remember 2 things:

1. She definitely wants you to lead a happy life.
2. You always have us to fall back on, until and beyond the day you are ready to start a new chapter of your life.






Caroline.

(I didn't mention your name here because I dk if you wanna be more private about it. But you know this is for you...)


RIP.

Omnomnomnomonom............

I'm never going to catch up with blogging about my trips. And I'm also getting lazy waiting for pictures to be uploaded etc etc plus everyone's probably seen my pictures on FB anyway!

So today I'm gonna talk about.........food! Oops, sorry to disappoint you (if I did), me is not going to talk about American food but food that I miss from home!!!!

If there's one thing I miss the most from home (besides people), it has to be the food. It's not my cozy bed, not convenience of public transport, not anything but food.

Few weeks ago, I went to a Friday night dinner with International Friends (Christian Organisation of UNC that has people from all around the globe). The American host (damn it I forgot his name the 2nd time. I think it's Brian?? Maybe not.) from the organisation sat at our table, filled with other 7-8 Singaporeans. To kick start the conversation, he asked, "So, what's your favorite American food?" And guess what? This question was followed by a moment of awkward silence.... I feel that everyone thought about the question seriously but it just seems like no one had an answer.

I am quite sure 2 things flashed through our minds:

1) What are the authentic American food?
There're tons of Mexican restaurants, Americanized asian food, pizza outlets (countless of them omg), and needless to say, fast food restaurants. We know pastas/pizzas are probably not local food. Are burgers and fries considered as American food??? Or salad?

2) No matter what constitutes as American food, it seems like there isn't a favorite for us.
We eat pretty much the same things over and over and over - pizza, burgers, fries, chicken thigh, mashed potatoes, SALAD (really makes me feel like a cow) etc etc.... Every meal just has to be so meaty. :/

3) We also get freaking burgers/fries/salad/pizza/donuts at home!! They may not always be good ones but you we always easily source for the good authentic ones at home! Well, it is kind of expensive to find really authentic food but our regular meals from hawker centres/food courts/canteen cost around 30-40% of what we pay for a regular meal here. So I guess it makes it ok to have expensive authentic food once in a while? Regardless, American food is definitely not new to us!

I lost track of the number of times we talk about the food back at home. Every time we start a conversation like that, it usually goes on and on and on until someone thinks it's getting out of hand and we're going to drool in our dreams, then we move on. And you might think this is ridiculous, but this conversation started as early as the first week of us being in Chapel Hill!




So what food from home do I miss the most? Countless. I've (pain-stakingly) narrowed it down to the top 5 food I miss from home!






No. 5 Ba Chor Mee

Photo reused from my old instagram post.

Just in case non-Singaporeans friends are reading, ba chor = minced pork and mee = noodles. So this is called Minced Pork Noodles!! I know most people likes ba chor mee ta (dry). But I prefer the soupy ones. I just have a thing for soups. And you will also see that in the later part of my post.

Anyways, I've been talking about ba chor mee since the week I arrived. I'll always order either mee kia soup or mini wok noodles when I patronize a ba chor mee stall back at home. Oh except the Koufu at Rivervale Plaza, their mee tai mak soup is the best! It's not super tasty or flavorful but it serves as a comfort food for me which I don't think I'll ever get sick of.

Ironically, my boyf's dad sells ba chor mee but I've never tried his noodles before. Hmm.... @Kw, you have about 2 months to research on good ba chor mee to bring me to!!! :D







No. 4 Cheng Mun Chee Kee Pig Organ Soup

I've eaten this umpteen times but I still love it!! I love to call this the best pig organ soup I've ever. I'm not a foodie so it's not like I've had a lot of pig organ soup that I can judge. But till then, THIS IS MY FAVOURITE PIG ORGAN SOUP. I still remember how I would diligently walk from my ex-workplace at Race Course Rd all the way to Foch Rd to dabao this as lunch. And also how many times I've eaten this with my dear @chewhuimin!

I'm cheating a little here, my no. 4.1 most missed food is the pig stomach soup from 老火汤! Their pig stomach soup is super peppery and flavorful!! When I eat both of the above food, I will never fail to 加汤! *slurps*







No. 3 Tom Yum Soup

Photo taken from the internet (because I don't think I've taken a proper picture of even 1 tomyum soup I've had)

This is actually not valid because tom yum soup is Thai food and not 'food from home'. But I really love tom yum soup to death!!!! It's the must-have for me at every thai food place! And this also makes me ponder over something I really appreciate about Singapore - you can find almost any cuisine (without having compromised flavors).

Why do I say that?

Well, there are a handful of restaurants around here selling Asian food as I've mentioned. But.........they're always Americanised and disappointing. Try walking into a chinese restaurant here and order kung pao chicken and you'll know what I mean. It's not just that. During our trip to Richmond, Virginia, we sourced for a Thai food on Yelp and we chose one that had really good reviews! Many people raved about how good the food was etc etc. And of course, we had to try tom yum soup right?

