I was at a project meeting today when one of my project mates told me, "I like your accent!"

I was stunned for that split second. Well, cos to me, I don't have an accent, it's them who have an accent. I laughed it off (to create a time lag) before it dawned upon me, that I'm in a foreign country, and I'm the minority. So, yes, to them, I do have an accent. And, it just tickled me that she said that she liked my accent, cos I never thought that I was speaking with an accent.

That being said, whenever I speak with Americans here, I try to fake an accent. I guess it's a spontaneous thing that you try to speak like them when everyone else around you has that same accent. So, I had to explain to her that my so called "accent" was a mix between the American accent and the Singapore accent. Haha...

Oh, and did I mention that I love the British accent, in particular native London speaker's English accent.

I have been owing a lot of photos and posts. Yes, I have just been procrastinating. Hehe... Cos, there are just so many photos to choose from, and so much to say. there will be more to come soon, so before this pile gets way to sky high, here's what happened last weekend. We went to Houston, in particular Galveston, to see the Mardi Gras. From what I heard, the Mardi Gras from New Orleans moved over to Galveston. So, here goes...

Houston - 17th Feb 2006:
No, we didn't do much touring, because our main aim for this trip was to head down to Galveston to see the Mardi Gras. But more on the Mardi Gras later... Now for Houston... Houston is a 2 1/2 hr drive away from Austin. That, is of course a rough estimate, with drivers like Jan, you never know how quickly you'll reach Houston. Haha... Just kidding! Jan is a great driver. Really... (Ok, maybe short of the fact that he isn't a master at controlling the amount of strength he puts on the accelerator.) So, we trooped off to Houston on Friday afternoon, and were dozing off in the car seats while poor Jan had to concentrate on the road, and Chee Kin, as navigator (not that Jan needed much of a navigator since Jan was driving back home. Ah... Yes... Did i mention that Jan stays in Houston? or, rather his parents, at least... So, yes, he kinda "stays" in Houston) had to keep awake and entertain the poor driver. Well, come to think of it, at least its only but a 2 hour drive. Not so bad... If it's like a 10 hour drive, then, really, driving becomes stressful. And, what is a drive without food? You see those Texas shaped tortilla chips? Yes, some of the snacks that we brought onboard the car. I was so intrigued by the fact that HEB sold Texas shaped tortilla chips (read it from my readings) that I got Laura to buy them on thursday when she and Jan went to HEB to do some grocery shopping. And, it came in super handy for our friday trip! However, it took us a long while to finally find the perfect Texas shaped chip, cos most of them had parts of the state broken off. Dinner was at the Rainforest Cafe. I know, I know, they have 1 in SIngapore, it's just that I have never been there. So, this was a super exciting experience for me. Look at the amount of food we ordered!!! Haha... Oooo... And, see that brownie ice cream thing with the sparklers? It's called a Volcano. And, it was superbly yummilicious!! The brownie was really rich, and the ice cream was great too!!! Oh, and when they serve the Volcano, the waiter will shout "Volcano", and this would be echoed by the rest of the staff around. The gift store from Rainforest Cafe looks like a gift store from the Zoo. Probably more props. But, yes, an interesting experience.

Galveston - 18th Feb 2006:
Galveston is a 1 1/2 hour drive away from where Jan stays in Houston. We had originally planned to eat breakfast at IHOP (International House of Pancakes), but were disappointed because of the long queue. Time wasn't on our side either (wake up late mah...), so we decided to head down to Galveston and grab a heavy lunch there. And, did I mention that I was going to be a cold cold day? Yes, near 0 deg. Not the best temperature to be on the streets, but, all the way down here, the trip MUST go on.

Peanut Butter Warehouse (top row photos and bottome row, 1st from left): Filled with an eclectic assortment of antiques and collectibles plus a peanut butter pantry (top row, 2nd from left) filled with homemade fudge, cookies and other treats. Oh, and did I mention freshly made peanut butter? They have a peanut butter making machine, with peanuts, fresh peanuts filled at the top of it. And, although the style is the chunky peanut butter style (creamy peanut butter with peanut chunks), it isn't too dry and it is relatively smooth. For one, the chunks are in very small pieces, allowing you to taste both the peanut taste and yet not deem it as a rough paste. And, they do peanut butter in 2 styles: 1 just plain peanut butter without any sugar or honey, and the other is peanut butter with honey. It didn't help that I had been craving for peanut butter for a while, and so, I bought a small bottle of peanut butter with honey in the end - the honey one of course. Not that the plain one isn't nice, it is in fact very nice, but I feel the honey one would go better as a spread. Didn't try the fudge though... Cos we were going to eat lunch already. Haha... Wish I did try it though... As we were walking through the antique assortment, I came across some of this really cute phrases (top row, left most). I like the Senility prayer one (bottom row, 1st from left). Haha.. So funny.. Bishop's Palace (bottom, last 2 from the right): 1887-93. Walter Gresham was an able lawyer who came to Galveston in 1866. Designed by Nicholas J. Clayton, the building is a French medieval style and abounds with towers and turrets. Delicate cast iron work decorates the porches. Constructed of pink and blue Texas granite, white limestone, and red sandstone, the home is operated as a house museum.

