written on your ticket

zomg, hey Aur! (: haha, i dreamt of you guys the other night! i was in Japan for work (god knows why) and went to visit you guys on your vacation. y’all were staying in this dingy hotel room and playing DDR with a bunch of Japanese young folks. lol, i don’t know why! i think it was the same night i dreamt of Oprah. … pulls face. xD;

okay, so this week was the last week of summer vacation before the new semester commences tomorrow. i never thought i could be any less enthusiastic. which is odd, because i seem to be alternating between spates of impatience to go back to school, and then prolonged reluctance to dive back into the hectic lifestyle of a college student. and this is strange, because the whole point of being a college student, is the fact that life is somewhat less of a routine than for those kids still (even more) stuck in the system. and you know, more freedom of some sort, including whether or not to skip class. which i have not intentionally done since i started university. i think i only skipped a couple of classes when i was down with bronchitis last semester. anyway, i guess it’s the whole rat race thing that puts me off. not to say, the looming promise of endless work and commitments to survive. and the need to make even more decisions: academic choices or otherwise.

a thousand times this week, i thought of taking a couple hours off to blog. i’ve only made time to check my emails and Facebook. but i kept away from blogging, because that usually takes me long enough, and i didn’t want to spend the rest of my vacation doing geeky things. i guess the only semi-geeky things i did was to sync new applications to my iPod Touch (hurrah for more frequent updates and more free applications), and watch episodes of CSI’s past seasons. i recently realized, i’ve actually never watched the first half of season six before. how weird.

and i have an excuse to watch CSI. because i was lucky (at least, i think so right now) to get my first choice for GER-PEs this semester – Forensic Science. which i’ve so far heard good things about. i also got the UE of my choice; a Linguistics core. which is totally necessary because i’ve not yet figured out what being awarded a double major means, and how am i going to fit and clear the course requirements in the rest of my academic career. … and i don’t really want to think more about it at least for the moment, because i will probably launch into panic mode.

so, my last day of work was officially on Tuesday after all. Nate and i finished the proof-reading of the book, cleaned up a couple of errors, then made a run for it. we went to town, where i window-shopped at FEP before meeting my sister for dinner. on Wednesday morning, we rushed to our workplace (for the last time) and got our time sheets signed and said goodbye. then we dashed our way to Suntec City to make it in time for karaoke! (:

Wednesday
Nate and i went to Suntec for K-Lunch. we were kind of the first ones there, and the place wasn’t even completely open yet. we sat around for 30 minutes just waiting for the system to boot up. but we got an extra half-hour out of the delay, yay. i had fun with her, even though there were two of us. but our repertoire overlapped quite well, and i enjoyed myself immensely. i actually like going for karaoke with 4 people maximum, because otherwise, people tend to sit around and lapse into boredom.

after karaoke, we went shopping! (: even though technically the GSS season is over, there were still some sales going on e.g. Mango. i bought a marked-down vest and a ruffled scarf from Promod that afternoon. it really kick-started my shopping instincts again, which is so bad. and now i have a thing for vests! we popped over to Marina Square for dinner, where i saw gorgeous vests on sale at Warehouse. but even marked down, they weren’t cheap. ): there, i also bought a dress for only $12.

Thursday
i was really nervous from Wednesday evening on, because i had a driving theory test on Thursday morning at 10:30am. i was a little freaked, because the last time i went for practice was in June, and i haven’t exactly finished studying the theory book before. xD; so i booked an early morning slot for practice at 8:15am. i was so tired when i dragged myself up around 7am to get there on time. but it was all worth it, because i aced it. (: and i dare say it was easy.

i traveled back home, intending to change before heading out to town again. dropped by the library to pick up some books. and by the time i got back home, i was too sleepy to get out of the house again. so there went my plans to get a pedicure. spent the rest of the afternoon reading and sending out more Paparazzi sponsorship requests.

Friday
made plans for karaoke again, this time with my cousins! (: we went to AMK’s KBox Plaza, where the food differed from the one at Suntec. the bento yielded more edible dishes, but the main entree was less tasty. we had a pretty fun time too, and we weren’t chased even after the allocated time slot ended. i know my cousins could have stayed there for as long as they could, but i get bored easily and wanted to do other things. at first, we wanted to go shopping around town before dinnertime.

