Huei Ching was a fellow Science student from NUS, major in computational biology. Sadly, she passed away recently due to a car accident. My deepest regrets..Read the news
Little did i know that my friends were also in e car! Poh Weijie (friend since Hwachong days;also from NUS Sheares Hall) and Mark (from NUS Sheares Hall). I heard Weijie is out of ICU now and Mark is traumatised. I hope they are getting better now.
Leena, also from Sheares Hall and Hwachong, passed away in a car accident in Alaska a few months back...
Hmm, following the trend, it seems like those from Hwachong, NUS Sheares Hall and doing an exchange in the States are not so fortunate.. I must be extra careful while driving.
A minute of silence for them please..
Me @ Six Flags!
Woah.. i had a helluva time here! took 14 rides and they are ALL super high levels rides.. i think i am a pro now!! wheee... i shall update about e rides next time.. some pics for now:
Me and my FAVOURITE RIDE + PIC (Credit goes to Charmaine =p)
The Tatsu - a new ride(VERY EXCITING!)
Olive, Xinhui, Prashan, Miao Hui, Charmaine, Gabriel, Hsien Xiong & Me! Behind us is the Riddler's Revenge - world's largest standup "ride". We all took that!
Me showing e scenice mountain view and a small portion of Magic Mountains. U have to get here by car.
The victorious gang
Will update more again!
Went to a factory outlet today. It is called
Cabazon, http://www.cabazonoutlets.com/, (tks to Marco for pointing out this)located at Desert Hills, next to Palm Springs. It was a good 4-hour drive (cos of e jam) there. I think next time we must set off earlier like try to reach there by 12pm. We left at 1pm today and there was a jam and we reached there like only 5pm. Wasted.. cos the place is HUGGGGEEEEE. It is e biggest i have heard so far. And there were so many labels. and the things are so cheap!!!!!!
Levis Jeans go for USD29.99 (Model 527). And silvertab which looks nicer costs only 19.99 (i think the salesperson typed wrongly.. well i am not complaining and i only saw e discrepancy when i got back). i bought a rayban shades which costs only USD64. i think singapore costs much more. AX shirts are so nice and cheap (Singapore sells for 60 bucks lor) and here is only USD15.99. I also bought a Armani Exchange jacket (USD75) which i think costs 200 plus in Sg. haha... i also bought Vans sneakers for just USD19.
total expenditure is USD241.30. Oh no.. i am going to eat grass for e next few days. haha.. i tink e more i spend, e more i save (wrong mentality but it is not wrong to think this way).
To my family, if u want anything, just tell me during May. i will go there again definitely. it is MUCH cheaper. like oakley shades, i saw one that my friend said costs about 500SGD when it is selling at USD170 here. to my friends, i hope i have enuff cash to buy or space in my luggage to bring back for u guys. at the rate i am going, i can only fit my own things! =p
daylene, e crabtree and evelyn lotions go for USD20 per regular bottle and USD36 for 3 bottles. i forgot how much it is in Sg. let me know.
Paulene u must come here!! i think it is a shopping heaven!! so cheap!!!
The way back was smooth-sailing without the jam. it was a 2-hour drive. was lost along e freeway (expressway in Singapore) as the road sign changes. luckily i was quite good at reading maps and managed to direct back to UCLA. haha =)tomorrow go Six Flags - Magic Mountain! WHee!!! Hope it doesnt rain..Some Pics today along Freeway number 10:
Leaving our Shadows behind on our way to DesertHills
Stowaway
A stop to see the windmills
Ok some extra pics i took during the week at UCLA:
Winter @ UCLA
Famous Powell Library (backview)
Jinzhan and the Bruin Bear (UCLA mascot)
for those who are coming to US for quite some time and wanna set up a bank account here, listen to what i have to say first.
I set up a bank account with Bank of America on 2nd January and up till now i still haven't gotten my ATM card. It has been like almost 4 weeks.. I remember all it takes for any POSB branch including those in HDBs to issue an ATM card is 5 minutes..
