so, it was a rather spontaneous trip. we decided on thursday to go to belgium on Saturday.

and we actually visited Aalst (Oilst), Brussels (Bruxelles), Ghent (Gent), Bruges (Brugges) and Dendermonde.

And Belgium is a place.. whereby you wonder what language to use. (hence the brackets). I tried asking this guy for “hotel de ville” and he stared at me and asked what’s that. so i translated it to town centre.. and he thought for quite a while.. before asking me “are you referring to city hall?”

sheesh. it’s very weird though, because different parts of Belgium speak different languages. For example, Dutch, Flemish, German, French and English.

The safest? Stick with English. most of them should be able to understand.. if they’re staying in a bigger city i suppose.

We did couchsurfing for the first time.. and the place was so cool! we stayed in this castle room.. and well, camwhoring time!

The father is an artist, hence the walls are all brightly and nicely painted!

The little daughter called Enea is so so so so super duper cute! (ps, I don’t know why she always puts her hands there though)

First up was Brussels, and we had good food.

I even tried mussels (which i don’t really eat).. and it’s nice!!

my plat.. part of our menu complets.. there was apperitifs and waffles and cheese croquettes + salad as well. 12,50E

Grand place is a beautiful place! our expression was like “wahhhhhh”

ben tried hard to capture the flag!

we were looking for toilets and found this really nice place!

Mannekin Pis, the peeing boy

Waffles aplenty!

tell me you’re salivating too!

and of course, chocolate fondue!

we went to the carnival in aalst the next day. it’s the biggest carnival for the northen part. for the southern part, it’s in binches.

tons of drags around:

poor real horses, acting as the carousels..

damn scary ride that we have no balls to take. it turns 360deg, and while you’re up there, you’re turning 360deg as well! it’s madness!

i’ve got tons of photos on the carnival.. but i’ll just select a few to put up.. you can go and have a look at facebook for the rest..

this is eline! we met through tommy, this person whom we wanted to couchsurf with in aalst.

and marta, marie-line and tina!

they even gave out free onions!

oh btw, you’re supposed to carry a plastic bag with you, because they will throw out sweets, chocolates, sitckers, onions, nutella, etcetc.. and you can keep everything in your plastic bag!

and look at batman’s automobile.. -_-”’

interesting flashes huh?

i thought this was quite cool!

damn funny, tommy is a se-pehpeh!

and ben was going gaga over Macho men! aka the people from the fire brigade.. wahaha. photos are in zhijian’s camera, my battery was dying..

what we learnt from aalst: people are crazy. jess got kissed twice during the carnival.. the first one was a shock, so no one had any photos. the second one.. the drag bent on his knee.. and she sat on it.. so she got kissed on the NECK. twice.

and when i was walking out of the bar, some clown (i mean he was dressed up as one) just grabbed my face and i hurriedly turned to the side so i only got a kiss on my cheeks. well kiss on the cheek = bisous, so don’t get angry ok my dear? ben, who was walking behind me got quite a shock too.

and of course, we had to go to pretty brugges

i like this shot!

even the dogs there are so pretty!

very quaint old town.. i like!

moral of the story: never ask ben to help you take photos. he will just destroy every single one. i asked him to help me take with the nice buildings.. then he just took the nice building and cut me off the photo. sheesh.

finally back from Belgium after the long disappearance..

went to Brussels, Dendermonde, Aalst, Bruges and Ghent for the past few days. photos later because i have to cook dinner, do my laundry, pack up my room before Michelle and her friend comes over!

Did you miss me, my dear?

ok, leaving for belgium tomorrow. stupid me forgot that it’s saturday.. and i internet smsed my dear! oh crap..

i’m super duper sorry ok? anyway, you wouldn’t be hearing from me until tuesday.. so miss me lots ok? internet sms me if you have the time, but i will try not to reply.. cos my bill last month was 3 digit, thanks to someone who kept calling and smsing, and then failing to meet/something cropped up/too lazy to get out of house/whatever reasons you can ever think of.

anyway, went out to fengyi just now.. she’s a candian chinese, studying in McGill, who’s also at UPMC for an exchange. was supposed to meet for lunch, but went for dinner instead cos she had classes in the afternoon..

the photos that we took together are in her camera, so i will have to wait for them!

hope you enjoy the photos!

my night mode sucks la, i don’t have a dslr like fabian.. cannot upload nice nice photos..

anyway..just some paintings which were rather peculiar..

1.

she’s pinching the other girl’s nipple.. it’s to show maturity of a woman or something. apparently it invited lots of giggles inside the Louvre!

2.
father is condemned to starvation to death in the jail, sucks on his daughter’s nipple. INCEST, i tell you! damn sick la!!!!

ok la, should read a bit then go and sleep. early day tomorrow.

