On my own

Written on sat afternoon:

So I realized I have been really good about updating this every week and then some hahaha. I think a travel journal was definitely a good thing to keep. This entry may be more reflective seeing as I will mostly be by myself today.

//Ants are attacking my desk for no reason. I have no food or nice smelling things. I don’t understand….

Anyway just came back from seeing Captain America (f*ck yeah!). It was great. The lead was freaking hot, the explosions were fun, the action scenes where entertaining, there was humor, and we saw the lead without his shirt on! Oh yeah and the plot and acting where good and all that jazz (lol). I had fun. I’m glad it was out this weekend otherwise I think I would feel the loss of my weekend crew more acutely (claire and co are out of country).

I think I will try to go to Henderson Wave Bridge this evening. I have no idea what will do tomorrow. I’m kinda banking on Collin being available which I don’t think he will be. :/ oh well

On work(be ready for a lot a bitching I feel frustrated. you don’t actually have to read this section it’s more a I will write it down in my journal/blog for cathartic reasons):

So yeah since Fanny left Saranya and I have had less and less work. The past few days have really been nothing days. I have discussed my frustration with this on numerous occasions with multiple people. What I’ve gathered is that is a common state for interns. Claire (who works separately in ASTAR) is also annoyed. The other day we wondered over dinner why they take on so many interns when they don’t have work for the interns or any real desire (or time) to train us. Basically they seem to be concerned with keeping us out from underfoot. Make no mistake, I have learned things here but I think will only have gotten about 3.5 weeks worth of solid work in the 2 months I will be here. I am enjoying the vacation like aspects but still…

Plus my fellow intern Saranya kind of bothers me. Her lab skills... well Fanny and I wondered if she had any before she got here. And what’s worse in what I’m sure is well meaning way, she tries to coach me through things, when I know what I’m doing already. Yes I make mistakes and yes she points things out to me that would have forgotten otherwise but it’s annoying.  She is both reliant on me and yet tries to tell me what to do. Plus I think we have some culture barriers: she mumbles, makes body language signs that I have trouble interpreting, and stands way to close to me. She’s a nice girl but I would kill for any of lab partners from school. Plus she is a much slower learner than I. I picked up the use of the microscope we have been working with quickly; to the point where I can find a better focus faster than a lot of the other people in our lab. I try to give her time so she can pick up lab skills too but after sitting in front of the microscope for about 10 minutes she gives up, and lets me find the focus (it usually takes me less than half the time, sometimes when I’m on fire it takes me seconds). When she gets it I cheer her on and high five her and everything because I want her to feel she is doing well. I don’t receive any of those positive vibes back. A lot of time I actually feel like she’s trying to cut me out. This is ironic because she is for some reason to afraid to ask for projects and pesters me into asking her questions for her. I wanted to work on my paper the other day and she wanted to do a lipid extraction so she was bugging me to ask Dr Liu for it. I told her no and that if she wanted to she could. She didn’t and she didn’t through a fit or anything after but was unhappy with me.

Make no mistake SHE IS A GOOD PERSON AND A NICE GIRL. She just isn’t someone I would pick to be friends or even lab partners with. I am not rude to her and am trying to work well with her (I say this b/c I can hear my parents starting to lecture me in my head).

Now I can move on to complaining about Dr Liu. First off he speaks very softly and slowly which make it hard for me (and others) to follow him. He is obsessed with “not wasting time” that phrase probably accounts for about 50% of what I have heard him say. And yet the other day when I asked for a project since Saranya and I had done nothing for the past few days he lectured me on…. well I’m not sure. It wasn’t that I wasn’t listening just that he goes on a lot of tangents. For example when I asked him for a project for the third time in this meeting he started talking about how most of the work was really prep work and people couldn’t just run into things. I understand that but it also implies that people have something think about and plan for; we had nothing. Finally I flat out (respectfully as I could) said “That’s fine then give us prep work we have been wasting our time doing nothing the past few days. We need to be in the lab.” That seemed to settle in his head that I was not going to be hot aired aside. He gave us something to do within minutes. Was that so hard?