however, during karaoke, i found out from my cousins that one of my aunts was bringing my grandma to TTS Hospital for a brain scan that day. and we wanted to drop by and ‘visit’ with her while she’s there. it wasn’t an overnight stay, but i really wanted to check on her. so i called my parents and let them know. Dad’s oveseas, so he’s understandably feeling very worried and anxious about not being able to be here. i hope i managed to reassure him to some extent. ):

we shopped around AMK central a little bit to help Jx get a new pair of shoes because hers was killing her feet real bad. then we traveled down to the hospital to meet up with my aunt and grandma. it was kind of funny, because hanging around the neurosurgery department/clinic made all my Grey’s Anatomy fan instincts kick in. lol, Dr McDreamy! (: my cousins had dinner dates with friends, but i didn’t have dinner plans for once. so after my grandma’s MRI, i stayed to yumcha with her and my aunt at this cafe at Square 2. i had a raisin muffin, nutty crunch toast and half-boiled eggs. lol, and i knew i probably didn’t have space left for dinner after all.

Saturday
went out shopping with my sister in the late afternoon. there’s this black vest i saw at AMK which i kind of like. it’s definitely less expensive than the Warehouse ones i covet. and i love the color and its material. but somehow i’m not 100% sold on it. possibly because it’s a full vest, and i kind of want to get a shorter one.

initially we thought of going to the City Hall area to shop, because i wanted to get some t-shirts from Marina Square. and then there’s a bus service that goes straight to my grandparents’ place. but as always, plans change due to unexpected snags. we didn’t go down to our grandparents’ place in the end, and that area was packed with people going for the NDP preview, or flooding in to watch fireworks at the Esplanade area.

we did do some shopping at Marina Square. we bought t-shirts (i so love mine), and i bought a gold ring from Diva. i really like the rings from their recent collections. so tempting, and they had a buy-one-get-one-free offer for selected designs. i spied this Topshop indigo top i really liked too, but i resisted temptation. and the Warehouses vests i desire, were marked down again since two days ago when i went. thank god i didn’t succumb and bought them then. i would have been so mad. xD; quick dinner at Han’s and we thought of popping by to Raffles City or FEP next. lol, then we got lazy and went home to watch telly.

Sunday
today, we slept in. after lunch, i went down to town. i still need some new jeans but so far haven’t found the right pair. dropped by at Paragon, which i didn’t know had a Promod store too. they had some good stuff on sale. including this sunny yellow top with crocheted straps and neckline, and this blue collared jersey top. lol, both which i didn’t end up buying. but i did buy a grey button-up top with crochet and lace details. (: F21 has this lovely sweater in purple on sale!

anyway, wanted to do a pedicure this afternoon, and get my black vest. but i swear the warm weather is just making me loath to go anywhere. maybe i’d make time this evening for the pedicure.

but right now, i am going to check up on some course registration stuff. ascertain add/drop period and print out my class schedule. honestly, i’ve always prefer to confirm my schedule before class starts. but this semester, i feel like dropping this PE, as per seniors’ advice. ): but i hate how it messes up my schedule, and the large chance i wouldn’t find a good replacement for it. damn!

reading People and some recent spoilers for Grey’s Anatomy. and listening to David Archuleta’s new single.

a couple of days ago, Mady-nee sent me a song link over Facebook. it turned out to be a PV of ONE OK ROCK on YouTube. i was pretty electrified by the song. and by the subsequent other songs i listened to. and apparently my sister loves them too and has all their songs (reminder to self to get them from her). i was particularly amused to read that the lead vocalist used to be a NEWS member in their earliest days. i remember reading about that ninth guy back then, where rumors were that he was booted because he didn’t fit in. i think it was partly because of his famous enka singer parents, therefore expectations and maybe a diva attitude? not too sure, because my Johnny’s Jrs fandom days have long past. so, it’s been a long while since i’ve listened to Japanese music, much less Japanese rock, or any new releases to boot. i’ve been sort of stuck in the rut, and listening to older familiar songs at best. i haven’t been keeping up, and wouldn’t know if there’re any new talent, or if any band has disbanded. but listening to ONE OK ROCK just made me start missing Japanese rock so much.

the kimono tops i like in this and this posts are sold. ): but pre-order is open for this giraffe print design in pink/black here and and i quite like the green paisley print one here. and bonitochico is having a sale! i spy kimono tops/dresses e.g. the Grecian print one. these are too expensive too, much as i like the black/white one. the mini straw bag in this post looks kind of interesting, but i wouldn’t know for sure unless i see it for real.

this song, i love. it’s co-written by Kings of Convenience and Feist (who also performs with Broken Social Scene). her voice in the song is so perfect and melancholic. she performs it live here, and here.

Kings of Convenience - ‘The Build Up’

The spinning top made a sound like a train across the valley
Fading, oh so quiet, but constant ’til it passed
Over the ridge, into the distances, written on your ticket
To remind you where to stop
And when to get off