Day is night, night is day

Ok, so, looking back, I have a habit of writing a lot of my posts at like 2-3am in the morning, the time when NORMAL people would be fast asleep. I don't know why, I kinda like the night, when it's all quiet and you know the rest of the world has shut down. It means you can do what you want without anyone knowing and I dunno, it's kinda peaceful. *sigh* Who am I kidding?! I HATE not being able to sleep! It's all due to the fact that I have some sort of freakin' sleeping disorder which turns my nights into everlasting days . . .

Since I'm in a ranting kind of mood, I'm going to list things that currently annoy me:

• people who use the word "meh" when chatting online - don't do it! It annoys me . . .
• people who stare - what's your problem? Don't you know it's rude?!
• pouring cereal into a bowl, only to find out that there is no more milk in the fridge - even more annoying if it's oats, cos you can't even eat them without milk
• little kids who shout "mum!" at 30-sec intervals - I'm so not a little-people person . . .
• my toiletries falling into the bloody toilet!! ARGH! Whose idea was it to build the cupboard right above the toilet?!?!
• all my favourite TV shows have stopped airing for the year so I have nothing to watch!
• I've bought all these new clothes but haven't had a chance to wear any of it
• same goes with the shoes
• I've only bought one pair of Ugg boots with me which means I can't wear them out as I need them indoors as well.
• "winter" and "Christmas" is just not compatible

We tend to idealise tolerance, then wonder why we find ourselves infested with losers and nut cases.
- Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Stuck between a rock and a hard place

So most of you already know that I'm a person who needs very little sleep. It is now 3am in the morning, I'm sitting in the kitchen and I hear birds chirping. I have cooled off sufficiently since my last blog (haha, that got me really fired up) and I have spent the last few hours just randomly browsing online. I've become obsessed with William Sledd's YouTube posts. He is absolutely hilarious, love him (oh btw, he's super gay). Then that got me thinking . . . would it be better if I occasionally did some video blogs and posted them up? It's just a thought, might make my rantings a bit more amusing . . . or confusing actually hehe. I was watching through all of the videos that Ange, Joyce, Yvonne and I took on our Europe trip at the beginning of this year and they still crack me up so much.

Oh yeah, the title of this post - so I figured, I'm kinda stuck here in London and no amount of complaining can change that I guess. I think it's starting to dawn on me that I can't really do anything to change the situation, so I might have to suck it up and make the most of it. It's just that I haven't been myself lately. I guess it's kinda hard to have a good time when you don't have anyone to share them with . . .

So what's everyone doing for Christmas? Hope everyone's been good girls and boys and that Santa brings you lots of goodies. I think my list to Santa got lost in the post somewhere . . . This year is going to be a bit strange for me though, spending Christmas glued to the heater cos I'm too cold to move. Man, you know what the temperature was today? 1 degree!! That's one above water-freezing temperature! Plus the fog is really starting to set in over the last few days, it's kinda hard to see where you are going when you're driving.

Arriving at one point is the starting point to another.
- John Dewey

Carpark wars

It seems like at every Christmas, I always manage to get into a carpark fight, you know the ones, where you and another car have been waiting for that one car spot and then you play chicken to see who will back down as you both try to drive into that spot. Well, that happened to me today. I followed this woman to her car, which was the last one on the aisle. I waited a few cars behind and when she was nearly out, I crept nearer. It was then that I saw that there was another car waiting in the lane perpendicular to the one I was in and by this time, that car had come forward too. I was in a "don't-mess-with-me" mood so I wasn't going to let that woman have it and I tell by the way that the car, which was leaving, was backing out, that I was going to get in first. As I drove in, that mole in the other car got out and banged on my passenger seat window. As if I was gonna roll down my window to talk to that biatch, so she started screaming through the window, saying how she had been waiting in the carpark for half an hour, and that I had only come in blah blah blah. Firstly, it's not my fault she has no skill to bag a spot and that I am a far more superior driver than her. In a carpark, there's no first come, first serve rule - it's survival of the fittest. Secondly, there was another car a couple spots over which was leaving too and I was actually waiting for that one, but to avoid further gridlock I went into the one that left first. If that troll had opened the eyes on her fugly face, she would have seen that there was another car going and that she can take that spot. Thirdly, I had followed the woman to her car, thus justifying my right to take her spot.