The Strand National Historic Landmark Districtstyle was the heart of Galveston in the late 1800s and early 1900s when its star was bright and it was full of great promise, the "New York of Texas." Many buildings still remain that were built in that era, built with all the best talents and materials that the society of the time was capable of. Fine architects designed both the mansions along Broadway and the buildings in the Strand area in styles inspired by the golden ages of the Greeks or the Victorians. A surprising number escaped the devastation of the 1900 Storm, and still remain. Other features that give the Strand its unique and romantic charm are the high curbs, the overhanging canopies that were meant to shade the streets, and the horse drawn carriages that pass slowly in the streets, at so much slower a pace than the automobiles of today. The Strand is also the center of Mardi Gras celebrations, Dickens on the Strand festivities, and - of course - antiques, shopping, and art galleries. The Strand: Our first brush with Mardi Gras celebrations. Mardi Gras, the traditional festival of feasting and merrymaking that precedes the season of Lent, has been publicly observed on Galveston Island as early as 1867 and later revived in 1985 by Galveston-born preservationist and developer George P. Mitchell. Tradition in Mardi Gras is to collect as many beads as possible. CK was saying that it's a tradition that carries back in time when men from sea came back and people hurried to the boats to welcome them back. And, while doing so, they would make big actions to get the sailor's attention. Yups... And, it later evolved somehow that by doing so, the sailors would throw stuff down. (am I getting my facts rite? hmmm...) So, that has taken the form of beads in modern day Mardi Gras celebration. As you can see from the pictures, there are many people looking upwards to the balconies, some stretching their hands, shouting and doing crazy actions, trying to gain the attention of the people standing at the balconies, throwing beads down (3rd row, 2nd from left). Especially for the nicer beads, these people (they're either the events planner or from the tourism board who organisers the mardi gras) will demand that you flash before they throw the beads to you. Haha... Of course, we didn't do it, but we did get into the fun of it by shouting to them to throw the beads down. Oh, and height is always an advantage in such a situations. No wonder Jan could collect so many beads for us.
While walking the strand, saw this really BIG trumpet in the middle of nowhere. And, up till now, I have no idea why it's there. It's just so out of the blue, that I decided to take it. Oooo... caramel apples - something we ate while thawing inside one of the shops. Yes, it was super duper cold.

Seawall Blvd:
The Galveston beach, not much of a spectacle now (probably because of the Hurricane) stretches far out before it meets the water. Unlike Singapore's beaches, it is quite gentle and probably because of the winter, it was almost barren of people (aka. no litter too!!) We walked to the breakwater to catch a couple of shorts, and, with such cold weather and strong wind, it was super shiok!!! Haha.. Love it man!!! And, finally... Mardi Gras procession... The 1 we have been waiting for....
a href="www.kreweofgambrinus.org">Krewe of Gambrinus "Carnevale Italiano" Parade : King Gambrinus throws a Parade for 200,000 of his closest friends with over 650,000 throws and a fantastic fireworks display on Seawall Blvd. from 14th St. to Central City Blvd.(63rd St.), Galveston. It is pretty much like CHingay, except that the Chingau floats look much better and there is more variation to the Chingay floats. The people here just stand by the road (no seats like in Chingay), and with that, they are obviously more spontaneous. Beads are consistently being thrown out. And, the people in the parade have very thick skin. Why i say that? Well, think of wearing a cheerleader's suit, exposing lots of flesh, walking down a that many number of streets in a weather that's near 0 and the wind is strong. Tell me about it...

Cajun Crawfish:
Spicy (I haven't had such spicy food since I came here); super duper shiok; too much effort for so little meat, but the spiciness makes it all worthwhile; even more shiok when u eat it on a cold day where u warm yourself up with its spiciness. Ahh... need i say more? You have to come here to try it.

Yes, this is a back dated post, but nonetheless, here it is...

