Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Ann Arbor Heat
Hello
Here I am, typing in my dorm room, and melting from the heat. According to CNN, the current temperature is 31 celcius but feels like 33 celcius. Great. I really needed to know that.
Anyway, while I am melting, Singapore is supposed to be practically flooding so I guess I should be.. um.. pleased? O__o
I haven't been taking many photos lately, due to the fact that if I'm not chatting with people, we're passing the same buildings we pass all the time and the novelty of taking photos is beginning to wear off [though not the marvelling at how pretty everything is]. But I did take a couple of photos to show everyone!
This is the corridor outside my room and it extends down into the next "house" in East Quad. There are like. 8 houses in total in East Quad and everything is linked up so if you just keep walking and walking, you'll eventually find the place you're looking for! ^_^ Down this hall is also the girl's bathroom. Which has wonky showers that are FAR too low.-_-"
Every resident advisor [senior students in charge of each floor] put up little identifying labels on each door.^_^
I finally ate at one of the dining halls! I ate at South Quad which has a HUGE dining hall [it's like, 3 times bigger than East Quad's.] and they have a LOT of tables. The food options are.. alright I suppose. I'm being accepting of everything I'm served so I'm like, it's okay... ^_^" Haha. This is um. Salad [the dressings here are SO SALTY you can kill yourself but there's a lot of choice], chicken noodle soup [it's like sauce. It's THAT thick. Concentrated Campbell Soup as my friend put it. Haha.], chicken nuggets [salty], meat pasta [also salty], corn [nice!], mushrooms [tasteless] and finally, Cranberry juice [tastes like water].
I ate at South Quad again for dinner yesterday [the photo above was yesterday's lunch to commemorate my first meal in a dining hall. Haha.=P] and .. they had practically the same things so I went to eat vegetarian pasta instead. ^_^" Oh! But the lite Italian dressing on the salad wasn't too salty so that was great.=D Today, East Quad's dining hall opened! So we went down to try the stuff. It wasn't too bad actually.. I had this creamy chicken pasta [salty], vegetarian fajita [nice!], salad [dressing was too salty] and overcooked broccoli and cauliflower.
They have very inspired menus I must say. Though I like that East Quad has a lot of vegetarian options.=) No pizzas too! So I'm not tempted to eat that.. greasy, salty, heavy ... thing. O__o They also always have rice but my friends who tried it said the rice was SO HARD, they almost died. Haha.
Anyway, I forgoed a trip to Meijer [and free aircon!!!] to wait for my roommate but she has yet to appear. Hmm. O well. I shall continue melting while I wait. Even my fan isn't helping much.. It's just helping me not sweat. (T_T)
Tomorrow we're going shopping! [hopefully it doesn't get cancelled] and then at night, there's Artscapade or Excapade or.. however you spell it which is some kind of Arts Festival going on in Umich.=) Should be fun!
Alright, I shall return to my melting and everyone can return to their lives after wasting some time here!
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*
[music : Natsu Oto GLAY] - perfect summer song.
[mood : heat-stricken]
[food : char siew bao!]
I've updated my food blog and after seeing the char siew baos, I really want to eat one...X__x Thank goodness I don't have really bad local food cravings yet.=) I'm still happy eating all the Western stuff they are serving.
Joyce: Yup. I set up my bank accounts in Ann Arbor itself. ^_^ And it's okay so far. Haha. Yes. Considering I have so little clothes, I have a lot of wardrobe space. Shopping, HERE I COME! =D =D =D And I'm using my mom's camera now. Haha. She brought back mine to fix.
Jiamin: Um. Those beds were originally stacked like that but I've reassembled it. I don't like sleeping on a top bunk.X__x Haha. Sorry to disappoint you. And the closet isn't THAT small. It's okay for me because I don't have much clothing just that it'll be problematic in winter when I take all my coats and everything out.^_^"
Yao Xu: Hmm. My dorm is pretty old in general. The female toilets have urinals in them! How weird is that right. Haha. So yes, everything's pretty worn and old, but not dirty or anything so it's fine.=)Labels: Ann Arbor, east quad, edibles, food blog, misc, umich
Friday, August 24, 2007
Umich: Orientation Day One
Hello!!!
Yes I am safely in Ann Arbor and yes I had a great flight[s]! Haha. And I am settling into Ann Arbor by throwing everything I've bought so far into my dorm room.^_^ Brilliant.
