twenty years it's breaking you down
the name is vanessa but everybody calls me van. estranged ex-NJCanoeist of 2004/05 K2-500m. I'm a WSO (FIGHTER) trainee and I'm doing my BA(Hons) English and Politics in the University of York. I like fast cars, literature, art and tulips. I cannot cook. When I was younger I wanted to be an astronaut. I am hopeless at math or anything remotely related to formulae. I detest parsley. I love the colour burgundy. My Macbook is my bestfriend and I've played with Macs since I was 15 so no, I didn't jump on the bandwagon. I have lofty dreams but I'm often afraid to chase them. I don't get angry I get disappointed. I intend to learn Spanish and German. Oh, and I think Liverpool kicksmajorass - I am not a fair-weathered fan. I think ambiguity is beautiful.


now that you understand
THE LOVEDAngela Angele Ben Charlene Cher Chewy Dav Dee Ginana Huiying Jinping Lings Vin Xintian Yanye Yif
MISC SITES Deviantart Phirebrush A Softer World Duane Keiser - A painting a day Depthcore


THERE'S NO ONE AROUND
10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004
11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004
12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005
01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005
02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005
03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005
04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005
05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005
06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005
07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005
08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005
09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005
10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005
11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005
12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006
01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006
02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006
03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006
04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006
05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006
06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006
07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006
08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006
09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006
10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006
11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006
12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007
01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007

TAKE A BREATH, JUST TAKE A SEAT
DECEMBRE/DECIEMBRE/DECEMBRO
02 -- Thong's bday
05 -- Shumin's bday
07 -- Howeeeeee's bday
08 -- Daddy's bday
09 -- Commsparade!
11 -- Politics exam, snowball
14 -- MY bday!!
15 -- End of term!!!!!!!! To London.
17 -- 07
18 -- Flying home!
19 -- Touchdown 1855 SQ321
30 -- Back to London

YOU'RE FALLING APART






AND BURSTING AT THE SEAMS
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Lyrics by: The Fray
jueves, noviembre 30, 2006
Today my alarm didn't ring so I missed the politics lecture with the awesome lecturer!! gahh. Sam and Debs were apparently banging my door down at 9 in the morning and I didn't hear a thing! If I were still a cadet and this were a turnout, I'd have been majorly screwed. wtfff. I'm in a major crisis. Politics exam gahhh. Help me. I really need divine intervention to get at least a second upper. Granted, I've been getting 2.1 for my politics so far (no one got a first) but still it was the essay written at home with lotsa references. SAVE MY ASS.

Ohhhh the muffins were apparently very very heavenly. I'm gonna do the cranberry ones next. :) The only thing that's stopping me from doing more ambitious stuff is the fact that the supermarkets are so farrr away and we have to do online ordering all the time so we can't get ingredients as and when we like. Poop. I wish we had a tescos within walking distance like Warwick does.
Vanessa Lim 2:46 p. m.
miércoles, noviembre 29, 2006
I look squashed up.

See, this is what politics readings does to you! bleargh. So i decided to make chocolate cherry muffins but i didn't have cherry jam so i used strawberry instead. they're good. really. my double cream went out of date and i didn't have enough chocolate so i just made do without the frosting. oh well they were sinful enough anyway.




I will cook for people when I get back. if you ask very nicely (:
Vanessa Lim 7:50 p. m.
I had two fruitful lectures today.

Uno - politics. I know I'm dropping it and all but I have to take the stupid exam so bleargh have to attend the lectures. Well. We walked in and this roundish old guy was perched on top of the table, sitting in a way that lecturers shouldn't sit lol. Then as he proceeded with his lecture, he actually RECLINED ON HIS SIDE on the table. If you do know Edouard Manet's painting "Olympia", you'll get the picture. I was absolutely stunned. Nevertheless it was the best politics lecture of the term - it was structured and I actually had a clue.

Dos - english. We were expecting a lecture on Beckett's "Endgame" but it turned out to be one on Cinematography and film. All the longshot, panning, tilting and different camera angles, plus actual screenings of films were extremely illuminating. I've always been very interested in film and whenever I watch a movie I try to look at how the mise-en-scène is set up. How the camera angles/lighting/sound contribute to the plot as a whole. Ah and even better - there's a film special module that we can choose in term 3 i think. YAY!

Term's drawing to a close. I suppose I can say I settled here very well, I'm doing what I like (or AM GOING to do what I like once I switch to History) and I've met lots of new people. I've learnt how to cook and bake. I'm finding myself in art again - finding myself as in self-discovery. I'm glad I came here to study instead of being a victim of the rigid singapore education system, where tests and exams consume your entire life of academia. It's less competitive here, more laid-back (being in a small city helps) and I actually feel independant and not spoonfed. It's a whole lot tougher, but definitely - the challenge stimulates my mind and I'm sooo thankful I'm not having major exams like how the NUS/NTU people are having bwahaha.
Vanessa Lim 3:12 p. m.
martes, noviembre 28, 2006
I AM OFFICIALLY ACCEPTED INTO THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT! SCORE!