I am happy and grateful to be here. It’s a great opportunity that most people don’t get and I appreciate how lucky I am to have it. I have learned a lot and accomplished what I set out to do here. I like Dr Liu and Saranya. I just needed to get that out.

Social life at work (back to funny things):

I swear I will get a picture with the people from work eventually….

Well almost back to funny things I swear. So Nick is gone to Hong Kong and Keith didn’t come in on Thursday. Jason was there abut was doing something else, so no one told me when the group left for lunch. I realized that I really only interact with those three (and I’m sure that ample description of them revealed). Even the next we did a pot luck type lunch thing. Jason came and told me when it was. When I didn’t show up right away Keith came and got me (nick is still in Hong Kong). Despite this little get together going from 11:30 till past one I think I talked to just Keith for about 80% of the time. And when I wasn’t just having a conversation with him we were in the same group conversations. One of which was an epic put my foot in my mouth moment (back to funny). Keith was telling a story about this sex shop mall that someone took him to. And well I had been reading damn you auto correct and sometimes weird stuff comes up in a few of the comics I read (they are mostly PG 13), and this sex act had come up. I wanted to know what it was. Naturally I didn’t want to google it. And the conversation was already on (or at least close to) the topic I asked if someone knew what it was. Then followed some of the most awkward moments of my life. Keith adamantly denied knowledge. Jason sympathized with my desire not google it. And Adelaide died of laughter b/c she thought that I was looking to Keith as big brother figure (I don’t) and he had let me down. People asked me where I had heard it and for once I thought about what was about to come out of my mouth before it did. I decided there was no way that this would make any sense taken out of context and just dropped it.  We dropped that topic of conversation on the whole  pretty fast but none the less Keith and I had a few laughs at the situation later (he teased me, I played the part of innocent person who was being teased). I still don’t know what it is….

Sat evening: going to Henderson Wave was an epic fail. But now I know where I went wrong and will try again another day… but I wound up at Ikea. When you’re bored, and tired of staring at a computer screen I recommend Ikea. It’s full of things to stimulate your senses. Plus who doesn’t like designing their dream house(s) in their head? I have decided that when I’m grown and have a home or my own I will decorate it with things from the children’s sections; I love all the colorful prints and cleverly shaped things! Also I must have a big cushy white love seat in which I curl up and read. I also realized that I really like nook-and-crannies type rooms. I feel they are cozy.

Few funny stories about trekking about on the public transport today. This lady was totally falling asleep in the seat next to me. She kept slowly leaning over onto my shoulder. i kinda wanted to teller her it was ok for her to lean on me but figured meh, she already was. A lady standing near by caught my eye and we giggled a little at the situation. Poor sleepy woman was really embarrassed when she woke up sleeping on some strangers shoulder. lol

I caught a toddler/baby's eye later and waved at her. She looked away real fast, then tried to copy the gesture; just wiggling her fingers to herself. Her mom looked down and made the funniest "wtf is this child doing now" face i couldn't help but laugh.  

I won’t actually be on my own tomorrow it seems just got in contact with Collin and it seems I will be hitting the great outdoors with him on the morrow. I’m sure I’ll blog about that too. 

Making the rounds!

I have been very tired the last few days as a result of all the socializing I’ve been doing. Let’s go in order:

Note: I will go on about the people here for a while cuz they are supper cool I will bold it of so you can skip to the stuff I actually did if you don’t want to know. it is also longer than what actually happened so i forgive you for skipping it

Tuesday: Dinner and drinks with Rajat.