The SIA flight was FABULOUS. And I had fun flying from New York to Detroit because omg! We flew over FARMLANDS! And this HUGE lake! =D At first I thought it was an ocean.. Then I realised that it can't be an ocean because well.. We're in the midwest. So it had to be a lake. Haha.=P
Some things that you have to get used to in these urm.. Four-Season-Countries though, is that the sun here doesn't set till 9+PM in summer!!! So you always have to keep checking your watch. Haha. It's quite nice though, to have extended days.^_^ Better enjoy these long days before the short days of winter arrive soon...
Pictures!
When we were going to take off from Newark airport, all the planes had to queue to use the runway to take off! So cute.xD
The lake we passed while flying to Detroit! =D It's so ... BIG! Seriously. I bet you can fit Singapore in there.X__x
Once again, I squealed with delight when I saw so many different plants here! ^_^
So cute!!! xD I kept asking if this is Ivy and no one knew..
But apart from plants [which I shall spare you from... for now], you must be interested in my dorm room! ^_^ It is surprisingly big. And surprisingly clean. =D Haha. My mom and I were all prepared to go in and sweep out every spider and every dustball but.. everything is really clean. It's just that the furniture is kinda old and battered so it doesn't look nice but it's really.. you know. Clean. Haha. *fails at vocab*
Moving in! ^_^ I'm living in a dorm called "East Quadrangle", also known as East Quad. And I'm staying in Hayden Hall which is one of the wings in East Quad.
My room when I first went in! We rearranged the furniture but it's subject to change depending on my roommate so I'm waiting for her to come in.^_^
The cupboard is surprisingly big as well!!! MUCH bigger than my brother's measly cupboard last year. Haha. I can fit all my clothes [and shopping] in very very nicely. Plus I've got a whole ton of drawers for the clothes that don't need to be hung up.^_^ [The dresser has more drawers.]
The view from my room is really nice.=) Loads of trees and a volleyball court as well. There's this picturesque path that leads straight to the door to my dorm too! ^_^
The weather here is nice too though it's EXTREMELY hot if not, it's EXTREMELY rainy. The neighbouring states in the Midwest are all flooded so I guess we're quite lucky. At least it's not humid here so you don't get sticky but you get thirsty very fast and the sun is really strong so you really need sunglasses.
To stock up on stuff, we drove to Meijer which is a HUGE, GIGANTIC, ENORMOUS hypermart just outside of Ann Arbor. It's damn big. Really. It's ... horrifying to look for stuff there.X__x In another shop nearby, I also bought my bedding stuff. Pillows..bedsheets..comforter..etc etc. X__x I'm like. Moving house. Haha.
This is the lovely field we trekked across to go and buy my beddings. X__x It's pretty though.^_^
On the trip to Meijer with the other Singapore students [I'm trying to socialise *nods vigorously*], we were there in the evening and there were these lovely clouds! *oohs and aahs*
The fruits here are great! And there's pretty good food if you know where to look and if you're willing to pay more than.. well. More than what I can afford on a regular basis. Haha. I'm quite optimistic though. I! Must! Assimilate! Haha. =D If I'm dying, I can always go and eat Vietnamese food really really near my dorm.=) Oh! And I've got food pictures for the food blog but that won't be up anytime soon.. I have a backlog of other posts to clear first.X__x
The portions here are REALLY scary though.X__x You always forget how huge American portions are until you're here. I must remember to eat only half of whatever I'm served. Haha.
Today was the first official day of Orientation but orientation here is well.. really just orienting you to this area and not much else. I'm waiting for the Americans to start moving in proper. And I'm waiting for classes to start to make friends! ^_^ I have to register for classes next week though. X__x Sigh.
Anyway, I hope everyone's having fun in Singapore! And YX! Joyce! Wendy! I hope you guys are packing or gathering your things properly before you go.=D And make sure you open your bank accounts first because bank drafts take time to clear! Beams.
And please email me the pictures!!!!!!!!
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*
[music : Heisei juushichinen shichigatsu nanoka alice nine.]
[mood : ^_^]
[food : LEMONADE!]
Jiamin: Must be fair! Haha. What if I said Thank you Brenda first when actually, you showed up before her? See. =P Haha. Okay. I'm not really making sense.X__x
Wendy: OMG. You still have my book! Haha. Why don't you write a giant post-it and return it to me next year? =D
Don: Yar. You NEVER tag me. Glares. Still dare to say.. TSK! Haha.Labels: east quad, flora, food blog, Michigan, misc, orientation, umich
Monday, August 20, 2007
To New York. Then Ann Arbor.