ARGH!!! I think I ended up screaming something back at her (bear in mind that my grandma was sandwiched between this, not knowing what was really going on). By that time, I had already parked my car and stopped the engine so I wasn't going anyway. The woman knew this and had to go back into her car. As she drove past, she gave me a death stare which I promptly ignored. I have learnt the best way to piss someone off is just to ignore them, to treat them like they aren't there. People like her are not worth my time, my acknowledging their existence. Man, I need this t-shirt:


It's times like this when I think Christmas is overrated. It brings out the worst in people and the mad, frantic rush to buy and hoard is ridiculous. In the supermarket, people were stocking up like the world was about to end. The only good thing about Christmas is that its end brings about the beginning of the post-Christmas sales, which is another whole new level of madness.

I found my inner bitch and I ran with her.
- Courtney Love

Seasons Greetings

I don't know what I'll get up to over the next few days (which is probably not a lot, but I do foresee consummation of an insane amount of food) so I better say a very MERRY X'MAS to everyone before I forget. To tell you the truth, I can't even remember what I did last Christmas. Really bizarre but all I can recall was my work Christmas party (hahaha any guesses as to who stayed sober that night?). Hmmm, it's highly likely that I was working all throughout that period so wasn't worth remembering.

For me, today was the official start of winter, which is another way of saying I froze my butt off when I stepped out the door (just then, I had actually typed "freezed" hahaha). The temperature was in the low single digits and I am one of the most cold-phobic people on this planet. Ok, fyi, just did a Google search and the scientific name for the fear of cold, ice and frost is cryophobia or pagophobia.

I went grocery shopping with my grandma and a family friend (who drove us) at Brixton, which is a kinda shady suburb. But stuff there is cheaper so I went to take on my usual role as the grocery-bags-holder. In no way am I intending to sound racist, but it was a very Black suburb - I just kept thinking to myself, "Don't stare at people, don't look at them in the eye, don't bump into anyone!" Ok, this might sound like an over-reaction, but I actually saw this one hobo guy squatting in a corner and rubbing something which looked like aloe vera (he was holding this huge leaf and scooping the stuff from it - don't ask!) all over his dreadlocked hair. It was soooooooo gross!!!

And another thing, I forgot how stomach-turning butcher shops can be. Now I like my meat to come all nicely cut, wrapped and stocked on shelves at supermarkets, not half plucked and hanging from meat hooks above my head. We went into one and I just stood there in the middle of the shop, too scared to move in case I bumped into something. In one corner was a pile of cow legs (still with the hooves) and in another, a pile of pig legs. Being Asian, I'm used to eating weird parts of animals (incidentally, we were in there because my grandma was buying cow tripe and by that time, I was already carrying a bag full of fish heads) but come one, hooves?!?!? wtf do you do with those?!?!?!

Anyway, I'm making myself sick, so I'll move on - a person that I have come to admire recently is actually a character from a TV show. I <3 Betty from "Ugly Betty" and I think she's such an inspiration in a world where too much importance is placed on appearance:


Betty is not movie-star pretty, but she's intelligent, capable and has a good heart. I don't think it's showing yet in Sydney but once it's on, it's a must-watch. Oh and another thing - it also shows that, with a bit of help, people like Betty can be transformed (hahaha gives me hope). Because the actress who plays Betty, America Ferrera, actually looks like this:


It's beauty that captures your attention; personality which captures your heart.
- Anon.

That's not mine!

I was in H&M yesterday and I went into the fitting rooms to try two things on. The sales dude went to give me one of those number tag thingies but there weren't any "2" ones left. He was like "We don't have any 2 tags so I'll give you a 3 one" and he then handed me a random shirt that someone had tried on to take in as well. I gave him a weird look and was like" Ah, can't you give me two "1" tags instead?" And his reply was "We can't give out more than one tag." Ok, is it just men, or does that logic totally not make sense?!?!? What's the difference in giving me one "2" tag and two "1" tags?!?! I ended up with having to take in some shirt that I did not want to try on (and incidentally, the two that I did try on looked really crap so the whole thing was a waste of my time).

Victor and Rolf recently designed a range for H&M and most of the items were sold out on the first day at their flagship store. But I guess after all the hype, they're starting to send out the excess stock to the other regional stores. So anyway, I usually go to the Wimbledon one and I happened to stumble on these Victor and Rolf for H&M black jeans. Not that I am in need of black jeans (my Tsubi ones are doing just fine) but I'm a sucker for designer denim so I decided to try them on (oh, this was the frustrating part cos I had just finished with that whole incident above and now had to go back to the fitting rooms again). When I picked them up from the rack, the jeans already looked like they were a bit high waisted but I thought they could still work. OMG, was I wrong or what?! Two words - granny pants!! I don't care how much and how hard the fashion industry promotes high waisted jeans, unless you have legs like Elle or Naomi, they look really really bad on. When I had managed to zip it up (man, I hate trying on new jeans, they're a bitch to put on), the pants came up to my belly button!! I was scared to look in the mirror and trust me, the sight wasn't pretty.