VAN 1 - 0 POLITICKS!!
Vanessa Lim 7:23 p. m.
Ah, sorry for the prolonged absence.

Was in warwick over the weekend and I very cleverly left my macbook adaptor there. Guofeng had to post it to me via expressmail and I just got it back. I'm getting more and more stupid i swear.

Anyway we went to warwick as in warwickshire itself. It was soooo pretty :) The castle was exceptionally gorgeous, but my camera batt died so I've gotta wait for Guofeng to send me the photos on his cam. Then we had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant called ASK. Ambience was perfect. Lasagna was delicately cheesy but not overpowering. Twas a good weekend.

Been listening to this song a lot lately:

I was young but I wasn't naive
I watched helpless as he turned around to leave
and still I have the pain I have to carry
a past so deep that even you could not bury if you tried

after all this time
I never thought we'd be here
never thought we'd be here
when my love for you was blind
but I couldn't make you see it
couldn't make you see it
that I loved you more than you'll ever know
a part of me died when I let you go

I would fall asleep
only in hopes of dreaming
that everything would be like is was before
but nights like this it seems are slowly fleeting
they disappear as reality is crashing to the floor

after all this time
would you ever wanna leave it
maybe you could not believe it
that my love for you was blind
but I couldn't make you see it
couldn't make you see it
that I loved you more than you will ever know
a part of me died when I let you go
and I loved you more than you'll ever know
a part of me dies when I let you go

Blind - Lifehouse
Vanessa Lim 2:02 p. m.
viernes, noviembre 24, 2006
hon. i'm glad we talked, really.

i'm just counting the days till i get back. i honestly can't wait anymoreeeeee i'm jumping up and down and SAM YOU LUCKY GIRL. eat lotsa prata for me ok. team outing, nice dinnerS with baby, artsfac get together.. yay i'm so looking forward. i gotta get past the stupid politics exam first though. poop.

ok this is a frivolous post. oh i checked my sitemeter and i realised that most of my uk visitors are from warwick. and uh. i got people from johns hopkins in USA also. and uh the uk people who visit are from york (duh), warwick, cambridge, sheffield, lse, kings, manchester, notts etc. so fun. i don't know anyone from manchester, sheffield though. but the notts person is using windowsxp so it's not jinping.

shit. this is ridiculous haha.
Vanessa Lim 3:07 p. m.
jueves, noviembre 23, 2006
blarrghhh day apart from Art. Am doing a selfportrait in oils. Have been trying to do the politics question since monday but am not making progress.

sigh i'm just not in a very good mood despite art and getting our snowball tickets. it's been a really tough day filled with bitterness, helplessness and close shaves.

ahh debs and sam were so hungover. last night debs kept sliding off her chair and under the table. and we were all in the kitchen singing don't stop me now and wonderwall at 2am. then sam did another rendition of jerusalem. we made so much noise that the porter came round and told us to keep it down. but he chose the moment to come in when debs was under the table and luke was sprawled on the floor haha it was bloody hilarious i swear the craziest thing i've seen in a long time. it was literally like - he opened the door, we stopped mid-song, and he just stared at the amazing sight of two incredibly drunk people on the floor.

i love my housemates. i love times when sam and debs come into my room with carrots and singing along to are you gonna be my girl. and me keeping my room door open so debs can prance around the corridor to the beats of usher. kate and her episode with the blender that she had to be sent to hospital. emma from next door who's practically part of our house. dan who makes a hell lot of noise with his guitars and goes through 8 beers BY HIMSELF then getting so drunk that he slops salad cream all over his leg.

it's when i'm not cooped up in the room that i'm happiest.
Vanessa Lim 8:58 p. m.
Am frustrated. With everything. You.

The house is dead quiet cos everyone is SUPREMELY hungover. I must stress that of course I'm not hungover. I am sober. Because I know people worry about me a lot and they think I'll get drunk and get my drink spiked etc. I'm more responsible than that. In fact whenever we go out I'm always the most sober of the lot. Always.

Am still insanely frustrated. I hate politics I have a headache and ararrgh. I'm just making noises now. Since I'm not making sense I'll let the photos speak. Accumulated over time.

With Jess
With Amy.
House J!!!
Yet again <3
Vanessa Lim 2:09 p. m.
miércoles, noviembre 22, 2006
well. got my 2nd english essay back accompanied with nice nice nice comments from Brockbank. Gosh that guy is legend - how he can make my horrible essay look really nice and make me feel good about myself. He said it was "well-illustrated" and that I was "promising and able". Ahh and he added that if I do switch to History he's gonna be sad that I won't be in his seminars next term cos he'll wanna see how I develop my potential. ISNT HE SWEET.