(i wrote this yesterday actually, but forgot to save and my window was closed abruptly)

i miss you so much, do you know?

thought i could chat with you earlier.. but you were having dance. i had to go to school for class after that, as I had already missed my lecture in the morning due to my long stays in the toilet.

tutorial was alright, i could understand.. was rather tired though.. and my stomach just kept making funny noises, i think the guy beside me is wondering what in the world is happening to me.

i wanted to go for swimming after class (as in join the cca).. but then the pool is closed till 1 March for renovations. I tried to send an email to the prof in charge… but the mail is bounced because the mailbox is full..

hmm, so how?

sheesh. i was looking forward to swimming, because it’s indoor.. and i don’t want to just go on my own, because it costs me 2,50E to enter.. which is so freaking expensive!

i would rather run, but it’s so cold outside. well, not really that cold la.. i didn’t wear thermals at all today, just a tshirt, jeans and a trench coat.

but my legs were so cold without the thermals!!!

i think i’m acting colder and colder by the moment. i don’t mean the weather, i mean the attitude.. because…

i find myself responding less and less. just be glad that i even say “uh” sometimes.

on the trains, i don’t smile at anyone either, even if another asian person smiles at me. one prc woman smiled at me on the train today. i just stared back at here, then continued staring back into space.

where is deardear to give me some warmth?

i see the way the couples sit on the train.. so cute! the guy sits on the chair, and then the girl sits on his lap. and it’s like a normal thing here, no one gives weird stares at you anyway..

and i was walking to the swimming pool and then this guy was like hugging the girl from behind and walking together, just like how you used to do that with me back in singapore…

and i’m thinking.. omg, where is my dear dear?

do you still remember this photo?

or this?

i need you to keep me sane! otherwise…. urgh.

i miss you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i copied something like ELEVEN pieces of paper during lecture the other day.

i found out that the prof had given the wrong password.. and i emailed her today and got access to the polycours.

well done. all are online, diagrams and all… and i just copied like freaking shit??!!

anyway, found this really nice love citation:

“Mon amour pour toi est un voyage ; Commençant pour toujours, et finissant à jamais.”

This morning, I woke up.. and I had diarrhoea.. twice in like 15 minutes maybe.

And my stomach was hurting! As in.. the pulling kind of the sensation as well..

Had to miss one lecture in the morning, but will be going for TD later at 4pm.

sheesh!

oh, i just found out that UPMC has some sort of IVLE thingy too. but the language option is really silly. it’s all in french, and i clicked on “Anglais – Etas Unis” aka English – United States.

well, it’s still in french.

ok la, need to do some work before class.. even though i’m running to the toilet on and off.

bleahhh.

okay actually the title has got nothing related to the post… but..

oh well.

n’importe quoi.

ehh. it’s been a spontaneous week!

spontaneous buying of tickets to belgium and barcelone… don’t you just love eurolines and easyjet?

TGV is so freaking expensive for last minute deals.. but not the rest!

ryan air is cheap.. but you would have to go to the Beauvais airport… and transit when you reach the other country as well..

i’m…

urgh

i want to get out of paris….

but….

hmm.

i sound schizo here.

well, brought santosh to la muraille du phenix. wahahah. i like their fried noodle with prawn (aka fried hokkien mee, peut etre? je ne sais pas)

and he likes the food there too la! it’s like cheap and good. and i had xing zou mee fen too!! nice, plus there was chilli to go with it.. and there’s also yummy you ling ji.

although he’s here for a year, i’m more of a little parisien than him la. except that i don’t speak good french. dammit.

went to polyglot meeting today.. met so many people of different nationalities! though i only managed to speak english, french and chinese (to a french, how weird. hahah) today.. i also met a fellow singaporean… and met a lyonnaise who could share my sentiments of how we prefer lyon to paris! lol.

not bad a night, but have to do TD now. sheesh.

Oh! i was trying to send to dear an ecard as a reply.. and then i realised some stuff..

For this eCard, you can personalize the music, the background and the stamp.

I realised that deardear had chosen the “Bee” stamp.. because I’m Mifeng!!

Also, he had selected a nice hearts background!

And he also selected the personalized header, which says “I’m wild about you!”

That said, the heart was a flying heart! It’s flying out of the window……

all the way to me!!! And i caught it! heehee :DDD

i am going to find bruston to tell her that i want to drop this particular module! seriously! it’s absolutely NOTHING which i’ve studied.. sure physiologie sounds ok..

but of all the funny phylums of eucaryotes? we only did human in NUS! how do you expect me to know of the cnidares, nematodes, etcetc? i have absolutely no idea what their respiratory systems, circulatory systems or whatever systems are! and to all those students.. it’s just a revision for them!

looks like i really have to extend one semester because i can’t fulfil my credits. shit shit.

anyway, i received the card from you my dear! it’s so so so sweet! heehee :)

i hope you liked the collages which i did too!

urgh. i just had crappy chinese food just now. i was so fed up with my biologie fonctionelle des organismes animaux module (the one which i want to drop) that i asked if she wants to go out and eat now..

since it was too late, we decided to go to crimee, which is just 2 metro stops away..

i had this wenzhou wanton soup.. ok la.. not too bad i suppose. we wanted the menu complets but it’s all sold out apparently.. so ya.. i paid 4 freaking euros for my stupid wenzhou thingy.

and jess paid 5,50E for her so called chicken curry rice.. which just tasted damn weird.. so i asked her to eat some of mine. dammit, i should have given up with this module earlier then we could have a very nice meal at phenix!

grrr.

anyway i’m super lazy to upload photos here, you shall just view them from facebook instead. hahaha.

