snowing It snowed again! Yday, the weather forecast predicted that midweek there is a 20% chance of snow. Just now when I was in school, my friend told me that the latest update was that at 8pm, it was 70% chance of snow. No wonder the place felt a little empty. People were rushing back as they didn't want to be caught in a snow storm.




  ¶ 1/31/2007 11:34:00 PM 0 Comments

  I miss my Geylang Hor Fun ... and the Frog Leg Porridge



  ¶ 1/30/2007 11:58:00 PM 0 Comments

  Freezing cold I remembered I previously mentioned in a post that I've experienced the coldest temperature here. Gosh ... today is really the worst! I've been checking the weather forecast and each time I check, the temperature drops further. Currently, I'm at -8 deg. I have a thermometer and my room temperature reads as 2 deg despite having 2 electric heaters on.


I've decided to wear my big duffle jacket to sleep. Just like mashmellow man ...


Anyway, I'm looking out for ideas (and recipe) for nice soups to keep me warm in this crazy weather. I'm kinda sick of always having corn and chicken soup. If anyone out there have recommendations for me, please email me k!





Anyway,  ¶ 1/29/2007 01:51:00 AM 0 Comments

  A murder has been committed!!! A murder has been committed.
I was walking around school and this is the scene of crime.

So who killed Mr. Snowman?


  ¶ 1/25/2007 10:39:00 PM 0 Comments

  Look mum! I can cook!

See, I have some marinated chicken wings in Kikkomon, a tinge of Cinnamon and Rosemary leaves and 2 eggs with mushrooms for an Omelette ...

Plus some sandwiches to fill up my tummy. Topped with an apple (to keep the doctor away) and a cup of orange juice for the Vitamin C.

And ta-da! There you have it! My nice yummy dinner. Oh, btw - you can spot my 2nd little one in this picture. Spot a little purple hippo?

  ¶ 1/23/2007 11:02:00 PM 0 Comments

  Walking in the Winter Wonderland ....   ¶ 1/23/2007 08:23:00 AM 0 Comments

  It's snowing! It just snowed 5 mins ago! I was working on my computer when I suddenly heard noises that sound like little stones were thrown at my window. I opened the blinds and this was what I saw!

Fresh snow! you can see snow flecks in the picture. It's really beautiful... I stretched my hand out to touch the snow!

This is my first time experiencing snow here in St. Louis! Or rather seeing fresh snow falling from the sky. Hence my excitment! This is my view from another window.

I believe tomorrow's going to be a beautiful day! Will wake up early to take a walk.

  ¶ 1/21/2007 12:26:00 AM 0 Comments

  Happy Social Worker's Day! Hey... Happy Social Worker's Day!

Oh, and this second poster reminds me of Terry Fox and yes, I visited his monument in Canada - I think it's in Montreal.

Let's never give up the spirit and passion that makes us true, blue social workers in helping people. Cheers to all fellow social workers!

  ¶ 1/20/2007 11:17:00 PM 0 Comments

  Cold, Sleepless Night I do not know what happened last night. My electricity was cut at 3am and that affected my electric heaters. Couldn't sleep after that ... was constantly waking up trying to find ways to make myself warm by wearing additional clothings.

  ¶ 1/19/2007 07:27:00 PM 0 Comments

  Hoping for warmer weather... Initially I was really excited about the winter. As time goes by, gosh... i'm missing the warmer temperature.
Good thing I bought these ear muffs in New York. Paid US$3 for these at Chinatown. It's really cold that your ear, toes and fingers freezes up. Yes - my toes and fingers freeze despite my socks and gloves.......

Did some shopping today at Walmart. Thanks so much Yoo San for bringing me there! Bought a bedsheet cover for my bed and a side table. Will make up room very nicely tonight! = )  ¶ 1/18/2007 08:07:00 PM 0 Comments

  Little Squirrels I love observing all the little squirrels. You get to see a couple of them here and there. They squint around, hurriedly moving from place to place looking for food I suppose. It's not easy to catch one on the camera. They look so cute.

I had my first lession on social work practice with gays, lesbians and transexuals. It's a small class of 10 and I must say that the reading is like WAHHHHH. A whole list of readings with 5 recommended books and 2 optional books. Somehow I don't know why but the textbooks here are super expensive. Some in the range of USD$80 - $100. I think I would shop online. My coursemate was telling met that it'll be cheaper to buy online. Anyway, I picked up one book from campus which I would need to read before the next lesson. This is the title, and this is how the cover looks ...

Hmm... any comments? Looks very apt for the topic isn't it? It's actually a novel of a homosexual teenager. I think our lecturer got us to read this for the first week so at least there are some basis for discussion.

  ¶ 1/17/2007 07:22:00 PM 0 Comments

  Freeze Gosh... today is really cold. I think it's the coldest I've experienced in STL.


I left home this morning feeling quite happy that the sun is out after a whole weekend of freezing rain. Thought it'll be warm BUT i was deceived.


I see some signs of snow and lots of flurries (small flecks of snow) in the air. Can't capture the flurries in my picture. But just imagine small flecks of snow that just melt on contact.


