Inching

"I love Love, I love being in Love.
I don't care what it does to me."

Things are good, things are bad. One great news is that I received two of my mid-term papers, particularly 'EDS126 - Educational Organization and Sociology" and "CHEM149A - Environmental Chemistry". Well, the first one was essay-based, a 100 marks which makes up 40% of that class. Really thank God and feel elated for getting 96 marks, because writing essay is never something I'm good at. This paper means much more to me, in boosting my confidence in writing, and to feel comfortable with my writing style. For the latter class, I got 41/45 for the mid-term, which makes up 20% of the class. Although I still worry for the organic mechanism class, I'm happy for doing well for the other two classes. Hopefully, the good grades will perpetuates till the end of the quarter.

Another great thing that happened was that I'm starting to be more pro-active about my activities in SD, and do whatever I wish to do here. I gain control of what I want to do. Made me feel better. In a way, I lowered my expectations for others and raised my expectations for myself. Bad thing is that you can't make the world turn for you, can't make everyone like you as a person, but best you could do is to like yourself, to be comfortable with who you are, and how you see yourself. In short, self-confidence.

There were awkward moments too, but I think I shall leave it as that and pray about it.

Heart After You

Create in me a new heart,
One that follows You.
Place in me a deep desire,
to know You as I know.

Set my feet in Your way,
To live worthy of Your call.
Draw me near to You Lord,
Every single day.


I just want to be more like You,
Walk with You beside me,
Lord, won't you be my guide,
Place your heart inside my soul,
A heart that's ever true,
One's that after you.

Two weeks into school

Time flies while you are having fun. I'm sure I did have fun and hope that time passes slowly while I'm at it. I feel that God has opened doors to many possibilities in my life. The thought of how I miraculously take up bahasa indonesia and know my room mate Peter by chance, and coming to San Diego for exchange and eventually get acquainted with many good friends is more than enough to convince me that it is not any happenstance or coincidence. And I know very well it was God's plan that I'm here, exposing me to things I always wanted in my life, the independence and freedom to decide the path for myself, to boost my self-confidence, and to become someone who doesn't live to live up to people expectations, but to do things just because I want to and not obliged to. In one way or the other, I've become a stronger and better person, that I know where my weakness lies, and to know what I want in life. One thing for sure, I've once again, developed the thirst for education and the words of God. Though i know the need for paper chase as the paper is credential and not a proof of education, yet it is important to be equipped with knowledge and skill, which proves to be useful in a long run. Well, I hope I can be less anxious and calculative about some things, and be less judgmental about people behaviors. Indeed, I think my God is great, because He love everyone so much that he sacrificed Himself on the cross.

On my Own

So I was on my own for the past few days, so I had to cook my own lunch and dinner, and go tour around on my own. Hence, on Monday i went downtown to take a look at Westfield Horton Plaza, which feels like an UTC that is stacked upwards into a mall. Then I walked around aimlessly till I reach the Chinese History Museum which is closed on Monday. Tsk, so I walked back into downtown area and came by this grocery show that sell extremely cheap stuff. I saw a box of soyjoy selling at 1.59 USD. Something must be wrong about this shop I thought, soyjoy could not be that cheap. I flipped the box over and to my horror, the soyjoy has expired since March this year, a total of six months overdue! This aroused my interest and suspicion about this place. And so I found out, many things on sale are either expired or going to expire, hence the cheap price. And all these appeal to the homeless and jobless people who roam around downtown area.

As for today, I went to Balboa park again. Other than paying for the SDMA, San Diego Museum of Art, which is 8 USD, the rest, like the Mingei International Museum, Timken museum for the art and Museum of man are free admission. I was intrigued by the art collection in SDMA, especially the oceanic/asian/american art pieces, where I can differentiate between them and tell the culture and way of life by looking at the materials use, and I can tell about the beliefs about the people too. Like looking at statues of Guan Yin when he was still in his masculine self. I like one particular painting called 'the drummer boy' which has a lot of story behind it. In the painting, a boy was carried on the shoulder of another man and was playing his drum. The boy has a wound on his leg. On the foreground I can see some people pulling one another, helping each other, to those that are injured. While in the background, there were soldiers marching. This makes me ponder and imagine about the war times, where the boy has to cheer the troop on as they go on fighting. During times of unrest, people are struggling to get by and survive. This becomes a complete story.

Alright, tomorrow is orientation day =) I miss Peter and Mandy. tsk

You gotta pay me to do that

Went out with a new found friend, David, who is well-traveled, friendly and accommodating. We were supposed to go downtown to catch the exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) at 12.30 pm. To my horror, the express bus 150 does not operate during the weekend and so I would have to take bus 30 which takes an hour or more to get to downtown. Hence I text him and said that I would be very late. A minute later, he called back and said that he could fetch me since he's driving, which is great as it would save time. So we got there, and what a disappointment, I pinned high hopes on MCA, thinking that it would be big and grand, having many exhibits. In the end, we walked to seaport village, which happens to have an art carnival.

