post-finals liberty

okay. where to start? i had a phenomenal time today. (:

it’s been slightly over a week since my finals have ended. and although i have a couple more projects on hand, i still haven’t quite shaken off the exhilaration of bumming around and the lack of need to mug and work myself till breaking point. today, especially, however, was one huge peak in my comprehension of my (conditional) liberty. for the past week, i’ve had some fun. like loading my NDS with some new games like GTA Chinatown Wars and playing my PSP too. but i hadn’t manage to shake of the guilt of not actually applying myself to something halfway productive. yet today i felt like i manage to forget this guilt for a while at least.

i had lunch with Shaun the weekend before last at Carl’s Jr (their fries are made in heaven) at Vivocity. and shopped at Daiso for the few necessities i’ve put off getting because of finals like small ziplock bags for my accessories and storage boxes. i’ve met up with the other Finches a few times as well last week. for eats, shopping, baking and SX’s 21st birthday party at the pleasantly deserted chalets at Downtown East (yay for school still being in for kids). we went bowling before dinner at Fig & Olive (the food frankly was only so-so), which reminds me how much i miss the activity. it was a pity i couldn’t stay over, but i had plans the next day to check out bookstores and i didn’t want to lose a morning. 

i’ve gotten a bit obsessive over books lately. probably to fulfill my own goal of reading more this summer, which i’ve shared with YY one particular afternoon when we were back on campus, at our customary third floor bench in school and cramming for our Public Opinion class. anyway, i’m ashamed at how under-read i’ve let myself become. and i intend to catch up. starting with the logical choice of classics. today, i met up with ZJ, YY and Trin to catch the Wolverine film at Filmgarde in the new Bugis mall, Iluma. over fish & chips at the Manhattan Fish Market, we formed ourselves a yet-unnamed book club. haha, i’m secretly very pleased that we’ve decided to get started on classics. we tossed around some ideas like One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Lord Of The Flies and Dorian Grey. all texts i desperately want to read really.

in the end, Trin suggested and i concur on our first book being Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. although i must say i irk myself a little because i was at Suntec City’s Harris bookstore last Wednesday which was having 25% off all full-priced books. i spent like an hour there and really wanted to buy several titles but left empty-handed. and one of the books was In Cold Blood, obviously, as fate would have it. and Brave New World, which i swear i must read in due time. 

Wolverine was average. i completely understand why it got mixed reviews. i felt that the film was true to its name, its focus on the origins of the character, Wolverine. and Hugh Jackman is super hot, as usual. but there was truly no climax to the story nor resolution and actually contained some inconsistencies in tone and plot. nonetheless, it was a very simple and direct introduction to the X-Men series, if that’s what you are looking for. after wandering around the disappointing new mall, Illuma, we headed to Bugis Street which is getting a facelift and looking less like the gritty shopping street it used to be. final stop: Venezia gelato! their mint chocolate < Ben & Jerry’s (no surprise there), but their lemon sorbet tasted great as usual.

i met up with Shaun for dinner at Great World City, which i have developed a great adoration for. it’s such a chill place to go to. especially on a quiet weekday night where it has all the good stores, but without the crowds. there’s Fish & Co. (calamari FTW), three cafes with couches (including Spinelli, and so awesome for catching up with friends) and Zara. not to mention a Harris bookstore, Marks & Spencer, Ben & Jerry’s, Cold Storage and some decent restaurants like Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao. WIN. 

dinner was katsu-don and ramen at Bishamon. the katsu-don was fairly tasty but sadly puny. at least it left room for sushi from Kuriya Fish Market for me to satiate my craving for tuna and inari-zushi. we picked up our free tickets to the Star Trek gala premiere i won (YAYFACE MADE OF WIN) and went to Harris where i deliberated over signing up for membership and buying The Communist Manifesto. i signed up for a Borders membership recently and am seriously considering getting a Kinokuniya privilege card as well. in terms of cost Borders < Kinokuniya < Harris. but all three bookstores stock different selections of what i would love to get. like, i am eyeing the seriously impressive collection of Judith McNaught novels available at Kinokuniya (and Harris Great World City). Harris offers 5% more discount and on your birthday month too, which is great. but i think their books are also slightly pricer to begin with, perhaps?

the Star Trek gala premiere was definitely more of a big deal than the Death Note L spinoff movie i went for with Aur. for one thing, security was tighter. there were different sessions going on in different halls and ours was at 9pm in Hall 5. we had to check in our phones/recording devices and had our bags checked. but the most interesting bit was seeing the local Trekkies around, complete with uniforms and pointy ears. they were giving out Star Trek pin buttons which i am happy to receive of course. anyway, Druggy’s deduction that it would be something of a geek convention was semi-true in that sense. but i wasn’t barred from entry, thank god, even though i evidently had no idea what Star Trek is about (ZOMG MADE OF FAIL). lol.

the movie itself, i thought was actually pretty good. considering i am neither a Star Trek or sci-fi fan in general. i have no doubt true Trekkies would have their own opinion of it. though i grasped it relatively well in terms of what the film was about (okay i cheated a little and did minute research beforehand). but i was actually ridiculously anxious at the beginning of the film that i would have trouble following all the insider references and a “oh you’re supposed to know if you’re a fan” kind of plot; yet it turned out alright. i read now that apparently critics do like the new movie, and i read that non-Trekkies should/would be able to enjoy it, and i did, so that’s probably a true conclusion. in any case, i was really there more for Zachary Quinto than anything to begin with. so anything extra looks pretty good to me. in all honesty, i thought the bowl-shaped hair cut with the blunt bangs and those pointy ears would detract from Quinto’s sexiness throughout the movie. but zomg, that was like so not the case. his Vulcan good looks made me fangirl quite a fair bit. so obviously i was extremely irked at those moments when, as Shaun puts it, Spock was “making out” with Nyota Uhura (like at least 2-3 times). i was like, GLARE okay i really don’t like this Zoe Saldana actress person. juvenile maybe, but a typical knee-jerk reaction born of envy. lmao. so there were some comic relief which definitely helped make it less boring than it could have been. plus, Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine were not hard on the eyes at all. XD

at the end of the film, it was past 11pm. so Shaun and i made a run for the bus stop and caught our respective buses to train stations for home. met Jamie at the bus stand, who was in the same theater with her friend. she turned out to be an AWARE member, so we chatted a little about the recent EGM on the bus ride before i alighted and caught nearly the last train back. minutes before midnight are amazingly peaceful sometimes. but i think i still prefer those moments before dawn. in a busy metropolitan city. albeit the lack of 24/7 in most places, there is still no time as quiet as 5pm, and you’re driving along an empty highway.

so it took me an hour to write this blog entry. but i usually don’t ignore my urge to blog. especially since i have a little bit more time on my hands now. anyway, i really regret not buying anything that day at Harris at Suntec City. so i’m thinking i might head there again tomorrow to pick up some texts. though the truth is i really should start work on my project, first by reading the abstract Dr S. kindly sent our way. sigh. 

i would really love to start a Tumblr to share gorgeous photos of adorable and beautifully made bentos. but fuckyeahbento already exists, so. XDDD but it’s updated a little sporadically so maybe i could do a bit of that on me own. i would also like to read up and learn more about the firmware/OS of PSP and DS. i hate feeling like a major noob on these things.

i know the things i am doing aren’t exactly exotic or intellectually engaging (minus the ambition to read more) or anything special. i would love to go for a vacation to some place wonderful e.g. road trip in the States would be fantastic. but i am having a decently enjoyable time now. and that’s all that counts right?