14th February: Valentine's day has always been a friendship day to me. Why? Because up till now, I have yet to celebrate love, to celebrate it with that someone special. Sure, I do admit, it gets quite lonely sometimes when I see couples acting all lovey dovey on Valentine's day, and I wish I had that special someone too. But, I love singlehood. I love the freedom, the flexibility and all the fun I can get to do what I wanna do, focus my energies on building relationships with friends (so many couples, when they get attached forget totally about the existence of their friends!!!), and do other meaning ful stuff. Oh... And, of course, the fun that comes with singlehood, of which, I shan't elaborate. And, I have my parents and friends who love me so much, who needs a date on Valentine's day? Of course, most importantly, God's love for me is the most important, the ONE love that is all surrounding all surpassing, the greatest Love of all, the ONE who loves me more than I ever love HIM, and I don't need anything else, even a special someone on V day, cos He is my everything. Not to say I'm not wishing for a special someone to celebrate V day with, of course, I do wish to have that person, but for now, GOd is more than enough for me. And, He's always been so great, giving me so many wonderful friends to spend V day with...
And, that's how I spent V day this year. V day fell on a tuesday, which happens to be 1 of my busiest days, but, nonetheless, I still had fun. CK was craving for sushi, so we decided to make sushi. Poor thing la he... Was sick, but no one to cook for him, and he hadn't much of an appetite, so since he worked our an appetite for sushi, and it's been long since I last ate sushi, we decided to try our hand at making it. Yes.. All from scratch, and of course, not forgetting the Internet with its abundance of resources, teaching us how to make the sushi. So, yups.. that's me making sushi, and there... my 1st sushi I've ever rolled in my life. Haha.. and, it tasted good!! Just that we didn't have a sharp enough knife to cut the sushi. But, it was really fun deciding what ingredients to put into the sushi, and of course, who can ever forget the extra kiasu sushi with lots of ingredients. =) Hope to do it again!!! I simply love cooking!!! More cravings anybody? Then, can try to replicate more food from scratch. hehe...

There is this thing about mist and cold weather and me. I don't know why. I have always been super excited whenever the weather gets cold and my breath out causes condensation, forming mist. I just fascinates me. Haha... It's been like this for the last few days, and today when I left my place, fog and mist was covering the University. Yes, and I have been purposefully taking deep breathes and breathing out in hope to cause the condensation to form. So cheap thrill right? Well, that's what happens when you've stayed in a warm country practically all your life. I wonder how long this fascination will last. Hmmm....

Imagine sitting at the patio area of a coffee joint (think Starbucks) in a weather of close to 6 deg. Being protected from the wind by the thick plastic sheets, but still allows you to see the outside view and enjoy the cold weather away from the wind chill. Your laptop's in front of you, u're connected to the Internet doing your work, and you have your jacket on and a hot cup of coffee to keep you warm. Oh, and add on good study company... Ahhh.... The only thing that is missing now is a view of a lake and this would be life. Haha... So, now that this is the scene that's in front of me, I am going to enjoy it while it lasts. Ahhh... I love this... =)

You know what I love about A&W? I loved their curly fries, coney dog, fried chicken wings and root beer float. Especially the root beer float, because A&W makes one of the best root beer around (those from the fountain), one which I haven't been able to find a substitute for. Most of the root beer that you find outside is usually far to carbonated and I personally feel, not as tasteful as the A&W one. Maybe I'm just being bias, because ever since A&W left the Singapore market, I haven't drank much root beer (I only drink it when I am at Marche, dunno why that trend though... hmmm...). And, somehow, the ones in the can don't taste the same. Grace can attest to my long standing craving for A&W. There was 1 time I was telling her I HAD to eat A&W, and we went on this long time hunt for A&W stores in SIngapore, only to be super disappointed that there were NO more A&W stores in Singapore!!! And, for the next few days, I was totally suffering from the lack of root beer float and curly fries. (At least I can get fried chicken wings and coney dogs outside, but somehow, not many restaurants sell root beer floats and curly fries. And, Yes, curly fries are so super duper nice, i wonder why no fast food restaurant has it as a common menu item. Mc's used to have it for a very short while, but that was all. Hmmm....)

So, one of the things I had to do here was visit an A&W. I had even decided on what exactly I was going to eat. But, to my disappointment, the A?&W here doesn't serve curly fries or fried chicken wings!!! Nonetheless, the 2 other food items I was craving for - root beer float and coney dog was available. So, yes yes, after a long drive to find A&W (turned to the wrong side of the road), we finally reached A&W, and such a craving satisfied 2 years later can't go unrecorded. So, here it is... Joanne eating A&W, satisfying a >2 year craving for A&W.
Oh, and the 2nd line of photos was taken at Mozart's. We were celebrating Laura's "Birthday", cos if you write her birthday the normal Singapore way (dd/mm/yyyy), it is interpreted differently in the States (mm/dd/yyyy). So, to "celebrate" it, we ordered cheesecakes. Yummy yummy cheesecakes. My favourite was the brownie cheese cake. It's super fantabulous. You see the live band there? Austin is quite famous for its live music. So, be it at coffee joints (ppl here call it coffee shops, which I prefer not to use that term. Coffee shops just give these classier cooffee joints a degratory feeling. The coffee joints are pretty much similar to your Starbucks and coffee bean stores back at home), restaurants, bars and pubs, they'll have live music going. I was really excited when I saw the band playing, cos after having been in the heart of live music for so long, I FINALLY got to see live music. Yes, FINALLY!!! I have yet to go down to 6th street though (I need someone to bring me, but all of them here are too young. Cos, in Austin, the legal drinking age is 21) to listen to the live music and just chill out.