It was of course, disappointing. I can't really remember the taste anymore. I think it was still spicy and sour but the taste is just off. And instead of the regular straw mushrooms, they used white mushrooms. :(

Despite having some bad Thai restaurants in Singapore, you can still easily find handful of good ones! And the same thing applies to good japanese food, good ramen places, good pizza places etc etc.

This is why I really appreciate the diversity in Singapore. We have food courts, hawkers and tons and tons of restaurants that you can choose from. Be it local or international cuisine, we've got it covered. So folks, be grateful.

One more reason to miss tom yum soup is also because of the lack of spicy food here. Mad.love.spicy.food. Although many a times I would get a bad stomach and end up having diarrhea...it's worth it!!!




No. 2 Steamboat

Photo of one-of-the-many-times we had steamboat at home

This is also (in my opinion) considered as cheating. Hahaha. Because it is not really a food-dish. But this is also my all-time favourite! You get anything you want and dump it into the soup which might be tasteless at first, but behold, the soup at the end of every steamboat session - is heavenly.

What can be better than having steamboat at home, with your family members crowding around the table and cooking the food together while chatting the night away? And you will always get your favorite food!

Hate veggies? No problem-o! You can have shabu-shabu meat slices, prawns, fish, meatballs and even abalones!

For me, everything is just awesome in steamboat! Seafood, meat, CHEESE TOFU, veggies, meatballs, sausages, anything and everything! Before flying to Chapel Hill, I had steamboat 4 times in a span of 1 month! Nope, not sick of it. Just a bloated stomach from the food choices and soup and a happy me. These 5 times included the one I had with @Kw, some shabu-shabu japanese buffet, one with my longest-time treasured friends a.k.a. my secondary clique, one @ home with my famz and also my first mookata experience with my awesome progs committee!!

I also had it here once @ Duke during mid-autumn, courtesy of SSA.


The cold weather here makes me miss steamboat even more. It's freaking 2 degree celsius outside now! If only I could have a pot of steamy soup with assortment of ingredients laid out in front of me in this freezing weather...........
















What could be the food I miss the most most most after talking about how much I miss the food mentioned above?

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Yes, you've guessed it.

No. 1 Home-cooked Food

Spread prepared by love's mum months back! (Also happen to have my v. v. v. favourite dish that his mum makes, pork with szechuan veg @ bottom of photo! When are you going to master the skill of cooking this and cook for me? @kaleyeokianwei???)

I want to be biased and say specifically that I miss my bf's mum's cooking but that'll be mean to my mum so......pretend I didn't say that ok?

My mum's always about healthy food, no salt no oil no sodium. She loves cooking things like brown rice (sometimes porridge with brown rice wtf) and add like 2% of salt in food she cooks. It's for us I know because the food we eat outside are almost like poison with those MSG and salt. But....sometimes it gets too bland. And the worse thing is when she forces me to drink the weird beverages she grinds for e.g 七古糊 (I'm sorry if you cannot read chinese because I cannot translate this. It's basically blending 7 kind of healthy grains into something with a thick consistency) and almond paste (trust me, it doesn't taste like those things you eat in chinese dessert shops) and barley paste.

I do not miss those.......................although I know they are healthy beyond description. BUT, I still love you mum, and I still love some things you cook like mee hoon kuay and minced pork with pickled lettuce etc etc!!! I'm also glad you can't read english and probably cannot read my blog. HAHA.


On the other hand, b's mum always cook super appetizing stuff. It's usually 3 dishes + 1 soup when I'm there for food. :D Ok to be fair, my mum works in the day from 2-12pm, so it's no wonder she cannot really cook such spread for us so we tend to have simple fare at home. And also, b's mum is also more about flavor of food than health benefits. Sigh......the more unhealthy option always tastes better..............

Am I digressing too far? Ok I am.

Well, what is there to explain? Who doesn't love home-cooked food? Food that is always healthier and heartier than the food outside.




And I'm just counting down the days till I can eat my favorite food again.









P.S. I also miss Japanese food (SASHIMI SUSHI AND CHAWAMUSHI!!!!!) tons! It's probably ranked in Top 5 but it's Japanese food so I didn't include it. Blah.

P.P.S. My stomach's growling now. Dangggggg!

HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

Halloween was so awesome!!

This is my first actual celebration of Halloween! I mean, going to Halloween Horrors and all is fun but I get to doll up this year!! When people dress up in Singapore, it's always just random drawing on faces to make themselves look 'creepier' than usual, which I find a lack of creativity!! Why must Halloween always and only be about ghostly stuff??? I mean, it's quite fresh and creepy at the start but over the years it's just.................boring.