I have gone down to Bank of America branch in Westwood a few times just to check and all e while, i only receive negative replies. and now they said they just sent my ATM card out 2 days ago. according to statistics (from my friends experiences), i shld be expecting it to arrive on 29 Jan. And the wierd part is, i opened my account together with two other friends and all of us received different news regarding our ATM cards from Bank of America (different dates of issue and stuff).
argh
All my life i have been working so hard that it is really hard for me to relax and take things easy.. had an enjoyable MSN chat session yesterday with my NUS chemistry babes (haha..) Xinhui (here in UCLA with me), Stella (UC Davis) and Xinyi (UC San Diego). We were planning on our Spring Break and Summer Break getaways. Somehow the chat is very enjoyable.. and i was reminded to just pass my modules again. i dont know why but it is hard to just pass.. I mean in terms of effort, I have always put in my 100% for the things I like (and I seem to like everything) and maybe that’s why I am always tired. Well now I am here on an exchange, I think I really deserve this break. I think i really work hard enough for this. I shall take things easy this time. I must really stick to this rule I have come up with: each day 8 hours of sleep, 8 hours of work and 8 hours of play! (At least for this exchange, I think when I head back to NUS, it is slog like hell again for one more year) I remembered last time I always scold Augustine for always thinking about play when he is supposed to work and when his 8 hours of work time is up, he really goes out and play. Come to think of it, actually what he did is to seek for some balance in life - nothing wrong with that - and I think it is not easy to accomplish that. Sorry augustine.. =p
Live life to the fullest! and that's what i did today. Went for classes and then early dinner then i headed to the gym again. I am going to sign up for some classes like yoga or dances like salsa or samba. I am going to keep myself busy but in the fun way. I mean it! My real academic classes are like getting more demanding (i think not very tough but actually need to spend time.. oh well i am here to pass =p).. but i am going to HECK IT AND ANYHOW DO. HAHAHAHAAH (evil laughter..) *grinz*
Today is my first time entering Universal Studio Hollywood with Charmaine, Xinhui, Miao Hui and Hsien Xiong. It is damn fun la!! haha.. i shall let my pics do most of e talking.. =p 
Kids can enter with a discount but i think idiots like Charmaine and Hsien Xiong can enter for free. haha
Marilyn Monroe (ghost?)
Pig meets another pig Babe.
I am a trombonist too!
"I will be back".. Haha
*Pray*
Spiderman!
Omg, he is damn heavy..
I am finally on Wisteria Lane of Desperate Housewives! Do i look desperate? HAHA
Man's best friend:
The King who got konged..
Yesterday had my first lab session. it is some computer lab though, going thru some excel stuff. e instructions were not clear and it took a while.. i managed to complete one session ahead so friday's lab is off for me! whee!! Night time i went to Diddy Riese Cookies and Ice-cream. Omg it is good and it is not expensive at all.. cheaper than singapore! A sandwich (two cookies of your choice and one scoop of icecream at USD1.25 and there is no tax and no tipping! so good! Here is my serving:
Today i had some classes then i realised i havent taken any pics of UCLA yet! So here u go: Yah for those who watched the korean drama "Love in Harvard" does this building looks familiar. next time i will take some pics inside e Powell Library. It is colossal! haha
I bought my tickets for Magic Mountain (Six Flag) then went for a International Student Exchange Gathering. When i arrived at the hall, there were a wide display of various flags and i was quite disappointed to not see Singapore Flag. But we managed to find it! then we hung it up proudly. haha
After a dinner wif Dr Chris Tang - ex-Dean of NUS business school and current Dean of UCLA business school (he treated us! so nice of him), we went to catch "The Prestige" just 2 dollars again. I knew wad was gg on so it wasnt that fun. "The illusionist" was much better in my opinion.
Shall post more pics soon. =p
Yay i managed to get my module! That means my "diplomatic appeal" worked! Now i got one extra module which i dont know if i should drop. if i take that, i will be left with all 3 chemistry modules in year 4 and of course my honors project. in this way, i can really concentrate on my honors project.in any case, i am super relieved. i will think properly if i wanna do an extra module here. =)
Today managed to cover quite a few places. and i did it without a car! haha and i had xinhui with me as the best travel partner! haha.. but i forgot to bring my camera so i will have to wait for xinhui to send to me.
i realised that we can actually get around LA without a car. it is more time-consuming but e pace is slower and we can see quite a number of things better.
i was thinking quite a bit today. i think for exchange, we shld try to finish all our course work during the weekdays and then leave our precious weekends to travel. that means we shld be darn serious abt work during weekdays then weekends become tourists. hmmm.. i shld conduct a meeting with the rest and brainstorm where we gonna cover then map out our itinery for the next few weeks.
for now, i wanna cover San Diego, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York. Within LA, Magic Mountain, Universal Studio, DisneyLand etc etc.. wheee.. so fun
my module is not settled yet.. i will know on tuesday if i am allowed to take that. but seriously.. i dont care! haha.. i have nothing to fear.. maybe cos i already got my backup plans all worked out.. it might be sucky to go back home immediately after exchange and then start sch, but there is no need for me to worry now.. =p
i miss
all my friends (yes YOU) back home (as well as in other countries.. people like Ivy) and i endear my family the most, especially my two nephews and my lovely niece who just turned one year old. pics are at
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tcekk/my_photosNephew Sean and Niece Dawn
Photo-whoring session. Haha..