There's this thing about steamboat that just brings back a warm and homely feeling. Maybe it's because everyone gathers around and there's a common pot in the center where we all cook our food, giving it a very communal feeling. So, for people like me who are close to 9836.5miles (or about 15828.5km) away from home, having a steamboat dinner during the Chinese New Year period really helps to bring that feeling of reunion and family back during the dinner. And, what an apt day we decided to have our steamboat dinner at Jan's place.... We decided to have it on "ren ri", aka everybody's birthday. And, since Jan had nian gao at home, I decided to try it out, and had fried nian gao, mama's style.

horses princes I have none
chocolate roses no not one
aged wisdom maybe some
but a happy tune for you I'll hum!

posted by the 'that day who say quite clever that one'

My mum's been asking me why my blog's always about food. Well, I guess it is a Singaporean passion, and hey, I love to eat!!! Plus, having to cook here means that I get to do a lot of experimentation, from trying to replicate Singapore food (I made kong bak bao!!!) to trying out new cuisines (eg. Sushi, which you will defintely see a post on, at least, if not, a photolog of it) and I tell you, it is great fun! Only pity is that they don't have some of the Asian spices here, so can't make mummy's curry here. Ah well, but nonetheless, it's been really fun cooking. Especially when we have cravings for Singapore food and we try to replicate it, it's just so exciting to see how we have to just play around with what is available here and try to recreate the taste of the food. I just love it.

Ok, I could go on... But, let me get away from the food issue for a while, and hopefully post up a few posts and everything BUT food. Let's see how long this goes. So, what's on my mind today? The lovely weather here, yes, and if I must, let me brag again about my trusty brown jacket. There's been this trend over the last couple of weeks that it heats up quite a bit during the week days and the weekends are COLD. Not exactly THAT cold, but colder than normal. In fact, over the past weekend, when I visited San Antonio (yes.. updates soon...), it was quite cold. Heard that the Arctic winds are coming down from Canada, thus the cold wind. And, if I'm not wrong, NYC was snowing a couple of days ago, rite? I heard that the snow was quite thick. But, nonetheless, it's Texas, so, how cold can it get? For one, it probably won't ever snow here. So, the temperatures have been hovering around 3 to 5 deg in the early morning and nites, and dawn is about -1deg. I simply love the weather, although, I admit, waking up is 1 BIG chore. You're in your warm, comfortable bed, all wrapped up, and you just hate to get out of that comfortable position you're in. Oh, and, I don't like bathing in such a cold weather. It gets colder when you get out of the bath.

But, that aside, where in Singapore can you get the sun shining down on you and temperature that is about 10deg? The sun scorches, as in, you can really feel the heat, yet, the surrounding wind and air keeps you cool. It's just such a lovely feeling. And, you know how we avoid the sun in SIngapore? Here's it's a different story, I would prefer to stand in the sun, cos of the warmth it brings that thaws you a little from your surrounding cold. But, it's great! And when the cold wind blows with the heat from the sun shining at you... IT's just AweSomE!!! Haha... You have to be here to experience this. Uh huh... And, me loving cold weather makes this experience even more enjoyable. Haha... So, as long as this weather is here to stay, I am here to enjoy it.

Oh, and did I ever tell you how my trusty jacket keeps me warm? When i bought it, I had asked the salesgirl for a jacket which would be able to withstand a temperature of about 15 deg. Although it was quite a pinch (had to pay quite a bit for it although I had a voucher), it has served its purpose well, keeping me warm even when temperatures dropped to 3 deg and being both a wind breaker and jacket. So, when the wind blows, I don't feel it entering my jacket. And, yes, it has this little portion to keep my neck warm, so when it gets really windy, I just button it up and I feel warm and snug. And, cos it has been so faithful in fulfilling its purpose and performing well, I feel that the money i spend on it was well spent. Thus, my notion for being willing to pay for good quality stuff. So, I may seem extravagant in spending on branded goods sometimes, but if I know I'm paying for quality, I will get it. That being said, I dislike branded goods which are just total rip offs and are pathetic in quality. Uh huh... For a period of time, I didn't like Esprit's knit T-shirts (I do like their other stuff though.. it's normal T-shirt material good are great. Really great, fits well, and all. In fact, I loved 1 of their T's so much I was wearing it so often. Just not their knit T's, don't like its quality. But well, things change), cos it got out of shape so easily, and a few washings later, I deemed it unwearable.

