home for the holidays

wow --- so this post has been delayed since well, before this sem started, oops. but here it is now! i don't remember so much anymore, so the pictures will have to do most of the talking.

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so once again, this post is rather delayed. i meant to be good about this sort of thing, but i've been backed up quite a bit with all my random little projects (aka, the scrapbook i have been working on for years and have not quite finished...)

so, winter break! classes ended in singapore on nov 13 or so, two exams on dec 2 and BAM! winter break. i was greeted by snow & frigid weather, but it was nice i think aside from that minor cold the freezing temperatures gave me.

i meant to cook & bake much more this winter break, but that didn't really happen. my one baking project however, did go splendidly well!

mini pecan pumpkin pies! mmm, delicious!

sometime in mid-december, nova got a huge snowstorm. this is one of my fav pics from it:

christmas and such passed, and then one of my friends that i made in singapore, lehyla, came to visit. we went gallivanting around d.c. in the cold and the weather was for the most part, wonderful! here is a picture of the capitol building set against the pretty blue winter sky.

towards the end of break, i got to visit earlysville, va to visit with liz and katie. in true friend fashion, we mostly just ate.

here is a picture of liz and katie baking delicious chocolate chip cookies!

before break ended, i got to hang out with sana and angela in georgetown. once again, an obligatory stop at georgetown cupcakes. mmmmm!

sadly, i waited so long to put up this post that i can't quite remember all the other exciting details. look out for more posts to keep you updated about college life!

lots of catching up to do...

so, my mother insisted i continue my blog & i suppose there is a rather large gap between my last post and now...

i'll try to keep this entry short & with lots of pictures! let's start back in singapore...

sometime back in november as classes were winding down and everyone was in a frenzy getting holidays ready (& studying of course...), i finally got to go to the singapore flyer. in hindsight, i'm glad the thing was only S$10 with student id, because i feel sorry for the tourists that actually pay the full S$30 to go on that thing. not to say that the view wasn't pretty, but you can only enjoy a ferris wheel for so long...

this is what i thought the coolest view from the flyer was:

sometime before exams, my friends from borneo & i got together for a meal and by my prodding, ended up in a giant candy store. they had your usual assortment of australian & british brand chocolates & candies, and of course, starbursts as well!

this was the creepiest thing ever. apparently though, its quite a normal sight in the once british colonies. odd.

anyhow, in the last week of nov/first week of dec, my aunt came to visit and we went on a self-created 3-city tour of southeast asia. singapore, kuala lumpur, and jakarta. not the most exciting cities in the world, but i'll leave you with some highlights!

singapore: we spent time around city hall/raffles while we visited smu, the esplanade, the merlion, lau pa sat, chjimes,& the good shepherd. arab street, little india, chili crab at clarkes quay. some time around ion and orchard central.

chjimes

the sultan mosque at arab street

clarkes quay

ion@orchard

kuala lumpur, malaysia: independence (merdeka) square, the national mosque, the petronas twin towers, a day trip to melaka, dinner at the seri melayu, and a stop at chinatown before heading off to jakarta.

the twin towers
in melaka

jakarta: monumen nasional, taman indonesia indah, toko batik, a national museum, some sketch part of town to a gem market, and lots of jurassic park watching.

monumen nasional
streets of jakarta
taman indonesia indah
city center

like i said, not exactly the most exciting places in the world, but nonetheless, i feel well-traveled! i was imagining i would show some pictures from break in this entry too, but i think those will have to wait til later.

only one more week til i go back to the semi-real world that is university.