Speaking of sweet, I love how OCS is connected to the internet now!! Which means MSN with baaybeeee on a weekday how cool is that. I think during the 6months of our relationship we've spent more time APART than together and people like his coursemates don't really believe in us.. but we don't care what others think. We're special in our own right and that makes us even more determined. Sure, we're idealistic, but there's really no harm in being optimistic. That doesn't mean we're not aware about the practical situation though - how it's a long-distance relationship and we have to put in more effort than the usual couple. We've discussed this a kazillion times and we're intent to try our darndest. :)

There you go hon, I wrote something nice! -beams-

OH YA today during Politics lecture I kept smelling cigarette smoke and I thought it was coming from me since I went to Toffs last night (great night btw) and I started sniffing myself and my bag! Then I realised it couldn't have been me cos I'd showered already and I wasn't wearing the same stuff as last night (proves again that I'm sober). I got debs to sniff me too and we concluded that it was from the guy behind us. OMG I could have suffocated and D-I-E-D okay it was horrible. That stale, dead smell. gosh. nothing against smokers as people, but just.. HOW! how can you puff that stupid thing and make your lungs tar-ish and pay money to die early! how!
Vanessa Lim 3:12 p. m.
martes, noviembre 21, 2006
Thong: if you're reading this, I dunno if you got my sms all the way from uk, but CONGRATS ON THE SOM. You don't know how proud I am of you, really. Now I can tell people I know someone who got SOM. wahoo! Go ahead and apply for sms and stuff ok. You've cleared the SAS, the SAS(M).. it's like you're left with one more hurdle to clear (even though I still think you'll make a great SAFOS) for the SMS. So ALL THE BEST. Keep me updated, and if all goes well I'll seeya in UK next year!!

If I tell you I'm reticent by nature, will you believe me? I guess not. I'm honestly really shy and it takes me a while to warm up to people, so in initial conversations I'll just clam up until I observe you better and make the decision whether I wanna talk to you or not. Most of the time I'm very nice unless I'm a) drunk (very very rare), b) annoyed or c) averse to your face/antics - but even then I'll still be moderately civil. People just don't get it. They think I'm hostile, scary etc but I'm actually very warm and approachable once you get to know me.

So, does anyone wanna come to York? I am a very good host :)


Vanessa Lim 4:15 p. m.
yesterday was a really really good day. emma and i went for life drawing in Bootham School. It's this boarding school in the city centre and it's SO COOL omg I've never been in an English boarding school before! All the students running around and having communal dinners in that huuuge dining hall that served really nice-smelling foooood kinda like ocs la. hahaha. but rarr it was good fun. sketched with charcoal, pencils and painted quick studies of a very good model whose arm kept getting numb cos of her posing - bless her. i'll be going again next week. i'm glad i've started doin art again.


Went to the Chaaaaarrrles after that despite only having an omelette all day. two pints and i was feeling lightheaded already but still pretty much sober - as always. company was good. kate, emma, dan, jamie, matt. nice people, nice busy ambience.. ah i'll be looking forward to mondays from now on.

Singsoc committee meeting tonight. Followed by Toffs perhaps. I really haven't been out in ages. Been cooping myself up haunted by my essays and readings. One last time to really relax before going into full blast muggermode for my politics exam on the 11th. AH oh ya MINDEF already approved my switch to Eng/Hist, now gotta wait for the history department to QUICKLY CONFIRM omg growl can't they see it's killing me. sigh.
Vanessa Lim 11:11 a. m.
domingo, noviembre 19, 2006
The S211 is being replaced by the PC-21 as the RSAF training plane (The Straits Times, 13 Nov 2006). Meaning that as long as the cockpit of the PC-21 is SMALLER than that of the S211, I can at least try for pilot. This is very good news - but it takes effect in June 2008, and our airgrading is in 2007. Looks like I'm going back in dec to discuss with cpt aaron about this.



Dav's gone back to Birmingham. Looks like we've both gotta return to reality. Reality to me means another 1800 words to go for my English essay and reading Pope's Rape of the Lock both by tomorrow. I trust I have everyone's goodluck wishes.

PS: I love my new cowlneck jumper from H&M. It's only 10quid.
Vanessa Lim 5:35 p. m.
PHOTOOOOOS! Took dav on a walk around my campus. The buildings are totally concrete jungle. So ugly :( But the lake and all the landscaping is really pretty.

me and dav on campus. whee!
MUSHROOM! Reminds me of my ALevel art project.
Carvings on a tree stump. The route I take to school almost every day.
Closeup
GOLD LEAVES!
I love autumn!!
This is called The Quiet Place. Really.
In The Quiet Place. It's absolutely lovely.
Heslington Hall - part of the uni but it's admin so no one goes there :( Pity cos it's so gorgeous.
Seeee told you the uni is full of ducks.