We meet up after work, and Claire joined us. We all shipped out to that noodle place I had mentioned in China town for a tasty feast. Then we all went back to the Fullerton for Singapore slings. Claire and I are legal to drink here so we decided to take advantage. Yes I said we. I still “don’t drink,” which means for me that I have drank about 4 times in my life and will continue at that pace. Singapore Slings don’t really taste like alcohol at all. They’re pretty fruity, but a little too much pineapple for me. Then we followed it with amaretto, just 2 for the three of us. I sipped here and there from their drinks. I think I was a little tipsy. The room wasn’t moving or anything, just felt like I was speaking more slowly/taking longer to think. Claire says she couldn’t tell the difference but she may have been slowed down by the alcohol too. Amaretto was followed by Frangelico which was very tasty. Then we tried to go to the skypark but it closed 10 min before we got there :( We went back to the Fullerton had another round of drinks seeing as we had all sobered up. This time I got my own Frangelico Claire got a mojito and Rajat got rum and coke. We had dessert to this sumptuous chocolate founde and cheesecake (which I didn’t eat). We had to take all it was civilized and enjoyable. If that’s what drinking is, I could make time for it once every few weeks or so. 

Wednesday: it was Fanny’s last day so I went to dinner with her and her friends. (went to crystal jade for lunch on Monday with Wan Fan for the same reason too, it was tasty) The few times I have eaten with Fanny I have come to realize that as far as Asia (not India) is concerned I am not a spicy wimp. So there.

The writing of this had been interrupted by: http://damnyouautocorrect.com/10484/the-top-15-most-popular-dyac-texts-of-all-time/

Then after that I went to a quiz night at bar (where I only drank ice water) with Claire Collin and his friends. I had a great time even though we lost. It turned out one of Collin’s friends knew Claire’s significant other and it totally blew their minds. The bar also served complimentary Tiger’s Blood, yes as in winning Charlie Sheen tiger blood.

Thursday: Went home and took a shower and went to sleep. Thank god.

Friday: Starting to really feel the sleep deprivation. After work I went over to Claire’s to make cookies/eat cookie dough. We also ended up eating homemade mac and cheese. Ended up having an unplanned sleep over since I stayed to long watching dance shows and the like. I also woke up way to early then next morning. DX

Saturday: After hanging out at Claire’s till about 3:30 I went back to my place and got ready for the condo party. I have been excited for this all week! I should mention that this is like the friend group from heaven (ok that’s a bit much but still!) And it’s all thanks to Nick, who by the way is most adorable, nerdy little(well not so little) ex-marine you will ever meet! He’s tall, and lanky to the point of almost being skinny. I haven’t told the sharpie story here and I think this amply demonstrates his adorableness so here it goes: when I was working with him he opened a draw with a full set of color sharpies. He uses them to color code his work. He was embarrassed by this for some reason and started blushing while remarking: “ah you must think this is really dorky”. To which I could not help but snort: “no color coding is fine, it’s the fact that you have your name written on each pen like 50 times that dorky.” He turned even redder and made cute little embarrassed sounds while trying to cover the markers with his hands. So cute!!!!! XD

Ahem. On with the introductions in order of how I meet them:

Keith maybe the closest thing to an embodiment of my list (you know that list that all girls have of their ideal guy). He’s a PHD, he’s super fit (he’s going pro in MMA fighting in a month), he’s funny, into the same things I am (his nickname for me is “the browncoat” :D), owns may T-shirts I would like to steal, is confident enough that I don’t totally overwhelm him with my personality, a go-get-er (nick was my foot in the door for this social group but Keith brought me in) plus he has a cool/cute (not sure what word to use here) Irish accent, did I mention that he’s ripped, cuz he is. Regrettably both he and Nick are taken (why must you mock me Aphrodite! Just look at those mocking eyes! ), I could easily fall for either of them though. I pray to God no one in Singapore reads this before I leave b/c that would be totally embarrassing (the blog in on my google+ page and they’re all in my circles). Lol oh well rely on laziness/disinterest of other people. (do people read this??? [Other than Olivia, and sometimes Annie, and my mom])

Jason is super cool! While I am not infatuated with him like I am with the other 2 him I like him a lot. He’s definitely the father/older bro/cool-older-male-that-I-am-not-attracted-to figure for me here. We look like we could be siblings (probably more than Hannah and I do). He’s also a Jewish, Christian mix from South California. I enjoy his sense of humor and think I could get to be really good friends with him if I had the time (the same applies to the two above, and well most all of them). That covers the expats who are largely the people I interact with the most. Now for the natives.