Hello!
So here I am.. in Changi Airport.. doing my usual "update the blog in the airport" thing. ^_^" Except this time, I can't say see you soon! [unless I mean see you soon online..] or see you when I get back! [because that would mean next year and "see you" implies something that will happen soon]. So what I will say is:
Thank you for coming to send me off! =D I appreciate everyone taking the effort to drag themselves out of bed to come to the airport for just over half an hour. =)
I'm a less teary than I imagined myself to be but I guess once I've steeled myself for such an occurence, I generally deal ok with this kind of situations. [I know. It's hard to imagine I'd even cry but anyway..]
Hmm.. I'm all prepared for the 18 hour flight to New York. =D I've got movies to watch on the plane.. and if I get bored, I've got books! And if that doesn't work out either, I have MarioKart to keep me company and once my eyes die from that, I can always whip out my laptop. Or I could mourn over my camera, which after being sent for servicing, DIED AGAIN. (T_T) Oh sadness.
There's also something useful called sleep but whoever does that?
So once again, I'd like to thank everyone for coming down. [To further show appreciation..]
Thank you Jiamin!
Thank you Joyce!
Thank you Vivienne!
Thank you Yao Xu!
Thank you Brenda!
Thank you Calissa!
[names in order of appearance and in alphabetical order after]
And Thank you Wendy and Zeelei! ^_^ Your desire to come down that is not fulfilled is appreciated too. Haha.
And I wish everyone all the best in their respective universities and jobs. May we all do fabulously well and get fabulously well-paying jobs and fabulous boyfriends and eventually, fabulous husbands and families! Haha.=D
Okay. If I carry on, I'll start rambling so, Ja Minna! The next time I update, I'll be in the US! And if I can rack up enough brainpower and creativity, maybe there'll be a nice new blog template too.^_^
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*
[music : Angel's Tale + Shallow Sleep HYDE]
[mood : a little sad]
[food : porridge! ^_^]
Jiamin: And what am I supposed to be sarcastic about? I wasn't sarcastic about anything. And D is cool! *glares*
Labels: future, misc, thoughts
Steamboat! + Goodbye.=)
Hello
=D We had a steamboat at Jiamin's house yesterday as a "sending-off" thingie for um. Me. Haha. Although technically Joyce and Wendy are leaving soon too. But anyway.
First off, I must apologise to WENDEE! and ZEELEI! and MATTHEW! and JOEL! because I made this:
And promptly forgot to get everyone to eat it when we got distracted by the Crab forks and Penguin spoons! Haha.=X =X =X I deeply apologise. Joyce, Vivion, Jiamin and I made good work of it! ^_^"
And a closeup of my very first time trying to decorate a cake:
Hmm. I'd say its not bad for my standards. Haha.=P
Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone for taking time off to come! ^_^ And although I squawked in horror when my camera died [EVERYONE, YOU BETTER SEND ME PHOTOS], we managed to take a couple of shots that were okay and "romantic" before it really and truly died. Haha.=)
Yay! Seat partners! ^_^ Except I usually sit on Joel's right. Haha.
Another camwhoring moment with Jiamin.^_^
I love how my friends are so enthusiastic about taking photos. Haha.
I really like this shot!!! It's very um. Candid. Haha.=D
^_^
^_^v Hehe.
Anyway, I must thank everyone for their gifts! [And if I left anyone out, GOMEN NASAI! I will um. Correct it as soon as possible. *nods seriously*]
Wendy: Emotibuds! xD SO CUTE. Haha. And pink matches my black MP3 player.=D Yay. Plus don't you think "starry-eyed" describes my bimboticness quite well?
Joyce: Bag Charm! =D I was thinking very hard which bag to attach it to you know. Haha. I still haven't figured it out yet though.X__x
Simin: Book on Chocolate! xD Great reading material.=D Haha. And there I was, worrying that I didn't have a food book to read.=P Thank you!
Vivion: Le Petit Prince! =D Dies. What if my roommate thinks I'm all philosophical and everything when she sees it?! Haha. I have converted it into my "storing watches and hair stuff" box for the moment. Beams! Better than storing earrings please. All the earrings will just get lost if I know myself.
