Sunday, December 31, 2006
anthropologie.
shopping at the university village yesterday. anthropologie has everything i want in a wardrobe and home.
rachel at 6:50 PM
two cups.
comfort on a cold day. starbucks peppermint hot chocolate to go, so we can stay warm while walking home.
rachel at 6:47 PM
the abercrombie hottie.
rachel at 6:39 PM
Saturday, December 30, 2006
pike place market.
pike place market is gorgeous, all 9 acres of it. there's still alot of exploring of the place to be done, and i was so fascinated with everything i saw. gleaming eyes, exclamation, squeals and massive phototaking. the fresh produce, dairy, seafood, the sinful desserts, breads and pastries...it all looks so delish and tempting. a gastronomical delight. to add more eye candy to the list, the lake's behind the market with a great view of the waterfront.
rachel at 11:19 AM
thoughts.i haven't really had a chance to sit down and reflect on life in seattle. there's still a lot to do, a coupla problems to sort out but other than that i'm happy here. subject registration has been a major problem and my battery charger doesn't work here even with the help of a transformer i brought. so anyways i've ordered a new one because i feel so helpless without my camera.
i think i'm still in the honeymoon stage...have yet to experience culture shock, and i guess at some point that is inevitable. but for now i am enjoying the newness of things and taking lots of pictures (before the drugstore bought alkaline batteries froze and died in the cold) which will come soon.
for the people i have yet to get in touch with...i will write soon, promise.
a long weekend with places to visit before school starts on wednesday...i can't wait. :)
rachel at 10:01 AM
Friday, December 29, 2006
first glimpse.
window seat. the mountains at the olympic national park.
aerial view.
rachel at 8:38 AM
in transit: narita.
yummy takoyaki (the octopus balls).
am in love with the strawberry kit kat
b777.
waiting.
rachel at 8:25 AM
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
landed.mad rush it's been, but i'm finally here. arrived in seattle this morning to nice and cool weather, a tad chilly but i was all bundled up. landing at narita was horrendous...gusty winds made for a somewhat rollercoaster of a ride, but the japanese ladies i saw during transit were so fashionably inspiring in their awfully sophisticated and impeccably polished outfits.
i was lucky to get a window seat for the flight to seattle - we landed around 9ish am and i watched the sunrise bathing the clouds in shades of gold, orange and pink and saw the mountains as we flew over the olympic national park.
clearing customs took yonks, and we finally made it to our apartment around noon. settling down's been a drag for reasons i shall go into later...for now i really want to sleep!
rachel at 10:31 PM
Thursday, December 21, 2006
drastic measures.
c'est moi, post zouk, the morning after. those darned eyebags.
as of two hours ago, i have really. short. hair.
rachel at 5:33 AM
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
teatime at toastwhilst taking refuge from the rain. no collages for this one...the pictures must be seen in their entirety in order to be fully appreciated:)
nutella cupcake & hot chocolate. utterly sinful. i love the pattern on the hot chocolate...couldn't bear to drink it:)
had a limonata to go, cuz their cupcakes are so delish. and i love all things lemon.
taka christmas tree and its pretty wired-up high voltage baubles.
off to dinner.
rachel at 3:51 AM
friday night with genthe uber huge dinner the evening before i plopped myself into the dentist's chair.
goodness at miss clarity cafe: my fried soft shell crab with capellini in cream sauce & cream of vegetable soup, genny's salad and garlic-crusted dory. the food there is totally yum.
bread and butter pudding to complete our dinner set. this was followed by a visit to menotti's for some soffiato (some kinda chocolate lava cake i think) with ice-cream, and vanilla panna cotta with raspberries.
chijmes/raffles hotel.
raffles city christmas tree / chijmes.
okay...i'm getting major tummy rumbles now.
rachel at 3:39 AM
fauceti must say, i'm pretty amazed at how it's been raining almost non-stop and at full blast for the past 2 days.
that said, i wish it'd stop soon so i can start making hay.
yesterday, i stayed home, but i have lotsa things to do and i needed to get started on my christmas shopping today, even though i was loathe to go out.
it's crazy out there, the orchard road crowd and plodding through the puddles.
end result: cold aching feet, soaked jeans and frazzled nerves.
i managed to complete 3/8 of my christmas shopping.
rachel at 3:38 AM
Monday, December 18, 2006
bahhhh.terrible tums ache kept me down for most part of the day. i'm actually tired of sleeping these 2 days away, waking up only to eat and shower.
restless now. the appetite is back but then there is the mastication problem.
porridge really turns me off right now. i crave for cupcakes.
it keeps on pouring buckets. just when i decided i need to go christmas shopping.
rachel at 1:34 AM
Saturday, December 16, 2006
gaaaahhh.wisdom tooth extraction #2 today.
nothing wrong with the tooth, its just, still growing and poses a risk for possible infection. so since i'll be away for 6 months i figured i should just get it out of the way and not have to worry about it.
it was a fast and relatively painless procedure, the only slightly painful thing being the injections, which i never fail to dread.
despite the bloodbath in my mouth at the moment, i'd say this time round it isn't too bad. except for the part when the anaesthesia was wearing off and i was waiting for the painkillers to set in.
major nausea.
the bro is off at the corrinne may concert after managing to snag tickets like 3 hours before the concert due to cancellations, and i still have yet to attend any of her concerts. :(
the ironman is coming to singapore, news which thrilled my father cuz he just ordered another bike a few days ago and i think he secretly harbours ambitions of taking part. hehehe. but seriously...i think holding the event here is gonna do wonders for the triathlon scene here, and it's about time too.