Shopping is a woman thing. It's a contact sport like football. Women enjoy the scrimmage, the noisy crowds, the danger of being trampled to death, and the ecstasy of the purchase.
- Erma Bombeck

Artificial Summer

Sometimes when all the radiators are turned on inside the house and they've been on for a couple of days, it can actually get quite hot, which sounds funny cos you don't usually associate London winter with hotness. But sometimes I've been running around the house in a t-shirt. Just don't step outside hahaha . . .

My last day of uni is tomorrow for the year, but I have all these essays I have to do over the Christmas break, which really SUCKS. It kinda means that the break isn't really a break and this is one more reason why I really hate how the academic year is structured in the Northern Hemisphere. It's bad from all angles.

I've been getting heaps of bruises all over my legs and I couldn't figure out why for a while but now I know. It's from my laptop bag hitting my leg every time I take a step, or from shopping bags while I'm walking home.

I got this random call yesterday from some employment agency who has my resume. This was from the time when I was actually interested in finding a job so I sent it out like months ago. They were like "Are you still looking for a permanent job?" And I was "Ah permanent? One, I'm a uni student and two, I'm one exchange and will leave when I finish next year." Hahaha, she was like "Oh, I think our client wants someone who can work for the next few years and it's a full time job." Man, don't waste my time!! I always put my availability and current situation in my covering letter so they should've known I'm not interested in working full time.

I'm getting into the habit of sleeping really late again, like 3-4 in the morning. It's really bad cos when I used to do this at home, I usually had a reason for it, i.e. I was usually out and didn't get home till that time hehehe. But now, I delay sleeping cos I actually have trouble falling asleep and I need to be so exhausted that I'm about to collapse before I can get to sleep. But it also means I sleep till like 12-1 in the arvo (on days that I'm not at uni) and it seems like I sleep a lot. But I don't!! Even if I sleep to that time, I'm still not getting enough hours.

Sleep is the interest we have to pay on the capital which is called in at death; and the higher the rate of interest and the more regularly it is paid, the further the date of redemption is postponed.
- Arthur Schopenhauer

A lil' late

Today I had to have a one on one meeting with my ADR professor to discuss my dissertation. Considering I had given it not much thought at all (translation: not any thought at all) to it since I had to hand in it's title a couple of weeks ago, yesterday night was spent cutting and pasting various things together to make a remotely coherent summary of what I wanted to cover. It didn't have much of a structure, hahaha, and it showed. To make things worse, the meeting was at 9:30. I had left the house at 8:20 but as we all know how reliable public transport can be, the bloody train kept on stopping at places where there was no station!! The driver would come over the PA system and give some lame ass excuse about some speed restriction at some station further up. Speed restriction?!?! None of the trains I've been on ever go at a fast speed . . . So anyway, I was totally late and since the appointments are in half an hour blocks, by the time I got to her office, someone else was in there. Cos I had a lecture at 10-11, I had to go back and see her at 11:30. Man, all that rushing in the morning for nothing!! And I had made the effort of climbing up those stupid escalators (the mega long ones) at the tube station.

So I went back to see her and I am surprised at how I was able to fudge my way through the meeting. The trick was to nod and agree a lot with the Prof and then just repeat what she said. Hahaha - now I have to go back and give my outline a structure - hahaha told you it showed.

Mondays are beginning to turn into my shopping days cos I usually finish around 11 and so I have the whole afternoon. Since I'm out already, I usually spend some time at the shopping centre that's right next to Wimbledon station. Man, there's nothing more annoying when you're trying to try on clothes than having to lug around a big-ass coat, scarf and laptop. I feel like a bag lady and sometimes I can't be bothered to go to the fitting rooms to try stuff on. Note: this doesn't mean I just strip in public - obviously the stuff I wanna try on are usually outerwear garments and don't require me to remove more than my jacket! So I would find the nearest mirror and just dump everything around me. Hahahaha I've gotten a few weird looks but that's better than the feeling you get when you're in the fitting rooms and you try something one and realise you need to get another item, for whatever reason, be it that it's the wrong size/it's faulty/wrong colour, and you then have to go through the whole process of putting all your clothes back on, get all your stuff, go out and grab what you need and go through it all over again. And isn't it ironic how when you really need them, there are never sales assistants to help you!!! So never feel annoyed when sales assistants ask if you need help while you are in the fitting rooms, Hahaha, I just to feel bad when I asked people when I was at Polo, but it sometimes really does help when someone can help you get something.