Ahh... Continuing from my Monday Feb 06 post, here are more photos from the chocolate show. Who can ever get enough of chocolate? If only we can eat lots of chocolate and not put on weight.
And, this is specially for you Veen, cirquedusogay, this is... Cirque du chocolat...
And, we saw these really cute ice block carvings outside the academy...

2) After eating chocolate to our fill, we went to Walnut Creek. It is well known for its bicycle tracks. Yups... that's us walking towards to creek and finally finding the creek. It doesn't look much, cos it's winter time now.

3) We trooped down to the Austion Museum of Art after our little adventure to Walnut Creek. Decided to go to the museum cos it was the 1st Saturday of the month, and for the 1st Saturday, you can pay any amount you want for entry fee. Yupyup.. And, they were showcasing the works of Christo and Jeanne- Claude. They use a variety of materials to transform environments into large-scale temporary works of art. The wrappings you see at the bottom are model examples of the art works they have been doing. They have wrapped huge bridges and even valleys and an island. Really quite amazing how they do it. Hehe...

okie.. I'm back online. Finally!!! The internet connection is back!!! Whee hee hee... =) I'll be posting updates about last week soon.

URGH!!! My stupid internet is DOWN again!!! Gee... Wad in the world is wrong with Time Warner? I'm paying for my internet lor, and it still isn't working well. Terrible. Sigh... Am at Jan's place using his internet now. Got school stuff to do, so when I get a chance, I will continue to update on the saturday and sunday that just passed. Now, back to doing my case. =(

Yesterday was touring day for us. Thanks to CheeKin for bringing us around, and also not forgetting Rebecca who found us the chocolate show.

1) First stop: Texas Culinary Academy - Chocolate show.
Yes, we went for a chocolate show yesterday!!! Well, the Texas Culinary Academy was having their graduation show, and the theme was chocolate. So, they were to make chocolate for their graduation. And, free chocolate would be available after the event. Not exactly free chocolate like a chocolate buffet, but more of chocolate sampling because there were stores set up outside the gallery and they were selling chocolate. Yups, and we went to have a try or rather, many tries...

9 out of 10 people say they love chocolate. The last one is lying...

These are the shots of some of the chocolates. In particular, I just loved the miles of Chocolate. It's brownie with a fantabulously rich chocolatey taste that just melts in your mouth. Better than Mrs Fields!!! There's another one that I love (not pictured here), the liqueur chocolate, cos the liquour in it just mixes so well with the chocolate. Many of the liquor chocs I've eaten have a bitter liquor center that doesn't go with the chocolate. This one has such a sweet center and the chocolate and liquor just compliment each other as you experience the joy of eating chocolate. Simply heavenly...

It's friday!!! Exercise day!!!

Yes, after feeling so guilty for snacking on all of CheeKin's CNY goodies (we cleared off everything he brought to our place. It's gone!!! Totally gone... Even the crumps!!! And, we took a grand total of less than 1 week to finish it off!!!) we had to go to the gym today. At least, I need to cardio to burn the fats off. I was on the treadmill doing my usual, but after jogging for 5 mins, I got my stitch again!! Gee... I don't know what is wrong (anyone out there can give me some advice on what to do?) So, here my stitch story goes...

It all started at 1 of my last California gym workouts (before my membership ended in Nov 2005). I was jogging, doing my usual stuff that I always do during my gym routines. And, I wasn't even 10 min into my jog and I felt the stitch pain building up. Thinking that it was just a passing phase, I just continued jogging for about 5 min more, when the pain built up to unbearable (esp when u're running!!!) that I had to stop. That was last year. I thought that it might have been attributed to me drinking too much water prior to my workout. Fast track to last week, I was gymming again (after a long time of no gymming), and as I was on the treadmill, about 13min into my jog, the same pain came back. I tried to tahan it, but by about 17min, I couldn't take it, and just slowed my pace down. Laura was saying it might be because I drank too much water (which, I don't consciously remember drinking before my jog). Anyhow, this week before gymming, I made a conscious effort to eat 2 hours before my workout and I didn't drink much water, short of a few sips and a small glass of milk. And that was done over 2 hours before my workout. And then, when I was on the treadmill trying to pick up speed whilst jogging, the pain came back. And, because I had biked as my warm up exercise, I really was rather tired and unmotivated to fight the pain. It got so bad that at 1 point I had to stop completely, rest for a while, before starting again. And, this time instead of jogging i brisk walked. And, the pain managed to subside. I really wonder what's wrong. The funny thing was when I was going on high intensity on the bike, I didn't get any stitch at all. So, Why do I keep getting these stitches especially when I'm on the treadmill? It's really irritating, cos it really hinders me frm jogging to my full potential. =( Anyone got any clue? If you do, please tag!!!

