London: it never rests. (Continued)

So about two months ago, I wrote an entry about London. I’m in Starbucks and I heard this teenage boy speaking British-accented English and I know it is a sign.

d) Step into this LUXE world and snoop around for a glimpse of celebrity

Greengirl and I wanted to split our ways and visit a stadium and Queen Victoria and Albert museum respectively. Short of time, we decided to head to Harrods together.  We explored Harrods storey and storey and were in awe by  this luxury departmental store which has everything from bathroom essentials, furniture to children’s wear. They all carry a hefty price tag each including the simplest thing that you could probably get half the price. There were also more tourists than real shoppers, I noticed.

This was also where I felt that my London experience was very much complete.

We met… John Terry, i.e. the EX-captain of the English football team. The irony of our chance encounter was that on our way to Harrods, Greengirl was bitching about the Chelsea football team, its ineffectualness and lack of charm.

I took this picture. ):

e) Conquer the London markets (Portobello, Borough, Spitalfields, Camden & Brick Lane)

It didn’t help that Jo is an avid shopper. When I was putting up in her room, she showed me all her loot from the markets, Primark, ebay and ASOS. How can one resist all these temptations?

The ever enthusiastic Jo marked out all the markets on my map and even suggested to me how I could go about conquering all of them as I peered at the “yuniek & momo” guides, reading aloud the specialties of those places.

Camden was the least interesting, in my opinion or the right words for it, should be least rewarding or most pocket-friendly. There are hardly anything you could buy there except for food. Tip of the day given by Jo: Walk quickly through the Bugis-Street (a place in Singapore that stocks cheap, trendy and sometimes run-of-the-mill clothes) looking streets and head straight for the Stables Market. It has a commendable selection of vintage stalls but I personally find the things there slightly pricier.

For my favourite market, it is a tough fight between Portobello and Brick Lane.

Portobello is just so quintessentially British or so I think. We didn’t need a map or ask people for directions. We simply had to follow the crowd who led us through the what seemed like thousands of stalls and shops. I bought a nautical-striped bag from the market. THAT’S ALL. Can you believe it?

George Orwell lived here. (Portobello)

Portobello Market -- this is where it all begins

The Hummingbird Bakery @ Portobello

Pop by The Hummingbird Bakery to get a whiff and a bite of the scrumptious and cute cupcakes! We were too preoccupied unfortunately to remember to take a picture of the red velvet cupcake.

Brick Lane, quoting momoJ, is …

a fab place to people-watch and snap candid shots for you will spot young things that embody the epitome of british fashion, agyness deyne and alexa chung lookalikes/wannabes. not to forget, very pretty boys with side-swept wavy hair and tailored ankle pants. also old old book collections, an indoors market with feathered headpieces and handmade cards among many other things.

When I was in London in July, I wanted to go to Brick Lane again to shop at my own relaxed paced but by then, I could only bear to have one main thing on my itinerary per day and sadly, I missed out on a second trip to Brick Lane.

f) The two Roast that you must try –the Roast Duck & the Sunday Roast

So many people had raved to me about the famous Roast Duck rice in London way before I visited London. Apparently there are two restaurants at Bayswater that are well-known for their roast ducks. They are Golden Mile Restaurant and Four Seasons Restaurants. I’ve tried Golden Mile Restaurant’s. It was decently good. I don’t remember it as better than those that I’ve tried in Singapore. Still, if it is highly recommended, I think it is worth a try!

Sunday Roast

The Sunday roast is a traditional British main meal served on Sundays (usually in the earlyafternoon for lunch), consisting of roasted meat, roast potato together with accompaniments, such as Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, vegetables and gravy. - Wikipedia

In a bid to try traditional British fare, we went for Sunday Roast in a pub, feeling quite satisfied that we have finally sampled some local food!

g) The world’s a stage

Nothing beats the sensation of standing for two hours or so to watch a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre. This was on the top of my to-do list. However, as it was not theatre season the first time I visited London in March, I had no choice but to admire the Globe Theatre from the outside and leave the rest to my imagination. Fortunately, I was back in London again in summer and I watched Henry VIII. The cast was terrific. Such intensity! The tension between each and every actor and actress was so well-cultivated. Each of them wielded their “weapons” (their lines) and launched into such exquisite “swordsplay” (the dialogue/the interaction) that made made me feel like jumping on stage to act with them! I adore the actress who played Anne Boleyn. She is very promising.

