So scared to watch Bandage because it will remind me how much I love this man and how much I want to be back in this fandom, IF ONLY REAL LIFE DID NOT ALWAYS GET IN THE WAY. 

I've been without a TV for so long that I feel so handicapped about knowing about what's happening in the world. I can't read Dutch newspapers, and online newspapers are good but not good enough. Last night we cycled over to someone's house to hang out (and possibly drink alot) but we ended up watching CNN for three hours following The Situation Room watching the debate over Proposition 8 and Bill Clinton speak live in Ohio. It should've been more serious in the room but everyone kept cracking up whenever Clinton said something (my friend: "He should've been a comedian, man") because he was all, "Hilary has made over 70 appearances in support of Obama, but me only 30, because someone in this family has to make a living, y'know" ♥ ♥

So. November 4th is Election Day. I feel like hanging out at someone's house and stealing their TV to watch CNN all night till the results come out. I am ridiculously excited for this.

Does anyone know where I can stream live TV from my computer (which is a Mac)? XD

Dear friends.

What on earth is Series A preferred stock? I am having to look at a term sheet and discuss its legal implications. WTF? I feel like I have been on vacation for too long.

I am honestly annoyed.

Today I went to city hall to get my registration done (to prove I'm not an alien, etc etc) and was horrified to find out my birth certificate has been rejected because it "hasn't been legalised properly". In short, I now have to send it back to Singapore, get it stamped by the Dutch embassy there, and have it sent back again. This is a total waste of time, money and effort because I specifically asked the lady at the Singapore Dutch embassy whether I needed to do anything with the birth certificate and she said NO. What the hell.

Also, while I was walking around the city centre today, my bag broke. I went to the shop to ask if they could fix it, but they said no, because I don't have a receipt. I thought it might be home, so I went home and looked but it's not here. Also I went to like a DIY-fix-it shop thing to ask if they could help me, but that wasn't too successful either. 

I have to cook "something Singaporean" for 25 people tomorrow. I have no idea what that means, because everything that is truly Singaporean either (1) requires a wok, which I don't have (2) requires some special talent, which I don't have (why cook it yourself at home when you can go out and eat it for $2?) or (3) requires some mix of spices which is either impossible to procure in Europe or impossibly expensive, and apparently I am less of a social creature than I thought. There is a "toga party" at night after our dinner, in which many people will be wearing bedsheets in 10-degree weather. I do not find this very amusing. I do not want to wear a bedsheet :/

*

On the upside, my boyfriend is coming to visit me from Sweden next week, and I just managed to get plane tickets to Italy for €5. WITHOUT TAX!

But still, ugh. :( :( :(

Interesting fact: The New York Times wrote about chicken rice. I've loved NYT's food writing for a long time, mainly because the quality of food journalism in Singapore is rather... questionable ("The sauce was good, but did not complement the steak very well" tells me nothing). It's also all I ever really read in newspapers; fashion and food, and sometimes politics, if it interests me. I used to follow their Supreme Court decision reports as well, but ever since the journalist retired this July I've stopped.

I can't remember when I first got into food writing. I started off reading food blogs, and then went on to read books published by food bloggers (Julie Powell, for example). Then I came across Jeffrey Steingarten writing for an article in Vogue, found his book, and never turned back...

I mainly just get really happy reading about food. XD

Also, last weekend we went to Utrecht.
( pictures! ♥Collapse )

Also, I have a request. For those of you who have been to Europe, or live in Europe (or near it), what are some of the places you've been to that you really love? I want to travel for this year that I'm here, but there are so many things to see I don't even know where to start. Please help me out!

It could be anything or anywhere, from the Eiffel Tower because, well, it's Paris, or Auschwitz-Birkenau, or that tiny little cafe somewhere in Hungary or wherever that you love because it was where you met your first love, or this fantastic place that sells crepes in South Kensington (my friend keeps telling me about this...). I want to visit places with meaning, not just touristy things, and I can't think of anything better than to ask for suggestions.

♥

p.s.: anywhere in the UK or Scandinavia is also really welcome. Because London is just, you know, my favourite city in the world. :/

The bad thing about just having learnt how to cycle is that everything is so different.

Back home, I'd have lots of space to cycle around and not have to worry about being knocked down by a car in the next lane. I get really scared when I have to cycle around roundabouts, particularly because at home the driver's seat is on the right, and I'm still not used to looking to the left every time I cross a road on foot or by bike. It is so weird.

The other shitty thing about just having learnt how to cycle is that all the falls and scrapes and stuff are only just coming now. In my first week I managed to crash my bike a few times (minor, though) and ended up with a really bruised calf. Like my whole calf was black, or something. Now that the bruises are fading, I just managed to crash into a wall while jay-cycling (err... like jay-walking with a bike?) and my shin is bleeding. I suppose that was my own fault, but still.

The upside is that I will be really good at this by the time I go back home, and I can actually cycle well enough to avoid getting hit by cars and crashing into pedestrians, etc, since there are no bike lanes where I come from. Hopefully with a lot less injuries, too. :/

I've reached! After enduring a twelve hour flight in a window seat which had no window beside it next to this horrifically grumpy guy with the aisle seat, I managed to watch:

(1) Asterix and Obelix
(2) Some random Chinese movie about a conman
(3) That Matsujun movie in which he looks like a barbarian (he is pretty good, by the way)
(4) 2 episodes of Code Blue

I introduced my friend to the joys of CTKT by making her watch the Jinphiroth episode on the plane, but now all she thinks is that Shokotan is really strange.

( more useless information about when i reached hollandCollapse )

Another one bites the dust!

See you in Europe!

(And cheers to less crazy time zones.)