We then see the art that we are familiar with. There are many motivated and enthusiastic artists who are selling their work pieces. They are of different forms, metallic sculpture, oil paintings, acrylic paintings, clay figurines, asian-infused art pieces and much more. There are booths that promote theater and musical stuff too. The best part was that, both David and I won a free ticket on the seal tour worth 32 USD each. Fortunately I did not buy the ticket when I visited Old town the other time. So we finished walking around (midway museum) and boarded the final seal tour at 5pm. It was an hour and a half ride, most of it was boring, and cold, due to the chilly strong winds, until the part where we get to see the seals and pelicans in the middle of the ocean, which comes with a fishy smell. So both of us agree that we will not pay to go for such tours, and they have to pay us for us to tour. haha.

Anyway, thanks David for sending me back and inviting me to go Las Vegas with him in October. Hopefully I'll be able to go with him.

Next stop.

Aiyo, I have so much to write down since many things still amazes me. Like why Americans eat more and quicker than I do, how many things are made convenient and automated, how come some things are much cheaper here than in Singapore.

Over the weekend I got to the post office with Jordan, while Mandy and Pete went for their exams. Soon after, I joined them for lunch at a Latin-America All-in-one restaurant cum provision cum clothing store. The food is yum yum and comes in big portion. A pity I din get the chance to take the photos of the big fat roasted pork/bacon, big flavorful juicy beef, warm beans gravy, large chunk of fresh avocado, tender chicken and potato. And a good glass of passionfruit milkshake. After that was a series of 'welcome to america' stuff. We went to big stores so that pete can get his singlet and shorts, it's a wonder how people need to drive from one place to another to shop, unlike a all in one shopping mall concept we have in singapore. nevertheless, the stores are big and we do need to spend much time there.

On Sunday we had brunch at CoCo's and it's my first time to a breakfast place in America. I had a cinnamon roll french toast with scrambled egg and bacon. Yum Yum, top with maple syrup, and had a glass of orange juice. That's an unhealthy pick as compared to Pete's and Mandy's omelet. A series of impromptu stuff begin to happen. Pete and I drove to LA to his parents place which was HUGE and it will take me like half an hour to finish walking around the place. There was over a hundred channels on the television and we had good indian food when mandy came over too. We shopped at the Ralph's nearby and got ourselves deserts - Ben & Jerry's Chunky monkey, which is half the price of Singapore's. After that, I went to Mandy's place to stay, and had the chance to speak with her and her parents. I feel very much at home to speak with her mom in mandarin and we talk about many things, the difference between sg and us, studying in ucsd and asian countries. Seems like people have the impression that Singapore is a clean and green country, along with its strict laws.

The next day, Mandy's mum made us breakfast, toasted bread, oatmeal and eggs. Then we drove back to SD and I helped her moved her stuff into her new apartment, planning out what to do for the next few days.

So on Tuesday, good job for Mandy as she has completed her project! She can have the rest of the days free without going back to school for more lab. So on Tuesday itself, we drove to Balboa park, google maps din help us much, we found the place when we felt like giving up. We had a good look around the place, then walked on to 'extraordinary desserts' for delicious and mouth-watering desserts!. We shared a raspberry/strawberry coffeecake, a warm chocolate cake drizzled with dark chocolate sauce and a lemon bar. After that we were full and skipped dinner. Then we went to target to buy stuff. It is pretty similar to giant in sg.

On Wed, we went for breakfast at Einstein's bagels at the medical center with two of mandy's friends. I had a spinach egg with swiss bagel, with cinnamon sugar. Grace, who goes to the church, asks me to tag along next sunday, and joined them for welcoming week at the beach for bbq on the 25th. Then we got a coupon from Grace, buy one get one admission at Birch Aquarium. So instead of 8 bucks, we paid 6 bucks each. The aquarium is really a great place that we spent a good educational and trigger happy two hours there. We moved on to the La Jolla Downtown and the beaches there. Managed to see pelicans, seagulls and seals there too. Got my feet into the cool blue water and was thrilled by the large up current. Had lunch at burger lounge. Love the beef burger and the fresh cut fries there, great taste and large portion too.

Shopping time as we embarked on a journey to the Las America Premium outlet. I want so many things there and I want to go back again! I bought jeans from hurley and berms from levis. Many things from Gap and shirts from Nike. that place was shopping haven to many sgporeans. I'm sure of that.

Really thankful that Mandy is kind enough to spend time with me and show me around the mandy way, although we only know each other for barely a week. Would do the same if she comes to Singapore then =).

That's for Friday~!

Alright, I need to recap what I did yesterday. It was a mini adventure. I’m not someone who can walk through Orchard Road for hours, I walk hastily and wouldn’t stop for much things. Hence, this trip to Old Town is a new challenge to me.

