I've been whirled into many thoughts lately, many random thoughts. Somehow I'm feeling quite excited to be more than halfway through the term, and that very soon (2 months 5 days to be exact) - I'll be homeward-bound. Maybe it's attributed to the melancholy of being connected, wanting to be there for people back home, and undoubtedly missing the familiarity of things. Yet that'd mean swinging back to reality, and final term's gonna be all scary and stressful in its many ways, especially when it'll take alot of discipline and motivation on my part.
But yea, it's all good actually; I'm not nostalgic to the point of being extremely homesick. Haha.. and considering the effort I've put into both academics and relating to people here, I should be thankful for where I've come, and really enjoy it all, not end joy (that's brilliant anyway Chris, haha). But putting that aside, I wrote this post really to pen some of the little snippets of what I've heard/done/felt over the past few days. They are really random spurts but still significant to me la, heh.
On no particular category at all
- I'd like to think I'm better-trained for winter these days; temperatures have been falling to near zero or subzero ranges, and I've not been wearing as much as I thought I would. I mostly only wear 2-3 "normal" layers now! Though yea, winds are chilly and still unbearable sometimes, but I guess it's good that I'm not so tempted to put on more layers for now (partly cos I'm lazy too), so that I'll be better-adapted to what's upcoming in winter. I hope.
- Sepi gave me a Tim Horton's gift certificate worth CAD 10 on Monday, which was really sweet of her cos she knows I'm a frequent patron and would appreciate it. The gesture was done in part as a belated birthday gift, as well as to incentivize and encourage me on for my hectic November schedule.
- Speaking about Tim Horton's, they have a must-try drink here, the double-double. Sounds quite cool right, but it's actually just regular coffee with 2 creams + 2 sugars..! By default, the first "double" refers to the amount of cream, so you can go for "single-double", "triple-double" etc. too, haha. I just think it's quite cool to order that la, though I don't really like it after awhile.
- I sent a pressed maple leaf in a card to Vicki yesterday, and asked if the post office was able to affix a "handle with care" caution on the envelope. And yea, turns out that the FRAGILE warning took up half the envelope itself, and I was kinda embarrassed when I revealed it was only a leaf. Haha.
- Last night particularly I missed so many of my friends (from NY to HC to SMU!) Had the sudden urge to catch up with them and find out how everyone's doing. Had random shocks too when I browsed through pictures and checked out mutual friends between people and myself, heh.
- What should I do for Halloween tomorrow?! I really want to experience trick-or-treating, since Halloween parties are found in Singapore too (albeit of a smaller scale). But there's always a party somewhere..? I should prolly stick to my own idea to truly experience the holiday over here. (P/S: I know I'm a little too old for trick-or-treating, I'd meant to stay at someone's place and wait for the dressed-up kids to come by and I'll give out candies, haha.)
- I was thinking maybe I should teach Laura and Judy how to, erm, make lanterns out of red packets - to return the favour for the pumpkin-carving lesson. Haha.
On classes
- Small Business Management on Monday - the Prof screened my video assignment (the one that I fretted so much over and spent utmost effort on) in class! He said the theory-fit of my analysis was good, and editing commendable. Haha.. it was embarrassing to hear my own voiceover in class though.
- Art of the Film on Tuesday - I learnt that subtitles are sometimes perceived as an intrusion into the viewer's thoughts; a subconscious imposition of the filmmaker's interpretations on us, so they should actually be excluded from movies for audience to feel the natural exposition of the film and not be distracted. This reminds me of Vicki really, cos she'd prefer subtitles anytime, haha. :) And quotes from my Prof - I seriously hope these don't pop up in some search tool, I'm trying to be very subtle about it already:
- "The A. Awards are all bullshit... they used to call me for my critique and opinion in predicting the winners. But it's all about who'd been sick and had gained the audience's sympathy, who'd pumped in the most money, or who'd gotten it before.. it's all BS. And now they don't call me that often anymore."
- "I was called to comment on (the series) that wanted to film its episode in Winnipeg. The Sun (national newspaper for the city) revealed that I was worried the show'd ruin the image of our city, but I wasn't worried at all. Why, people don't come to Winnipeg and film something because it is the greatest city of the world; this show's a comedy for goodness' sake! They just made me say what they'd like me to say; a game of charades that people play."
xx
Bleah.. such a disengaged post! Haha.. and suddenly 2 months 5 days don't seem that soon after all. Hmm.