Jiamin: AHH. Once again, you trump me at the "photo scrapbooking" thing. Haha.=D Beams beams. There are so many unglam shots.. But you redeem yourself by including nice photos of us as well.=D Hehe. Jason will never forgive you I tell you. Your sister also. Haha. ^_^ And, thanks for the webcam! I swear I will wake up early in the morning so I can talk to you all via MSN webcam when its night for you. Oh how sacrificial I am! Haha. And theres even a mic!!! =D =D =D SO COOL PLEASE. Haha.
Joel and Zeelei!: Thanks for your cards.=D Email ah email! Beams.
Hmm. When I was going through everything before I went to sleep [and after I was zooming around my room organising things to pack today], I have to admit I was tearing. I know. How strange. Surely this is like, a "happy" moment so to speak that we are all finally set on some kind of path and not hanging around in limbo. But at the same time, you also realise that well.. What friendship you had before will never be the same again, not only because time changes things but also the environments we'll be in and the new friends we will be making/have made.
It's not that I think everyone will move on in their respective locations and promptly forget, but I think that when everyone is reunited next year, it'll be quite different from now when we're all still emerging from our JC friendship.
Still, I hope that we'll all keep in touch but if it so happens that somehow people have moved on from all this later, I won't say it was something I couldn't imagine would happen. Such is reality. And such is life. But I shall remain positive about the friendships I've made and how close I am to these people.=) It's been an enriching experience to say the very least and it's been great fun.
I put up these collages last year when we graduated but .. it does capture some of our JC happiness.^_^
School life.
Randomness in and out of school.
Our last day of school.
So yes. Thanks you guys! ^_^ I'll miss you all. And remember to tag this blog in future! If not you can support the food blog by commenting and yelling at me to stop talking about American junk food. Haha.=D And I realised that I haven't done Midweek Men in ages! Gosh. Everyone must tell me about their latest obsessions so I have new inspiration.=D Haha.
See you on Tuesday!
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*
[music : Roentgen album HYDE]
[mood : nostalgic]
[food : the seven layer kueh from Bengawan Solo!]
YX: So exspoonsive! Haha. And I didn't know that if I replied, you'd get the message! =X Gomen. Haha.Labels: acjc, future, midweek men, misc, photo journey, thoughts
Friday, August 17, 2007
D!
Hello
I have a new obsession.*dies* These jrock obsessions never cease to haunt me!
For example, I cannot, absolutely cannot stop watching D's Ouka Saki Some ni Keri PV [youtube link HERE]. It's Japanese theme is absolutely eyecatching. And it is so pretty!!!! *squeals* And the song is fabulous. I am always always taken in by Japanesque songs and videos. Like how Kagrra, totally sucked me in with their Japanese-style music. xD
Oh the prettiness! Okay, so this is a picture from a photoshoot not a screencap from the video but hello. So! Pretty! xD
Look at Ruiza, the extremely talented guitarist! Don't you just melt from his gaze? xD
And Mr Lead Singer [ASAGI] is so photogenic.*__*! Actually, it was his look that first attracted me to D.. Then I read online reviews about how good their work is.. Then I sampled some of their music and now.. I am hooked. X__x
Is that a good thing?
One thing I must make clear: They have great music! Full of complex melodies, great guitar riffs, nice bass bits and complementary drumming. Plus ASAGI [the vocalist] has a great voice! Not as good as Gackt's but very good! =D
And a very nice look that is full of.. well.. splendour. And it is so visual kei. Which I like very very much. =D I haven't seen so much effort put into costumes and makeup and such in my obsessions for a while.. I miss these more Visual bands.
[end of squealing]
On my way home from lunch with YX today, I saw this lady on the bus. She had this utter air of elegance hanging all about her and she looked so cool and unruffled just sitting there in the bus. She was dressed simply, in a white top, black skirt, a long beaded necklace and a light blue shawl, but she looked the height of chic! Her hair was carelessly pulled back into a messy bun and she had on the slightest touch of makeup that accentuated her gorgeous eyes. Plus, she had a wonderful nose that gave her a queenly profile.
As she got off the bus near the French embassy, I noticed her carrying a French book and so I came to the conclusion that she's French. No wonder she had that air of elegance about her. It makes me wonder though, is this aura cultivated... or inborn?