Just found out that my cousin whose in Hong Kong and who is about to get married, is coming over here to Europe for her honeymoon. She'll be here in London on Dec 26 so she'll get to share all the festivities. There are all these dinners and stuff happening with the people from my aunt's church around that time so yeah, lots of food and Jesus praising . . . I'll just concentrate on the food.

Watched the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show the other day. It really is just an excuse to put models in skimpy underwear but I gotta say, they do look hot and what I would give to have legs like Gisele. By the way, who on earth would spend $6mil on a bra decked out in diamonds?!

$6mil could buy you a whole lot more than just a bra . . .

Justin Timberlake gave a kick-ass performance on the show as well. It still puzzles me why he's still hooked up with Cameron Diaz. But I guess it's still better than Brit with Fed-Ex.

If you can't return a favour, pass it on.
- Louise Brown

It's workout time

My shoulders are in constant pain lately. I've been carrying my laptop in a shoulder bag this week and today, I had to go with my grandma to the supermarket. I had to carry this backpack home full of meat, fish, milk, bananas and honey. Seriously, by the time I got home, my whole back was on fire. And I think my skipping rope is not very wind resistant, or should I say wind resistant? All I know is that my arms get tired much quicker than my legs. I have to use so much energy to swing the bloody rope.

If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.
- Margaret Thatcher

Sunsets at 3:30

Seriously, since I wake up around 11am every morning, that gives me like 4-5 hours of sunlight only! Sometimes I'll be walking to the station to catch the train to uni and the sun is starting to set.

So, it's been a while since I've updated you guys on what's been happening . . .

• I'm still trying to exercise properly everyday and I can now say I can skip for a reasonable time now without feeling that I will suffer a heart attack. I skip at weird times though, like at midnight when I can't sleep.
• Been catching up on my TV shows lately - am up to date with the OC and House now. I've watched like 8 House episodes over the last two days.
• My aunt's gone over to Spain for two days and will be back tonight (I'm in my ADR class again - we have a Lord in today to take the seminar - Lord Woolf - google him . . .
• My favourite shop now is H&M . . . they're doing this "Gift of the Day" thing where they sell one item a day in December at a really low price. I've bought a gold puffer jacket for 10 pounds on the weekend
• Speaking of shopping, I think I've found the best bargain so far on my trip. I bought a Ralph Lauren suit jacket which was £330 for . . . wait for it . . . £18. My heart was like pounding while I was clutching at it, waiting to pay. *Sigh* I still can't get away from that brand . . .
• I want to see "Happy Feet". Penguins are soooooooo cute and they look so squishable hehehehe
• I think the skipping has helped - my pants are not sitting as snug on my thighs as they did before. That or I need to put my jeans in the wash because they have stretched with wear . . . hmmmm
• One of my watched that I brought over with me has stopped. So annoying cos I've had the watch for so many years and it hasn't run out of battery till now!
• woah, just realised Christmas is like in 20 days . . . not that I have anything really to look forward to
• I got asked by two separate people on two separte days where I had got my shoes from (two different pairs of shoes). hahaha wtf?! They were both flats - one covered in gold sparkles and the other was a turquoise one made of a felt-like material with metallic blue trimming. I had brought them over form Sydney and the best part is - one pair is from Payless Shoes and the other from Queenspark. Hehehe, totally cheap-arse shoes but I guess they look alright. They comfy enough for me to wear to uni as some of you know, I don't do sneakers . . .
• I nearly fully tripped over a stupid lady's wheelie suitcase the other day at a Tube station because she totally cut my path and walked across straight in front of me. I was holding my laptop case looped through my arm resting on my elbow and holding a newspaper in my other hand so I couldn't see anything below my waist. I saw her walk past so I kept on walking but lo and behold, she had a freaking trolley behind her. I didn't stack it but I had a "I'm not impressed" look on my face.
• I know there is a whole load of stuff I haven't done yet in London but I'm going to hold off till summer when the weather's better. There have been countless days when I wanted to go out and do stuff but when I wake up and look out the winter, I immediately change my mind. It just doesn't STOP raining - it really isn't an exaggeration when they say that London has crappy weather.
  
• I can't believe I still have over half a year to go but yeah, I'm hoping to catch the beginning of summer here before I leave and enter another winter in Sydney. That is gonna SUCK. I'm so sick of having to leave the house with like 5 layers on, a scarf and sometimes a beanie. I feel so podgy and sometimes I can't even get my bag on my shoulder properly cos all my clothes are in the way. Oh, I long for the day when I can around in just a singlet and shorts.

Kids. They're not easy. But there has to be some penalty for sex.
- Bill Maher