I know the title sounds weird, haha. Still, I'm just uber fascinated over my first shot at carving my own Halloween pumpkin; and a rather cute and happy one at that! And I know my cheery end-product brightened up some of you too when I uploaded the pics right? Haha. :D
So yes, it was yet another first-time Halloween party experience at Laura's last Sunday. And really, her parents had extended this invitation just because I'd mentioned (when we first met 2 months ago) that we don't celebrate Halloween proper in Singapore, and I'd love to know how it's like to carve a pumpkin. I guess it's just so heartwarming and sweet that they remembered and organized this specially for us international students. And since we've been hanging out these days, Laura asked Thalia, Adriana, Judy and Anne over as well to join in the fun.
Once again, Mrs. Fox'd put in utmost effort in decorating the house, taking care of lil' details like laying out glow-in-the-dark spiders, ghost confetti and other things on the dinner table - even the butter was in the shape of mummies and bats! There were also make-believe tombstones and cobwebs draped over the staircase railings.. Laura says her mum loves holidays and tends to over-decorate, heh.
Playing around and fiddling with the little ornaments here and there..
Mini pumpkin gourds and ghost-buster nametags. And these are some really neat witches' finger cookies, with sharp almond bits sticking out for long fingernails, and little spurts of red jam for blood!
PC 101: Pumpkin-Carving by Prof Wini
I've gotten many questions regarding this, whether it's difficult to master pumpkin-carving and if I could teach it. So I've decided to log the process in a foolproof guide, complete with pictures! HAHA.
Choosing your pumpkin is important - grab a big, brightly-coloured, maybe even a flawless looking one! (Of course, if you intend to make an evil-faced pumpkin you can prolly forgo the last part.) Haha.. but yea, that's us rushing to grab our pumpkins! Mrs. Fox prepared 1 each for us international students, whereas the locals shared (Laura and Dave to 1, Judy and Anne to another).
Step 2 - Draw the lid and cut it out
It's important to note the lid must neither be too small nor too big! The former makes it difficult for you to stick your arm in thereafter, while the latter just makes your pumpkin look weird, heh. Do place the blade at an angle while cutting too, so the lid doesn't fall right through when it's done! Oh, and you're supposed to cut away the "hairy" gutter on the inside of the finished lid, too..
Step 3 - Clean the insides, inside-out!
Using a spoon, scrape the insides and remove all the spaghetti-looking strands and pumpkin seeds (these can either be roasted or made into pumpkin pie at the end, so I've heard). But yep, this really requires you to get down and dirty - no matter how wrong it sounds - so be prepared for a dirty job that'll possibly stain your arms, clothes, or leave random pumpkin bits in your hair (which was what happened to me, I dono whose pumpkin bits kept flying across the table..)!
Mr. Fox, our shifu at pumpkin-carving. He was like holding a craft workshop for all of us la, heh. My pumpkin had the cleanest inside anyway! :)
Step 4 - Draw and carve your desired pumpkin-face
It'll be wise to use a non-permanent marker for this step, so you can make revisions to your drawing. Mrs. Fox thoughtfully prepared sample pictures of Halloween pumpkins so we could draw inspiration from them, and I decided to go for a bug-toothed happy pumpkin - tada, see the before and after effect!
Oh oh, I need to say that one of its teeth actually dropped out cos I pressed it too hard from the inside! But Mr. Fox taught me how to do pumpkin-surgery by sticking a toothpick into the broken piece and attaching it back, heh. See my pumpkin's just like me, it visits the dentist - now the tooth's flawless..!
Step 5 - Show off, compare (and even name) your pumpkins!
Left: Judy and Anne's evil pumpkin, versus mine
Right: Joyous friendly pumpkins - direct replicas of their owners, haha
Anne then asked me what I'd like to name my pumpkin (no, you don't actually have to if you don't wish to) - I thought of naming it after Vicki or Christine initially, which I thought might be cute. But I didn't think Vicki'd like to have a pumpkin named after her somehow, haha. And Chris, I guess you're probably the only one who'll find it an honour lor!! But ya, I guess my pumpkin does have nice big eyes like Vicki's (wah), and a killer-toothy-grin like Chris's (she contended it herself too, haha). Then Judy and Anne told me people don't usually name pumpkins after their friends.. boo. :( By the way, theirs has a cool name - the one above on the left side - called Eli Frank Jthor the First (?!)! Haha.