Felicia is a really cool lady with hidden talents. I really like her red flats. She does pottery and is evidently really good. She used to play an instrument, the clarinet I believe.

FuFu (really name Fu Chen) a 110 lb stick of a smiley Asian boy. He unlike the others is only about 4 years older than me. Since day one at lab he has given me this big sunny smile that is totally infectious. He always styles his hair and wears nice cologne. He picture with that cute ol’ smile is on the shuttles at his university. It’s funny to think of him in the military (all boys have to be in the military here) because he is just soo… delicate looking. Also plays Clarinet in true Asian fashion.

Pei: the cute out of it one. She got so much shit the other day b/c she was going to see this X rated film (I’ll not even legally allowed to go see it, too young) movie called Sex and Zen (it’s in 3D lol). At the party she was feeding Jason’s dogs chicken but she would through the food at then b/c she was too scared to let these tiny pups eat from her hand.

Duke Nick, another Nick. He’s a native who was nice enough to drive me home after the party and can switch between a perfect American accent and a Singaporean one. I haven’t had much contact with him as he doesn’t usually get lunch with us. (Retract that statement he does but I’m usually sitting in corner boxed in by Jason and Keith and thus really only talk to them[and ex marine nick] much)

Kiwi and others: People I have meet and chatted with but for no significant length of time.

Back to the story:

 So I shipped out to Jason’s place. And got lost. But I made it without too much ado. It turns out getting lost wasn’t such a bad thing since I was still the first one there. I sat around the pool side talk with Jason until Nick showed up. Then we all chatted a little more and I took a dip in the pool. As everyone else arrived the dog Jason and his wife were dog sitting went loco. Poor thing, she was a scaredy dog, b/c the minute Jason picked her up she was ok. She was just scared of all the new people. The boys especially (Nick probably got the worst of it though). As everyone came they all brought food and we ate and chatted into the night. The pizza was slow in coming though, which lead to the first time I had ever heard Nick cuss. I met Keith’s girlfriend Serena and she was cool. Keith taught me her signature choke hold, which he actually uses in fights b/c it so effective. He taught me it by demoing on Nick whom I volunteered for this, to his dismay (which both Keith and I ignored). Eventually the pizza arrived and we moved the party upstairs. We watched a few episodes of the well loved IT crowd. It was funny but nothing that really excited me. Except that the main chick was the secretary from Doc Martin :D yeah then we watched Princess Bride (best movie ever!). By the time that finished it was 2 in the morning so everybody started heading out. Duke Nick gave me a ride home (as mentioned above), which was very nice b/c otherwise I would have had to get a cab.

I don’t know why I didn’t bring my camera D: so no picks of the gang

Overall and very satisfying week of socializing :D

The official weekend of chill

 Most relaxing weekend in Singapore thus far! So Saturday I went for kaya toast on my own. I also bought the stuffed Gigi doll I saw about a week or so into when I first got here. I didn’t buy him at the time b/c he was about 30 Singapore $s, but since I was still thinking about him 2-3 weeks later I caved and went back for him. Then I met up with Claire and we did a movie day. We watched Amelie then got some Prata (like Nan), and went to see Harry Potter. It’s cheaper to go to the movies here yay! HP was good but part of 1 of 7 was the best.

Then came the more eventful Sunday.

hermit crab!

