Easter weekend at Houston

Ok, finally, my long delayed entry about the Easter weekend, 2 weeks ago haha.

Lauren invited us over to her place over the weekend, and on Thurs we went to the Houston rodeo. Ooh man it was crazy there. They had all sorts of things going on: livestock shows (a farm animal exhibition, basically), carnival rides, lotsa food, pig races, the rodeo itself, and of course, countless people decked out in their cowboy gear. Yeah, Texas country at its finest haha.

Sausage on a stick, and a gigantic turkey leg.

At the livestock show. Pigs.
Ponies.

Cow asses lined up in a row.
Giant rabbits.
Thanksgiving came early this year (see "giant turkey leg" above)
Chicks!Sheep.

The rodeo!
Cowboy.

Er, I forgot what this event is called but basically those 2 cowboys had to lasso the calf, and jump down and tie up its legs as quickly as possible.
Bullriding. Woots. The competitors are judged on their "form", and they must stay on the bull for at least 8 seconds. Trust me, it's hard.
A loose bull.

Hahaha, this is a damn nonsense event. Basically, selected high school kids from around Texas gather here and try to grab a calf. If they can keep hold of it and drag it behind the white line, they are allowed to keep the calf.
Well, at least he still has a hold of his calf haha.
Mayhem.

Dierks Bentley (a country singer) concert.

The next morning (Fri), we drove down to Galveston, which is like Texas' beach town. It's not that nice really. The beach resembles Singapore's haha. The water was grey, and there was trash on the sand. But I had fun nonetheless haha.

Oh. The guys were throwing girls in, one at a time. Here I am, like a lamb being led to slaughter.
Then I put up a struggle, so they decided to haul me in.
Argh!!
Beach volleyball.

The infamous French game haha.

Lauren invited the French (and one Spanish) over for hamburgers haha. Here's the international posse: French, Spanish, Indonesians, Singaporeans, and 1 American.
They kinda look like each other haha.

Err. Crazy Euros.
Again.
Intense discussion.

Ooh, the next day, we had a crawfish boil! Crawfish are like a smaller version of lobsters, with pincers. They live in the mud, instead of at sea. And they're delicious haha. Basically you just throw tons of them into a huge pot, add seasoning, and you have a great meal.

We put up that tent ok!
A tub of crawfish. That's Lauren's Korean friend, Yire.

Crawfish, up close.
Yummy.
Laura (Lauren's friend, yes I know it's confusing ahha) likes to play with the dead crawfish, instead of eating them like she's supposed to haha.

We had an easter egg dyeing session after dinner, and after our hot tub session :D
The kitten in the pool table.

Us, with Lauren's family! They were really great hosts to all of us, and her mum makes the greatest meals!! Oh man, every meal is a surprise haha. I seriously think I gained alot of weight after that weekend. Her mum also gave us an Easter basket. Apparently, it's an American tradition to give your kids Easter baskets with stuff like candy, inside. It's like a mini-Christmas haha.

So yeah, I had a blast! I'm really thankful that we met Lauren, and that she's willing to hang out and host a bunch of Chinese haha. It's liek people like her that make my exchange seem worthwhile :)

Oh no, my feelings are more important than yours.
Oh, drop dead, I don't care, I won't worry.

always something else

Ok, I'm gonna make this short. This is just to let everyone know I'm still alive (and because my laptop is dying) haha. Sorry that I haven't been blogging for so long, I've been very busy with work and exams. Gahh.

I think after being in the Singaporean education system for so long, studying has been ingrained into my system haha. I can't help not studying. If I slack for a while I'll be ridden with guilt until I do something about it haha. But believe me, I'm leading a much more relaxed lifestyle here. There's something to do every weekend (non-academic stuff of course), and if there's nothing to do and the weather is nice, it's good to go out and lie on a patch of grass and bask in the sun :D We even nicknamed a patch of grass "dream hill" hahah.

But then again, I'm sick of school. I'm counting down the days to my end-of-semester break. Woots. California! The sun, sand, and sea! 5 more weeks!! Ahahah. Hmm but I don't really wanna leave College Station. The people are nice (people who are nicer than Singaporeans are nice in my book), the weather is great, and I've made really fun and great friends.

Ok I promise I'll blog about Spring Break, and my Easter weekend (which in my opinion, was one of the bestest weekends I've ever had!) sooooon. I'm still waiting to receive the photos haha. They're currently being passed around. But you all can still check out my Facebook photos. Oh this weekend was great too, though it's technically still not over haha. I spent like the previous 2 nights at Lauren's place (it's like my second home now I think), though only 1 of them was on purpose. We mostly just hung around and watched movies. Last night was by accident cuz the 2 Indos fell alseep, so like wth, stay another night lor haha. Oh and tonight, we had a potluck with the French, with lotsa food and fun. Man, now I hate going back to school :(

There's always something else on my mind
There's always something I can't find

across the universe

I'm back!

