Sunday, August 20, 2006

i'm back....from the states. after 3 months and 3 weeks! feels like it's passed in a flash, i know many of u are going to beat me up for saying this...but i cant believe i'm back in singapore already! really glad and thankful that i decided to go for work and travel this summer hols despite the circumstances during the decision-making period last october.

may have had abit of regrets at first, like post-decision cognitive dissonance since shalynn couldnt go, and i would be travelling halfway across the world with friends that i wasnt really close to, but all in all, all regrets are flushed down because the experience the past 3.5 months was definitely unforgettable :)

the friends i met from singapore (from nus, ntu, smu), malaysia, ecuador, poland, ukraine, america, france, taiwan, thailand, china, korea, colombia...such precious friendships were forged, some closer than others, but nonetheless all cherished. the times when we suffered under the hands of the unreasonable, inflexible, plainly stupid superiors, the times (which were very often) when we'd gather together and vent our frustrations and crack each other up at the expense of the silliest things some of the locals do, the times at night where we'd sit around in our apartment and pig out on ben & jerry's incredible flavours and sara lee's magical strawberry cheesecake ice cream, the times where we'd freeze together wearing bermudas and walking in thunderstorms and chilly winds of 10 degrees celsius, the times where we sweat it out together during the hot summer days...

there're just so much memories, both good and bad, that make me really want to go back now. if only those 3 months can be put on playback mode...but i shall not ask for too much, at least there was such an experience :)

apart from work, there were the farewell parties at our beloved 24-hr diner at Steak n' Shakes, for the thais, for yongchang.....and of cos just regular meals there because the shakes are really out of this world and somebody really should bring steak n' shakes over to singapore. think i was there for like 5 times!! who can forget their sippable sundaes shakes, side-by-side milkshakes and classic shakes with flavours like strawberry cheesecake with graham crackers, dark chocolate and a whole load more!

oh oh and there were the grocery shopping trips to meijers and wal-mart at 12am or later because those places stayed open for 24 hrs! no supermarket back here can compare to any of those gigantic marts over there...their selection of cookies and junk food and pizzas and pastas and ice cream (glorious ice cream!!) totally leave you speechless. (for me at least, the first time i went there....that kinda explains their size actually.....)

shall post up my pics in the next entry :)

i miss the US!