Starflyer

Haha clearly i'm not doing anything about the fact that i have to be at the airport in less than four hours - i haven't even packed :P Time to go do something! The India trip looks set to be a blast :D For one, Uma's coming with us, and we're meeting Sharu & family along the way - fun! Other than that, my lovely and absolutely doting grandparents and my doggie Scrappy Doo! So many things to look forward to :) 

To everyone I've met in the last month back home on the island - i had such an amazing time, thanks millions! These times keep me going when I'm stressed out of my mind with math and spanish on the other side of the world :P See you in May!

On a random note - watching the rerun of the Golden Globes: Kate Winslet's speech in which she declared her 13-year love for Leo was nothing short of hysterically funny :D I really want to see what she'll say if and when she wins the Oscar! 

:) Yay to all the people I've met in the last two weeks and to those I'll meet v. soon before I leave :) Really, I don't know why it's so astonishing that nothing has changed since the end of JC or secondary school (eli and i with the dance poses in front of the Bombay Cafe sign is case in point, really - poor rusy), but it still remains true! And hopefully for a long, long time to come :) Forever, anyone? 

Fam outing was so much fun! Beach, bridge, indian poker, texas hold 'em, running around palm trees and wishing the pizza guy a Very Happy New Year - clearly a typical outing for us four :) I'm so happy that our outing finally worked out that I can't even remain mad at y'all for being late :P ['s really okay, i expected it anyway ;)] love!

Hello once again! I know it's been around four months since I said anything on LJ, but better late than never, right? I don't know why the mood to blog never comes over me in college (maybe it's because there's always something else to do at the same time) but oh well! People who want to see Wellesley pictures, they're on Facebook, and they're gorgeous :) 

Everything's beautiful, college life is fantastic and I've met some wonderful people in my first semester there :) The occasional holidays and weekends spent with my sister/Shaf/ Sumi were pretty awesome too :D There's only so much studying one can do - yes, even on the weekends - before a break is called for. What better break than to spend an entire weekend playing Risk? :P Clearly we are jobless people (this applies more literally to some, too) . Many thanks to my lovely room-mate and floor mates for making this semester so much easier than it would have been otherwise! I dread the thought of not having all of you around next fall :( 

It's been weird and so much fun to get used to life in a country halfway around the world from home, but the support systems are pretty great :D Also, i speak to appa and amma pretty much daily (amma knows what i eat for lunch every day, seriously) so it doesn't feel like I miss them too very much. They're always there for advice and everything else :) At first it felt like way too many threads to hold in my hands, but they wove into some sort of discernible pattern of life, and everything settled down pretty quickly.

It's so great to be home, it's hard to feel anything but incredibly happy now :) Friends from home have not forgotten or been forgotten or changed in the last few months, amma's cooking is amazing as it always was, the same regulars turn up for class outings, Singapore's still uncomfortably hot and rainy, and everything is as it should be :) 

I wouldn't ring in the New Year anywhere else, because this is where my life is.
Happy New Year, everyone, and here's to a fantastic 2009 :) 

Cheers!

A very relaxing week in Chicago, marred only slightly by me falling sick zhg zhg zhg. but anyway appa's here! And it's so fun to have the whole fam together right now...not for long, cos Smee had to leave for work yesterday morning (grrr i wish i could pass my cold to her so she could stay home or something) and she'll only be back thursday evening, as usual. 

Went for a run all the way down to Montrose harbour - which is the easternmost point of Chicago (i think) and once there you get beautiful views of the entire shoreline and the downtown skyline, so that was a very pleasing run! The path I took is a little known one right along the lake so it's absolutely gorgeous all the way :D Montrose also has a bird sanctuary and a beach, so I spent a little while there too :)

Oh we made a stop at Ghirardelli's yesterday! :D We had sundaes and bought chocolate to bring home and pig out on as well :P Haha I hope I can visit their factory in SF sometime :P That's like my personal heaven! Marshall's is another store we spent around two hours in, i think - i have never known my dad to shop for so long in one store - but we all love Marshall's now :P Cos you get brands for pretty reasonable prices! Well, you've gotta dig deep to find nice stuff, but still...

