Fast forward.

At this time tomorrow, I’ll be on the plane heading towards Singapore, and in two hours’ time after arrival at Changi, I’ll be on another plane that will take me over the South China Sea back to Brunei.

Winter is here.

And so are exams.

Had my first written paper today, as well as a 5-min test on jazz scales and chords test later in the afternoon; it went by surprisingly fast – the 5-min test, but the written paper wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, considering the amount of preparation I did for it. Only thing left now is to start studying for my 50% Chinese Politics and Society paper that’s in ten days’ time.

KAREN FOONG, I AM JUSTIFIED IN WANTING A DSi!!

Satoru Iwata stated the goal of this handheld is to aid in the transition from “one DS per household” to “one DS per person”.

SEEEEE!!!

Most people are often surprised when they find out that I play console games. Well, granted, I don’t really play that much anymore; I played a lot more before, haven’t been doing so much in recent years, partly because when I get into a game, I really get into it and waste hours trying to complete it, so I try not to dive into that temptation anymore. I’m not really a PC gamer – I’m more into RPGs and fun little adventure or time-wasting games (under which I categorize Puzzle Bobble and the likes). In fact, I spent a fair amount of my years growing up in front of the PlayStation, trying to complete all these RPGs (occasionally using the Gameshark when I felt frustrated!), half of the time watching my brother playing and “spurring” (more often squealing) him on. There were also those moments where I tried to steal opportunities at the Gameboy whenever I could (from my siblings who wanted to hog it all the time too). It was probably prudent of my parents not to have bought Gameboys for each of us (they were already quite stern as it is – sharing one among the four of us was horrible for awhile, until my dad bought my youngest brother the then-latest Gameboy Colour, but even so, everyone abandoned the first-gen Gameboy which now looked outdated by comparison to the smaller, more modern-looking GB Colour that made us all constantly wanted to hog the new toy, much to the irritation of the youngest brother).

Even in the years before I hit my teens, I remember visiting my aunt’s house, where she had a super old-school SNES, and I remember playing equally-old school games with my brother. (Gosh, just thinking of those classic games is making me wish I could play them again…) The only PC-game I really got into was probably The Sims (the Sims 3 is coming out soon, I am actually THIS tempted to wanting to get it… somebody stop me from going back to that uncontrollable game-playing cycle!)

I’m not really that updated anymore with whatever new games are out, or what’s the hottest RPG now. (Well okay, the fact that I know about the DSi and even the upcoming release of Sims 3 is just an anomaly.) Those days are gone (really!). But occasionally, I feel the tease and lure of them ol’ days calling me back…

*follows in an ignorant blissful state of mind*

I shall wait until prices for DSi drop. Maybe end of this year or something.

On the other hand, I think I might not go back to Brunei after all… I’ve been swaying back and forth between whether I should go back or not, and my sister constantly SMS-ing me asking if I was going back kept reminding me. But then today I saw the Singapore MoH notice advising people not to travel to Melbourne if possible, and I think that should probably apply the other way. Considering that Melbourne is a swine flu hotspot, Singapore probably won’t want to welcome me, and what’s more, Brunei will probably quarantine me too. I don’t want to be that “GIRL BRINGS SWINE FLU TO BRUNEI” in the headlines. So thank me for saving you guys from such a situation.

Sorry … (Karen, I’ll call home again to confirm la…)

I’m healthy, thankyouverymuch.

Miss you all very much… Sigh. Say hi to the dog and cat for me. And the cars that I miss driving. The good food that I’m craving for. And enjoy all the gadgets and presents that Charles brought back to you all from Manchester (without me, yes). Gah. =/

One more exammmmmm.

Dramas

Okay, I know I’m a bit outdated since this drama came out like last year, but omg, this is the worst time to be watching this!  After hesitating for quite a long time, I finally decided to visit that ‘famous’ website to stream it. But given the hectic schedule I have for this week, I’ll probably leave it until the Easter break (and after Easter camp). I actually marathoned this together with my mom before I came back to Melbourne, but we didn’t get to finish it together, and only completed like 33 episodes. I just had 7 more to go!!!! Sighhh. Even though it’s a bit too melodramatic for my taste, the plot compels you to watch one episode after another just to watch how each ‘drama’ resolves (or not).

Karen, you can tell Mommy to finish watching the rest without me. Although I have a feeling she probably did. Hahaha.

At least now I can finally finish the rest of the series! Well. Soon. A month’s break was good for me, so I feel no compulsion now to watch…

But it’s tempting.

Very.

Leaving again.

Leaving in less than twelve hours’ time. While I can’t wait to see someone again, I don’t really want to leave home… sighh. Wish that I was staying at least a week more. I think as we’re all entering adulthood, we’ve come to realize that Brunei isn’t such a “boring” place after all. On the contrary, it’s actually a really good place to live in… we may be laughed at for our small population, but I think that’s one of the things that I like about Brunei. We don’t get serious crimes happening here, it’s generally peaceful, no income tax, and fuel is cheaper than water! ($0.53 per litre…! And even cheaper for diesel-fueled cars.)

On the other hand, I think that we’ve been really privileged and even spoilt, growing up here..

I don’t really want to go back to the heat, back to walking, and I’m going to miss having good meals everyday. And hanging out with friends and especially driving. I’m going to miss driving so much.

I haven’t even left the country, and already I’m feeling homesick.

I wish I can pack “home” into my luggage.

Meow.

My cat enjoys watching Animal Planet too.

He was quite intrigued by the leopard that was on screen.

The noises from my brother’s room intrigued him too.

(My brother was jamming away on the electric guitar.)

The cat then sat with me for a good fifteen minutes as I watched American Idol. Haha. He gave some weird sounding meows as he was watching Animal Planet earlier. Hope that we didn’t traumatise him. There was a scene of a lion trying to get it on with a lioness. LOL.