So for so reason I thought the boat left at 11:40, so I arrived at 11:20. Which would have be fine if the boat didn’t leave at 11 |-( So the group went on without me. The next boat for Kusu island didn’t leave till 2 so I had some time to kill. I went to buy my ticket and the lady told me to just go to St. John’s island and wait there. I thought was a good plan and tried to pay her, but she started helping someone else. So I tried to pay the other guy, and he just sent me off to the boats- so I went for free. St John’s was gorgeous! I wandered the island of a little and was almost mobbed for affection by a pack of stray cats. I ended up making friends with this nice America lady and we chatted until the boat for Kusu came. Once there I joined up with Calire’s gang and ate lunch and played in the water. I found this cool little hermit crab, and some nice shells and just swam about. The water was warm and nice but there were no waves since you can only swim in these lagoon type enclosures. It was very relaxing. I got a few laughs at Claire’s expense. Evidently she’s part of that 1% of the population that can’t float. Plus she got a zebra like sunburn. My back and shoulders got a little burnt too. I thought that the burning sensation was my tight muscles but no, it was the sun ahaha.

the lagoon we swam in

I came back and grabbed a late dinner with Rajat who had just flown in. We came to the agreement that I would pay for things outside the hotel since he was guest there and he could pay inside the hotel b/c I was his guest there. All parties were satisfied with that. 

THAILAND!

THAILAND!

Okey Dokey!

So things I didn’t like about Thailand:

1)      Lack of Public transit

2)      How dirty it was (including the polluted air, and street water)

3)      The state of the toilets combined with stomach aches the first day

4)      The weird rash I picked up (looks like an allergic rxn to something)

Things I loved about Thailand:

1)      Seeing Olivia

2)      Meeting Charlotte

3)      Hanging out with the twins (they get three slots b/c they were so much fun!)

4)      Zip Lining in the jungle!

5)       Crazy tour Guide Kash (there is always a crazy)

6)      The food (cheap and so tasty!)

7)      The markets and all the great deals I got

8)      Getting gum

9)      Olivia’s comfy bed

Overall Thailand was a lot fun! I was sooooo happy to see Olivia. I have wanted to meet Charlotte for a long, long time. So of course I was pumped when I hopped on that plane to country of smiles. But on a not so great note, being on planes triggers homesickness for me. :[ oh well

Anyway when I got there Olivia and Charlotte were waiting for me. After some ecstatic squealing and hugging we went back to their place. We chatted late into the night; it was nice, like a sleepover haha. Anyway the next day we went for breakfast at Smile Coffee it was delish! Then we wandered around Chang Mai after lunch, were we ate some supper tasty satay and curry type thing that I can’t remember the proper name for.

We were looking for this temple which it turns out we had passed at the beginning of our wanderings, but it was fun none-the-less. Thanks to the few hours we spent exploring (not lost >-> <-<) I got to see at least half of old city. It was pretty cool! Almost literally since Chiang Mai is so much farther North than Singapore. We did get rained on everyday but I just followed the twins’ example and went without an umbrella, which wasn’t so bad once I got used to it.

One of my favorite parts of Chiang Mai was the night markets. So many great deals I actually went and withdrew extra baht b/c the deals were so great. Silver items and other jewelry were super cheap so I got a ton of stuff. I also ended up buying a lot of souvenirs for people.

Then Sunday was the Flight of the Gibbon. If for any reason you are in Thailand do this! It was worth every penny/baht! I have a bunch of videos which I’ll put up (hopefully). We had this crazy guide, Kash. He was so funny! He had this gag were he would pretend to drop your camera while he held the string bit. It nearly gave me a heart attack the first few times then I was just expecting it. There were these giant butterflies that I really wanted to take pics of but they would hold still XP. I was off my head on adrenaline and excitement for the majority of the thing. I probably looked like a crack addict. Every time they said “it only gets crazier for here” I would pump my fists and vibrate a little faster. Thanks to this enthusiasm Kash put me first on a bunch of the lines. I loved them all. My favorite was the longest one b/c you get to going really fast on that one. My favorite one to watch was the superman one. On this one they clipped the line to your back so you go like superman flies. Olivia was screaming like she was gonna die and thrashing about like a goose having a seizure mid flight. Loved it!