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*
[music : Ouka Saki Some ni Keri D + Kaze no machi he FictionJunction KEIKO]
[mood : dreamy]
[food : char siew!]
Jiamin: STEAMBOAT! Yay! ^_^vLabels: D band, jrock, misc, thoughts
Thursday, August 16, 2007
A Great Dinner
Hello!
I am SO STUFFED right now. X__x I ate so much. And it was only a "simple" home-cooked meal!!!
My aunt made my FAVOURITE vegetable of all time!
Okay.. So I recycled the Chinese New Year picture.. But hello?! I couldn't wait to stuff myself silly with my favourite vegetable of all time!!! =D =D =D Stewed chinese cabbage with dried scallops!! O HEAVEN! ^_^ I love it so much with rice. I could eat it every week and not get sick of it.=D
And of course, my aunt's version is the best ever.
She also made us Chicken Stuffed with Bird's Nest. It's cooked in chicken stock and steamed till the bird's nest is infused with the fabulous flavours of the chicken and the chicken meat is falling off the bone and so so so tender you could die.xD I hate chicken breast with a passion but the chicken breast meat on this chicken was as good as chicken thigh meat!!! It was so tender! And moist! And flavourful!!! *_*! *goes all starry-eyed*
The meat was amazing.
The bird's nest was amazing.
The soup was amazing.
The vegetables were amazing.
The dried scallops were amazing.
And any meal with rice is great so.. ^_^ No wonder I stuffed myself silly. X__x
The other day I got my aunt to cook the usual Chinese New Year meal we eat every 初一 morning. My excuse was that I must eat it now, for next year. Hehe. ^_^ I think I'll miss Chinese New Year and all it's wondrous gourmet splendour the most.
I mean just look at this 鱼生!!! Doesn't it squeal with CNY happiness?
Sigh.
All I can do is wait till I return next year to feast and get fat.^_^ Repeat the cycle a couple of times, and I'll be back to work! Hooray! *is positive*
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*
[music : Kaze no machi he FictionJunction KEIKO]
[mood : reminiscent]
[food : see above!]Labels: Chinese New Year, edibles, misc, thoughts
Monday, August 13, 2007
Late Night Jalan Kayu Eating + Singapore Discoveries
Hmm.. It's 1.30 in the morning and we just got back from Jalan Kayu for prata! Haha.I'll post the pictures here or on the food blog soon..^_^" Another part of my Singapore Food Odyssey yes?The prata there is pretty nice but it's wayyy too much effort to drive all the way to Seletar just to eat prata. X__x Plus I drove home and omg... Those people speeding on the highways are so scary!!! (T_T) They kept changing lane to avoid me because I was going slowly at 80km/h. *shakes fist at them* IDIOTS. Rawr! I was so tense driving home... And my brother kept screeching at me to quit drifting amongst the lanes because I have a tendency to be unable to adapt to the wonders of power-steering. ^_^" Oops.By the way, when you drive to Jalan Kayu along the TPE [if I'm not wrong], you pass by these rural areas of Singapore on the expressway!!! It was so exciting.=D I've never been to these sparsely populated areas of Singapore before! Haha. The Ikea and Courts megastores there seriously look like those huge outlet malls you see in the US and the UK! ^_^ Exciting stuff. Plus there are like, fields!!! And sparsely populated HDB estates!!! [We passed by Sengkang.]Rural Singapore.. It's exciting to see these parts of Singapore actually.. Because I'm so used to the congestion in the main city area and where I stay..^_^"With a car, so many new possibilities are presented to you because you can drive to all these rural areas [take this with a pinch of salt when it comes to describing Singapore as rural] and not have to worry about changing bus and everything.^_^ And you can see a lot more by just driving around.=)Tonight was rather educational. I realised that even though Singapore is so small, there are so many places I've never been to. Perhaps I should explore my own country first... before thinking of going elsewhere and exploring every nook and cranny of that country.^_^"cheers*[-witchstone-]*[music : Serve Chilled album Hedkandi][mood : tired][food : prata!]Jiamin: Yes Mdm. Haha. I'm biased remember? And I was too busy playing MarioKart to urm actually want to properly blog about Secret.=X Oops.Labels: misc, Singapore Food Odyssey, thoughts
Secret: 不能说的 秘密
HelloToday I watched the new Jay Chou movie, Secret.What can I say.. It was rather.. original I suppose. But there were too many cheesy lines which is absolutely unforgivable. "讨厌!" -____- Overused much? And while I have to say the directing wasn't too bad.. There were too many camera angles that were just so... typical.-_-" And the girl annoyed me endlessly.. Especially when she tried to pout. That just did not work.Still, I like Anthony Wong.. And I guess Jay Chou has improved a little [he has more than 2 expressions now!] in his acting so.. I wouldn't write this one off completely.Plus, I LOVED the soundtrack! xDcheers*[-witchstone-]*[music : MarioKart DS!][mood : ^_^][food : ribs!]Labels: DS Lite, misc, movie review, Secret
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Fate/Stay Night
Hello!
