Ears: Elvis Costello - When It Sings ("North" is my current favourite album.)
Mood: Sick.
Happy birthday to me! Well, a full week ago, that is. Turned the ripe ol' age of 23, and as Jessica Simpson puts it, "23 is old. It's almost 25, which is, like, almost mid twenties."
No kidding. I'm feeling ancient.
Anyhow, celebrated this milestone in a little hotel room overlooking the Sydney Entertainment Centre with the folks (who came down from SG for my convocation).
Twas all really nice and warm and fuzzy. They even bought me a cake!! A cake, I tell ya!!
Well, it tasted really bad (what did I tell ya? Never trust any bakers in Australia!), but then again, it's the thought that counts. *beams*
Earlier during the day, went book shopping with Cher at Kinokuniya and then met James to go to the Sydney Aquarium. He actually stayed over in Sydney for the weekend just to spend my birthday with me. *sighs* Well, the aquarium was all really tacky, but nice. Besides, good fish are always worth a second look. And Cher never did get to visit it on her previous trip to Sydney. Went for a short ferry ride from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay and then walked all those blocks back to find a good place to eat. Had some really yummo Shanghainese handmade noodles with shredded pork and pickled vegs, but sorry, for the life of me, I can't remember the name of the establishment.
So as I was saying, the folks came down from Sg for five days for a short holiday and to attend my convocation in Newy. Nothing exciting happened really - graduation went off without a hitch (unless you count the fact that 10 seconds before I shook the Vice Chancellor's hand, the guy giving instructions quietly yelled at me that my trencher was on the wrong way round. Had to do a 180. And I'm sure that mussed up my bangs, BIG TIME. Grrr!). It was more for the parents, as you can imagine. What with all the photos and whatnots. Also did a get together with James' family on my family's first night in Newy. Cate (his mom) insisted on it. So we all had dinner at a Chinese restaurant on Beaumont Street. Thankfully, there weren't any hiccups. No one choked, spilled anything, or created a row. And everyone talked and laughed and made merry.
Well, family's safely back in Sg now and back to their usual lives and routines and I should really be getting back into the swing of things - work-wise, but I can't seem to concentrate for long. The cold bug I caught from either James or Vatti had me woozy and feeling crap for the past two days, but even so, nothing's flowing in my brain. No ideas, no concepts, no nothing. Bah. Maybe after a workout at the gym tomorrow with get things working again. Hopefully.
On a parting note, must say that I'm weirdly haunted by the Nicoll Highway collapse. There's worse calamities happening around the world even as we speak, but when something as unexpected happens to a place or to people you know, it still sends you reeling. I don't personally know any of the people affected by the incident, but I'll add an extra prayer for them tonight.
So until I next blog, sleep tight, and stay safe.
P.S. OooooOOooo, and I killed a bloody big black spider that was on the cornice in my room. With what, you ask? A heap of Baygon and my Swifer stick. Don't ask how. Just be proud of me.