Well this is such a lonely lonely Valentine’s Day! (ok it’s 14th for sgp time, but it’s still friday the 13th in Paris right now)

And I’m in the city of love! sheesh :(

i wanted to go out with Sneha & bunch to party.. but it’s like 13E if you buy the tickets there, and 6E if you buy it beforehand. wahhh. sheesh. so expensive la!

and the actual Vday itself? we’re going to spend it taking unlimited, adrenaline-filled rides at DISNEYLAND!!

oh, and may i add.. it’s for 10E only!!! woohoo! thanks to those people with the “passeport” heheh.

usual price is like 50E or something. what a huuuuuuuuuuggggge difference!

I cannot wait! Though i wish my dear was here la.. oh well, here’s something for you my dear!

it’s nothing much i know.. just two little collages.. but i hope they bring back awesome memories for you!! JE T’AIME TOUJOURS! :DDDDD

Oh and since we’re on the topic of Valentine’s day..

50 Romantic Things To Do For Your Boyfriend or Girlfriend

(words in red are the stuff that are done. haha)

1. Watch the sunset together. (ehh we did see the sun setting at Nowra.. it was a beautiful but very quiet place, and our motel was just beside the river where the swans and ducks swam)

2. Whisper to each other. (in fact, we do more than whispering. we can’t just talk to each other with our eyes. lol)

3. Cook for each other. (well we cooked maggi mee for each other.. i made devil’s cheesecake for him..though he needs to try my cooking when he’s here!)

4. Walk in the rain. (i’m sure we did, but with an umbrella though. hahah)

5. Hold hands (duh. ditto)

6. Buy gifts for each other. (yup! in fact i brought the little tortoise and the little cow here! the message recorded on the cow is so sweet!!)

7. Roses. (hmm. deardear has something against buying real flowers, cos they will wither and die.. but oh well.. i only managed to get ONE stalk.)

8. Find out their favorite cologne/perfume and wear it every time you’re together. (nope! we don’t like perfume/cologne/eau de toilette!)

9. Go for a long walk down the beach at midnight. (okay not midnight per se.. but we were at ecp once.. you were in your no. 4 and i had just burnt my leg… so it was more like sitting down for a while rather than walking)

10. Write poetry for each other. (i’m sure i did. even in chinese somemore!)

11. Hugs are the universal medicine. (totally agree! wish i could have one now though)

12. Say only when you mean it and make sure they know you mean it. (yups!)

13. Give random gifts of flowers/candy/poetry etc. (ehh. random gifts yes la.. of poetry??? i remembered my first ever gift was this heart shaped container full of bath petals which are in the shape of rosebuds…i never used it though cos it looked too pretty.. i don’t even know what was that gift for. hahah)

14. Tell her that she’s the only girl you ever want. Don’t lie! (hmm, i heard that.. it’s true right my dear?)

15. Spend every second possible together. (well recently he has dance… and now i’m in france…but i’m sure we did that a lot when we’re in hall! we’re always in each other’s room..even if it’s for studying!)

16. Look into each other’s eyes. (dark brown, and makes me feel like i’m falling and falling..)

17. Very lightly push up her chin, look into her eyes, tell her you love her, and kiss her lightly. (heehee)

18. When in public, only flirt with each other. (ehh does this sentence mean u don’t flirt with anyone else, or that we only do flirting and nothing else??? but yes i suppose)

19. Put love notes in their pockets when they aren’t looking. (not in pockets, but little neon orange post its slipped under the door! remember?)

20. Buy her a ring. (yup! for my 21st birthday! i’m not talking about an engagement ring though)

21. Sing to each other. (yesyes! i like deardear’s singing la!)

22. Always hold her around her hips/sides. (unfortunately yes.. and i’m so fat!)

23. Take her to dinner and do the dinner for two deal. (meaning? we had a nice romantic dinner at Karma Kettle for Vday last year though)

24. Spaghetti? (Ever see Lady and the Tramp?) (wahh, never do this lor! although we replaced it with water.. like hw would fill his mouth with some water, and then pass into my mouth.)

25. Hold her hand, stare into her eyes, kiss her hand and then put it over your heart. (ehh something close la)

26. Dance together. (yes! i remember the time at mount faber at night!! there was a restaurant playing a nice romantic song and then deardear just helded me in the position to do those ballroom dancing. so cute lor!)

27. I love the way a girl looks right after she’s fallen asleep with her head in my lap. (hmm. do i ever fall asleep in your lap? on your chest maybe.. does that count?)

28. Do cute things like write I love you in a note so that they have to look in a mirror to read it. (ehh i just write it the correct way…instead of making life so difficult)

29. Make excuses to call them every 5 minutes (then my phone bills will rocket sky high.. sms yes though!)

30. Even if you are really busy doing something, go out of your way to call and say I love you. (yes yes! totally agree!)

31. Call from your vacation spot to tell them you were thinking about them. (erm.. not exactly call.. but like sms/internet sms..i could buy the skype thingy for 3E each month to call landlines and handphones though.. but i need my carte bleue from LCL though)

32. Remember your dreams and tell her about them.  (yup! whenever i dream about dear.. i try to tell him.. although i can’t seem to remember the exact details though!)

34. Tell each other your most sacred secrets/fears. (yup)

35. Be Prince Charming to her parents. (of course la, my parents like you so much lor!!)

36. Brush her hair out of her face for her. (yes as well!)

37. Hang out with his/her friends. (hmm, not really.. unless u count pak kin & co.)

38. Go to church/pray/worship together. (nope, dear is a freethinker, and I don’t really want to force anyone into a religion, unless they are keen/curious etc)

39. Take her to see a romantic movie and remember the parts she liked. (did we watch any very romantic movie?)

40. Learn from each other and don’t make the same mistake twice. (ugh, this is probably one of my weak points.. but i did make an effort my dear.. and it’s much better now right?)