Many, many countless things happened. Flight delays, hours spent at airports, getting pulled over by cops, hours spent in a car, getting lost on roads, appearing on TV... Phwoar. I'll go through everything in detail once I have enough time. I have tons of things waiting for me to do. Which sucks. The nightmare after Spring Break indeed.

Oh well, at least I had fun :) Despite the many obstacles we had to go through haha. I guess it's all part of the experience.

Now, it's back to the hell that is school. And to planning the next stage of my holiday, California!

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world

I'm going to...

NY BABY!!!




See you all next week! Pray for a safe and fulfilling trip :) and of course, FUN :D


One may think we’re alright
But we need pills to sleep at night
We need lies to make it through the day
We’re not ok

Monterrey

Man, I took a few hours just to upload all these photos, so you all better appreciate it! Anyway this was from my Mexican trip last weekend. Went with a group of 5 French, and Alex, who hooked me up with them haha. We drove there in the French's minivan. 10 hours sia. Oh we went to Monterrey, which is supposedly the high class part of Mexico. But it's still Third World leh. Like extremely. I'm so glad to be back here in one piece haha.

Our group. The trusty minivan haha. It's damn old lor, from '94. And the aircon is faulty, so we were basically perspiring to death in the backseat throughout the trip haha. At least it got us there and back haha.The Mexican border, at Laredo.

Anyway, we reached Monterrey around 12 plus at night. It was bad, cuz we were trying to find one of the French guy's girlfriend's house (she's an exchange student there), and we lost our way in the city. So we were driving around for quite a while. Plus we met a few mishaps along the way, like being chased by a police car who thought the driver was drinking alcohol when it was actually water, and almost colliding with a car. Those crazy Mexicans. They drive like madmen, and their roads have no lane markings? I really admire the French lor, cuz they managed to drive properly haha.

So we found her house, and they were having a party there. It was insane, in a bad way. Those Mexicans party like siao lor. I saw couples making out left, right and centre. And there were drunk guys trying to pick me up. Gosh. I had to hide in the bathroom to run away from this particularly creepy guy. We left at 4am, and took 1 hour to find the hotel! Cuz we booked the Marriott hotel, only to realise that it's very far away from downtown Monterrey, so we wanted to change. But the hotel wouldn't allow it, so bo bian lor, have to find the hotel hhah. And it's not the real Marriott, just the offshoot motel version. But not bad la, the room was really nice :)

Our hotel. Fairfield Inns.
Good morning. The French are pros. They can sleep at 5am, and wake up at 10am?? Consecutively for 2 days.
Stop sign.
Lunch. Tacos, tacos and more tacos.

Err. Crap, I forgot the name of this church haha. I think it's called Catedral Metropolitana de Nuestra Se ora de Monterrey. It's sad how I only know the names of the places I go, after I come back and google them haha. As a tourist, I'm a failure. But then again, you should try remembering those Spanish names.

In the town central.

Gosh, I look like a freaking tourist. Me with my giant sombrero.

Monterrey is famous for its mountains.
Faro de Comercio

Oh man, I love those 2 Mexican girls we met at the park. They're so cute! And both of them kept giggling whenever I point my camera at them haha.

Err this guy popped out of nowhere and sang to us. He didn't even know how to play the guitar, he just strummed it randomly.
Ahh this is life, I tell you. Lying in the grass, talking cock.

Err. The Museo de Historia Mexicana. The museum of Mexican history la, in other words.
The museum trip was a complete failure cuz everything was in Spanish! We came out after 15 mins haha. Thanks goodness the admission was free.

Barrio Antigua. It's this street of bars and clubs. Crazy at night.

This bar we went to. Very nice haha.
They offered salsa lessons, so I tried. And embarrassed myself terribly. In Alex's words, "It's not that I don't wanna shake my hips, I can't even find them!"
Our group, with the 2 Mexicans we danced with, and the waiter haha.

Oh we visited this waterfall in the mountains. Cascada Cola de Caballo.

Taken with my 3.2 MP phone. My camera only managed to last for a day -.-

They offer miniature pony rides for kids, handled by kids haha.

Our last meal at this dingy restaurant on the side of the mountain roads haha.

And finally, some sights of the city on the way out.