Then we took the bus to the city centre to SHOP :) I spent 109 pounds and I feel very accomplished cos I haven't shopped for almost 3 weeks. (it's a feat okay!) Here's photos of the city centre.

This is a damn nice soap shop called Lush. Handmade stuff that smells heavenly. Apparently they used to have a branch in sg but they shut! boohoo.
I really don't know what this is, but it's lovely
How the shopping district in York looks like.
Sunset off the river.
Again
Yet again. Sorry it was toooo beautiful to resist.

YUP. It was a goooooood day yesterday, not only cos I bought so much stuff but also cos I managed to drag myself out into town after cooping myself up for so long. I promise I'll not buy anything till London on the 15th. I think.
Vanessa Lim 12:10 p. m.
sábado, noviembre 18, 2006
it's been six months :) well that was 2h ago. so six months and a day :)

DAV'S HERE! <3
Vanessa Lim 2:18 a. m.
jueves, noviembre 16, 2006
Everyone should just get a FACEBOOK account cos it wastes all the time that you should spend doing your English essay and preparing for your Politics seminar the next day.

I just have to get through this week and I'll be ok. SIGH. When all the shit piles up, it PILES UP. 2 essays, a seminar with 963858 readings, plus Pope's Rape of the Lock on Monday. Then it's Life Drawing!!!!! Ahhhhh yay I'm actually going down to some artplace in the city centre with emma to do life drawing omg i'm damn excited! I feel like drawing with charcoal. Like, go back to the basics again.. i miss art so so much.

I'm soooo tired cos I slept at about 5am and got up at 830. Nooooo what's wrong with me.

can you come over nownownow? :(



Vanessa Lim 6:14 p. m.
miércoles, noviembre 15, 2006
OMG hahah yinkae just told me that one of her friends wrote "Economics Ng" and "Elizabeth Paper 3" on her ALevel cover sheet!!! bwahaahaha. And today I saw a fat white duck with a lollipop in its beak!

My body clock is seriously screwedup. I can't sleep till 4am everyday. So yesterday I managed to complete my stupid politics essay after deleting that excerpt below cos it was a shitty paragraph. 1939 words hurrah. One down one to go. So I must try to finish most of my English essay today before dav comes up for the weekend cos I KNOW we're not gonna do any studyingggg. Right dav? hehe.




This is Muller Corners yogurt. I CANNOT live without my 2x6packs every two weeks. It's freaking comfort food cum guilty pleasures honestly. I don't know what I'm gonna do without it when I come hooome. How do you ship yogurt? Howhowhowhowhow.

Ahh and don't you sometimes have that feeling when you just want only one thing in the world and everything else just doesn't matter? (NOT related to yogurt) If only you had that ONE thing then even if mud splattered on your Manolo Blahniks, even if you lost a limb, it wouldn't matter cos you have that special thing. You'd go all out to get that one thing, you'd give anything..

.. tis a funny thing, this Love character.
Vanessa Lim 4:23 p. m.
martes, noviembre 14, 2006
Oh I could throw you in the lake
Or feed you poisoned birthday cake
I wont deny I'm gonna miss you when you're gone
Oh I could bury you alive
But you might crawl out with a knife
And kill me when I'm sleeping
That's why

I can't decide
Whether you should live or die
Oh, you'll probably go to heaven
Please don't hang your head and cry
No wonder why
My heart feels dead inside
It's cold and hard and petrified
Lock the doors and close the blinds
We're going for a ride

Scissor Sisters - I can't decide


HAHAA this song totally makes me laugh. I could think of many people that I wanna dump into a lake and feed poisoned cake to. People like uh.. the eyebrow plucker who lurks outside Tangs at Orchard! Gosh! He compliments me about my hair everytime he wants to pluck my eyebrows for me! Oh and people who don't move to the middle of the MRT carriage especially during rush hour when I'm struggling to get to work. People who stare at me and point blatantly when I'm wearing my No. 3 on the train during aforementioned rush hour.