Henry VIII and his queen

Even though I was in London once in Spring and another time in Summer, I still didn’t manage to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum.  It is such a shame but that gives me reason to visit London again. I mean, even if I have visited V&A museum, I’ll always want to visit London again and again, with or without reason.

Here are some of pictures of my discoveries during summer which also documented my frustration at finding out that Nick Jonas acted as Marius for three weeks! Preposterous! Norm Lewis, also a guest start, however, blew me away with his rendition of Stars. So achingly beautiful.

Snog at the Carnaby Street (;

Look out for Nick Jonas

Seeing & being at Canary Wharf sent shivers down my spine

Chinatown

Just right outside Covent Garden which is also a must-go

My second trip was less hectic. I really took my own sweet time. And yes, I did what I preach, I found another friend who was working in London who was kind enough to put me up. I was really lucky to have a spacious room for myself for three days to recharge myself. LN is really lovely. I had a lot of fun with her and her other Vietnamese friends. Because she was very busy with work, I was mainly on my own except for one night when I met up with Sherms and F to watch the football match — Netherlands versus I can’t remember the other team.

I remember on my last night, I had to leave her place in the wee hours.  I was a little fearful of what may lurk around in the neighbourhood. I looked straight ahead, dragged my pink suitcase along and walked very, very quickly.

When I boarded the 24-hour bus,  I heaved a sigh of relief. This is after all London, and this time round, I mean it in the positive sense. There were already a handful of passengers on the bus and as the bus cruised from Bow Road to Gloucester Place/Baker Street, more and more people streamed in with their suitcases. It was probably 4 or 5 am then.

Just about the same time right now in Singapore.

Oh, I miss London.

***

P.S. This was actually continued and completed not on the Starbucks day but after I read my friends’ posts about their exchange experience — friends who just left for exchange a few days ago. My exchange buddy also has a fabulous blog that he updates very often about his life here in Singapore. All these have made me feel a little horrible for not writing on the go. So I persevered and finished writing about London. It wasn’t daunting at all. I was so carried away.

hello! I’m in a new place now and it reeks of erm, a strange smell.

I’ve moved. I’m very proud of myself. I moved five bags by myself .  Ok, I could have hollered for help from people like Derek and other exchange students but I just felt that I could do this myself. This guy helped me lift my suitcase up onto the tram. Thank you, stranger! I lifted my huge-ass pink suitcase up three flight of stairs by myself.  My body was aching and my arms were sore. When I made my second trip back to my old home, I was honestly drained of energy. So, after grabbing some groceries for tomorrow’s breakfast, all I wanted was a mind-and-body nourishing dinner — my second meal of the day.

Thank you to CSA for organising this awesome Chinese dinner. It was only for ten euros! I’m glad the other exchange students were happy as well from the dinner. (:  I helped by promoting to them and persuading them to go. I love to share and gather people together. It was a good way to meet other people as well, although Michelle was simply overjoyed from the splendid spread of scrumptious Chinese food. I never knew so many foreigners were that interested in Singapore. It makes me feel a little patriotic although Martin pointed out, hey, you’re still holding a Malaysian passport.  (; I love Malaysia too.

they're all native dutch (;

this is unlike koi milk tea, but it is really good enough.

liting and susan

My new house-mates are cool but we live under shall I say, different living conditions? Gabi and I were practically living in the same space; breathing the same air. We connected and I liked it when we talked to one another before we slept or shared our aspirations; travelling experiences; bitched about Dutch weather.  I miss Gabi. There are two house-mates in my new place. Each of us has our own private room and we share the kitchen, toilet and bathroom. There are no other common room. One of them is from California. She is really sweet and bright. Oh, I hear her singing quite a few times. I must ask her about that. (; The other is an international student from Bulgaria. She is quite spunky. I haven’t really talked a lot to them and I feel a bit bad. It was just such a tiring day. Perhaps I will make some pancakes tomorrow morning and show some house-mates’ love.  I also have to make a grocery list tomorrow. Air freshener is definitely on the list.

ah, updates about International Film Festival Rotterdam (I absolutely adore it and I’m definitely going to catch another film) coming soon and yes, my Barcelona trip entry is one-quarter written.

we go sugar-high!