I left my place around 12ish, right after I had my mozzarella turkey ham mushroom sandwich. I was trying to locate the post office, well I didn’t and so I took bus 150 from UTC to get to Old Town. When I alighted the bus at Old Town, the first thing that I was greeted with was the trolley system and the coaster, which was awesome. I took some photos of them and started with my photography excursion.

Lucky me, the Old Town State Historic Park is just beside the trolley station and so I simply walked in. It’s really like a small town with a central square in the middle, a large grass patch for people to sit on and get some shades from the trees. So it’s Old Town, so we don’t expect to see buildings like those in the city, but wooden houses with big boards and old style handwritings. I suppose this place is developed to be a tourist site, since it has been renovated a few times, and have restaurants and shops in the entire park. There is a trolley tour that lasts two hours, and ticket costs 32 USD. I was tempted to but I thought I should walk around more and maybe I can wait till the Tracy and Qiao Qi when they come here.

I walked here and there, amazed that every single shop amazed me. There are museums all over the place, each telling us a little part of San Diego of the past. One of the first museums I went to was the Stable, telling us how horse carriages were used as an important transport for delivering things through the state. Then I went to a newspaper museum, which was not so interesting. I like the candle shop and the candies shop. The whole candle shop has this thick intense and sweet aroma, which is less artificial than the Body shop, so I looked around and eventually bought 4 honey stix of different flavors, namely mint, cinnamon, coconut and clover. The candies shop sells a whole lot of stuff, from fudges (like 12 flavors) to caramels to chocolate and sweets. I saw some gross lollipop with scorpions and larva inside. *Puke* After that I moved on to the courthouse, to take a look at the sheriff’s office and the mayor’s office, and little jail at the backdoor. I then went to the First school there, which was closed unfortunately. So I moved on to the Well’s Fargo Museum, which is in fact about bank and money exchange during the old times.

I thought it was about time for me to leave and so I went to the Fiesta De Reyes, which is a Mexican plaza, selling Mexican food and many related items, from hot chili sauce to colorful clothing and hats. I went to this penny souvenir stop, where I can make my dime into a souvenir by putting in half a dollar. There were toyshops, tile shops and paintings on sale too.

This isn’t the end of my adventure, in fact only halfway through. Around 3pm, I decided to walk more to explore the rest of the park. I spotted this greeting cards shop that has very interesting punch lines on the card, and an Old town gallery, with great photography and paintings. It was a hot day and I got myself a diet coke and walked on. Then, I saw this beautiful and exquisite Catholic Church. I walked in and sat down, listening to the peaceful songs and read a bit from the songbook. I flipped to my favorite page, which is Psalms 23, and then I kneeled down and prayed. I like the place. It calms me down, ensuring that I don’t walk alone. I walked on to Whaley House, known to be haunted even during the day. ( I don’t wanna pay to get frightened, so I just walked past it)

I got to this wonderful deserted place, where I saw houses, each unique in their own way, as though they belong to different princesses in Disney land. I took some photos there, sat and rested a while and then decided that it’s time to go home. I walked to the visitor’s center and realized that there is a show called ‘Saints and Sinners’ at 6pm and so I think ‘Why not?’ and decided to go have dinner and look for post office at Midway Drive since it is 4.45pm already. It was really out of pure luck I found Midway Drive and many fast food restaurants like Carl’s Jr, In n out, subway and Fatburger. In the end I stick with burger king since it was nearer to the State Historic Park. Of course, I walked back to the park right after the quick and hasty dinner.

I am so glad that I didn’t miss out this show, it’s a show that requires the audience to move around the square with the cast, as they tell us some interesting facts in the old San Diego, like the square used to be a garbage dump and they spent 18 years cleaning up the place, and the deep pits were made in the square so that a bear and bull fight can take place, for the people to bet on. There is also a scandal about a schoolteacher and she got married to the principal of the school. I like the story line and how they get the audiences involved. I feel that I am transformed into another person here, in some ways? During the show there was great humor, and even gunshots! In the end every sinner turned out to be somehow a saint. Corny and dorky it is.

Luckily there was bus 30 (which takes a longer time to get home) when I realized that Bus 150 is out of service after 6.30pm. I got to Ralph’s again at about 8.30pm and did some shopping again, getting shampoo and more food. I got home, got all hyped up for unknown reasons. Jordan offered me to sit beside him and research on how caffeine works, as he was all energetic and alert after eating a caffeine pill before his chemistry test. We spent hours looking it up, and I taught him some mandarin while he taught me how to pronounce ‘theatre’ and ‘the’ in the correct manner. There were some chemical discussions and I taught him about organic chemistry, ring strains, and stable structures (checking aromaticity of compounds). I went for a shower and we continued with the movie ‘Who killed the electric car?’ while Mandy and Peter continued preparing for their exams. When we were done with the show it was like about 2.30 am? We looked up the Internet for more about electric car till it was around 4am when I slept.