Ooh, this is the line separating Mexico from the US. And the river in the background is the infamous Pincearo (I can't remember how to spell). Apparently many Mexicans die trying to cross the river over to the US.
The line to the checkpoint. I think we waited 1 and a half hrs in the sweltering heat.
And home sweet home! I've never been so happy to see Texas!!

Hahah I had alot of fun in general. Learnt quite alot of French and Spanish too haha. But I was basically lost in translation throughout the whole trip, cuz none of us were fluent in Spanish, only a few French know bits and pieces of it haha. ("Non comprendo?") The stuff in Mexico is cheap too! Basically 10 times smaller than the US$.

Speaking of which, I spent $38 on a haircut today?? Mother, forgive me!! I didn't think it'll cost so much!! I promise I won't cut my hair till I go back! Crap, I feel so cheated. And it's not even that nice. Oh today is Be Nice to Your Fellow Singaporean Day haha. Self-declared la. So we decided to visit the Asian market here (and walked 15 mins just to get there), and get stuff to make dinner. We cooked Mee Sua, and oh man, it was a complete failure lor haha. The mee sua totally sucked la. Not our cooking skills. The thing itself was too salty! We quit eating halfway, and just decided to finish the meat (prawns, pork kidney bleah, fishballs, luncheon) before we kena kidney failure tomorrow haha. Oh we made Milo Dinosaur though, and I think it was the only highlight of our dinner haha. Well, there's tang yuan for tomorrow so hopefully it'll turn out well. This reminds me of Rag. "Rag comm meeting outside!!" Yeah, and it was just an excuse for us to eat tangyuan away from those freshies hahaha.

Ok I need to sleep now. Gahh. I don't think I ever recovered from this trip. I'm destined to suffer from black eye rings and coffee-dependency forever.

But with you by my side I can do anything
When we swing
We hang past right or wrong

hit and miss

I suddenly miss Singapore very much. I don't know why, cuz I haven't really been thinking alot about home haha. But after talking to Shuqi online that night, I suddenly miss everyone :( It's the feeling of home I guess. Being able to shoot my mouth off without thinking too much haha. And being able to tease someone (besides my roommate, who incidentally posted a "Go Back to Mexico!" sign on my door when I came back).

I miss the food! Especially the variety and convenience. All I have to do is walk 3 mins, and I can something to eat, even at 2am in the morning.

I miss our transport system. Yes, even the rude SBS drivers haha. I think I might have trouble adjusting to the (lack of) courtesy at home. The people here are just too nice haha. I think I'll probably get beaten if I said "hi" to a random stranger in Singapore. Anyway, yeah I miss our transport system. The convenience of it all. I can always find my way home, even if I'm stuck at some Ulu Pandan place at 12 midnight haha.

I miss the safety and security. I don't have to fear for my life if I come home late. Over here, I freak out if I don't hear from my dear friend in NY for a few days. Maybe I'm just paranoid.

I miss PARKWAY. Oh man, the one-stop centre for everything. It has everything I'll ever need haha. And it's so near. Gosh, Parkway is seriously my second home hah. I think I sound like an auntie, but oh well.

I miss the PEOPLE. Especially the people. I'm talking about my friends actually. Not Singaporeans in general haha. I miss being able to hang out with friends with just a phone call. And hanging out at Shuqi's place watching movies that make us look intellectual, when in reality we have no clue what's going on. And going out with WWF to do dumb stuff. Talking cock. Being myself.

I hate it when people here don't understand me when I speak. And I can't really start doing dumb stuff cuz I don't know how they'll take it haha. I need to hang out with people who have the same frequency as me!! I think I'm only really myself when I'm talking to my friends online/through webcam.

But it's all an experience I guess. The more I think about home, the more likely I'll go back to the emotional state I was in when I just came here. And I don't wanna go back there. I really like where I am now haha. Granted there are times when I'd feel lonely and extra, but I know I'm going to get through this stronger, and better for it.

Oh btw, I just watched "Juno" online. And it was great! Like they managed to turn a serious issue into something light-hearted and uplifting. Anyway it's sad that I have to watch movies online. It's not that I don't wanna go to a cinema, cuz believe me, I really wanna do that (since movies are only us$4, which is cheap). I just need the FREAKINGG TRANSPORT. One day I just might steal a car here haha. I'm joking.

Ok, I'm going off. I've never slept before 2am the whole of this week, so I'm pretty bushed. By the way I was over at Monterrey, in Mexico, for the weekend. Woots. It was crazy. I'm so happy to be back alive haha. I'll post pictures and details once I have the time/mood to do that. And I'm really upset about my camera and it's puny, non-existent battery life. I hope it can last me through Spring Break :(

Here is the church and here is the steeple
We sure are cute for two ugly people
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you