41. Describe the joy you feel just to be with him/her. (yes!!)

42. Make sacrifices for each other. (hmm ok la, some sacrifices, but not life and death matter)

43. Really love each other, or don’t stay together. (ouch, i hate the last part.. but yup it’s true!)
44. Let there never be a second during any given day that you aren’t thinking about them, and make sure they know it. (totally, and dear lets me know especially when he’s in camp! lol)

45. Love yourself before you love anyone else. (ehh. i think i love hw more than i love myself..)

46. Learn to say sweet things in foreign languages. (does french count?)

47. Dedicate songs to them on the radio. (hmm i grew out of the song dedication phase..)

48. Fall asleep on the phone with each other. (imagine the phone bill *shudders* i think we do talk until we wanna sleep.. then say goodnights and i love yous la..)

49. Stand up for them when someone talks trash. (yeah, poor deardear had a punch on the eyes because of me  :P)

50. Never forget the kiss goodnight and always remember to say, “Sweet dreams.” (totally!)

P.S. I did this “Pages” thing at the right widget.. I’ve only got one page at the moment though.. it’s entitled “About me”.. but i’ll fill in more pages later (since it’s unlimited heheh)

well today i only had 2 hours of TD, and it wasn’t too bad because i understood what the prof was saying, and the questions she asked, and how to answer them! but of course, the problem was just responding in french so i just had to keep my mouth shut la of course. i don’t want to embarrass myself with my french. hahahaha.

i have TD homework again! for LV327. bleahhhh.

anyway went for chinese food today! my second time at la muraille du phenix. now i understand how yc goes there 18 times within 4 months even though he stays at Massy Palaiseau, which is like in Zone SIX and this restaurant is like in Zone ONE.

Please don’t ask me how much the transport is outside zone 2.. ehh because i have been profiting from some loopholes. HAHAHAHAH.

we had lots of food! photos another time cos i need to go and do my work.

1. mapo tofu. we asked for extra spicy, but it wasn’t even spicy at all! we had to add  extra chilli
2. you ling ji
3. some prawn thing
4. some duck thing
5. beef hor fun
6. bai cai (the reason why we eat bai cai is because this place only serves tau geh and bai cai.. so we didn’t really want tau geh!)

plus a bowl of rice each

plus a huge slice of flan chocolat + citron tart + strawberry tart

yummy!

shit la, i can really eat a lot here. i burn out wayyyyy too much just to keep myself warm! :(

hi dear. i actually just woke up from a 1H30 nap. yes i went to sleep at 8plus pm, just a while after dinner, because i am so so so so damn tired!

i had SIX hours of lectures today. and boy, SIX hours in english is bad enough, but imagine them in French. I had to be constantly paying attention because some profs speak rather quickly and if i stone for 5seconds i wouldn’t know what’s happening anymore.

and i still have to rewrite my notes. cos it’s so damn messy and i don’t know why she kept drawing molecules and mechanisms. and talking at the same time, non stop. am i taking organic chem? i don’t think so. plus i still have to do a project, based on a journal. you can just imagine jess and i jumping up and down and high fiving when we saw that the journal article was in ENGLISH! thank God for American journals, I must say.

p.s. i know why the students call her Prof PowerPack

Plus, I have to do work for my TD (aka tutorials), and oh.. it’s only five pages long. with 2 in 1 printing. :P

plus i have my practical homework to do (even though my prof for another module is on strike).. oh, and it’s just 11 pages of work that’s all. plus i need to read 11pages of my polycopie (free notes!) for this module as well.

can u tell how tired i am?

halfway during the lecture, i was thinking “shit, why did i come here?”.. and it turns out that jess is thinking the same thing too!

Oh gosh, i do really need some encouragement from you to hang on! hmm, from anyone else too.. if you can drop some nice nice encouraging messages on my blog.. that’s totally cool as well, because right now.. i feel almost like a living corpse.

it was so bad that when we saw the posters for developmental bio on the walls, then jess was saying that we are studying only until the “foetus”. i heard it as “fittest”… and the worst part? i tried to spell for her in english.. and i went “f-i-t-t-e-s”… and i couldn’t even get it right.

oh well, no time to waste, need to start on my work!

i do need a hug from my deardear though! :(

oops. i realised it’s Krystle and Lester instead of Crystal and Lestor like how i spelt in the other post :(

anyway, some photos from the other night, eating at La Muraille de Phenix. (it’s near Pantheon)

sheesh, krystle isn’t in the photo cos she’s taking the photo -_-”

anyway, she’s known as “ha ha ha” by yc’s dad.

that’s because she has this really infectious laughter.. but i think she’s quite funny la! lol.

hmm you know usually you will say “lao ban niang, wo yao dian cai” (Lady boss, i want to order dishes) as a form of formality right? then the lady replied “Wo bu shi lao ban niang” (i am not the lady boss) and she walked away.