Last saturday, i went to the Korean Town of Los Angeles. The first pic was taken outside the Korean Embassy. Woo Ram, this is for you. Haha..
The next pic was taken along the (long long) walk to find qunxiong. This is quite a nice church. There were so many nice churches around that later i realised it is impossible to take all of their pics unless u r a fan/architecture student (sorrie jie hao =p) This pic also has another meaning. Behind me is a road sign named Harvard. Haha Harvard, this is dedicated to u.
After which we went to Chinatown for a brief moment to meet up with other NUS exchange students to University of Southern California (USC), another university located in LA. Sorrie, we were in a hurry to catch the sunset at Griffith Park that we didnt take any pics.
Hike up Griffith Park. We didnt take e bus and it was super tiring.. but we made it in e end. =p
Me posing with the statue of the greatest scientists.
Sadly, no good photographer was around. The pics were either blur cos they shook my camera or they go and on the flash..
The Foucaut Pendulum:
The next day 7th jan (Sunday) we shifted into our rooms. then we went all e way to Santa Monica to buy bedsheets! it was quite a drive..
Me, Miaohui and Qunxiong at 3rd Street Promenade after shifting into our dorms:
Yesterday, we went down to Santa Monica Beach. It was super cold and windy.. so it feels like 5 degrees centigrade. However it is still sunny and the beach is full of activities. all of them wear one layer of t-shirts. i dunno how they survive.
Xinhui, Me, Miao Hui and Hsien Xiong. Thanks to Kaiwen for driving!
And my favourite pic of all (credits goes to Hsien Xiong)
After that we had a UCLA Singapore Student Association gathering. I like the food and i love the company! it feels so good to speak singlish! and i know so many people in a day. haha some random pic:
Oh yah, i have been moving around so much that i forgot to post my mailing address here. It is:Westwood Chateau456 Landfair Ave, Apt 307Los Angeles, CA 90024=)
As i was waiting for the lift back just 5 min ago, i decided to just check my mailbox and i was very HAPPY to receive a University of Texas postcard from Paulene Ong!! Thanx paulene!! you are very sweet.. i was very happy.. really!
Before that i was out for a movie at Ackerman Union (something like our YIH), and they were screening "The Illusionist" for 2 USD. So cool right? I hope NUS have something like that too. Although it is screened at just an auditorium, i still think it is exciting! Anyway the movie is great, all shld watch!
Ok some reflections:
i think people at UCLA are really on time! they arrive for lecture all ready on e dot.
UCLA campus is damn BIG.. now i have no prob walking from science fac to business fac
the buildings are extremely beautiful.. those who watched the korean drama "Love in Harvard".. it is actually filmed in UCLA lor
the library here is what i call a library.. u feel like a student inside!
I was so busy i dont have time to take pics. i was busy rushing for lessons and also settling my module stuff.. still havent settled.. but seems like throwing your weight around helps. poeple who are coming to the States next time, remember to stand up for yourself like what i did. else u will e bullied!
anyways i have to learn to care less. life is really short.. i must let go.. and enjoy myself! =)
today wasnt a great day for me. i realised i have so many things not settled. i havent gotten my reading materials and no foolscap lor. and must really do research (i.e. go around and see first then buy.. but e minus part is e shops are SO FAR apart). i really got no much money left after buying some groceries and some necessities. i decided to save by not eating again and i got my faint spells back again.. sighh..
Anyway, the UCLA store sells foolscap pad (letter-sized 500 sheets of lousy rice paper) at $6 plus. i decided to persevere and managed to find one deal at Rite Aid Pharmacy (the pharmacies in U.S. are like supermarket. they dont just sell drugs but also groceries.. so funny) two pads (130 sheets) at $1. i grabbed 4 of them. But i got cheated too. i bought 10 clothes hanger for $3.29 at Rite Aid but CVS Pharmacy sells 30 of them for $2. arghh.. CVS and Rite Aid are located at Westwood Village and they arent exactly close to UCLA at all.. like NUS Science Fac walking distance to Business Fac.