In that context, politics is also a “collective activity” that involves people who “accept a common membership or at least acknowledge a shared fate.” The peasants involved in the 1911 Revolution obviously had a common cause and grievance that drew them together as a political force. The decisions made by higher authority must “impinge on both the shared and competing interests of the groups’ members”. This shows us that indeed politics is “collective”, and any Robinson Crusoe character would not be able to practice politics. (Hague, R. and Harrop, M. 2004) In the zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

-- A current excerpt from my Politics essay that is 1500 words away from target.
Vanessa Lim 8:15 p. m.
I had the loveliest English lecture today that was worth waking up for. It was about punctuation! The lecturer gave us Miranda's opening speech from the Tempest without puncts and made us punct it ourselves. (ahh punct is a nice word. it's like, puncture. poof) There was this line that got me a bit stumped:

"...A brave vessel
Who had no doubt some noble creature in her
Dashed all to pieces"

I didn't know whether to put dashes or parentheses in the second line. A brave vessel -/ who had...her -/ dashed all to pieces. OR A brave vessel/(who..her)/..pieces". Ahhh it was so nice and perplexing! I opted for the dashes, but the first original print of the Tempest had it in parentheses. Well at least I didn't just put a comma there. Thought it would be more than that.

But I mean, it's no right or wrong you know. That's why punctuation is so beautiful. I mean, it tells you when you slow down in a passage. It brings you to inflection, gives you cadence, brings MEANING to your text.. ah and I learnt how to take the space as a punctuation too :)

Ahh rewarding, though I slept at 430 the previous night and was bleary eyed the next morning. Liked the lecture muchly.
Vanessa Lim 2:59 p. m.
lunes, noviembre 13, 2006




I title this early psychosis
Vanessa Lim 8:33 p. m.
Email from the person at the Eng/Hist department after I forwarded him my A Level results:
OK, I'll forward these for the record. I had assumed you had very good
results or you would not have been accepted for a combined degree involving
English.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S CALLED TYCO..
Vanessa Lim 4:03 p. m.
You know, it's that feeling that you're really inadequate. Facing the world is a chore, like walking out to the streets is just.. scary for me cos I seem to be surrounded by people who are a ton smarter than I am. People who are more cognitive, more astute, more deserving of a place at this prestigious university.

And I'm thinking of changing from English/Politics to English/History. I just emailed the person in charge of the Eng/Hist course to see if it's too late. If it isn't, the next thing I have to do is call MSC to ask for permission to change my course. The chances are slim, but as long as there's still hope, I'm not giving up. Politics is a SCIENCE. It's dull, dry and nothing happens. In history, stuff goes on, it's dynamic, it's open to interpretation. Politics is just blah to me. Nothing seems to make sense. I suppose it'll get better the next term, but then again I know I won't be doing what I like. Doing something for relevance's sake isn't gonna make me happy and comfortable.

Why must all the shitty things happen at once. This morning when I was all geared up for work, my internet was down. And when Sam, Debs and I managed to get through to Computing Services, the fire alarm went off! So the conversation happened like this:

Sam: Hi I'm calling from St Lawrence court House J, our internet's down. Yep. AH FUCK FIRE ALARM cheers mate.

Oh and I wasn't wearing a coat so I dashed out in the cold wearing only a sleeveless tank. RAAAAARRRGGHH.
Vanessa Lim 3:12 p. m.
domingo, noviembre 12, 2006
This was before Ziggggwaaahhhs last Wed night. A very bleargh night out cos I just COULDN'T get high. Everyone was staggering all over the place and I was still amazingly sober. Even the shots didn't help, really.

Ah ante up van.

For all I've been
Blessed with in this life
There was an
Emptiness in me
I was imprisoned by
The power of gold
With one honest touch
You set me free

Let the world
Stop turning
Let the sun
Stop burning
Let them tell me love's
Not worth going through
If it all falls apart
I will know
Deep in my heart
The only dream that
Mattered had come true
In this life, I was
Loved by you

For every mountain
I have climbed
And every raging
River crossed
You were the treasure
That I longed to find
Without you love
I would be lost

Haiyoh. I'm being sappy againnn.
Vanessa Lim 5:10 p. m.
Hais. suddenly just lost a lot of motivation to do my work. tis a chore, this studying thing. I really don't wanna do my essays. it's just so.. growl. I really just wanna come home and go straight to my saf thingy and just skip the whole uni phase altogether. I love it here, really, but it's just consuming me. I know it's like I've an obligation to fulfil after all the faith that the SAF has put in me despite getting that C for math that technically didn't make me eligible for the scholarship. Many people would really like to be in my place, I know, and I should count myself lucky but haiyarr it's easier said than done.

Sigh then nottsgames was ok i suppose but it was real cold and my nose/ears were like dropping off. had just no Mood. no Mood to take photos, no Mood to talk to people. no MOOD. ahhh. But I had a long conversation with yeemeng outside the floorball courts and he made me laugh :) sigh. saw cheryl. was happy to see her. and leon! and JINPING my lifesupportwoman. (i miss you muchly sniff). met daph! as in daph from IJ. ahhh ij rocks la.

shit man i'm damn incoherent today. my ankle is verypainful cos I think i kinda slipped a bit in the shower but it doesnt hurt until i press it or something shiit blahblahblah dav changed her flight so she's flying back e same day as me. FOOD FIGHT mwahahaa.