Ahh... Anyway, after the cardio, headed to the racquet ball courts where Jane and Laura were playing racquet ball. Haha... Really interesting game, and it does get addictive. If you want a really good workout without the tough squash ball, go for racquet ball, and play it alone. Confirm run until you sweat (ie. if you run. If you're like me, halfway thru sian, and can't be bothered to run, cos I always miss the ball, then probably, it won't be muchof a workout). Nonetheless, trying to play racquet ball has proved my theory that I suck at all ball games and racquet games. I suck at hand, eye co-ordination. I just can't aim properly... Gee... Add in the ball it gets worst, throw in a racquet.. and there, u've caught Joanne making a clown out of herself. I believe Jan, CheeKin and Laura had a great laugh watching me play. And poor Jane, she had to play with a pathetic player like me that she was practically running around trying to get the balls I missed. But i suppose my lack of skill was an interesting form of entertainment to watch too... Haha.. Ahh yes, and the CheeKin tried teaching me how to hit it. But, you see, I'm a slow learner when it comes especially to sports. Uh huh... It does however become addictive. So fun to play (even though i miss like 80% of the shots). Haha...

So much for an atheletic day... But, you know me, how can I not end my post with food again? We had dinner at Jan's place. Steamboat dinner. And, I ate SSSSOOOOOOo MUCH!!! (I need to start cutting down on how much I eat. Getting fat... *shakes head*) Ahhh... And, oh... I fried nian gao for everyone after dinner. Cos, Jan had the nian gao at his place, and he wasn't doing much to it. Plus, i was kinda missing the nian gao my grandma usually fries during the CNY period. So, I tried my version (I dunno what she uses to fry, I just try to recall from memory). And, it came out. Haha... Very close to my grandma's one. Just probably too much egg. And like I've always said, when u're so many miles away from home, anything goes man. Even 50% close tastes like the real thing. The power of distance and illusion...

Yes, as according to PJ's tag, today marks my 1 month since I left Singapore for Austin for my exchange programme. I told myself that it would be only right to blog and leave my thoughts and feelings, but now that I am here, I really don't know what to write. Haha... Ahh...

Let me try to get this started... What I love about Austin:
1) I love the weather. Or at least I'm still enjoying the cool weather. The temperature range is from about 5 to 20. Although, for most of it, it is 8 to 15. It's a pretty warm winter I hear, but nonetheless, I love the fact that the weather is cooling, not like in Singapore so hot. And yet, it is not chilly like well below 0. So, I don't have to pile up on clothes and look like a ba chang and realise that I still feel cold inside (plus I know myself too well. I tend to eat more when I'm really cold). That's what I love about my Zara jacket, it keeps me warm (I wore it out at 5 degrees and it kept me really warm...) yet, it is not super chunky and thick. =) I am going to enjoy the weather while it lasts this cooling. I hear summer is worst than Singapore. Hmmm...
2) UTEXAS. Not that I am head on crazy about the school. But, rather if only I had the chance to study here. I think I would have gotten a more well rounded university education. No, I am not complaining about NUS. I think NUS is a great school. Nonetheless, that said, NUS does not have the variety of courses that UT has. And, UT has many more interesting exposure modules. They're really fun. Yuppers... If I were studying here, I would be doing a Music and Business major. Music is my 1st love, though I know a career in music is practically impossible unless you are really good. That's what UT can give me. I can take Music modules (which I dunno why the Music Conservatory in NUS doesn't allow) and also do my Business modules. Modules aside, I prefer the teaching style here. I feel more motivated to study, cos class participation really takes a BIG percentage in your mark. So, you really have to prepare. Not like in NUS, it's a mere 10%.
3) The vegetables here are fresher than those in Singapore. At least those I have eaten from the food places here have been great. The vegetables are sweet and crunchy that they can be eaten alone without salad sauces. I had been training myself in Singapore to eat salads without salad sauces (so that when I come here I won't dump on salad cream and add calories to my salad) and I found it really hard, cos some of the fresh veg in Singapore have a bitter after taste.
4) Lower prices for certain branded goods. However, you have to be super selective. I have yet to go to a factory outlet, although I think I will find really good deals... yups...