And i walked this trip twice today. First time in the morning to buy some compulsory course compendium which costs $42 at the photocopy shop which UCLA works closely with but i dont know why it is situated so far away. Second time is evening period when i need to go buy a mouse and my foolscap.
And i got kicked out of my module today. there is this module which UCLA chemistry dept reserves for graduating seniors. they said i am not graduating so i was denied. their reasoning being "if u r a graduating senior this quarter, wouldnt u want to have priority for required classes". i told her this is a lousy system. i mean the seniors who want to graduate shld have the responsibility to take this module b4 hand and not at the last min. in any case, i also need this module to graduate! then they said i am not graduating here, so my point is invalid. all these conversational exchanges were done in a very rude manner. i didnt even get to my point that i am an exchange student then i was cut off. it is like they didnt care. wtf! now i am quite screwed. i need that lab module urgently. i have three options:
- take one module which covers the theory part of that lab module and hopefully my coordinator allows me to take that due to this lousy circumstances
- take another module next quarter but they said it is also reserved for graduating seniors (wtf)
- go back immediately after my exchange to make it on time for special sem II for that module. e quarter ends on 15 jun and special term II starts on 18 jun (end on 28 jul). so i must fly back on 15 jun and since i will lose a day on air, i will reach singapore on 17 jun and recover from jet lag and start lab on 18 jun. i dont want! because: i wanna travel abit more; i wanna work in my research lab and earn some money first in the month of july; changing my return date from 29 jun to 15 jun will costs me USD150!; i might have exam on 15 jun 8am and if i dont remember wrongly the return flight is 7am.
I dont want!!!! sighh... see how lor.. worry also no use..
Today was my first day of school in UCLA. I only had a 9am to 10am lecture for the course (we called it module) Chem 153A - Biochemistry: Introduction to Structure, Enzymes, and Metabolism. It is not too bad. I like the lecture theatre and the projector screen. I like the buildings here the most.. all of them looks like catholic churches from outside. very colossal and magnificient! I like the lecturer so far.. but maybe i will reserve my comments on the pace of lecture for later when we are more in-depth.That's all for the day! but tomorrow i will have classes from 9am to 5pm and so is most of my other days. i usually end on 5pm (cos of lab) and wednesday i start on 8am... goodness.. but even though my mondays are slack (i think i might self-declare monday free day.. haha) this monday i just had was super tiring..the prob is qunxiong didnt like his housing assignment and xinhui is paying too much for her room. i am open to considering shifting to a cheaper place. so the three of us went down to find housing in e nearby nieghbourhood (a rather slopy one) and see any numbers we can dial and just call.. before tat i went to www.craigslist.com to find some info and make enquiries too.. it was a super hectic day. in e end, we decided to give our current housing assignments a shot.. see if e ppl is nice first.. and thats my initial suggestion lor... but someone just wouldnt listen.. =pand i havent even gotten my course stuff yet. the books here are so expensive!! i think i will just not buy and just make do with e lecture notes. but even e lecture notes are expensive. Chem 153A has a set of bound lecture notes and it costs USD 42!. e funny thing is i can only get that printed stuff from e photocopier that is linked to e school that is located rather far away from e main campus. Also, its required text is USD113. madness.. And the people here just buy from e bookstore! all of them are so rich?! wow... i think i will just zap or read from e libraries.. another option is to go www.half.com to find some online textbook sellers. see how lor. i am not here to study. The prob is i have pre-empted this and i wanted to get my textbooks in singapore but i dunno what modules i will get so i cant just anyhow buy right? summary: quite a bad day cos it is already first day of sch and i havent confirmed e roof over my head and i havent gotten any studies stuff yet. i also havent gotten my stationery yet. i bought my writing tools but i didnt bring any paper cos i heard the paper here is letter-sized and not A4 (slightly shorter and fatter than A4 - u know wad i mean) and they use 3-hole hole-puncher. well i shld just bring some paper so at least i can write.. and i think i shld bring some notebooks over lor. sighh.. i cant make notes at all now. =( but i think it is fine la. =) i dont die so easily.