anyway...i'm gonna get some rest cuz i hope to be up on my feet soon.
rachel at 6:53 AM
Thursday, December 14, 2006
christmas lights.
dinner with mel, traipsing around orchard road, and my yearly starbucks peppermint mocha fix.
rachel at 8:35 AM
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
the dishy fish.up till almost 4am this morning.
prison break is screwing up my body clock but i am loving that show so much.
woke up late today and the cycle continued.
glorious.
rachel at 10:32 PM
booklistwhen you fall ill, there is only so much you can do.
the debutante divorcee - plum sykes
the undomestic goddess - sophie kinsella
(both fluffy fun)
just listen - sarah dessen
charmed thirds - megan mccafferty
that last one saw the return of my favourite protagonist and as usual, it cracked me up.
rachel at 10:29 PM
Sunday, December 10, 2006
ugly singaporeanism no. 1.
driving into town on a saturday afternoon is hellish and stressful. "my heart beats faster now than when i am cycling," my dad says as he navigates his way through the horror that is the orchard road traffic. drivers mindlessly cutting lanes, getting too close for comfort and generally flirting with potential disaster and exhibiting a disregard for the safety of others. plehhhh.
rachel at 8:40 PM
flu buggerdown with the flu. just as having a sore throat has made it hard to talk, so this bug has left me with a paucity of words despite the many things going on. hence the pictures, to fill in the blanks temporarily.
rachel at 8:36 PM
note to self
rachel at 7:30 AM
miss clarity cafe
new york cheesecake / bread and butter pudding
decent prices for great food. for the cheesecake though, the biscuit base was too thick, and i could distinctly tell that the cheesecake was made up of philly cheese put through the electric mixer. okay, but not fantastic. the bread and butter pudding was splendid.
rachel at 1:42 AM
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
rise and shinein exactly three weeks, i fly. the major things like the air tickets and visa have been settled, its just the li'l details which add up to a lot that i need to deal with now.
the past few days haven't been good. scratchy throat and general achiness. oh goodness not now. i'm tired of spending half the day in bed because i feel like falling over when i stand up and feeling so sluggish that i can't do anything properly or think coherently. cooking lunch becomes a chore in itself and i eat at two instead of one because i couldn't drag myself outta bed. oh well.
i think i am marginally better now, although i have no impetus to do anything else.
just finished anna quindlen's "rise and shine" this afternoon. it was a good read, pretty thought provoking. i've run out of novels to read until my next trip to the library, save for the travel guides which i'm kinda tired of reading since the same places to visit keep on popping up repeatedly.
i miss the days when i would just sit down for hours on end just reading away, browse through the NYT bestsellers list and Amazon for good reads, have a list of books to read...and all that before well, other *things* got in the way and ate up all that time. ;)
rachel at 6:40 AM
waffles! at gelare.
rachel at 3:06 AM
Monday, December 04, 2006
cranial woes.i've been doing some major room cleaning, and after being really ruthless i filled out about 5 large bags of stuff. it has also made my sinus go into overdrive - and for the rest of the day post springcleaning sesh my nose has been twitching and watering and my eyes are itchy. arghhh.
out went all these remnants of my past, stuff i can't believed i kept for this long. i'm not a hoarder but i guess i didn't really know exactly how much i had. and also how much useless stuff i had. oh well. that said...i did keep the large prince william postcard (featuring, and in the shape of, his face) someone bought me from london and some spice girls posters which, for some obscure reason i can't seem to part with. lol.
i spotted, and re-read, an old love letter, all bright and colourful and happy. love, back then, looked the way the letter was written - carefree. now it weighs like a ponderous feather in my heart. how times have changed.
on to more happier things - i made lunch!! well that's special cuz during the exam period my bro and i cooked pasta almost every weekday. and even though i love pasta i'm tired of tomato-based sauces (the bro doesn't like cream) and the same toppings which we can agree on. i cooked breaded chicken cutlets and prawns today...too much fried food on hindsight but japanese breadcrumbs are divine! :)
just finished reading "paint it black" by janet fitch. quite a riveting read, quite raw too, in terms of emotion. blurb reads "...a powerful story of first love, passion and a young woman's search for truth in the aftermath of loss."
one more novel and four travel guides to get through. i will have to start making to-do lists soon.
rachel at 7:12 AM
Friday, December 01, 2006
hmm.exams are over at last and i can breathe easy again, although my life is busy and stressful in a different (and eventually good) way.
as a result i'm still short of sleep...ever since the exams ended two days ago i have still only managed to average 5 hours of sleep per night. oh well been busy running errands and worrying myself silly over certain things. and because of that i've been crabby and snappy and reclusive.
it's just a phase, though. i think people misunderstand. they try to probe you for what's wrong when clearly you want to be left alone and you don't want to talk about it. i mean, i'm not bottling up my feelings. sure, i'm keeping them to myself but i'm working it out on my own. it's so hard trying to talk to people sometimes...you tell them something and instead of empathising they either admonish you and impose their ideas upon you or cluck in disapproval.
and because it's just a phase, i will be all right in awhile. the incessant probing really irritates me. is knowing why so important? yes, i'm hard to talk to and i'm hard to understand but really - i'll be more candid after i cool off and sort out my thoughts.
it's like telling someone you want a time-out for a relationship and he says he'd rather break up right away because he doesn't believe in the in-between.
rachel at 6:19 AM