What I can't get used to:
1) The super dry weather. Yes, with the cool weather, comes it's low humidity. So, sadly, I have to moisturise, moisturise and moisturise. I wonder how much lip balm I've eaten. Ahhh... And if you don't moisturise, you can really feel your skin literally drying up.
2) Driving on the wrong side of the road. I still can't get used to the left hand drive here. Everytime a car stops and lets a passenger out from the front seat, I keep wondering, "wah these people so daring ah... stop the car in the middle of nowhere...". And just then, I mentally slap myself and recall that I am in the States, so they're on the "wrong" side of the road, so that is rightfully the passenger's seat. Ahh... Am I making sense? Even when I cross the road and try to get my sense of direction when a car is turning out, I keep wondering why they're turning into the wrong lane. Haha... So confusing la... I think I am just too used to right hand drive. So, while I am here, I shall just be contented to be chauffeured around (hor Jan?)
3) Exchange rate. It makes everything here so expensive. And, yes, the textbooks here are super duper expensive!!! One used textbook costs USD100 over. Well, if you can ever find the book in Singapore, you can buy a new one, send it over here through fedex and it will still cost cheaper than a used one. And, the new textbook costs much more... And their course packets aren't cheap either!!! gee... A 1/3 inch high stack of paper (containing the course reading materials) cost me a whopping USD97.. and that is EXCLUDING tax!!! OMG!!! Another one cost USD130 after tax!!! And, they're not even binded lor!!! Gee... The amount these Profs make from royalty fees is just amazing!!!
4) High tax rate here. It's one of the highest around... 8.725%!!! it sucks lar... Everything you see, must add tax.. And somemore, the tax rate is so high.
5) Pathetic transport system here. really, you need to wait super long for public transport especially on weekends. On week days it isn't so bad, cos the school shuttle works more religiously since most ppl who drive would park away from campus and walk to school or take the internal shuttle to get to the area in their campus.
6) Food here to them is fast food. Where is the healthy real food?!?!?! Sighh.... So much fast food around, pizza, texmex, burgers... Unhealthy unhealthy... How to keep the pounds off?

What I found interesting:
1) The school spirit. It's amazing... Like in my co-op post, you can sense how much they love the UT. And, not just UT alumni, but practically the whole of Austin. The way they love UT is just like how you guys are diehard fans of ManU, Liverpool, Arsenal etc... You get the point. And, the fact that their co-op has more UT merchandise in terms of variety, quantity and design than the Man U store in Singapore tells you A LOT...
2) T-shirts that say: Keep Austin Weird. I dunno why... But, yes.. they have T-shirts like this.

Ahhh.... That's what came to mind. Summing up, I am enjoying my time here, but I know that for me, if given a choice, I wouldn't want to stay here for the rest of my live. I need my Singapore food, friends and company. No, I am not homesick (in fact, I think that there's too much to do here that I haven't even had time to sit and feel home sick, which is a good thing. Only that I miss my friends company... My school, church friends...), I am just stating a fact of life. So, for me working overseas for a long period of time like a few years (aka be based overseas) would not be my first choice. Ahh... I just came from the Intern expo and that's what set me thinking about working overseas. Haha... But, short stinters (eg. a few months) are more than welcome, and in fact, I will jump at them.

Oh... and I HAD to post these photos up...I have been so deprived of Chinese soup since I came here. So, that day when I went to the HOng KOng market and saw all the different soup ingredients, I went gaga... This is the first soup Chinese soup I've ever boiled in my life - Watercress soup. And, it's those type that you boil for hours one. I think this one was boiled for 5 hours, I did not keep track of the time. I just did the taste test. Haha... And, the steamed egg... is the 3 yolk egg.. With normal eggs, salted egg and century egg and of course not forgetting some mince meat. Yummilicious... It's not too bad for a 1st try.

Ahhh... The vegetables was supposed to simulate the cabbage and mushroom in claypot dish that they have outside. But, no claypot, no starch, no tau kua... So, this was what came out of it. Haha... It came out not too bad. haha... And, the potato cutlets (center dish) although didn't really come out the way they should have been (supposed to be deep fried, but I stir fried instead cos deep fry takes A LOT of oil), but it still tasted great. Thanks to Jane's patience to wait for each side to brown. Finally, the last chicken dish was supposed to be roast chicken following mummy's recipe. But, as again, I decided to clear the fridge of whatever sauces, left over, and it became a ketchup with minimal soy sauce marinate. But, it did come out well. Only thing was that we did not have a grill (had to do it on a plate), so, no where for the extra sauce to drip down, so the chicken was not as crispy as I hoped it would be. But, it was still good.

Chinese New Year:
So, here's how my Day 1 of CNY went...
10am: Went to Victory Christian Center with Andre
12.15pm: Feeding the homeless (Ministry)
1pm: Decided to go home first and left Andre to distribute food alone, cos had to go home to prepare for the party at night.
1pm: Reached home and realised that the meat had not thawed (we were going to make pork chop), so decided to study.
2-4pm: Study, study, snacking on CNY goodies (in particular love letters and chocolate chip cookies and prawn rolls), study, snack, study, snack...
4.30pm: Started to prepare the meat (Finally!!! It defrosted). It's no mean feat having to tenderise close to 16 pieces of thick pork into super thin slices with a knife. No tenderiser to make to work easier. Laura and Jane start making potato salad. The tenderising took longer than I expected, that I wasn't able to help them.
6pm: Started to fry the pork chop. Kim comes to help us.
6.45pm: Making the sauce for the pork chop.
7.15pm: At last... Finished with the cooking. And started clearing up. Didn't manage to help the girls in preparing the ang moh yu sheng (refer below). Bathing and preparing for the guests to arrive.
7.45pm - 8.30pm: Guests started arriving...

