li hao’s here!! brought him around the campus today.. that was probably my last time on campus before leaving:( it’s so beautiful, i’ll really miss it.. only after coming here then i realise the NUS campus is really quite bad.. haha. we had hotdog and poutine from one of the vans in school for lunch.. and we watched The Sound of Music today.. it was really good! The actress who acted as Maria was quite good.. and the nuns too.. and the kids were so lovely!! esp the youngest one.. haha. took some crazy photos with the posters (li hao’s idea, obviously).. will find some time to upload to fb soon..
anw, i went skating after my exams (before picking li hao up) yesterday.. and there were flurries again!! this time slightly heavier.. but still not a lot.. haha.
we’re planning to visit a few more places in toronto tmr.. and have a farewell dinner with my friends (before we all go for our holidays).. then having another mini party at our place again.. bought sparkling wine specially for the occasion:)
will try to update while i’m in niagara/new york!!
hm. my exam today was not too bad.. considering i only really started memorizing last night at 6pm, and spent the earlier part of the day watching videos and skating.. haha. but then again, this paper was quite straightforward and he likes to reuse past year questions anw..
can’t say the same for tmr’s paper though.. it’s intro to roman culture and society.. i’m only halfway through memorizing.. and i’m planning to give up alr.. haha. think this one pass good enough alr la.. too much info, don’t think i can finish studying :S and i’ve been slacking for the past 2 hours! miss the organ at home so so much!! haven’t touched the keyboard for so long, my fingers are getting itchy.. esp when there’re so many nice new songs!! i’m so desperate that i’ve downloaded the software to play music on the computer keyboard.. haha.
anw, got back my marks for my personality paper.. didn’t do very well, considering the amount of research that i did.. only got 79%.. that’s a B+ by UofT’s standard:(( think maybe i didn’t argue the case well enough.. so anw, my overall mark for personality is A-, i think..
oh. my exam venue today was really cool!! the classroom was in one of the old colleges on campus.. i took about 35 minutes to walk there.. decided not to take the subway cos i wanted to enjoy the walk through Queen’s Park.. that was probably my last time there before leaving toronto:( anw, the classroom was really old school.. haha. the tables were wooden, and most were shaky.. and there was a blackboard in front, and an old piano on the stage.. there were wooden benches at the sides for ppl to put their bags and coats.. obviously, i couldn’t take a photo of it.. so wasted. haha.
oh and i just realised that there’s a skating rink just 10-15 min walk away from my place!! it’s in a neighbourhood park.. but too late alr la.. don’t have much chance to go back there.. maybe go there on wednesday after my last paper, before going to pick li hao up from the airport:)
argh. still thinking about tmr’s paper:( have to get back to studying.. and rmb not to put too much pressure on myself to do well.. haha. anw, the weather these past 2 days has been good!! ard 0 to 2 degrees.. not too cold:) but still no snow.. sian. there’s some ice on the floor, but that’s all:(
haha i just got back the results for my psy and law paper.. got 90%!! so basically, for that mod, i’ve alr scored 58% of the total grade.. can don’t go for exam alr.. haha.
feeling a bit 矛盾.. cos i dunno if i should be studying to pass or to get A.. think i’m putting undue stress on myself.. it’s not that i haven’t been enjoying.. i’ve been going skating, and going out.. later still going to watch fireworks.. and i’ve been watching videos on youtube.. but i still feel kind of stressed cos i won’t be able to finish studying.. and i’ve been staying up till 3am every night to study since i go out in the afternoons.. haha. aiya, think i just try my best and don’t worry so much even if i can’t study finish la..
had skating lesson again today! was skating outside at -7 degrees! but because of the wind, according to the weather forecast, it felt like -17!!! gosh. i wore enough to keep my body warm, but my ears and cheeks were frozen and numb..
anw, i learnt a new jump today! it’s called the single toe loop, a bit similar to the salchow:) my landing is still not very good, but at least i kind of get it.. actually, for most part of the lesson, we were skating in a tent on a synthetic rink.. cos at least the tent can help to block out the wind.. the rink is really small, but enough for me since i was just learning the jumps.. and there was railing at the side, so can hold on to it while learning the technique for the jump. the synthetic rink is not real ice, it’s like clay.. when i first got onto it, i couldn’t slide.. haha. felt like walking.. not as smooth as ice.. but it makes it easier for me to learn the jumps since it’s not so slippery.. then after i somewhat got the technique right, with about 10 minutes left, we went out into the ice rink and tried the jumps on real ice.. wasn’t really successful though.. couldn’t really concentrate cos it was so cold! haha. so i also didn’t stay behind to practise.. if it’s not so cold tmr, i may go skating again.. but maybe try a different ice rink:)
haha yes, i know i haven’t been updating this blog.. for those of you who don’t know yet.. i dropped my laptop and it kind of spoilt.. all my previous data gone.. but that was like, 1 month ago.. then ever since then, i haven’t been coming here to update y’all on what’s happening here..