So we've been talking a lot of Halloween since weeks back. I even suggested that we should do a zombie apocalypse. All we need will be face paints and other random materials, which we can share the costs!!! But.......it was only a plan on paper. Lol. In the end, no one did anything and till the very afternoon of Halloween itself, I had no idea what I wanna do. I really wanted to do something special because it's probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience (considering how serious Americans are about Halloween) and so I googled and searched and asked and YouTube-d until I found something relatively easy to do without having to buy much materials!!!

I painted a face on my face so it looks like I have 2 faces!!!

This is the video I got the idea from!

This is what it looks like! 

When I shift my hair and show only the left side of my face...

This is so fun 'cuz I can wink too!!! :D

Ben, Jake and Kahswee shared the same sentiments as me. They, too, wanted to do something special but they couldn't think of something economical and fun even on that afternoon itself until we visited a thrift shop on Franklin.......

This is what became of them. HAHAHA. Jake was wrapped in a freaking bed sheet!!! So we have 3 new single ladies: demure one, slutty one and fiesty one.

Louise and I did their make-up for them and I had so much fun doing it!! I think it's the first time I put full make up on someone! Teeheehee. 

And then after all the preparations, HIT THE FRANKLIN ST WE GO! And btw, Franklin St is the TOP 3 places in the US to be in during Halloween!

Here's the link: http://elitedaily.com/news/world/top-5-halloween-party-schools-america/

Here we goooo!

I really think this angle makes it look even more creepy!

The most idea-less idea for Halloween. 

My art pieces! 

 This clock tower is really cool!!!!!

 This is the real thing.

Suzu the Pinocchio! 

Geisha lipped. 

 The bitches and Rebecca - always camera ready. It was a candid shot!!

 Us together!! :D

Katie and I! 

Mega photobomb by stranger..... 

Saw Hannah (my suitemate) at Krispy Kreme! (Krispy Kreme gives out free donuts to all that go in in costumes!! :D) And btw she's a loofah, and her boyfriend, Sean (at the back half photobombing half should be in the picture) is a soap bar. I think they are too cute!!!! 

 I finally have a picture with Rachel! And it just had to be on Halloween with us not being our usual selves. Hahaha.

That's Samantha (lives beside me) and Kristina (lives across me) chilling in our dorm!

And that was end of my (fruitful) Halloween! :)

NC State Fair

The past few weeks, NC State Fair was like the talk of the town! It is this massive fun fair that was held at the capital of NC, Raleigh! With courtesy of Kenan-Flagler Business School, Ks and I got free tickets!!! :D

So last Friday, we met up with Jake, Ben and Sam and we set off to the state fair!!

There were many carnival games, rides and endless booths selling DEEP-FRIED food! Like seriously, if there's one way people here cook their food, it's DEEP-FRIED! There's nothing they cannot deep-fry!!

This is the evidence. Deep-fried gummy bears?!?!?!

How can they make simple lemonade look so good?? And btw there were also deep-fried lemonade, deep-fried mozzarella fingers, deep-fried cheesecakes and deep-friend onions. (Idk why I didn't take more picture of the food we ate -_-)

Got scammed into playing an impossible game. Lol.

Funnel cake! Which essentially is just deep-fried donuts. 

 Saw this ride and we couldn't resist but take it! It's like viking except that it goes 360 degrees! MAD FUN!!

 He looks like he's saying 'Ello!'

 Pony rides....and I actually feel sad for the ponies. Being tied down all day and dragged along when they are suppose to 'operate'. :(

This ride, called the Vortex, was also the talk of the town. The day before we went to the state fair, 5 people got injured because they were thrown off the ride from about 20-30 ft above the ground. The people were unbuckling and getting ready to get off the ride when it got activated all of the sudden. It's MAD SCARY! This ride turns 360 degrees and the cabins sings in any possible angle at high speed. Being thrown off it is not a joke. 

Read about the news here: http://news.yahoo.com/5-people-injured-ride-mishap-nc-state-fair-083331684.html

 Live stocks!

 Humongous pumpkins!

 Turkey legs!

Stunt show!

By this time, it got really cold. I think it was around 10 dc? And the temperature just kept falling. I was definitely under-dressed. I hid my hands in my pockets the whole time. 

We weren't as crazy as the guys who had 1 turkey leg each. It's insane! The turkey leg gets really overwhelming after a while. I couldn't even eat half of it and I don't think I'll want to eat turkey legs anymore....

We escaped the cold and boarded the toasty bus at 9pm. By the time we reach Chapel Hill at about 11, the temperature was freaking 3dc!!!! I was really freezing but nonetheless, we were determined to eat Yopo!!

Crazy people we are.

NC State Fair was way more fun than I expected despite the unhealthiness and freezing weather! :)