Apparently, I have been losing readership as my blog is too CHEEEEM.

Jianhao remarked with that half-quizzical and half comical expression, “I read your blog… and then I will feel [insert adjective(either "sad" or something)] Is it me? Because I don’t understand it at the end. Do you?” he looked at Jon Gan, “People tell me there is another layer meaning to her entries. Can you get the undercurrent?”

Jon Gan: No, NOT AT ALL. It is just very long and emo entries and…

He trailed off. That’s it. Those are the perspectives of some of my “readers”. I think I haven’t laughed so hard for quite a long time. They think I am some double-entrendre QUEEN ar. haha. It’s okay. I prefer to keep that crown on. ;)

***

Sam and I were pretty humoured and yet exasperated. It is that sort of mixed feeling when you hang out with choir guys. Sometimes you feel like they are child-like, ungentlemanly but really, they are quite pieces of art (copyrights given to momoserene) themselves. There were like EIGHT OF THEM before Jiejun joined us and one of them is the ever quote-worthy Jon Gan. In the Ice-Cream Chef, he said almost dramatically, “because we are all such animals!” It was so memorable that I have completely forgotten the context it which the line was made in.

***

Then there was Jeremy Yeo who was making an effort to distinguish  the pomfret’s face and the pomfret’s head. That actually BLOSSOMED into a heated and animated conversation between the boys. Oh my. Sam and I. Sam and I… no, we didn’t roll my eyes. But yeah, you can imagine our hysteria. (:

***

It was dark… I just came out of the toilet and I couldn’t make out that it was Edwin in his car of boys at the carpark gantry(Ice Cream Chef near coldstream ave/siglap) until he signalled me over.

His car was too far away from the intercom.

Edwin: Eh, Siying, press the thing.

Siying: Press what? Where?

Edwin: The Red Button!

Siying: Okay, pressed. Now what?

The carpark gantry was not moving up at all.

I heard some familiar music coming from the car. The car window was rolled down and I was trying to evade my responsibilities. (like hello, I don’t do NUMBERS. I can’t figure out INTERCOM. )

Siying: Oh my gosh, you play VJ Choir music in your car!

BOYS in the car:  lalalala… (singing away)

Edwin: Ya, that’s why la. We play this… I listen until I get lost. Cannot find my way here.

(He joined his car of boys for a line or two of our carols)

Edwin is one of the biggest PARADOX in vjc choir. His attendance in choir has drawn my concern and attention but he is one of the rare ones or rather the FIRST one whom I know play VJC Choir music in the car. and he is capable of saying emotional lines like, “I miss vjc choir. You know, l like listening to sov(our annual concert) songs… I can study better with them.” Coming from a med student who has to study harder than anyone of us to make the cut, I must say, VJC choir must have a tremendous influence over him despite his less than perfect attendance. ;) hahaha.

***

The boys were ravenous with excitement when we were at the ice-cream parlour. Ben tan was helpless… as a cat. I know, there is no such simile but I heard he has a special affinity with those FELINES(goodness) that I have to draw such parallel. He purred with delight since he was about to embark on his tantalising feast of strawberry ice-cream but you know mr mumble-into-the-mike sometimes just doesn’t try hard enough.

He stood up.

“What do you all want…” He rattled off some flavours… and some ways of concoctions.

He paused midway into his sentence. (mainly cos’ there was no response so far.) He looked at US.

The girls threw him a few sympathetic glances. The boys were still immersed in their conversation ( I had no idea what they were talking about.) I believe he stood there for a few more seconds before he managed to order some ice-cream with Edwin.

When he came back to his seat,

Sam asked, “Why can’t you just- MAKE the decision?”

Ben Tan: Because. Because I will just order all Strawberry. I am being considerate.

Again, he was distressed after a while. His tub of strawberry ice-cream was at the other end of the table. He gazed at it longingly.

Sam: Ask for it. Can you be more assertive?

Ben Tan cocked his head slightly towards the other edge of the table. “ Hoi! ” Immediately, his kitten-like bellow had a swift descrendo- he broke into a grin THAT depicted I HAVE ACHIEVED SOMETHING.

 Jiejun by the way was already roaring with laughter.