-_-”’

luckily food was damn good though! i should bring deardear here to eat when he comes over. it’s the cheapest chinese food around paris i believe. for 2-3E, you actually get a decent sized plate of food. whereas at other places, like those pseudo cai fan places, it’s about 3E for 100g of food.

ehh ok some nicer photos of chateau de versailles the other day. honestly, i think that the garden looks prettier. so i shall bring deardear down during spring time when all the flowers bloom and there’s the musical fountain show.

see? pretty right? i can’t believe it was still brown and green just the other day when krystle, yc and lester went. that day we went.. everything was covered in snow! you had to be wary of trees dropping clumps of snow onto your head! @^*#*#@&

i think they should make this into an ice skating rink, instead of the one at hotel de ville.

ok and now for the interior:

i want this in my room! unfortunately i forgot the name of it. caledabra? calabrada? calebrada? caladabra??
oh sheesh.

me inside the hall of mirrors (with the silly looking audioguide hanging at my neck).. this room is chio! i think the king’s bedroom is so pathetic looking compared to this.

chio locks for the windows! i want!

i know it’s not this ceiling, but there’s another one which they took 3 years to paint like 143 (or 124?) people on the ceiling. damn chio ceilings la! but after a while, everything seems to look the same :(

the queen. honestly the queen looks like a king and the king looks like a queen.

i want this chandelier in my room too! so chio!

ok la, i have to go to school in a while. hopefully my prof for this module isn’t on strike. also i need to find out if the secretariat is still on strike.. if she is.. i cannot get registered onto any single group at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:(

leave comments if u can ok? i wanna hear from you all!!

i’ll NEVER EVER go and watch you dance.

The thing about strikes over here.. is that it’s not just the RATP/SNCF which have strikes…

everyone strikes.

not happy with the system? strike.
don’t feel like working? strike.
want to get something approved? strike.

well, basically STRIKE IS THE SOLUTION TO EVERYTHING!

omg, why didn’t i think of that?

*please note my eyes have just rolled out of the room*

oh and you know who else strikes?

my profs at upmc.

yes yes.

you read it correctly.

basically i went to cite internationale to do my carte de sejour. i was the 13th in line.

i queued for TWO HOURS before i reached the counter to submit my documents.

yeah sure, they work at the speed of lightning.

and i thought that was it.

apparently not, i had to wait for my number to be called.

(by this time, my lecture had supposedly STARTED)

and then, they sent me upstairs to submit my documents, and for them to type something.

waited some more.

number was called, so i went to the counter to collect another piece of paper to make an appointment upstairs. i went upstairs, and submitted my form. waited somemore as he walked out of the room. was called to go to the counter as he booked an appointment for me.

was told to head back downstairs to submit the document.

basically, by the time i was done.. my lecture would have started for ONE HOUR already.

i ran all the way to the Metro, cursed the slow train, and when i reached Jussieu, i sprinted towards my Amphi 41A.

and then.. the amphi was EMPTY.

so i went to Acceuil Information, to check out what is the timing for the next class (yes, the information is actually NOT available online).. was told to go to secretariat pedagogigue to check out.

when i went there, had to wait some more, and thankfully the guy spoke to me in english after he realised i wasn’t french.. cos i started speaking in french all the way.. until he asked what section i was in.. and i told him that i was an exchange student, and i have absolutely no idea. apparently he’s sent the info, but he thinks that they may not have registered me for the class.

and i explained to him why i was late and that i needed the timing for the next class.. then he’s like “erm, actually.. there was no lecture this morning. the prof is on strike. another teacher came in to announce to the students that there was no class”

my response? “huh? what strike?”

he stared at me like as if i didn’t know the biggest event that happened this century.

he directed me to another building.. and it’s freaking hard to find. i tried to ask students.. they don’t know. i tried to ask the profs who are teaching level 2000 for sciences de la vie (since i’m taking level 3000 i thought they might know the admin better).. and they’ve never even heard of the room.

upon FINALLY reaching the door, it was locked and there’s a sign which directed us to another door.

and it turns out that this secretariat is on strike too, so she didn’t come to work.

but thank God the lab techs are so so so so nice! she gave me polycopie, lab protocol (cos i told her i don’t have printer! and i don’t have upmc card so i cannot enter the library to print as well), explained the modules to me.. IN ENGLISH. but it’s funny la. she thinks that i don’t know french as all.. so she was like “you know, the fish (with all the hand gestures), the worm, the frog*.. but yes yes i’m sure i know fish = poisson la. but since she’s so nice and she tried so hard.. must give her the credit for it.

and apparently they had a lab tech who just left, who’s a singapourienne!! and she was like “you want me to call her to come back and meet you?”

haha. and my gosh.. you know in singapore all the equipment in the lab is provided right? here isn’t. i’m supposed to get my own scapel, scissors (which they kindly agreed to get for me cos they have spare ones in the lab).. and i forgot to bring lab coat (so they’re getting for me as well). super nice right? so many nationalities in the room la! indian, tunisian, french, african, vietnamese.. wow.

and then.. i met one of my profs! cos this lab tech introduced “oh he will be teaching you”.. and my prof spoke to me IN ENGLISH! woohoo. the next thing i am going to do is ask if i can take exams in english, because he sounds like a totally nice guy.. and speaks good english!

oops. this is such a long post.

ok la, i’m tired. had fun during french class though. before going in.. jess opened the door when the other class was still inside and the prof sounded pissed cos she came out to scold lor.

but thank goodness she’s so funny. and she goes at such a nice comfortable pace somemore.

ok, should go and bathe.. and wash the dishes :(

honestly, i came back before 7pm.. and i’m TIRED.