AND FINALLY.. lights out and lighting up!
Tea-light candles are carefully placed inside then lit. It's like a Western mid-autumn festival!
Before/after.. really WAH. We marveled at them glowing in the dark for a long time.. they were so pretty!
Getting high on pumpkins! The enormous one in the middle is Mr. Fox's - he loves carving gigantic ones every year so his is specially purchased from a farm! Heh.
Getting into some action with my prized possession (this is the only "thing" I've kissed ever since I came to Canada anyway, haha). Btw I had a shot of me on the broomstick but it didn't look too good, hehe.
Halloween celebrations are such a blast in North America! :)
My past weekend was filled with several fresh and unique first-time experiences. I was looking forward to the 2 days really - not just for what was planned out, but also cos November's gonna be hectic with its many deadlines and presentations, so it was probably the last time to enjoy before getting into the swing of things.
1. First movie + sleepover in Canada
Just like how couchsurfing was for some of my friends in Europe, I had my first Canadian sleepover! In light of Thalia's 21st, we'd planned for an all-girls movie night and to bunk at the Mexicans' place thereafter, a cosy little house off-campus. It's really interesting how it all worked out too - I've talked about how Judy (Adriana's buddy) is also Laura's good friend and coming to SMU next term, but it happened that the Mexicans' neighbour 2 houses down, Anne, is also Judy's childhood friend! A little confusing I know, but it just means that we're all linked to one another in some way or other! Haha.
We sparked the night off with a Dairy Queen's extreme chocolate blizzard cake, then a movie at Kenaston's "Cheap Seats" theatre. Look at the really huge jumbo popcorn bag - this must be the first time ever that I haven't finished my popcorn even after the movie ends, albeit sharing with Laura!
As its name suggests, Cheap Seats tickets are of a lower rate, an unbelievable CAD 3 (!!!). Haha.. sheesh my auntie instinct's acting up again; but really, it's normally at least CAD 8 in other places you know! And although it screens relatively older films no longer showing in other silver screen cinemas, ambience and comfort here aren't compromised either, so the movie experience's still enjoyable all the same. A pity though, we settled for a cheap flick cos everyone'd watched different movies previously, so we gave up better choices like Hancock, Get Smart, Mamamia etc. for a no-brainer comedy, Stepbrothers. :(
Interestingly too, movie theatres in Canada (and Mexico) don't have seat numbers at all; the rest kinda stared at me in surprise when I asked them about it! I also mentioned how we aren't allowed to exit the theatre from the entrance just to prevent people from free-riding on another movie, and now they all think Singaporeans are all prim and proper and super law-abiding, haha.
2. First homemade jello-vodka shooters
Homemade jello-vodka shooters are a hit here. To make them, you can really mix vodka and jello powder in any proportion to your liking. But Anne'd concocted really strong ones for this sleepover, and a total of 120 shots at that!
We decided to surprise Thalia by making a nice birthday message out of them - notice the "Y" in "birthday" is just made up of 3 shots cos there weren't enough, haha. And yep, it appears you have to really suck and lick around quite abit to get the gelatine out, so it was quite an experience for my first, haha.
A fun and intimate night of drinking games and sharing secrets. We played Sociables (which is really Circle of Death we'd always played back in Year 1). They all made a desperate attempt in getting me drunk (making rules such as "Wini must drink twice whenever so-and-so drinks")..
But it turned out that they were all gone before me! Haha.. I downed about 30 shots and 3-4 beers that night, got kinda high but still sober. Hehe. Anyway come to think of it, I really dono why people like to try making me drunk (and then fail terribly eventually) - Evi and Luyi especially! Tskkk.. haha.
My masterpiece of the leftover shooters for Sociables Round 2. Anyway I think this sleepover'd made me miss all my friends alot, especially the all-girls-night-drinking-and-pigging-out thing, and I wish I were doing it with people back home too. :( Oh btw, Laura and Judy want to make jello-vodka shooters in Singapore too, so maybe we could all get together and do something like that again, hehe.