Honey, It's been a long time coming
And I can't stop now
Such a long time running
And I can't stop now
Do you hear my heart beating
Can you hear that sound
Cause I can't help thinking
And I don't look down

And then I looked up at the sun and I could see
Oh the way that gravity turns for you and me
And then I looked up at the sky and saw the sun
And the way that gravity pulls on everyone, on everyone

Baby, It's been a long time waiting
Such a long, long time
And I can't stop smiling
No I can't stop now
And do you hear my heart beating
And can you hear that sound
Cause I can't help crying
And I won't look down

Embrace - Gravity

Vanessa Lim 11:58 a. m.
viernes, noviembre 10, 2006
Last night was good. Shirin, Shaowen and Justicia came over for dinner and we had sweetnsour pork, chicken curry and butter mushrooms. Yes ok, I prepared all that (but Shirin helped a lot). Yayyy :) And I didn't poison anyone too!

Hmm then talked to Jishan over the phone till 4am before crashing to bed. Both of us were like bawling our eyes out. Me cos I miss home like crap and I've just generally been feeling a delayed bout of homesickness. Her cos she's just been through a bad relationship. She sent me photos of Oxford too and I'm real glad I caught up with her yesterday. Everything she told me sounded so familiar, so I was just telling her about how it was with weejin and how similar our situations were - except that mine was more long-drawn. I'm planning to go down to Oxford for a weekend sometime. It looks absolutely gorgeous.

I can't wait for term to end so I can just fly homeee. Between 16-18 I've got nothing to do so Londoners pleaseplease entertain me. I knoooow your term ends much earlier than mine la but sniff don't forget me ok :)) LALALAALALA I'm getting a bit hyper now I woke up at 1.30 pm.
Vanessa Lim 3:04 p. m.
jueves, noviembre 09, 2006
I'm damn bored. Can't really focus on that big politics book now cos it's so dry. I know my essay's due next week but bleargh I can't focus.

FO-CUS! LONG-PULL! REACH-OUT!

Ah the dragonboat days! I think me and mich really had lotsa fun being pacers. Like how mr nasiman sat on the drummers seat during training and let huiying cox and while the rest of the boat drank water he made me and mich count together. "one and two and three and four" to get the rhythm. (62 per minute - perfect!) Then after that he made huiying count and the stroke rate was like 68 per min or something. hahahaha. then the whole boat almost died laughing and peishan went "OEI!!" mwahaha.

Another thing I really remember is when at first me and xintian were meant to be k2 partners, Mr Nasiman made all the k2 girls go back to shore, then he put me in the back of my boat, took away my paddle and made me row with a stick to demonstrate a stroke or something. (all this while he was holding the boat so I didn't actually ROW) then I think Nasiman kinda decided to make fun of me and he tilted the boat. Instinctively I tried to use the stick to tap but obviously because of the lack of surface area stick-tapping doesn't really work. mmmpfffgghh.

Ah and then there was the time when I took a T1 to help the juniors and rescue people when they capsize. I was just leaning back and basking and feeling bored when suddenly Wenpan capped. I thought - OH JOY I have something to do!

I took my paddle and enthusiastically did a left stroke. WHAM.

The next thing I knew I was in the water. O_O

Oh and if that's not enough, I self-rescued. Flipped over the boat and climbed in. Thank god Yong didn't see if not i'd be like incredibly dead meat. Vin saw it though. And he was thinking - who's that CLOWN. lol

goooood times :))


Vanessa Lim 5:56 p. m.
TODAY I AM A HAPPY GIRL.

EVERYONE! I'M FLYING BACK ON THE 18TH DECEMBER CONFIRMEDDDD!! When I'm going back still depends but I've got a flight on 30th Dec, and there's still a possibility that I can get a later flight back to uk so wheee :)

AND AND AND dav said she'll be coming up to York next weekend like omg!! hahaha i'm freaking happy la. After a sucky night out, this has to be the best start to a day, ever.

:))
Vanessa Lim 1:40 p. m.
miércoles, noviembre 08, 2006
Chocolate Cloud Cake. I am the Maestro, yo.

Here's to all my detractors. I can cook and bake. Ok help from Debs but still. Cake was perfectly chocolate. 100% fat. (eggs, sugar, butter, double cream and that's all) Ahh heaven. Thank you, Nigella.
Vanessa Lim 6:30 p. m.
Who in the right mind searches for "vanessa university of york" on google???

Sigh. Ziggys later tonight for the first time. Hope it's as good as Sam & Debs says it is. Zigwaaaaahhhs they call it. Ziggy's has been described as being as good as Santa Claus. :))

Hais. I'm not feeling too upbeat today. I want to go back. I'll take cadet life over uni life anytime man. Considering I missed out so much on cadet life. Bleargh. I feel like I've cheated on the way of becoming an officer. I wanna go through all the tekaning. I wanna marchmarchmarch like there's no tomorrow. I wanna be commissioned on the parade square and not by some lousy piece of paper. Throw my peakcap. Hug all my platoonmates.

