what have i been up to? hmm..

gosh! its been a while since i last uppdated.. ok.. so here goes, typing on a french keyboard and all.. well.. lets start with.. spring break..

i went to vienna, prague and edinburgh.. it was a flight at 9.30 and so, i left cergy at 6.30.. in the morning! yes, i amaze myself with my waking up skills.. well.. i thought it was all going to be good and fine when… the RER broke down.. AHHH! i was stranded in the middle of nowhere, trying to get to the airport, bustling and shoving my way to get a cab.. then i decided.. no.. i shant do that.. 1 cab arrives and 60 people run to it.. NOT FUN.. i will take a bus.. yes.. with the other remaining 56 people.. you can imagine the crowd on the bus! elbows and luggages and feet.. no need to hold on to anything as well.. your ‘friends’ on your left, right, front and back have sandwiched you to the spot!

so.. i RAN like a mad person.. only to find that i had.. missed the check in by 10 mins! it was so frustrating.. there was a group of us at the sky europe desk talking (ok.. complaining) that it was no fault of ours and it was the rer train that caused us to miss the plane.. of course.. all the poor girl could do was shrug her shoulder, pout and say ‘im sorry’

so, me and a group of people (all vienna bound) teamed up and sought to find an alternate way to get to vienna.. for me.. i called my help desk in cergy - Jin.. hahaha.. she was such an angel! searching and telling me what airlines got there and what time.. however, at the end of the day, i bought yet another skyeurope ticket to get to vienna 12 hours later.. what a day it was.. spending time at orly airport! dont even ask how much the ticket cost

well.. after that horrifying event, i reached vienna and had a good meal! the next day, we walked about vienna and i got to see its streets, monuments, the st stephen’s church and also the hofburg! though it was a short tour of vienna, i really enjoyed its serene calmness and i felt that the air was romantic-like.. with notions of mozart and vienniesse waltzes in my head (ok.. did i get the spelling right?)

prague was beautiful! i got to see the clock which i was really looking forward to and i loved the old town and its square with cool architecture everywhere.. i also remember the charles bridge- at night and in the day where the atmosphere takes a 360° change.. touristy in the day and deserted at night.. prague castle was nice too and we saw a blacksmith hammering away. we managed to catch a performance and it was good! not fantastic, but good! felt so nice to hear familiar pieces.. brought me back to the times where kenny, sis and i would go to the esplanade to catch a concert!

edinburgh.. well.. what can i say.. met up with santhosh and he told me so much about scottish history and legislation.. was really quite an eye opener and he brought me around for 1/2 a day! it was a good trip, with much opportunity for learning! went to the edinburgh castle and holyrood palace and there was this lady in the castle who spoke a lot about mary queen of scots.. i must admit, after learning about french history and knowing a little about french nobility showed me so many links b/w the french and english court and i enjoy and understand it a lot more

well.. that sums up my spring break and choppa came to paris again and we went to bastille for dinner! great great place! so happenning! oh, i must mention that jin and i caught a ballet at the opera bastille.. we watched a ballet that had 3 parts- balanchine, raymonda and nuryeev (ok, not sure about the spelling for the last one).. but it showed a diverse repertoire and i enjoyed it a lot! it was cheap too! we queued up for last minute tickets and got category 1 seats at 15 euros!

before that, we went to tang frere and we also ate at a vietnamese restaurant in chinatown! yums!

went to paris again with jin and jiting to the delacroix musuem, second hand book stores and jardin de luxumbourg for a spot of relaxation and snoozing in the sun! ahhh!! we love the sun

recently, went to paris again with tasmina and we went to centre pompidou (must go again when its free!), d’orsay, st michel for shakespear and co., and la defense for a movie.. but it was a bit too ex! must go on weekday before 12nn.. will be much better!

so now.. i have a  list of to-go places! (its more to remind me actually!)

- montmarte
- the place with lots of columns
- pantheon
- pompidou
- louvre
- fontainebleu
- champ de mars

nuit de la censure, trip to the loire valley and walks with jin

ok.. start with the biggest event- nuit de la censure is a clubbing event organised by the school’s student committee. So, we all went to have a look-see!

it all started with the big gang of us going on the RER and then Metro.. the hour long ride felt like eternity and when me and saebom saw the queue for entrance to the club, we decided that we needed to find a toilet- fast! so dennis and esmond (esmond, who was at this point of time, half drunk from the PRE-PARTY!*) followed the 2 of us to go toilet hunting! we ended up in marriott hotel! that was nice! we returned back to the club and had to start queuing up..

we queued up for close to an hour in the FREEZING COLD to enter the club. and during our wait, we saw people getting carried out of the club by the bouncers as they were drunk (supposedly) and they were denied entry. sometimes, they were even pushed off when they tried to “appeal” their case to the bouncer. a few of them actually fell down when they were pushed! but the most amusing thing is that even the organisers were denied entry when they have not even STEPPED into the club.. it was quite sad. they organized the party and cant even go in to enjoy it!

