After seeing the Grand Canyon in Arizona, we were chilling out at Wendy's.
Weifeng asks, "What's your favorite city in the US?"

"Atlanta, Georgia!" - the guys say in unison

"Very relaxing"
"Great roommates - very clean and tidy... they only leave like, 6 to 7 trash bags outside my door"
"Biggest aquarium in the world (or the states?)"
"Got CNN, Coca-cola..."
"Only 3 people got robbed in the Georgia Tech area. Not really a lot."
"Great transport system - very efficient"
"Only a handful of people carry weapons"

and so on and so forth...

Theres just 1 wk left in Tech... then after I'm saying sayonara to Atlanta and hi to Washington DC and etc...

Sigh, so much to do and so little time, like always

I am so bad at managing my life, I realised that I've left the most important and urgent matters to the very last week... =(

First and foremost, there's the finals that I've to tackle. Thank God I now only have 3 papers in Hell Wk (actually Finals Wk but I term it Hell Wk cos it's more appropriate since it follows Dead Wk, which is the unofficial term for the wk before the dreaded Finals)... cos I've already settled 1 paper 2 days ago (Principles of Management) which went ok, but I think I'll prolly score a B anyway... and for another course Endocrinology, the lecturer offered me an exemption from the finals because I've already scored a B, and I would need to score 97% or better in the finals if I want to score an A. So well, I accepted the deal to save myself less trouble to study for another subject. Besides, scoring 97% is almost impossible I think, given the limited time I've to study.

So the 3 papers left are:
Evolution - maybe i can score an A... i don't know
Medical Microbiology - I did so badly for the 2nd exam, I don't think I can do well enough for the finals to earn an A =(
Microbial Physiology - ditto for this one. Lecturer said that if i wanna earn an A for this one, I'll hv to score 86% or better in the finals... quite impossible to do so, considering I'm averaging 50+% only for the past 2 exams...

Ok so basically I'm just aiming not to score Cs... realistic right? I hope...

Next on my list is packing luggage!
I brought too few clothes here, then ended up buying a little too much... esp for the stupid bulky winter wear, jackets and stuff... how am I gonna bring everything back... and luggage allowance on my flight back from London to Singapore is only 30kg... sigh =(

Then I would want to meet up friends here whom I'll prolly not see again for a loooong time... unless I make it back to the US for graduate studies... and there are other foreign students too... whom I will not see again unless I visit their country or they visit mine...

What else do I need to settle... oh ya, textbooks... what to do with them? I'm thinking of putting them up on ebay or something... then get friends here to help me sell and ship the stuff while I split the "profits" with them...

As for pots and pans and crockery, I'll prolly leave them for my flatmates who have been so nice to me all the while!
Maybe I'll try to bring some food back... like Taco seasoning or something... things I won't find so readily in Singapore...

And I'm also pretty frustrated I've missed out on several social events due to my need to study... like dinner at the Cheesecake factory and Mary Mac's (twice!!!) and GX's bday... ahhh... more frustrating is the fact that I've not been as productive as I'd have liked to... =(

What's happening to my life man...
And I'm like addicted to late-night snacking... and waking up late in the morning... and skipping classes... seriously off-track...

Then the kitty's drying up as well. Need to get a temporary loan from Mom before I resort to begging on the streets...

Ok thats enough blogging, gotta get back to my notes... Microbial Physiology... oh so interesting subject... and seriously I REALLY DON"T CARE ABOUT BUGS. Although I know the relevance of them in this world. But I don't see them, I don't care. Give me the human body to analyse instead...

Viv and I went to 6 Flags over Georgia yesterday... for the whole day... and accomplished 19 rides!
We wanted to make it 20 by sitting on Acrophobia on the 2nd time, but time and our body physical conditions' didn't permit that.
On the whole, 6 flags was freakinnnn great =)
It's great to go on a Sunday, the last day of Spring break for high sch kids cos most of them will be going home on this day. When we reached the themepark at about 10.45am in the morning, there weren't many people at the park. We only had to wait a few turns (or not wait at all) to take most rides.



The scary Goliath track that extends to OUTSIDE the park...


Silvester's my fave WB character!


Acrophobia - supposedly higher than the leaning tower of Pisa... and it is REALLY tall... this ride is superb, it was the first one we sat on after entering the park...


Our fave Superman! Very creative ride - you're seated in a flying position and the ride takes you around loops and twists... so you get the feeling of flying in the air... We sat on this twice, consecutively... would have gone a third time before we left the park, if not for the long line that formed later!


The Ninja! Lots of twists and turns - which hurt the ears a little bit. But worth it! We sat twice on this one too.


Entrance to Gotham City - where we sat on the Mindbender (world's first triple loop rollercoaster) twice... Unfortunately didn't get to sit on The Ride cos it was closed...