anw, i had skating lessons today!! so fun! and really useful too:) at first i think my instructor was supposed to be this guy who was wearing hockey skates.. was a bit worried that he won’t be able to help me with spins and jumps.. but anw, there was a female instructor and her student didn’t come, so she took me instead.. she’s quite nice! very encouraging and very cheerful.. looks young.. think ard 25 years old..
so anw, she corrected my forward and backward crossovers (mostly about bending the knees more and keeping my hands in the correct position and kicking off harder on both legs).. then she also taught me how to do a proper break backwards (like a backward snow plow stop), and then we went into spins.. i think my spin has improved! can now enter into a one-foot spin from backward crossovers.. not always successful though.. and i sometimes still travel a bit.. but much better:) and she tried to teach me a sit spin (like shoot-the-duck while spinning) and also the spin where the free leg crosses over the spinning leg.. but i still can’t do both of the new spins la.. too difficult alr.. think i should just concentrate on getting the one-foot spin right first..
then she also looked at my waltz jump.. basically not much problems, other than the fact that i’m not jumping high and far enough.. and i just learnt today why sometimes i’m so unstable when i land- cos you’re supposed to land on toe-pick first then put down the rest of the foot! hee.
then we went on to learn another jump- the salchow.. i tried to learn it on my own from youtube videos, but just couldn’t do it.. so anw, in order to do the salchow, we had to revise bunny hops, which john knows i’m really bad at! but anw, i managed to do the bunny hops! hee. non-stop ones somemore! and then we went into the salchow. if you want to know what it looks like, go search on youtube. but anw, i still can’t do it right.. got it a few times, but the landing is always not good.. will try to practise more..
so, that’s all that we did in one hour.. i stayed behind and practised for another hour.. now my feet are really painful! haha. but is was good:) hoping to book another lesson next week, hopefully after the next lesson i’ll be able to do a proper salchow and spin! oh and i sharpened my skates.. for $5.. cos the instructor noticed that i kept sliding.. she said it’s cos the blades are blunt.. haven’t tried the sharpened blades though.. will let y’all know how it feels after i skate on saturday:)
on a different note, school has ended alr! no more lessons from now on.. i’m going to miss the campus:( slightly more than 1 week to my first exam..
anw, i just started watching a new drama.. it’s called 海派甜心. the leads are show luo and rainie yang.. it’s still showing in taiwan, once a week.. so i only watched until the 5th episode, then have to wait for weekend to watch the next one.. 好辛苦哦！ haha. can’t wait so long la… but it’s also good.. cos like that i won’t be watching non-stop for 4 days straight.. that’s another reason why i chose to start on this show instead of another show.. but i didn’t know it’s once a week! i thought everyday mah.. haiz. must really tahan.. and hopefully i don’t keep going back to re-watch the previous episodes.. haha. anw, the theme songs are really nice.. here’re the links if y’all are interested:
pay attention to the lyrics for the show luo song.. it’s given in the info for the song.. really nice.. i like the line- 我在等一个人 在等我的永恒
k going off to study alr.. studying for English Words now.. from all the tests and essays, i’ve actually already scored 52% of the final grade.. and i only need 50% to pass and transfer the credit, so technically, i don’t even have to go for the final exam!! haha. but don’t want la.. i want to try to get at least B+ for all my mods here.. not easy.. cos they don’t use bell curve.. B+ is least 75.. A- is 80-84..
ok this was a really long post.. haha. i will be back!!
hm. we went to the Hart House Farm today.. about 1 hour’s drive from downtown.. the scenery was quite nice.. but nothing like the kind of farm i ws expecting.. haha. it was more of a forest.. we went hiking bit, then stayed indoors in the farm house listening to music and stuff:)
and on the way back, i was too awake to sleep (and the bus ride was too bumpy anw..) so i started thinking about things.. i think i’ve been studying a bit too hard and worrying too much about my studies.. feel like i’m studying even more here than in sg.. so i decided on the bus that i would let go a bit more.. and stop studying for an A.. well, since i’m on exchange, i should go out and experience more stuff.. if not i’ll regret it when i go back to singapore.. i think just from going for the lessons alone, i’ve alr learnt a lot.. i shouldn’t be spending too much time at home reading textbooks when i can do that back in sg too! haha. so from now on, i’ll try to study for tests and write my papers just enough to get a pass.. not sure if i’ll be able to keep to that (too used to putting in my best in my studies alr), but i’ll try:)
haha. i think i’m getting used to life in toronto and the apartment here alr. after a long bus ride and a very hectic travel schedule, i actually feel glad to be back in my room after a nice hot shower in our bathroom:)
well, montreal and quebec city was fun, but really tiring. and now that i’m back, i’m kind of worried about all the work:( will try to squeeze in time to upload photos and blog about the entire trip!