It's so hot today. And the sun was so glaring, I got a headache because I forgot to wear my sunglasses.(T_T) Weeps.
Fate/Stay Night is absolutely fabulous to watch!!! xD Beams. And Kyou Kara Maou is actually getting interesting. Haha.=P Plus I just squeal with delight everytime a cute guy is onscreen [which is every scene in the anime by the way].
I can't wait to start on Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu [The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya].^_^v
And I updated the food blog! ^_^ I've got a HUGE backlog of posts to type up so keep checking back every couple of days!
Oh. And I'm still packing my room. FRIENDS PLEASE COME AND HELP ME. *weeps* I will pay you with cupcakes! Haha.
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*
[music : Kyou Kara Maou Ending theme]
[mood : ^_^]
[food : cupcakes!]
Jiamin: OMG! I haven't finished Snow Queen! Haha. Have I returned it yet? Hmm. Must find it and return it to Joyce.=X
Liu-Yi: ^_^ No problem! You can watch it online I think.. And I only took photos of the nice bits of the parade so this is like a condensed version.=D HahaLabels: anime, Fate/Stay Night, food blog, Kyou Kara Maou, misc, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu
Thursday, August 09, 2007
NDP @ Marina Bay 2007
Hello!
I just returned from dinner after attending the NDP [National Day Parade] at Marina Bay.^_^ While I thought the whole "floating stage" idea was wonderful and the stage was truly magnificent, the programme itself was rather blah.O__o They can do much to improve.
My brother and I were snapping away throughout the parade and concert segments while I attempted to teach my mom how to use her new camera! ^_^ She's urh.. Still not very good but practice makes perfect. Yay!
The invitation! ^_^ With this, we sat in the red sector which was right in the middle. And we sat near the top which afforded us a great view of the stage and of the bay. Plus, it was really breezy so it wasn't hot at all!
You also get a grand view of the city skyline! ^_^ And my Singapore flag! *waves it madly in the air* I'll be bringing it to Michigan with me.=D [I know. It screams patriotism all over. Haha.=P]
The floating stage in front of us. They made good use of the water fountains and the bay element so that was great.^_^
Everyone patriotically waving their flags madly in the air.^_^ It looks very pretty on the TV screen when filmed from afar! Hehe. You'll have seen tons of shots of this if you watched the NDP at home.
The Red Lions [a group of guys who have a lot of experience at parachuting and they perform every year at the NDP without fail.^_^] coming down from the sky! My mom gets super excited about the Red Lions every year. Haha. But you have to admit it's a pretty sight when you see these red dots against the blue sky.=)
Touchdown!!!!! ^_^ Every year, the emcees make you scream encouragements to the Red Lions to .. I don't know. Encourage them to come down faster perhaps? Haha. This year was pretty dead. -___- I think the horizontal positioning of the audience is detrimental to the NDP spirit of screaming your head off.
Behold the power of digital zoom!! xD Haha. I thought the SDT [Singapore Dance Theatre] was quite good today.=) Much much much better than the SAF Dance Company. O__o Then again, they ARE professional classically trained dancers so..^_^"
The actual parade segment! ^_^ That's the parade commander on the left there. For the 1st time, they got a NS guy to do it instead of a regular [regular meaning people actually employed by the army instead of those who are conscripted].
If you didn't watch the parade on TV, I'll have you note that the guys-in-green were formed up to say "NDP 07"! xD It's so cheesy, it's cute. [They later formed "NS 40" to celebrate the 40th year of National Service.xD Haha. That must have delighted all males in Singapore..] 