oh gosh.

we were really hungry just now too.. we wanted to go to the garden.. since we were at chateau de versailles, but figured that it would be better to go there during spring instead (also because i’ve “saved” a ticket, thanks to the spoilt gate) when it would be prettier and all (dear, i bring you there during spring okay. u can use this free ticket, i can use the navigo passe.. with a few tweaks of course)

i think if i were to be fined each time.. i would have easily paid more than 200E already. but oh well, i have to keep my eyes open!

so we headed to macs (this place is so americanized, it has macs and starbucks side by side).. and.. just imagine 5 people.. and the food that we actually BOUGHT from macs.

other than 2 petit wraps, 4 milkshakes (strawberry, of course), and 1 flan…

jess and i were eating pain au chocolat from the boulangerie we bought in the morning (dammit, i should have just bought from school. it’s cheaper and nicer there, though i didn’t go to school today.. it’s 4 croissants OR 3 chocolate filled bread for 1,90E)…

sneha, shradda and yan hao were eating bread plus nutella..

we ate some chips,

and then shrads ate bread + chips. i have no idea how does she do that.. but well, she did! lol.

hmm.. tell me… would you ever pack lunch to macdonald’s to eat in singapore? i think we’re HILARIOUS.

I’ve got photos, but please refer to the facebook album titled “chateau de versailles”

i am seriously tired, and i still have to be at the cite internationale at 08H30 to do my carte de sejour, and then be in time for my class at 1045. dammit. i hope lessons actually end EARLY tomorrow.

Or it feels like it, at least. These two days.. we have been doing everything Chinese!

The day before, we went to this chinese restaurant near Pantheon.

We order 6 dishes at the restaurant..
1. you ling ji (roasted chicken with some sauce on top. the direct translation is like oil poured on top of the chicken, but it’s not as oily as it sounds la)
2. bai cai something
3. mapo tofu (i know dear would love this! i will bring you there when you’re here ok??)
4. some chicken + bamboo shoot thingy
5. sweet and sour pork
6. some egg

seriously good! we ate to our fill for 5E (each, duh)! it’s better than the chinese food else where lor, per 100g it’s like more than 2E already! all thanks to yongchuen who recommended this place! photos are with crystal though.. who came from stockholm. lester came as well, from holland??? i can’t remember where..but they’re both on sep.

they came to our apartment to have bah kwa after that -_-”

and we were telling them not to make too much noise cos the walls are hollow, so yc asked “if i pee, will you all be able to hear?”

and so he went to the toilet.. and everyone kept silent.

yc: “oi, talk leh!”

and then when he started peeing.. you can seriously hear the echo! we all burst out laughing! lol.

today we went to chinatown at 13eme.. it was freaking snowing la! shit. so damn cold!!! :(

we went to tang freres, some frozen food place, paris star, don’t know what supermarkets la. saw lots of bottles of lee kum kee… but in the end we bought some oyster sauce, some chilli sauce from lee kum kee, a few pieces of fish fillet (5 or 6 i think), xiao bai cai (i think, i have no idea what the veggie names are called in chinese), 30 eggs, sausage, red wine from bordeaux, lemon (to marinate the fish), and of course, a brand spanking new non-stick pan. all for about 20E..

dammit, we saw a lot of nice food.. like the tang bao, the kind of chilli they have at crystal jade, curry paste.. wahh super tempted!

for dinner, we had ben and zhijian over (since they went with us to chinatown).. and boy, they were the cooks, whereas jess and i merely helped out as and when. like breaking eggs, draining broccoli, adding sausage to eggs.. hahaha.

anyway, photos!

ben cooking

zj must style hair before cooking..

and then zj’s cooking..

and jess and i camwhore

our food! finally! hahah.

pseudo rosti (we have no shredder. or rather, we have one that i brought from home and we don’t know how to use) + spanish omelette, apparently

sausage + fish fillet

broccoli + oyster sauce and some other condiments

played the “3″ game, but jess puked after two sips of alcohol the other day, so she’s eating as a forfeit instead

and she’s obviously enjoying it


our wine from bordeaux. we decided to try the 3,95E wine, instead of the 1,90E one.. hahah. it tastes better though. nevertheless, it’s still cheaper than when you buy in singapore.

ok i need to go and bathe and do some washing up.. then dry using the heater in the toilet (it dries JEANS within a NIGHT)

i totally live in a sauna.

PS i have NO photos of chinatown because it was freaking snowing, and i had to carry the groceries still. plus it was too cold to whip my camera out of my pocket as well. hahaha. photos are with ben/zhijian i think. luckily zhijian is gentlemanly enough to lend me his gloves (cos i lent mine to jess).. although.. making us walk in the snow + damn cold wind… is damn sickening la!

they refused to let us take the metro and go back :(

I decided to put some of the photos up here on my blog, especially since fb screws up the resolutions and quality a little.

But then again, I’m being lazy and grabbing them from what I’ve already uploaded in Photoblog.

Let’s rewind back to 23rd Jan.. I was at the airport.. There wasn’t too many people to send me off, but I understand, becuase it’s a really weird timing..and not on the weekends.

my dear and i.. i like this photo!

my dad, my mum and my cousin (oh no, he blinked!)

my brother and i (obviously i look odd when i don’t smile)

and of course, hanwei’s mum and dad.. which I’m very thankful for them coming to the airport soooooooo late evern though his dad has to work early the next day.