haha i’m going off to montreal in less than an hour!!
went skating today again.. this guy came to talk to me.. he looked about older than 40 years old, and he’s a senior lecturer at the UofT! haha. anw, his name is soheia. we talked for quite a bit while skating.. basically about toronto la.. he knows an NTU prof who went to UofT for ‘exchange’, so he immediately recognized my singaporean accent.. haha.
anw, he’s quite pro.. used to take lessons. then he asked me to synchronize with him while skating.. so we did a few rounds of stroking+crossovers.. since my backwards not too bad alr, i think i’m going to try inside/outside edges next time:)
after that, i went to eaton centre with deming and felicia.. bought a furry jacket for $19.50!! haha. before that i was comtemplating another one for $39.50.. luckily i decided not to buy and continue looking.. found this nicer one for half the price:) then we went into hollister.. they were having a super sale! i think cos summer just over.. t-shirts for CAD9.90! and the material is very good!
oh i went swimming yesterday! swam 20 laps.. but only 6 were freestyle.. cos the ppl there don’t stop to blow bubbles and rest.. and i didn’t have the stamina to swim freestyle non-stop. haha.
eh haven’t uploaded photos on facebook yet.. been super busy with work.. will update y’all when i get back from montreal:)
phew! finally found some time to blog.. haha. been busy studying! managed to accomplish quite a bit this weekend.. but still have a lot of readings! and i finally came up with ideas for my 2 psy research proposals:) alr consulted the profs and they said can go ahead:)
anw, i was out till 3am last night! haha. had dinner at home, then we shifted our table and chairs out to the balcony to have mooncakes/tang yuan/green tea:) it was a bit cold.. but really fun! and we could see the moon:)
having mooncakes and tangyuan at the balcony. notice the moon in the background:)
after that, we went out for an annual overnight art event called Nuit Blanche.. it was from evening to sunrise the next day.. all ard the downtown area.. so either along the streets, or in shopping centres/museums/churches/and even the bus terminal, they had exhibitions and performances.. it was quite cool.. cos normally the streets are really quiet by 9pm, but last night, it was still so crowded at 1am!! and some of the ppl were quite high.. haha. so fun:) more photos on facebook soon!
this was a light display (of 4-letter words) at nathan philips square
nathan philips square- this place becomes an outdoor skating rink in november:)
went shopping with deming after lessons today! (felicia wanted to stay home to study and also didn’t want to spend money.. haha) anw, we went back to the outlets at Orfus Street. went to this really budget shop called dollarama (like a value$ shop in singapore) and spent almost 25 bucks there! haha on stuff like socks, gloves, room slippers, hangers and little gifts for cheryl. the designs for the socks were really cute! they were about CAD1.50 for 2 pairs! haha. bought quite a lot so that can share with jie and agnes and irene if y’all want.. i may go back and buy more for friends.. haha.
so after spending a long time at Dollarama (deming had to wait some time for me.. heh), we moved on to Bluenotes outlet and the Stitches outlet shop.. bought quite a lot of clothes.. but not much for myself.. haha. they were really good buys though.. guys’ T-shirts for CAD5.50! shorts for 5.50 too! and girls’ tops for as low as CAD4!! haha. i’d better not go back there again.. not even sure if i have enough space in my luggage to bring all the stuff back.. hm shopping today really reminded me of shopping in hk with jie.. just that she wasn’t here to give me advice.. and neither was li hao:(
anw, it rained for practically the whole time i was out today- from 12.30 to 7.30pm! the temperature wasn’t too low, but the rain made it really cold.. esp for the hands..
hm getting quite stressed with all the work.. lots of readings to do:( at least i came up with ideas for my 2 study proposals alr.. so proud of myself:) k going off to do more readings now!
dinner on thursday- zhiyang cooked the pork and sambal kang kong (deming brought sambal from Singapore). I grilled the terriyaki salmon and it wasn't too bad.. at least not overcooked:)
the loot from shopping at factory outlets and dollarama- shorts/shirts/socks/cheryl's stuff