FINALLY! we got in and there are 2 rooms. one is pop/oldies genre.. and the other is electrico/techno. unfortunately, both werent very good and the drinks were horrible! really watered down with no punch.. when it was time to leave, we went to queue up for the bus that would bring us back to residence.. and the scene was like a refugee camp! the organisers were shouting names and if it was you, you’d get on the bus. there was a list compiled of people who had requested for transport.. i didnt know of such a list and was in the middle of the shoving and hand raising and shoutings of “that’s me!”.. i was pushed by the tide of people swarming around me and only after fighting my way out of the crowd did i manage to take a step back and assess the situation..

i sat down and waited. finally, the organiser shouted “girls first!”.. i jumped up and said “im a girl!” so i managed to get on the bus.. it was crazy! the list had finished and there was still space on the bus.. so the girls could get on.. there was a “titanic” moment when a girlfriend got on and her boyfriend didnt.. imagine the distress! (hahaha).. so, overall, it was not the best clubbing experience and we all swore not to go for another clubbing party organised by the school student committee.

*pre party is a party where we all meet to drink before heading down to paris to club. this makes economical sense because we dont have to spend so much money on drinks IN the club and also because its easier to move off together if we are all already together in a room.

trip to the loire valley.. wow.. ok.. so we went to chambord and blois. 2 lovely lovely chateaux in the loire valley.. and it started to rain.. ok.. fine.. a little rain wont kill.. but hang on! it rained FOREVER!! it was non-stop down pour and we felt miserable.. it was a wet, dampy day and we were looking at castles built in the renaissance period..

however, it was a good day as i managed to revise my french history (by being the ms. know-it-all and telling my friends about the history of the french kings and their achievements.. THANK YOU WIKIPEDIA! and also, because i had just studied for my french civilisation exam which has a chapter on the kings who rules during the renaissance period..) and look at the lovely architecture and see its evolution. Blois is a castle which has 3 styles as the 3 renaissance kings took turns to break it down and build up a section of it in their own style. Chambord was PRETTY!!! it looks lovely from the outside (like a cake!).. and lo and behold, i found out from my german friend that it was designed by leonardo da vinci! well, no wonder then!

no pics for this (yet..) because the girl who took the photos is now on holiday in italy!

i had so many walks with jin (and so many dinners!) we cook for each other and go to each other’s place for chats and tea! cergy le haut is really quite a quaint little town! we explored the different areas of the town and discovered a nice get-away spot! there is a park in the middle of a stepford-wife like area! great for jogs and picnics! (not that i would do the former anytime soon)

and also!! i go to aerobics class with jin too! its a great work out which makes you start BELIEVING you have muscles in your abs and gives you a good opportunity to exercise! i attended 3 classes since last tuesday and have also done a ballet class and salsa class!

realised how good it is to start moving and exercising! will have to do it more often.. hmm..

this is at Shakespeare and company! a v v nice bookshop! everyone who comes to paris will HAVE to come here! was here with jin and spent more than 2 hours just reading a book!

nice open field in cergy le haut..

went to the picasso museum when it was free for all last sunday! the painting i am posing with is called “the headhunter” love it because that’s a HR-related job.. and also because its so literal.. the guy is literally cutting heads off of people

party in residence.. massive bday party! for the people born in jan-april!

pre party! having drinks and chatting!

the weather..

it snowed yesterday.. can you imagine! snow.. 6th april. its supposed to be SPRING! not winter!!!

it was lovely though.. people were outside on the field playing in the snow.. and everyone was calling everyone else and talking about the snow!

and there was food..

went to tang frere (the chinese supermarket in paris) and bought my claypot!

great for cooking rice! and.. guess what i had for dinner today..

claypot rice! YUMS!