After was super tasty curry and rice and salad and veggie type lunch. Which was also hilarious due to the twins. They kept asking for more rice b/c they wanted to finish all the curry but then the serving ladies must have got tired of serving them b/c they HEAPED the rice on their plates and gave them a new bowl of curry. I laughed at their food babies afterwards. Then we did a quick very light hike by this series of waterfalls.

We came back to Chiang Mai and “mushed” until night market. I was pretty miffed at the rain during night market b/c I forgot my umbrella in the apartment. This night market was more of what we had the night before a lot more. I was on a quest for these really cute bracelets Charlotte and Olivia had and I think we actually searched the whole market over looking for them. Thank goodness we found them at the end.

The next day was Muay Thai day. The twins have been telling me about Muay Thai and the people who ran the gym since before I arrived so I figured I had to try it. As I predicted though the 2 hr outdoor work out was too much for me. I saw it through, which was probably my mistake. The first hour was fun. I had a one-on-one intro to the sport with one of the instructors which went well. Then I got tired. He could see it and kept giving me breaks but there was no helping it. I hadn’t exercised for months and just plain didn’t have the stamina to keep going. He saw this and switched me from learning hits and kicks to strength training (which was about half ab stuff for the reaming time). People cheered me on as I collapsed gasping for air on the ring’s floor until I got up again (note: this while true sounds more dramatic than it actually was). The subsequent days made me wish they had stopped me instead. Then it was cool down time which was another grueling ab work out. I literally could not stand straight for the next 2 days my abs hurt so badly. It took me about a half an hour (minimum) to recover after. Then we went for lunch at Charlotte’s favorite restaurant, Esan (sp?). I liked the high calcium fish chips which had bines in ‘em.

Then the flight back. And a promise from the twins that they will come visit me in Singapore yay!

Art Science Museum and Soupy Dumplings (min post!)

So after that eventful fun day, Claire and I decided that we still had energy to go out and explore. We meet up at 3 to go check out the Singapore Museum that’s shaped like a lotus. Problem being that I looked up the Singapore Art Museum and that one is the Art Science Museum…. It actually wasn't a problem we had a fun walk along the marina. We crossed the Helix Bridge which is DNA with base pairs and everything.  However the base pairs don’t seem to code for anything :/

Anyway the museum was supper cool! Like the Getty more than half of the fun was the architecture, and the outside. Going inside was pricey but worth it… once. It’s really small, but the exhibits were great! There was the world’s largest Dali collection, and next to none of it was the paintings I think of when I think Dali. There was a lot of sculpture (did you know Dali sculpted I didn’t), tons of sketches, watercolors and even furniture! Melissa would had died and gone to heaven if she had been there. Regrettably no pics allowed inside…. I still snapped one b/c I had to for her sake. It was a woman turning into a tree which has significance between the two of us. 

Then after the distraction of a one of those slide things puzzles Claire and I headed back to China town to meet up with the expat gang for dinner at a much recommended noodle shop. It was damn good. Hand pulled noodles are so delish! AND I GOT TO EAT SOUPY DUMPLINGS!!! They were soooooo tasty! The soup was kinda vinegary and nice, and the dumpling itself was yummy too. I also had fried tofu, just by itself. And more over I loved it. Normally I don’t really care for tofu but this tofu was really eggy and super yummy. Zenbu wa oishi!

Also another note on work. My meager creative talents have been discovered after my fellow interns found a sketch I made. Now people ask me to draw all sorta of stuff: dogs, cats, themselves, the present situation ect. Further yesterday I made the mistake off blowing up a glove after I was done with it and made a chicken. I have since made about 6 chicken gloves b/c everyone wants one…. Plus now everyone keeps telling me I’m cute….  Could be worse. 

exploring my hood china town 1 of many and misc

So this blog post will cover some mundane things and some more exploring.