Notice how I'm speaking in army terms here. I didn't say I wanna zoom around in my fighterjet killing everyone in my way raaaaaaaarrr. I want to do live firing. I wanna be a cadet again.

Isn't it nice when we're all fledglings? Nary a care in the world. Like frozen meat.

I baked a cake today. It's cooling on the wire rack. I don't have enough doublecream to make the icing.
Vanessa Lim 4:00 p. m.
martes, noviembre 07, 2006
EDIT: Put up new template but still work in progress. Gotta rushhhh.

Things to bring for Notts Games:
  1. Digital Camera
  2. Film Camera
  3. Film
  4. Food.
  5. Ffffffff
I don't care what Aristotle would have made of the South African Constitution so I am just totally skipping that question. I mean 4/5 isn't bad. I'm sure someone from my seminar group would do that question and then we can combine forces! Phwoarr. This Friday during politics seminar, the South African Constitution will go head on with the Vietnamese Constitution. It's six-six evenly divided and technically it's a battle of the sexes. Our group is all girls but Steve, their group is all guys but Becca. Though I don't know how we're gonna battle Constitutions, I'm looking forward to it cos I love my seminar group! The Eng/Pol people are a hilarious bunch and I always enjoy my seminars.


Ahh long overdue photos of my room. Now you can see why its called the Ghettos of Halifax College right. It's smallll, dingy and bleargh. But livable. DON'T LAUGH AT MY MESS :(
Vanessa Lim 11:46 a. m.
lunes, noviembre 06, 2006
Hrmpff. So I'm stuck in my room again trying my darndest to digest the South African Constitution. At first I thought, aiyarr read some Constitution and answer five questions only, no biggie. But on closer scrutiny, the Constitution is long, dull and bleargh. Plus Qn 5 is: "What would Aristotle have made of this Constitution?" meaning that I actually have to READ what Aristotle says on top of the Constitution. SO I dug out my Course Pack and, ok it's only ten pages but stillll.

I dunno why I'm doing politics, honestly. I have absolutely no interest in the subject, but for career's sake I just decided that it would add a rather relevant dimension to what I would be doing in the future. I mean I don't think the SAF would like it much if I did just pure English. I mean look at the rest. Jinping is doing Psychology which is really very relevant in terms of dealing with people - since the SAF is after all a peopleorganisation. Weilynn's doing Political Science (need I say more?) and Wanling's doing.. uh.. some bio thingy I think. Bleargh every one of those subjects seem a bit more grounded and less airyfairy than just pure English. SOO I had no choice but to do Politics as well. I was real tempted to tell Celeste that I want English and History of Art but.. that would be a long shot huh.

I suppose it's not about doing what you like, but liking what you do. Being in the SAF taught me a lot of that. I hated routemarches because I always had bloodfilled blisters, but I had to like it because (a) it's a requirement and (b) there was so much spirit that I felt from the Sierragirls. I hated the slope runs cos of my phobia but I had to learn to like it because I didn't wanna be a coward anymore. I absolutely detest waking up at 0530 every morning and falling in by 0545 to do 5BX but then again I HAD to like it because I was the PT I/C and had to very enthusiastically lead the exercises. So I suppose I could just FORCE myself to love politics now. Or at least approach it with the right attitude.

Ahhh what I'm feeling can just be summed up in a few lines:

We're only taking turns
Holding this world
It's how it's always been
When you're older you will understand

Trust Me -- The Fray
Vanessa Lim 3:06 p. m.
domingo, noviembre 05, 2006
I'm like super clumsy.. my parents sent me a whole bottle of oyster sauce.. and I actually fucking dropped the whole thing while I was taking something out of my cupboard. I hadn't even OPENED it yet. sighh. Was really looking forward to stirfry :(

baby got his webcam!! whee :) Seeing him for the first time since I left really really brightens up my day! Rarrr.

Ah and yanye, funny how you should say my entries are interesting. Have you been talking to Justin somehow? Haha. Well Justin was saying that a lot of people read this blog, but I countered that, saying that I intentionally post entries about my dull mundane life to put people off. After all I aint some richkid, I don't have long hair and big eyes. (Will not mention any names here to avoid being googled too much) I keep this blog to uhm express myself, vent when I need to, occasionally marvel at the idiosyncracies of the world, and to keep in touch with my friends. I don't mean for it to become an exhibition piece, neither do I yearn for it to be something I MAKE MONEY from.