3. First atas brunch at the famous Original Pancake House
I don't have to say more about this, but yep, we had a really hearty pancakes/waffles/toast brunch here. Yummy-licious!
Buttermilk pancakes + toast + poached eggs + hashbrowns - (omg Chris this breakfast reminds me of you!). Ehh and my monster hot choc with its mountain of whipped cream/chocolate chips, as well as my friends' strawberries and whipped cream topping for their pancakes. Oh my.. sluurrrrp. Burp.
gone with the wind 10:21 AMI finally went jogging in the open last Saturday, outside of any enclosed fitness room or gym!
I've been wanting to do this ever since I arrived in Winnipeg (yes "wanting", and I know it's already nearing the end of my 2nd month..), but the cold winds have always deterred me from trying. The weather that day was drastic actually - 3 deg C, very windy, light showers - sufficient to give myself excuses to stay indoors again. Yet I figured if I didn't do it anytime now I'll probably never be able to once it starts snowing, which it may over the next few days..! So I'm just thankful I did drag the lazybones out and can put my mind at ease now, heh.
Anyway, in my singlet + tee + windbreaker + shorts + track pants, I'd explored the school compound on little paths and routes never taken before, finding delightfully strange new buildings on-campus (U of M is really huge by the way). Oh, I also chased a squirrel till it bobbed up the tree and disappeared, haha. And there goes, my lazy Saturday afternoon transformed to something more productive! :)To me at least, running does challenge one's physical and mental limits, and especially so in an entirely new environment altogether. It wasn't easy getting used to running in layers and not perspiring as much yet feeling the heat radiate from within (ok actually it was really disgusting, feeling the jacket stick to my flushed-but-not-sweaty skin, haha). Yet more importantly, as running is to me - it is with every continual step you keep going, that you discover just how vulnerable yet strong you can actually be. It is a form of self-discovery/reflection when you take your mind off issues and concentrate on the fresh air, sights and sounds around you, better appreciating the quiet beauty of your surroundings and yourself -
And that is why I like running in the open. Well, I'm not sure if this first-time experience will possibly end up to be my last, but at least now I'll not return home regretting I'd never tried. After all, you'll never get air this fresh in Singapore, too. :)
24 october - aims international food night 2:05 AMEvery term AIMS organizes its inaugural pot-luck International Food Night for the buddies and exchange students, where we all contribute something from our cultures to share. This year, the event was said to be its best and biggest, cos we were all really enthusiastic and there was just so much food..!
Drawing the Singapore flag to don our yummy-looking 锅贴. Everyone was impressed by 1) the Chinese words I wrote, and 2) our "talent" in using the chopsticks, cos we brought to show off! Haha.
Mains (left) and desserts (right) - the former consisted mostly of finger foods like ours, German bratwurst sausages and Mexican chilaquiles. Desserts were aplenty though, ranging from French crepes, pancakes, to all kinds of other cakes and cookies.
Huge frenzy for food (which just makes me such an atypically un-kiasu Singaporean who's taking pics for the event before eating!) Heh. To the right is Tara, the exchange coordinator at U of M.
We headed to Blush thereafter, apparently the most atas nightclub in Winnipeg. It's probably one of the cooler and bigger clubs we've been around here - does have a 2nd storey patio like MOS, though it really isn't as big.The music got boring after awhile too, and eventually miffing cos it was both booming and weird.. bleah. I totally retreated to the couches to chat and chillax towards the end la.
A special cocktail with Malibu, and from left to right - Chantale, Julie, Marleen
xx
A Bear Named Winnie
Chantale (AIMS buddy coordinator who planned my surprise party the other time) was really sweet to surprise me with yet another birthday present that night - a DVD of the origin and story behind Winnie the Pooh! Haha.. I reckon some of you might've already known that Winnie the Pooh was named after Winnipeg itself, so I guess the gift does serve as quite a momento for me. From the synopsis I read how Winnie became a symbol of friendship and hope during World War I too.. heh interesting. I do hope to have some time to watch it soon, though assignments and projects are piling up! Roar. :(