***

I could have gone on profiling them but I should let the pictures speak for themselves.

In sam’s car!

***

oh yes, my big crystal-like earring has been making headlines of its own.

NO 1: Grouplings think that the act of dropping my earring is very funny. WHY?! Nicholas would laugh and it was followed by Asik, Ben and finally Marcus who was at first lost but after Asik said, “she dropped her earring.” and Marcus went like, “I see the humour” and joined in the laughter. Suelynn was as clueless as me. WHY?! Ben tan has come up with this alter-ego name called “Sally” for me and he said he would credit “Sally” instead in his film. If he ever does that, I will so strangle him.

NO 2:  There was this informal Meet-the-BOYFRIEND session. (Sam’s by the way) There were like cheow, marie, sam, josh the bf and me of course. Then Marie/Sam asked why I was wearing only one earring. Suddenly, all their attention was on me - this very tired, dreamy girl slouching on a rickety chair in the middle of a smelly alley.

I touched my pretty earring, stared at them quite blankly and replied in slight insouciance,

“Fashion what.”

I never quite figured out what they were laughing at but I think I blushed. I hope sam’s bf will not have too much of a negative impression of her friends. oh my.

Lynn the wonderful ctv director has found THE OTHER earring. The long lost earring in the editing studio. After I retrieved THE OTHER earring, I think everything will be back to normal. My earrings, I mean.

 

I have been wanting to post many other pictures. aho, next entry then. I am tired. (:

 

big-titty-cowgirls ;) edited!

It is not a weird title. It is “how apt”.

I am glad that my family always avoids extending our holidays into the Christmas week because they are aware of my carolling schedule. This is my fourth year and my first carolling with chorale. Chorale is more forthcoming musically. Like I have said a million times before, I have no doubts when it comes to singing with chorale. Singing in chorale is a different thing. Nicholas loves to use this phrase “individual’s proficiency”. Christmas day carolling was a bummer for me. Do you know how hard it is to sing when all you want to do is to stamp out the frustration, cry and be temperamental? It is very hard. I don’t know why but coincidentally, I keep having these kind of experiences when I am with chorale. I don’t think I am over-sensitive, over-reactive or self-defensive especially if others also noticed that.  I know this is silly but sometimes watching seemingly non-enriching shows like ANTM has its rewards too. Tyra Banks said to one of the model girls that if she ever feels down and needs to cry,  then she should get off the set, just cry and readjust her emotions. or else it is hard to escape the captivitity power of photos which could arrest that hint of tears brimming in your eyes. So to not seem like a sulky performer in front of the audience, i vented it all out in the toilet and it felt so good i tell you to repeatedly curse someone like nobody’s business. ;) oh other than that, I spent my christmas countdown with a bizzare combination of people but it was still surprisingly very lovely i think. ;)

Before the Christmas week,  I actually felt quite sad that there wasn’t any active recruitment exercise in chorale because we really really need people! I felt that sense of urgency because 1. we REALLY need people. 2. I really want to go somewhere with chorale. haha. and the ingenious me came up with the strategy to get non-vc people including my batch and shixuan’s batch ( but sx said they had to help their juniors) to carol with us killing many birds with a stone (: & after much persuasion too, nicholas &  co. had relented. I think people who join VC always havd this apparent/secret desire to join… they just need a bit cajoling and people to ignite that… desire. ;) hahaha. Even the most obstinate Caroline seemed a bit moved by the idea of joining chorale. I felt very very excited knowing that my friends and juniors are considering to join and when I carolled with them in the name of VC. It was thrilling and comforting! ah! :D

 This is what produces bizzare combination gathering(: Christmas night was spent at Ben’s place gossiping about vj teachers and taking photos. Thank you ben & family!

oh and I finally met up with the bondue friends…. I had fun with them, playing boardgames, watching dvds, cutting cake in the middle of the night… but I was feeling quite lost & ignorant when the guys were talking about finance and current affairs. oops! I refuse to be an AIRHEAD!

 I love mabel and cheryl.  (: Thinking about it now, I felt so at ease with them. Mabel’s energy was infectious as usual. I was quite thick-skinned to voice out my yearning to visit and stay over at her hall… and she agreed quite happily! KR hall seemed really really fun. There was a sense of community and I like that! It brought back memories of the old dunman high days. It made smu seem very silly all of sudden. We even visited Peixun and Lien and watched Chuck & Larry with Mabel’s hall friend. (: They rock and really made me all buoyant and happy!