of duplex, lebanese parties, sisters, flea markets, trip planning and walking

such a long title! i’ve done quite a bit since i last blogged.. well.. on to the 1st item- duplex!!! its the club in paris that allows exchange students to enter without a cover charge on tuesdays! and its amazing! it has 2 rooms- one with hip hop and latin (i likee!!) and another with house music and electrico (ok.. with enough alcohol, its nice too).. so we went there- me, tasmina, lemuel and anna.. there, we met tasmina’s friends from HKUST and we made up a grand total of 8 people! it was lots of fun dancing and enjoying the latin-music! and with time (ok, translated.. that was a drink and 3 shots (its my 1st time drinking shots and i did 3 in one night.. bahh)) electrico was nice! the night was good! no guys picked me up (which is.. strange.. am i that ugly???), but the other 2 girls did have people who struck conversations with them.. maybe its because they sat down and the guys moved in, whilst i was always on the go and dancing.. hmm.. perhaps.. perhaps..

oh well, it was a good experience and i managed to hold my liquor! so that’s good!! it would have been really bad if i had to rely on others to take care of me or to see that i stay safe! will go duplex again, definitely! but maybe at a later date! its too expensive!

lebanese parties! ah! what can i say! look at facebook! the pictures are there! will tag them soon anyway.. hmm.. basically, the lebanese people transform their room into a dance area with cool lights and speakers that boom the music! of course.. they play some strange music which i dont quite understand, but the party was good! made some new friends and the atmosphere was really good for a room party!

ahh! sister! choppa came over the weekend! and we went.. shopping! naf naf has a 50% sale! and we were very happy with promod as well (well, yes.. we didnt technically buy sale items in promod, but its so pretty!!) after that, we went to st germain des pres to walk about and familiarise ourselves with zadig and voltaire, kookai, tara jamorn and other lovely people (shops).. we then met clement who showed us around the st michel area and boy oh boy! so much food! so much variety! what great prices!! will HAVE to go there for a meal some day! we also went to the eiffel tower at night! which i told her was gonna be a brand new experience! and indeed, it was! however, what we didnt count on was the walking to find a metro/RER.. we didnt have a map and spent too long finding our way to a metro stop!

next day, we went to the flea market at porte de clingancourt! its this huge market (supposedly.. i think we found the wrong one.. or maybe we didnt explore the whole market) that sells vintage stuff (like genuine, vintage, louis vuitton bags and the like).. what we DID find was lots of old postcards (with people’s writing at the back and its stamped!), old books (that are falling apart), posters, furniture, cameras, beads and other small items.. however, we didnt find that many vintage clothes or bags or accessories.. so i think we found only 1/2 of the market.. on the way in to this old-ish area, we strolled past shops selling clothes that are far east plaza inspired.. hmm.. i cant quite describe it well, but yeah.. its like the kind of clothes and shoes that one can fnd at far east plaza.. BUT! the prices are really good too! usually its 10 euros or less for most items!! so yes, i will go there, someday and will get some of them ballerina flats and tops.. sadly, sis left shortly after and i went back to cergy..

today, i had a very interesting day.. the time difference between singapore and france is now 6 hours instead of 7 hours previously because the daylight savings has been moved forward and so, now, my body clock wakes me up at.. hear hear.. 10am! gasp! as such, getting to my 1pm class proved to be a bit difficult as i had a late night last night. BUT! because i had to buy water from auchan, i did a mad rush to the supermarket for my groceries before heading off to class. after class, me and jiting went over to esmond and lemuels to do some trip planning and for her to catch up with ling sze (her friend since primary school, and is now bunking in with esmond as she has her exchange program in manchester)

trip planning is going well! will be going to vienna and prague and edinburgh during my spring break! yay! got accomodation and travel settled, so what’s left is the proposed itinary and having fun! yay!

and yes, need to plan and confirm (in a way) the 2 road trips i have coming up (one with friends, another with family).. will have to get that done soon-ish..

walking.. walking.. where do i start! ah yes! as you have read from above, i was at lemuel’s and esmond’s doing the trip planning and lo and behold, it was soon time to leave. so, me and jiting went out of the residence and proceeded to cross the road to catch the shuttle bus back to le haut.. NOO!! we saw the shuttle bus drive past us, drop off students and.. it.. left..

so now what!!?! do we stay till 10pm for the last shuttle, do we walk to the train station for 20 mins and take the train for 10 mins and walk back for another 10 mins, or.. do we trek 6km to our residence?

we chose the 1hour trek..

it was a good walk! we managed to see more of cergy and we are pretty happy that we didnt get lost! it was after all, 2 RER stops away and the road was winding and we had no map!

what really made life hard was the fact that i was carrying 9kg of water.. can dieee.. but hey! its good exercise!! so im happy!

life is good!! and i was singing “celebrate good times, c’mon!” once we caught sight of our residence! and true enough.. good times.. these are good times!

