One year anniversary

current clothing: red tank and ripped jeans
current mood: wired and sleepy la
current taste: blackcurrant juice aka ribena
current hair: ponytail
current annoyance: not knowing
current smell: mint
current thing you ought to be doing: not a damn thing, sleeping probably
current jewelry: one earring
current book: in arcadia by ben okri
current favourite refreshment: dry ginger ale
current worry: none really
current crush: myob
current favorite celebrity: hilary swank
current longing: to fall sound asleep
current music: damian rice
current wish: to work harder at all things
current lyric in your head: "And so it is...just like you said it would be"
current makeup (if you're a girl!): none
current undergarments: bra and thong
current regret: none
current desktop picture: sunflowers
current plans for tonight/weekend: to fall sound asleep
current cuss word du jour: f**k off la
current disappointment: not knowing
current amusement: finding the perfect car
current IM/person: Jaci
current love: my friends
current obsession: never-been restaurants and joints
current avoidance: late nights
current favorite book: jitterbug perfume by tom robbins
current favorite movie: million dollar baby

***


Fwah. having too many late nights - all in a row - really does a number to your head and your gut. And I feel all the more crappier for it coz late nights ain't really my thing.

So I've been back in Singapore for one year, and it's been the longest period in 4 years that I've stayed in one spot for more than 6 months, and it's beginning to feel damn right weird. I don't know what it is - restlessness, the wanting to escape the I'm-settlin'-in feeling, or just plain wanting some adventure, but the itch is gettin more noticeable and I'm not talking about the just-scratch-it-and-be-done-with-it kind. This is serious stuff. And I don't think the weekend at KL helped at all. Not saying that I didn't enjoy it. I did - tremenously, and it only served to feed the travel bug more. I'll post pictures when I've figured out how to.

So to drive home the point to maself, here's the top 10 things I miss about studying/working/living overseas.
1. The goddamn parks. National parks that are almost half the size of Singapore where you can hike, boat, swim, picnic, camp, have a cookout, have a bonfire, jump into a real freakin' lake, see a real freakin' waterfall, drive a real 4WD and watch meteor showers at night.

2. Decent coffee. I only drink one every other day but ain't it nice to know you can just walk 5 mins from your apartment to the best coffee street in Sydney?

3. The weekend Sydney Morning Herald. Ogle cars, apartments, $10 million holiday houses in Central Coast, check out restaurants, news of the week. Ahhhhh. Weighs a ton and a serious pain to lug around but totally entirely worth it when you're enjoying it with the decent coffee.

4. Second-hand bookstores. Good god. How did I manage to survive this long without the smell of old Hemingways, dodgy psychology textbooks and National Geographics? And there's always some cranky old guy/earnest young guy reading some esoteric title or distributing some left-wing pamphlet behind the counter.

5. Being able to wear coats and boots and hats and gloves. ahhhhh. Shopping - and after that, dressing - for winter is something everyone has to do at least once. Then after the nippy months - which is fantastic for snuggling - you shop for bikinis, shorts, itty-bitty tops. sigh.

6. My uni campus. The oldest tertiary institution in Australia. Walking in and out the sandstone buildings in the Arts faculty and the main quadrangle - with the purple jacaranda flowers - makes me feel like part of something bigger and more important than myself.

7. The harbour and the bridge. Shucks. It's touristy BS, but no matter how many times I sit in the Botanical Gardens with a book or in one of those cafes near the Sydney Opera House with their $8 cappuccinos, the sight of the bridge in the evening and at dawn is still heartbreaking.

8. Bondi and Manly beaches. Taking the one-hour walk to the head of Bondi in the evening is out of this world - then you stare out to the endless Pacific Ocean. Taking the ferry to Manly on a cold winter's day. Getting there just for the hot chocolate is the whole point.

9. Ethnic food joints run by the real folks. Thai, Vietnamese, Italians, French, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean....you name it.

10. The feeling that I can be myself. That anything is possible and nothing is too wrong/right/silly/stupid/earnest/corny/just wishful thinking/unfashionable/sincere/insincere/not cool/too cool. Fuck.