So.. what have I been doing for my first week here?

I was putting up at Santosh’s place, at Trocadero.

yes, this is how it looks like. Swanky place,  somewhere I would avoid eating, because a salad can easily cost me 15E here.. which could buy me a whole complete meal elsewhere (Entree + plat + dessert) and with some money to spare for a student’s meal at Pomme de Pain (Panini + drink), and I still have some more money to spare. This is how expensive this area is. I don’t ever eat at this area (unless you count eating in his room)

This is the facde of his place:

looks rather nice i think. There’s a notorial office in there as well.

This is what you see just right after exiting the Trocadero station. Now, you get why it’s expensive in this area? I was excited by the sparkly lights and the beam of Eiffel Tower at first.. but as time goes by.. the interest just wears down. It’s not really fun to see it every single day.

This is beside Palais de Challiot, which is just next to the apartment where Santosh stays.

And this is the whole view of the palais. Where does Santosh stay? Just turn left.

I think this is the pond where Jackie Chan landed in Rush Hour 3? I’m not too sure.

Guess where this Palais de Challiot looks over…

No prizes for gussing correctly!

So one day, I met up with Samuel and Lim Jing..

We decided to be the tourist for the day.

And sometimes, I like to just walk around Paris..

carrousel, hotel de ville

ice skating at hotel de ville as well

Going to churches is a great hobby too!

Notre Dame

Notice that this is a CARVING

Soon I realised that my hair is exploding. I recommend anyone with a hair thinning problem to come here for a while.

Mcdonald’s at Ave Champs Elysees was my frequent hangout for free internet.

And I see this all the time.

Even the chocolates that Santosh gave me…

And on Sundays, there’s free entrance to the Louvre (of course, for under 26s, Friday after 6pm is free as well)

Mona Lisa, where you have hundreds of people trying to take this photo.

I didn’t notice the sign which said no taking of photos, so this is Picasso’s work.

Victoire de Samothrace

View taken from inside the Louvre

I really can’t possibly post every photo of the scultures and paintings that I’ve taken inside the Louvre, that would take me ages!

So I’ll just leave you with one photo of the exterior, which I like.

Pantheon, Champs Elysees.. I’ve visited them

Even Eglise St Germain

And of course, night shots of the Eiffel

I’ve been to Parc de Tulleries as well (and walked to Louvre from there)

And I’ve experienced snow (which i hated, because I had to drag my damn heavy luggage!)

And finally, I’ve shifted to my new place at Aubervilliers!

That’s the view once you come out of Stalingrad Metro station.

And of course, the view from our apartment.

And I can look at my dear everyday..

And hug him to sleep every night..

We began cooking..

Jap curry + rice

And bought some food from the boulangerie near my place

And i really pity one of their cakes… because she’s a divorcee!

Okay so the weather is very warm today (8degC with the hot sun!), we walked from Segur to Eiffel.

I figured that I liked Parc du Champs de Mars!

Pretty trees aplenty!

We found a hidden pond just at the foot of Eiffel

With tons of cute ducks, of course

This place sells desserts for 24E!!!! what???

Ok shall end with zi pai pose and go to bed.

Still have to go to bank, market and Monoprix tomorrow.

I don’t understand why is there only ONE Carrefour in Paris, but TWO in Singapore. And Carrefour came from FRANCE.

Hope you all liked this entry, and have been more updated with my life!

deardear.. it’s been long since you’ve posted anything here,

are you still alive and kicking?

-gel

i know this was already done on facebook.. but it’s just an update of this week so far.

1. dragging luggages in the snow kills. it’s like when u pull, a huge pile of snow just gets stuck underneath, and they probably weigh like 5kg.. and then u have to carry your 30kg luggage up to another clean spot.. and the cycle continues. and it’s damn slippery when it melts, which explains how i fell onto the snow when i was trying to get the luggage out of the door and it got stuck :(

2. grocery shopping in paris is actually cheap! we spent 20,70 euros today.. and guess what we bought? 1L grapefruit juice, 2L orange juice, 1 whole bag of onions, 5kg of potato, 12 toilet rolls, 12 packets of yoghurt, 15 fish croquettes, 1 bag of tomatos, 1 bag of golden apples, 1 packet of spaghetti, bread, olive oil, garlic powder.. not bad right?

3. shopping is good as well. jennyfer has tube tops.. a 3 for the price of 3 offer.. so it’s like 6 euros for THREE tops. that’s like FOUR BUCKS. and of course, i totally love united colours of benetton and sisley.. tops for 8euros, jeans for 10euros.. my gosh.

4. shifting in and unpacking is really tough work. my muscles are aching. not to mention the >10kg worth of groceries we bought. omg.

5. somehow, they like it dim here? the lighting in my room isn’t too good, and it’s worse in jess’ room (or rather, living room) cos 1 light is spoilt :( i am comtemplating cheap lamps from ikea.

6. i had a horrible dream that involved my dear being forced to marry another woman that was very bitchy and someone he didn’t like. but later after 5 years, we met accidentally and still felt the love for each other, so he divorced her and we eloped. that woman, was no other than.. the one who acted as joanne peh’s sister in the nonya show. :P

7. i don’t like the heater in my room, i think it’s too hot. i know i can adjust it, but i’m lazy at the moment.