In the meantime, I guess i should go get ready to head for the Museum of Science and Industry! Which should be quite interesting, according to my sis and my cousin :) How's everyone in Singapore doing? I'm heading for Boston this Friday, to tour the city and see my college before orientation on the 22nd! Exciting, exciting :D

The title's an internal family joke - nope, we're not insane, i promise :P Went to Niagara for the weekend, and LOVED it :D Ah this is gonna be a quick post cos mum's itching to continue our sight-seeing tour around Chicago :P Anyway, Niagara was really really beautiful :) Very commercialized (more so on the Canada side than on the American side though) but still really lovely :) We even got to stand practically under the Bridal Veil (Whale, for some) Pics to be uploaded soon! But i can't find my sister's cam wire, so that will have to wait till she comes back on Thursday...We really did get some picture postcard-like shots! The Maid of the Mist boat ride was probably the highlight of the entire trip, cos we went really close to the Horseshoe (best set of falls at Niagara) which can't really be seen properly otherwise from the American side of the falls.

We didn't get to go over to the Canadian side of the falls (widely reputed to be better than the American side) cos i didn't have my damn I-20 form with me :( What, i ask you, is the purpose of that piece of paper when you've given me a beautiful visa stuck inside my passport with everything from visa type to college name and address? GAH. And there's nothing on the I-20 form that indicates that you need to have it with you 24/7 or risk having to waste two hours at BOTH Canadian and American immigration even though technically you never left the USA (being denied entry into Canada)

Okay now that rant's over - sorry i had to rant at the stupidity of the whole system...and I'm off to see more of Chicago! See you from the top of the Sears Tower! :D

If you haven't already, go watch WICKED! It's AMAZING and BRILLIANT and one of the best musicals I've seen so far, if not the best :) but you um...need to be in Chicago or NYC for that.  We submitted both our names for the two-tickets-for-$25-each lottery and my name was picked! Which means we got front row seats for $25...incredible :) And on our first try for the lottery! Encore, anyone?

I guess now that I'm halfway around the world from most of my friends - it's time to update! :D Chicago's been great so far - it has a beautiful downtown and shops galore and lovely little hole-in-the-wall eating places and the LAKE! Lake Michigan - which is so horribly large that it looks like a sea - there are little beaches along the waterfront, yes. My sis has an apartment overlooking the lake! :) It helps that the buses are so efficient that after two days my mum and I are pretty confident about getting anywhere in this city by ourselves...

It's also fantastic to see my sister again :) I love her lots! Well, we used to fight like cat and dog when we were younger - I had the long nails which i used very effectively - so i guess i'm the cat :P and she used to attempt to bite - so i guess she's the dog? Lols i guess that cliched thing about absence makes the heart grow fonder really is true! No one who knew us then and saw us now would believe that we are the same two people.

Anyway - tmrw looks to be an interesting day - with thathi and cousins and Mohan Uncle and HCB :D More updates on that some other time! It's past midnight here so - goodnight!

The first of the last goodbyes :( I knew this day would come sometime, but i never actually thought it would come this fast!

Does anyone wanna learn salsa dance? I REALLYreally want to but i have no partner so if you want to learn too, let me know! :)

I like accurate horoscopes!

Nandita,
It might be a good idea to figure out an alternate route in case you run across an unexpected detour. Your family longs to see you more often. Devote more time to those you love the most. This afternoon, you will be instrumental in changing the attitude of someone for the better. 

Alternate route = Sabby and I walking all the way around RI to get into school :P okay YOU try doing it in highheels and then tell me it's not difficult lol.
Family longs to see me more often? I absolutely agreeee, so i'm glad i got to see you guys today :) So that part of the horoscope was fulfilled for then...
And i have devoted a lot of time to people i love! 
Haha did i change anyone's attitude? you tell me :) 

Kay anyway, CONGRATS to all scholarship winners/ people who've been admitted into the unis where they really wanted to go/ people who have a plan for life/ people who've considered the last few months successful - you guys deserve every single bit of it! And for those who have make-or-break interviews coming up, ALL THE BEST! :)

Praying for you all,

Nan <3

I'm watching the one Friends episode that can make me cry ;-(