About work: So it’s picking up a bit. It helps that I went a little out of my way and attached myself to an American grad student named Nick. He’s been great. He goes out of his way to make sure I get practice and explains everything to me. Plus we get along (and that’s never bad). The other people are also opening up to me. For example Fanny and I are becoming friends. Fanny is the main intern, since Zhan Xing (the post doc all us interns got posted too) has been out for family reasons she’s (fanny) been leading me and Saranya (when I’m not working with Nick). She friended me on facebook and we walk home over a shortcut that her landlord showed her (she leaves in the same area I do). She seemed to be interested in being friends which I’m all for except she leaves in 3 weeks but hey a friend is a friend no matter how short the time.

Other: I’ve been doing some exploring around my neighborhood. The MDIS building (it’s a university) across the street has this cool fence of the worlds sages covering from Pasteur, to Shakespeare to Disney. And I found a few other hawker centers not that it really matters, unless I’m out with people or can make my food at home eating becomes much less important. Yes I said that. I really dislike eating alone; it takes all the fun out and just makes me feel lonely. So instead of eating solid breakfasts and dinners like I used to eat I eat a few buns or protein bars, or some form of peanut butter and fruit. But I eat fairly large lunches and will eat full meals if I’m out with people so I’m in no danger of not eating well.

Normal Telling tales of my adventures: Yesterday Claire and I (who get along so well it’s ridiculous) went for dim sum and an initial exploration of china town. I had thought that we wouldn’t get dim sum since all the places I had found online where expensive and formal! But then Nick pulled through for me! Turns out he used to live in China Town and recommended this tasty place named Yum Cha. We ate and were happy :D

Then we explored China town where I found 90% of the gifts I will be sending home at some point…. We also visited the two temple i had taken pics of before. They where way cool on the inside too! We got to watch a ceremony type thing at the Hindi (i think) temple which involved loud drum and some kind of horn music, and the repeated bathing of some statues in what i assume where water, milk and some orange/yellow stuff. The Chinese temple was totally ornate and had Buddhas every where. Totally eye candy! Claire and I had to put these pillowcase like things to cover our exposed skin on. Temples where totally cool. Back outside,Claire got a scroll with her name in Chinese calligraphy painted. asides from the temples China town was pretty cool but not so much different from any other China Town. I really like how raising in the distance you could see all these ultra-modern buildings framed by these old building and lantern strings.

We back to Claire’s hood and had great ice cream at this place called Udders. It made me miss N’ice Cream L but it was tasty J

Then we tried durian. Actually not that bad, just not good.

Udderly delish ice cream and waffle!

durian segments

The day was capped off with a  BBQ pool party as held by Claire’s landlord. I meet a bunch of cool expats most from the US but one from England the other was Scottish. The Scottish guy Kenny cracked me up and I cracked him up. When Claire and I came back in from trying the durian and started talking to everyone he couldn’t stop giggling. To him we were a comedy duo with our very different body types and a tendency to finish each other sentences. But I laughed at him later. He was BBQing with a out a shirt and turned around to put stuff on the table and I busted up. His belly and chest where all red from the heat of BBQ; it looked like sun burn and stuck around the whole evening. I even got to use “tickled me pink” which is a phrase I love and this way it even had a lame double meaning! I love stuff like this! Anyway all the expats were chill and I had a good time. The fact that everyone else was drinking (with the exception of Claire sort off) didn’t actually make me feel uncomfortable. It probably helped that I left before it became a shit show. People asked if was drinking but no one ever tried to pressure me into drinking or felt threatened by the fact that I didn’t part take. So yeah it was nice. I recommendations for other stuff to do, and enjoyed their company.