Then it was the long-awaited christmas chorale party. There were a lot of problems in the beginning from the funding, to lack of response and replies in the forum to change in manpower to my vacation which renders me unavailable to see the responses. It was slightly infuriating-the change in manpower part, especially. I was panicking while I was in Macau. I am not kidding you because I was feeling so so so bad and I don’t know how to get people to reply when I was stranded on the island of casinos. I mean the seniors deserve to have a nicely-organised party for them. rahhh. oh well, if not for Sandy’s initiative, the party would not have been successful. I had fun! (:  Playing silly games and cam-whoring.

Marie, Jiejun & I cabbed down to Edwin’s place later for our batch gathering. I really like that sort of gathering. Relaxing… spontaneous… talking… watching dvds… Edwin’s place is really very comfortable. Edwin was pretty professional and composed while explaining the anatomy to us. I was doing my best to crack him but he didn’t succumb. (: hahaha. Marie and Asik looked hilarious when they were playing the Wii. Should have captured that. Thank you edwin & family! (:

why, all jolly and psyched up now! Inching towards 2008! tralala! Pictures soon!
 

Taking a long solitary walk down the concourse, I thought, other than easing the bloatedness after dinner, would be self-therapeutic. (But why do I even need therapy in the very first place?! haha. I have no idea.) Sam was away, buying food while I sat, looking at the plethora of cuisines in kopitiam. (i made it sound fancier than it is.;) ) I thought of seafood, shells and clams. Then I stopped there. I could not go on. I don’t know whether the clam could see the world out there. I think it could. It could hear the swishing of the waves; feel the friction against the rough grains of sand when a child kicks it carelessly or carefreely along the beach; feel the dwindling warmth of the setting sun as the last rays hit on it mercifully; hear the lilting and moroseful sobs of a heartbroken girl who has decided the forces of nature to be the most trustful confidante one night… It remains like anything; like almost nothing-fading into the backdrop of every story.

It is a clam after all, we have to understand. It awaits for the next story to unfold.

 

 

YOU who are reading this:

Please come for Victoria Chorale’s concert, In Song, on 26th Aug, Sunday! Will YOU please make me a happy girl? ;) On second thoughts, maybe no, I am still quite bitter about the ugly kebaya. It seems like I am the only one having issues with the unflattering and antiquated costume. ;) I am getting bitchier nowadays. (it is not good. rah.) We had our second last practice last night. It didn’t feel much like a practice nor was it exactly a feel-good-let’s-sing-with-passion get-together. I looked at the people I am going to perform on the Esplanade stage this coming sunday… I love to perform for people and with people whom that there is a certain sort of chemistry and THIS: catch-someone’s-eye-and-both-of-you-smile-and-know-all-of-us-are-in-this-together … (okay, maybe I have made it too romantic and mushy) It is THIS that makes me miss my friends, vjc choir and the whole dynamics.  However, in vjc choir, not everyone was on the same level of passion and showmanship when it came to delivery of songs which could make you feel a bit out of place sometimes especially. I like chorale and the FRIENDS there, no doubt.  You feel empowered and motivated by their contagious and exuberant onstage presence. They are so professional, talented and those people have been in the scene for so long  because they love singing and somehow or rather, they are able to align their passion with commitment and make it all click. Of course, chemistry is therefore what it lacks. (: (That’s my opinion!)

 I was pondering about the differences out of the blue the other night and decided to share with marie yesterday because it was quite hard to articulate my feelings to myself.  She said it was well-described and she agreed! You should have seen me. I was waving my hands dramatically, raising my tone as I analysed. ;) CHOIR ar CHOIR.

I was zombie-like, pale and despondent while moping around in school with glad, junrong and jervois and dan. I was pretty perked up at first but eventually succumbed to the overwhelming fatigue. oh well! I have signed up for smube, samba, japanese cultural club and muay thai… might be interested in some others too. We’ll see how. (This has become my pet phrase nowadays.) (:

I seem so cheery, the fact is… okay, I am not depressed. I need to be optimistic and let’s hope for the best.