8. i really need to shift the position of my table, it’s stretching the lan cable so much.. that the cable is actually resting on my lap now.

9. my room looks totally neat and organized! (for now) but i really need to do laundry. and washing the dishes tonight, cos it’s jess’ turn, but her nails broke beyond her cuticles.

10. my cuticles keep breaking as well. i tried to move the table? break. i tried to open the damn heavy door at upmc? break. dammit.

11. i really want to bathe. i spent my time at the suburbs yesterday (at supelec).. trying to get jess’ luggages and shift out.. but then sneha & shradda went grocery shopping.. and we waited for about 3 hours.. and were cold and hungry. and since the last bus out was at 9pm.. we couldn’t come back to central paris.

12. i finally understood why the other day on the rer.. this woman asked “is this paris?” then i was thinking.. “HUH??” isn’t it ALL paris around here? like within 100km or something? then i realised on the signboard at the suburbs.. it just refers central paris to paris.. everywhere else is called banlieue.

13. i cannot wait for my dear to come in april!

14. i am going to die with my modules.

15. we managed to choose any level of french class that we liked, because we couldn’t fit the one we were supposed to take in our timetables.

16. sounds weird, but i cannot wait for school to start. 1045am on monday!

17. we made plans to go to grenoble yesterday. half an hour later, we are going to disneyland instead (paying 10euros hhahah, cos one of our friend has the passeport! which means he goes in free, and brings 5 people in for 10euros each)

18. and we are going to spend our valentine’s day eve having a party at my place (i have no idea how many people are sleeping over here.. i think it’s probably 8? or maybe more, including the ecp people as well… not that we don’t have enough floor space anyway. and then we are going to pay 16euros for train to and fro + ticket to chateau de versailles! :) (there’s a promotion)

19. jess and i will be going for some festival of young talents thingy this fri.. for some free concerts! (we are such cheapos)

20. also, since we are cheapos, we are planning to go to louvre aft 6pm, when it’s free as well.

21. and becuase we are such cheapos, we wanted to see if our insurance that we bought in singapore can let us NOT pay for securite sociale, because that’s a hefty 195E!

22. i have not combed my hair ever since i left singapore because i forgot to bring my comb. and because combs at monoprix is abt 7E, i am being a cheapo and using my fingers instead.

23. i still cannot understand why paris is the city of love. what love? everyone’s so hurried here.

24. we tried to be bitches and went “Pardon!” on the travelators, just like what the busy french people do everyday. in the end? we still got cut by other people who went “Pardon!” as well.

25. i want to skype with my dearie and hear his voice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oops. sorry for the long hiatus.

yesyes i’m ALIVE. i just didn’t have internet that’s all. and i had to walk all the way out to mcdonald’s to get free internet…

i just moved into my residence today. it’s quite big, by paris standards. 40m².. that’s not too bad.

it’s got a toilet, shower, 2 study tables, some cabinets, shelves, wardrobe, bedside tables, chairs, 1 living room, 1 bedroom, kitchenette.

not too shabby really.

and i’ve got awesome italian neighbours (both female, but one of the girl’s bf is over tonight, and one of them is quite chio! plus they speak english! woohoo).. who so kindly let me put my luggage in their place while jess and i went back to trocadero to get more of our stuff. cos this residence’s checkin time is only 8pm to 9pm.. for reasons beyond my comprehension.

it snowed today!

and i HATE it.

firstly, when i tried to shift the luggage out of the door, i slipped and felt (but that amount of snow gave me some cushion though. plus i was wearing a few layers so i couldn’t feel anything, just that my BLACK trench coat turned WHITE instantly.

secondly, it’s cold.

thirdly, i had to shift my luggage out in the thick snow.. and it’s really damn tough. cos it’s a trolley bag, so basically it collects snow underneath it.. and my luggage just seems to get heavier and heavier, because of all the snow thats building up.

fourthly, it’s slippery and wet. and after the snow, it rained. dammit. i even saw this poor lady that just fell and scraped her hands and legs :(

arrgh. snow is depressing. really.

at first you go “omg, it’s soooo pretty!”

trust me, 5 minutes out there with a heavy luggage, you’re cursing at the snow. :(

all’s good here, except we have to shift jess’ stuff from the suburbs tmr. OMG.

repeat scenario of today, because it will be snowing tomorrow as well.. and boy, the bus system in the suburbs is closed when there’s snow??

all in all, i am really missing my dear right now.. but i don’t want to sms him at the moment cos im worried that it might wake him up.. so i’ll do so later.. like around 730 sgp time when he’s awake. i hope.

how are you doing my dear?

my little cow is doing great!

I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU!

haha.

shopping here is really good omg. i bought a united colours of benetton jeans for 10E, that’s like 20 SGD. no way am i gonna get that price back in singapore.

but anyway it’s the wrong season for me to shop now, seeing how i won’t need any of these items back in singapore. however, ankle boots at promod are going at 10euros! oh la la!

other than that.. things aren’t very cheap here. though mcdonalds has good and cheap milkshakes for 0.95E, hamburger for 0,95E.. but i seriously need to cook. at the alimentation generale near my residence, pasta is going for 1,80E, wines for 2,30E.. canned food for slightly over 1E… not too bad i would say. though i will check out leader price soon, because these small shops are more expensive.

ok i’m really tired. will continue another day.

bonne nuit!