Ahh... Now, all about the food. Haha... We wanted to lo hei, well, cos it is a Singaporean thing, and I was really hoping to eat yu sheng. So, Jane came up with her version of yu sheng. Since we couldn't find the authentic yu sheng ingredients, this is Jane's version of her ang moh yu sheng: Mixed sliced vegetables (of broccoli, carrot, cabbage), Carrot slices, Strawberries, grapes and smoked salmon. Sauce: Mango margarity (from Texas Twist) for that sweet taste that yu sheng has. And, it tasted really good!!! =) I love the sweet taste of the fruits and the sauce. (Side track: Do you know they always say that strawberries are sweet? But all the strawberries I have ever eaten in Singapore are usually sour. So, I always wonder why they say strawberries are sweet. Not here... The strawberries were sweet, although they did carry a slight sour taste, but the fructose in the strawberries more than compensated for the sourness. And, OMG, the grapes are so sweet!!! It's so addictive!!! Yummy yummy!!!) And, we made our all time favourite potato salad. Jane and Laura had to peel close to 10 potatoes. And, since we didn't have a big enough bowl to mix the potatoes, we had to use our super big pan (which we used to fry the pork chop and do the lo hei...). But, it tasted great!!! Haha...
Ahh... And our CNY theme was red. So, basically, everyone had to wear red. As you will see from the photos, everyone had something red or close to red on them. However, 3 guys: Josh, CheeKin and Wang Bin didn't wear red. So, Josh and Wang Bin had to wear our CNY decorations on their T-shirts since they didn't have anything red on them. CheeKin, was spared that agony, cos he brought so many of our (Laura, jane and my) favourite CNY goodies. Haha... See those CNY goodies there? He brought all of it!!! Hehe... I tell you, we went gaga... Oh, and Pammy made Kok zai for us too!! It was fantabulous. Different from the one that CheeKin brought. (See lar... went crazy eating it that I forgot to take a photo of it... But I hear that she's making it again this weekend. Yummy!!!!) Anyhow, Pammy's kok zai was huge, and filled with lots of peanut. They way I love it... It was so super good lor!!! CheeKin's one was really good too. Although it was small (a bit small for my liking, but those that they sell outside are all this small), it was power packed with nuts and sesame seeds (unlike those that they sell outside which are super giam on the peanut filling). HAha... They left the leftovers at our place.. bad bad idea... the CNY goodies are like close to 3/4 gone. really.... Super yummilicious...
That's the group photos we have... See, the girls are all in red... The guys ah... Guys: red is not a bad colour to have in your wardrobe!!! Red is a great colour (hor veen?)!!!

So, how did I celebrate my 1st CNY away from home? Let's start from Reunion Dinner... It isn't exactly on CNY, but it is the 1 thing that kicks off CNY celebrations. We went out with the exchange students from Hong Kong for dinner at Marco Polo. Marco Polo is supposed to serve really good dim sum during weekend lunches, but since we were there for dinner, we did not get to eat the dim sum. Nonetheless, since it is a Chinese restaurant, they had a special CNY dishes like jiaozi (dumplings which I hear that the Shanghainese and mostly people from mainland China eat for reunion dinner), Shanghai nian gao (It's fried the salty version... Not like the typical sweet version that I eat in Singapore). And, being CNY, we had a really sumptuous dinner (at least much better than normal days) and we had a whole host of roast meats, 3 vegetable dishes (1 of which was with pacific clams... cos CNY should eat abalone ma... But, abalone a bit expensive, so eat the cheater's version...). Alas.. they did not have yu sheng to lo hei (even though they claim to be serving Malaysian and SIngapore cuisine. How can you not have yu sheng for CNY since it's become almost a Singapore CNY tradition!!!), but we ate really A LOT. I think we probably ate close to 11 dishes excluding rice and by the time we were done, I was so full I was almost exploding. But, it was great! It's like, finally, you get to eat authentic, well cooked chinese food. It feels so good especially since this past month, we've been eating either ang moh food or our version of CHinese food (or whatever seems of it. haha...) Ahhh... After dinner, I really felt a sense of satisfaction (although this has by far been the most expensive dinner I've eaten.. USD14!!!) after finishing dinner. It wasn't absolutely amazing Chinese food. Not as comparable as some Chinese wedding dinner food, but, it was still good. When you're so many miles away from home and missing real restaurant chinese food, anything goes. Hehe.. =) And, yes, we toasted to each other, wishing each other a Happy CNY...
Haha.. And guess who I spent CNY eve? You know how you're supposed to "shou ye" on chu xi? Haha... After talking to my parents and getting my new french pedicure done, we started studying. So sad right? Haha... But, too bad, there isn't any holiday here for CNY, so the workload continues on. Ahhh...