I had my first lesson in Social, Economic and Political Environment. Whenever I tell people that I'm taking the module under Mark Rank, I get a very cautious reaction from people, warning me that he's very demanding. I even knew of someone who switched lecturer after hearing Mark Rank's reputation.


Despite these, I was still determined to meet Mark Rank. I heard about this book which he wrote which I was really interested in and hence decided to take the module under him. Apparently he's well known in the States because of this book. Picked up his book from the campus bookshop a few days back.



I was quite intrigued by some of the figures reported in his book. Quite hard hitting figures he has. Can you imagine 3/4 of all Americans between ages 20 and 75 will spend at least one year of their lives in poverty?and 2/3 aged 20-65 will be on a welfare programme and this figure will go up to 40% in 5 or more years. Sounds impossible considering America as the strong hold of the world's economy but real as what I see since I arrived.


Some hard facts and numbers and I liked the way he likens American poverty to a game of musical chairs in which once the music stops, more often than not politicians will only focus on the players out of the game without seeing how the game is structured to produce losers in the first place. I also like this part of the book which he described an observation made that if a homeless person were to die on the streets, the person will get the attention and resources of Police cars, ambulances, emergency services BUT is not entitled to any resources before his death.....


I can go on and on about his book but anyway, after attending his first lesson, I don't regret at all. In fact, I think he has a lot to offer. I like his sense of humor as well.


Tomorrow's my first lesson on Social Work Practice with Gays, Lesbian and Transexuals. Interesting huh?  ¶ 1/16/2007 10:02:00 PM 0 Comments

  Frozen Cars There have been 21 deaths reported due to the ice storm. All of which occured on the roads. It's not surprising considering how frozen these cars are ...

Car completely frozen in ice
Frozen antennas ...

  ¶ 1/15/2007 05:08:00 PM 0 Comments

  On Delmar Loop during the Ice Storm Today's weather has been better even though things outside are still covered in ice. The weatherman actually forecast that there will be another wave of freezing rain either today or tomorrow. But people around are taking the opportunity to play with ice! Well, I took a short walk down Delmar Loop before walking briskly back home due to the freezing temperature ...

I think a beer from Mr. Ice Bear will be good to warm up in the cold ... *hic* hahaha

Along the way, you also get to see these dirty puddles of ice cleared out either from the roads or the roof - before it gets too heavy and collapses!

  ¶ 1/14/2007 05:12:00 PM 0 Comments

  Ice Storm I'm currently hit by an ice storm. It's really cold outside and it's freezing. So far there are parts of St. Louis that are without electricity due to snapped power lines (either from fallen frozen trees or under the weight of the ice). Thank goodness my area is still ok! Can't imagine how it would be without electricity!

Fences covered in ice...

And even signs are frozen in ice ...

  ¶ 1/14/2007 04:38:00 PM 0 Comments

  Let's go shopping! Went with the Office of International Students and Scholars on a 4 hour shopping trip! We were brought to major shopping areas here in St. Louis.






  ¶ 1/13/2007 06:53:00 PM 0 Comments

  Continental Hostel Continental Hostel @ 330 West 95th Street
USD$16 per night in a bunk of 4.


This was where I was staying from 2nd - 5th Jan. I would highly recommend people to stay there. It's not too far from the Subway and from Times Square. Place is clean and is more secure as you actually hold to your bunk key. It's much better than where I stayed previously at Times Square Castle!


D. had a scary experience where she was previously staying. Her hostel was robbed and only after that did she found out that it was actually illegally operated. Thank goodness she did not lose anything!


Anyway, I had a good experience there. Was in the same bunk with Jason. One thing really fun about staying in hostels is that you actually get to interact with different people! Learnt a lot about Americans from Jason. He taught us how to sing a Peanut Butter Song! On my last night, we went out for a nice Chinese dinner at Chinatown. After that, we walked to East Village looking for a pub and ended up at one which had 2 levels. The first floor was a dance floor while in the basement, there was this band which was playing their own composition - kinda remind me of the 8th Mile (if you remember that movie).


  ¶ 1/04/2007 11:04:00 PM 0 Comments

  New York's National Library
Visited New York's National Library and *gosh*, I really feel that I've walked into a library. It's just so majestic and there's a pride the building holds.
Singapore's library? It's too modern and there's no soul in the building. I felt that our Stanford Library was the nearest we have to New York's. But where is it? GONE! The only thing I heard they conserved the red bricks and fused it into the design of the library at Victoria St.... it's like duhhhhh

The inside ceiling of the library

The entrance of the library

The hallway

My coat at one of the reading tables

Don't you think the structure is really beautiful?

  ¶ 1/04/2007 07:44:00 PM 0 Comments

  Guggenheim Museum I remembered about 2 years ago, I hosted a Caucasian Priest, Fr. Jerry. He asked me to bring him to art museum in Singapore. I brought him to the Singapore Art Museum (old SJI). That was my first exposure to appreciating paintings. I remembered he taught me how far to stand to view paintings and what to look out for in paintings - the strokes, the history etc.




  ¶ 1/03/2007 08:08:00 PM 0 Comments