If not for the blog, I think I prolly would have totally lost touch from writing after the ALevels. Perhaps my writing is not as meandering or embellished as before, but I think I've already established the reason for that a few months back, and I'll reiterate it here. Now that I'm living a life for myself and not catering to someone else's whims and fancies, I'm not as jaded and troubled as before. (Check archives if you're clueless) When you're not troubled or upset about something, the creative juices tend to stagnate, somehow. Yes this is an example of the idiosyncracies of human nature.

Yeah and I have to read Samson Agonistes. Yesterday at the Charles (a pub) I was talking to this guy called John, who happened to have read the book, and he told me that Samson referred to Samson in the Bible. As in Samson and Delilah. Plus he's in jail because he's captured by the Philistines. SHIIIT how come I didn't know that. Maybe cos I haven't been able to get past the first 5 pages. HAHA.
Vanessa Lim 12:13 p. m.
sábado, noviembre 04, 2006
I can't believe I have to do this. Our assignment is to compare two dramas, one of which we're studying this term, and naturally, Titus Andronicus would seem like the best choice. So we've gotta compare 2 of Shakespeare's plays. Problem is, the only other 2 Shakespeare plays I know very very well are Measure for Measure and Julius Caesar. Since M4M is OUT cos it is SO unlike Titus, I have to do Julius Caesar. I really really can't believe I'm digging out the full text of Caesar online, looking at it again. It really strikes a chord - the old IJ days, with Mrs Mag Low completely dramatizing the whole play, the whole of 4/3 entirely silent and furiously scribbling notes..

And it's fond memories like these that keep me going. I'm surprised I can still remember Brutus' soliloquy omg. It's been what - 3 years?? Surprisingly I've come up with a considerable number of points for the 2 tragedies, but developing them well is another thing.

LINGS! hahahaha suddenly thought of you while I was typing this entry :) Don't worry I'm being a very good girl ok? I'm doing my work!
Vanessa Lim 1:21 p. m.
viernes, noviembre 03, 2006
I love Fridays.

Although there's a very oddly-placed 4.15 seminar, I get to sleep in. Woke up to his message :)) Had brunch (ham&cheese omelette + tuna on toast) then did some proper work. Just struck me that I have to read Samson Agonistes and think about my English essay for consultation with Brockbank by Monday, and do the Politics 5 questions by Tuesday for our seminargroup discussion. Suddenly after a week of slacking, the work just PILES up.

It's Guy Fawkes season this weekend, so there's gonna be fireworks! Probably gonna head down to watch the 45-min display at the stadium.

Hmm I think I'm not gonna go for rowing after all cos 1)It's just weird rowing with another team. (yes girls, you all are irreplaceable), 2) the seniors are just DIFFERENT, 3) it's cold, 4)it's RETARDED going backwards down the river. So, I might swim again, but the pool's quite mangy so I dunno. I'm definitely gonna run though. Sprints or long-d? Maybe both. We'll see.

Right, I'm gonna do proper work this weekend. :)
Vanessa Lim 10:36 p. m.
jueves, noviembre 02, 2006
I got a parcel from my parents today! Seeing all the Singapore stamps plastered all over the box made me veryvery happy. Brown paper makes me happy. I've saved all the brown paper with the stamps on and put it up on my wall.


Yayyy. Was unpacking the parcel, then got hungry and uh forgot to go for my lecture.

Me: I FORGOT TO GO FOR LECTURE!
Guofeng: Then how???
Me: Then I took my yoghurt out of the fridge and ate it.

HAHA whoops.
Vanessa Lim 2:11 p. m.
miércoles, noviembre 01, 2006
Last night was notmuchfun. It was literally FREEZING as we queued (and queued and queued) to get into Toffs. We queued for SO LONG that by the time I got into Toffs all I wanted to do was sit down. hahaha. My legs were stiff toes were numb neck was aching - the last thing I wanted to do was get squashed up in the crowd. Oh and I didn't drink last night. Was very happy with myself till I realised I FORGOT TO TAKE MY ANTIBIOTICS so it didn't make a difference if I drank or not. GRR. I can't have a fun time to crappymusic (Hello.. they played Barbie Girl forheaven'ssake) unless I'm a little high. :(((

Fell asleep during Politics lecture for a while until the lecturer started talking about China and it's 4 Modernisations. Then my brain started waking up a little. I'm happy cos Guofeng sent me my mascara (finally) and I got my ASOS black dress that's really vv satiny and nicee. -beams-

They're trying to persuade me to go to Ziggy's tonight. RAAAAWRRR. I wanna be a goodgirl tonight. Need some alone time, so probably will be antisocial.

To my teammates - Peishan Michelle Cindy Jasmin Rachie Xintian Shumin Mindy Huiying Leepeng Chiteng I MISS YOU ALL VERY MUCHLY.
Vanessa Lim 4:04 p. m.