Today something very bad thing happened. my fellow NUS friend who is on exchange wif me - Xinhui - lost USD 800. she left it in her locker and it is gone at around 10 am. a police report was made. i think i will curse e thief forever.. I am very worried about all those who are out for SEP, especially the girls - most of u will be out away from families for e longest period of time. Many may try to deny but most are not very street-smart. I just talked to Wang Jun, my lab senior, today and he gave me alot of tips too. Some of these might sound very naggy but please, do not ignore them!Some more luo1 shuo1-ings from me:
1) stay away from dark areas even in groups
2) use e security escort services (UCLA got this number u can call for e guards to bring u ard campus from one pt to another)if ur uni provides when it gets dark
3) carry all cash with u always
4) deposit cash into a bank if your wallet holds more than 300
5) dont be PAISEH. in U.S. there is no such thing as paiseh! treat yourself better, no need to think for others. they can think for themselves. know your rights and use it well =)xinhui thinks too much for her roommates. when she returned to her room and wanna use her laptop on her bed. she saw some ppl sleeping already so she took out her laptop and use at some other areas. i think this is e time e thief strikes or maybe she forgot to latch her locker at this instant. actually there is no need to shift away lor. then the theft wouldnt have happened.6) alot of ppl in U.S. are out to cheat FOBs (fresh off board) like us, so when u shop and u r not sure if u really want it, ask for e return policy. most clothes can be returned within 1 month with the receipt and e tag (dont cut them; u can even wear e clothes out wif e tags hidden and see if u like them first =p)
And also, it is gg to get even colder. Some tips:
1) always bring an extra jacket along wif u; put it in ur bag
2) when u walk outside. tell ur mind tat it is not cold.
3) breathe deeply and slowly and enjoy e view around u. u will feel warm =)
4) when u wear your scarf, wrap it all e way around ur neck to your chin. See how i wear them in my pics below.
It had been a while since i last blogged. Haha.. i am tired leh.. i still havent shifted into my dorms yet. still typing my entry away on e bottom half of e pathetic double-deckered bed. i think e UCLA housing system is quite screwed up.. i can only shift into my dorms one day b4 e official start of sch term.. gonna shift in this sunday.. e place better be nice, considering i am paying USD4105 for 6 months..
I spent my last day in Vancouver by going up to Mt Seymour and did snowtubing! it was fun, eso for noobs like me who have seen so much snow for e first time. Augustine said it is too dangerous to do snow skii and snowboarding.. i totally agree.. Wayne got his ligament torn due to a bad stretch resulted from a fall during snow skii.. i hope he is fine after his op.
Me buried in snow:
Augustine sending me off:
Yep, i kicked start this year in Los Angeles with my UCLA pals from NUS. They are Lixin (sorrie got cut off), Gabriel, Qunxiong and Xinhui. =)
After i arrived in LA then i realised how much i miss Vancouver. LA city has her buildings so widely spaced out. I find Vancouver more predestrain-friendly cos e buildings are close to each other (like our Holland V). It is really better to have a car in LA - who is willing to drive me around huh?
The next day we were so bored that we (it was qunxiong)picked any station on Metro and decided to go to Transit Mall - one end of Metro Rails. Metro is equivalent to our MRT back home. We made our way to Pine Ave Pier and had my first official Mexican meal (i had an informal one at San Francisco due to my flight delay)
Miaohui, another girl from NUS joined us and we went to UCLA to do orientation on 2nd Jan. We went to Westwood village, a small shopping area south of UCLA and super student-friendly to have dinner and then set up my bank acc.
Diana, another fren from NUS, hasnt joined us yet. i think i look muscular wif layers of clothes. ha:
3rd Jan we also go down to UCLA to settle some stuff. I passed by the organic chemistry lab and i couldnt resist taking some pics b4 someone catches me and accuses me of stealing their ideas. I hope i can work part time in e lab so as to earn for some of my heavy expenses here.
I just came back from Universal City Walk, the shopping malls just right outside Universal Studio. We didnt go in cos i heard e tickets bought from UCLA is much cheaper. i think e art of survival in LA is to know e places which offers e best deal.. so do your research!!
And i saw this interesting road sign. Apparently drivers have to stop and switch off their headlamps. I didnt catch any deers crossing though. =p 
Abercombie got some clearance sale.. so i helped myself. I think i will visit this place again. will upload more pics then. =)
I also caught this movie Apocalypto here. Since e cinemas here are supposed to b e best. i tot it would be best to watch some action films.. e actions inside turned out to be more than i expected.. but it was very nice in all aspects other than e gore part.. I realised that there is alot of previews and e PG-rating here can easily be our R-21. i think i will try to catch more films here. =pthats all for now. tata~