Everyone's formed up: the uniformed groups, the civil defense groups, the groups representing civilians, the army dudes and the regimental something or anothers as well as the SAF colours and the state colours in the colour contingent.^_^ I love this scene it's so... grand! Haha.=D
The flag on it's fly pass while everyone sings the National Anthemn! ^_^ I know I know. I should be standing still as a sign of respect but I couldn't resist..=X And the flag was really really close to us this year! ^_^
National Education has worked very very well by the way. I think the National Anthemn and the Pledge as well as all the classic NDP songs [like Stand Up For Singapore and so on] are absolutely ingrained in my brain. I might get amnesia and I might forget my name but I probably won't forget these things.xD Haha.
The cool fighter planes! I can't remember which model this one was. X__x
Pretty.. smoke-behind-tail-whose-name-I've-forgotten!!! xD Is it jetstream? Hmm. Anyway. Once again, I can't remember the model.=X
Feu de Joi! [Or however you spell it..] The 21 gun salute by the soldiers following the one by the big guns! ^_^ I was blocked by huge security dudes so I couldn't take a photo of the giant guns. But wahhh these guys look very good in their firing positions.xD Hehe.
All the colours of the state and the SAF leading the march-past. xD I love the militaristic [is there such a word?] music that accompanied this segment! Beams. And I love the flags.. They're pretty! *is immediately declared a bimbo*
Time for the Defense Display! ^_^ This part was really cool and had me squealing with excitement at every machine that turned up. But the ones that had me squealing the most are posted here.xD
The Chinook helicoptor! WAH SO COOL. *points points* It can hover over water!!! xD Haha. I took this photo right after the naval divers hopped off the helicoptor and plunged into the bay. xP The Chinook looked very impressive skimming over the water and creating a splash everywhere..
The Apache helicoptors!!! They are super agile and fast and are wayyy cool to watch.xD xD xD Everytime they did a stunt I would do an obliging WAHHH. Haha.xD And the Apache can not only be extremely agile in air, they can skim very close to the ground without crashing.=) This shot shows the Apache hanging in mid-air, at an angle.^_^ SO COOL! *squeals*
I'm partial to air-machines as you can tell.xD
Now for the concert segment!
They had some lame show on stage so I was instead, very attracted to these floating jellyfish over the bay.^_^ It was very pretty and these jellyfish actually complemented the skyline very nicely. I'm pleased to see them make use of the bay to add to the parade because it makes more sense than to center everything around the floating stage.
The gorgeously lit-up cityscape! ^_^ Pretty!
The stage when it was lit up at night.=)
If you peer hard enough, you'll see these little colourful dots around the stage. They are REALLY pretty when you see them live! ^_^ Those dots are actually remote-controlled kites. Very cool and they added an element of interest to the stage.^_^ Wee!
And now for one of my favourite parts of NDP every year!
FIREWORKS!!!!!!!!! ^_^ I know. They look a bit funny.X__x Sorry! I think I should have used a faster shutter speed.=X =X =X This is my first time taking photos of fireworks so please be kind to me.xP
^_^ They had pretty fireworks this year... They have pretty fireworks every year actually. I love fireworks! ^_^
After that, we got stuck in the crowd because we took the wrong exit but ended up safely at Gyu-Kaku for dinner anyway.^_^ That was brilliant. I love Gyu-Kaku! Haha. I'll post about it soon on the food blog.=)
Hmm.. I know the NDP is cheesy and they practically force-feed you NE every National Day Celebration but.. I really enjoy going. Haha. The atmosphere is always captivating and I enjoy going to see the planes and fireworks.^_^ Oh. And the parade segment too [which is the actual NDP.. the rest is just fluff if you think about it. Haha].
And now that I'm out of school, it'll be the one time a year I get to sing the National Anthemn and say the Pledge and sing all the classic NDP songs which I love despite their cheesiness.xD I actually really like our National Anthemn.. It's a lovely piece.. It really is.^_^ And classic NDP songs are great stuff to sing along to. Beams.
Urban today also has a feature on Singaporeans who have made it internationally.. ^_^ I always devour such information when I see it. Haha.
All this just makes me realise how soon I'm going to be flying off to study in Michigan. It's a rather chilling thought.X__x [Literally and figuratively.]
Hope everyone had a great National Day! ^_^
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*
Jiamin: You must come watch with me!! xD
Wendaye: I've watched it once. I can definitely control myself. Urh. I hope. Haha.xD Aiyos! I LOVE his jawline. It's.. jaw-droppingly gorgeous.xD Labels: Marina Bay, misc, NDP, TV