paris to room party

we were supposed to go to paris.. to a club called duplex (it was free for international students on tuesdays!) BUT! due to the STRIKE that halted movement of trains and metros, we decided NOT to go to the club and continue staying in anna’s room, drinking our drinks..

can you imagine taking the 1.5 hour long bus ride back to cergy from paris!!??! especially when you are tired and with throbbing ears!? noooo..

it was one funny night! watching people get happier on alcohol and seeing people do the weridest stuff! its amazing that i managed to stay good and sane throughout the ordeal! haha.. thanks to corinna, choppa, jo-ann, sun, vin and yes, even michelle chew! for building up my weak asian tolerence towards alcohol! hahaha..

the past few nights have been very late ones! with me having to host lemuel and esmond at my room after the long night so they need not brave the wind and cold at 2am in the morning!

a bit of background knowledge: essec has 2 residences- les linandes and cergy le haut.. i live in the latter. esmond and lemuel and the other SMU boys live at les linandes. so far, 3 gatherings have been organised at cergy le haut.. and on friday, there is a birthday party at linandes.. i will cook.. SAYOR LODEH! yay! hahaha

hopefully it tastes nice!!! *bites nails*.. haha.. and yes, i will buy baguette too! haha.. there is a price celing on baguettes you know? at 90 cents! hahaha.. BUT! there is no regulation on the size of the baguettes.. yes.. those naughty bakers.. trying to cut corners!

tonight there is yet another outing.. to a club.. but i doubt i will be going.. haha.. which brings my clubbing experience in paris to a big big ZERO! there has been 2 clubbing outings organised.. one was after a heavy dinner and some of my friends were a little too drunk to continue after the dinner and i went home with them.. 2nd one is *please read above*.. and tonight, the 3rd clubbing experience has been organised.. whether or not to go.. now that is the golden question! heh heh..

oo.. i also bought my tickets belgium so i can see chopppaaa!!!

gathering!

my first weekend alone without familiar faces was spent hosting a dinner get-together at my place!

it was wonderful.. granted the space was a tad cramped and some people were sitting on my bed or standing around the room. but overall, it was a good 7 people gathering. we all had our fill and dinner was a mix of mashed potato, 2 types of pasta, korean rice cakes, eggs, porridge and curry! and of course, courtesy of me- belgian beer and juice!

we talked quite a bit about education, policies, and different systems in different countries! it was a very enlightening conversation and i really enjoyed it!

i hope everyone did too! but some were sleepy and some were quieter but i hope everyone had a good time!

thanks to jin! who helped me to clean up after the get together! she is such a darling to have done that!

and tmr.. school begins.. whee!!

moving in and orientation week

well, it was not too bad.

basically, moving in was supposed to be systematic and efficient. so, i moved quickly and had things folded and put away! i was done in one hour and a half (inclusive of mopping and sweeping). come on! how long does it take to mop a 18m square room anyway!

trouble came much later.. grocery shopping..

the bag was so heavy.. i felt my arms would break! i had to get my pillows and washing stuff and some basic food! so you can imagine the kind of weight that was dragging me down.. good news is.. i dont have to go grocery shopping anymore! all i need has been bought! now its all about the cooking, laundry and living! FINALLY!

orientation week is not up yet, but i must say it has been nice- getting to know more people and really getting familiar with the school grounds.. hah.. talking about familiarising myself with the school grounds.. i was looking for the housing office (alegessec) and my friends and i (about 5 of us) walked through the school campus looking for the best and shortest way to get to the alegessec. so, we ended up asking for directions and the kind lady showed us how to get there on the school map. it seemed straight forward. just walk through one corridor and turn left. HOW HARD CAN THAT BE!?

VERY! the doors were locked and bolted and the more we walked, the smaller our options became.. essec has the habit of locking doors during non-peak hours so that the outsiders wont wander into our school grounds, hence effectively locking us in too.. gosh.. now what kind of school locks their students in school.. nazi concentration camp style.. yikesss

but anyway.. we finally found our way there and its all good and paid up!

now, on to banking.. it takes ONE WEEK to open a bank account in france.. bahhh.. tuesday is my appointment with the man from BNP Paribas and YAY! i can open my account!

tmr, will be going down to montmarte (ahh.. love the place!) and after that, past 6pm, the museums are FREE!! hello louvre!

where are the photos!?

good question.. check facebook. cant upload them here..

wait.. its taking a long time on facebook too! i hope it gets loaded.. gg to sleep already! 2am!