We sat on almost all the rollercoasters (about 8 I think) - except The GOLIATH and rides that weren't opened -
I have never sat on so many rollercoasters in one day! At the end of the day, I was getting all dizzy from the twisting and turning and plunging and looping... that everytime I close my eyes I feel like I'm dangling in the air... and when I am on a moving vehicle I feel like I'm climbing upslope on a rollercoaster... hahahaha... thats what we term the POST 19-rides 6 flags syndrome...
But on the whole I really enjoyed myself! Wonderful Sunday spent. =)

Here are a few pictures from the food fair, courtesy of Boon Ching from Malaysia. :)

Serving food... (I'm in the middle of the picture, the one with the black jacket)


Tray full of the different dishes...


Last but not least, our SATAY! With the peanut sauce! =)

Yesterday was the Intl Food Fair at Skiles Walkway. Turnout was very good!
The fair was supposed to be from 11.30 to 1.30, but most of the food ran out by 1pm, so the remaining food was sold at $2!
Every dish was really good, it was cool sampling a variety of dishes of different cuisines... personally, my fave was the Pakistani curry chicken (other than our own SATAY).
Didn't take any pictures though, cos I was too busy manning the stall and eh, eating! Haha!

Then, the management guys (Sam, Kimpeng, Guoxin, Jeffrey) and I went to an NHL game at Philips Arena today - Atlanta Thrashers vs Florida Panthers.



The game was quite exciting at times! Haha... but it was sometimes kinda violent, especially when players use their sticks to attack their opponents... and goalkeepers have to wear a neck brace to prevent their necks from getting slashed by the skates' blade... and ice hockey moves really fast; the passing and dribbling of the puck is really cool to watch =)



Scoreline was Thrashers 2 Panthers 3. Thrashers managed to come back from 1-3 within the last few min of the game, but couldn't do enough for an equaliser in the end. But oh well! I don't support anybody anyway.


This is the "I have been there and seen it" photo! Haha...

Today was indeed an eye-opening experience!

We went down to the Student Center Food Court's kitchen to prepare our Satay and Peanut sauce today.
Now I know what it's like to be cooking sooo many servings (a few hundred) and to be cooking in a big kitchen!
Was kind of stressful at times, but the work was all worth it. =)
The satay and sauce turned out pretty good! =)
Thanks to all those who came: Samuel, Jing Xuan, Sharon, Guo Xin, Emmeline... You guys rock!
And to Ameer too, for encouraging and entertaining us and helping us steal cookies! Aha! ;-)
And also to Wen Eu, who came over to help us cut the beef after he was done with SAMA's cooking! :)

Alain was there too, cooking for the French group =) I'm sure his food will be tres bien!




And I also caught Ameer in action!




I really learned a lot today, I felt... not just about cooking in large volumes, but also about cooperating well with friends and working towards a common goal. :)
At one point we felt stressed that we were unable to finish cooking that much food on time... and more so, ours was challenging because we are doing everything FROM SCRATCH. But we still managed to accomplish our goal in the end! Thats what I call SYNERGY! And had so much fun in the meantime! And also managed to try other groups' food! =)




After a long hard day in the kitchen... we chilled out at the lounge for a while before departing ways!



I can't wait for the actual Food Fair tmr!
Hope our food will be popular! =)

I'm in the process of analyzing a research paper for an upcoming presentation... and yeah my group is lucky number one to present...
gotta prepare some slides by Sat morning!

But as usual I'm drifting away esp when the computer is right in front of me... so I might as well be productive and blog right?

First up!
I'm cooking this Sunday at the Student Center cafeteria with co Master Chef Samuel Chiang! Haha... whats on the menu?
Beef Satay and Peanut sauce!
I'll be lying if I say that I'm not nervous. I am very nervous. Various reasons. Recipe for the meat is untested. Recipe for the sauce is tested by me once, but it got burnt cos I didn't watch close enough when it was cooking... =P But At least it tasted alright before it got burnt! Haha... Besides, we'll be using a different recipe... and expert Sam is around... so yeah, hope we won't burn the kitchen down... =P

If you are reading this right now and you're from GT, you better well come!!! =P
Monday 31st March, Skiles Walkway (the path leading from Student Center to library, the place where the student radio stall is sometimes there), 11.30 to 1.30
And don't eat lunch before coming, and bring $5 to taste all 17 dishes from the different stalls!

On another note, I baked Banana cake on Wed at Sharon and Jing's apartment... I'm not bragging but it's SHIOK!!
Gonna bake it again! =)

And on Tues, I cooked fried bee hoon... first attempt, as usual! Haha... was a bit salty, but heck who cares? Ines (my flatmate) said it's nice! And I concur!

We went to sunny Florida over Spring break (14 to 23 March). Here are some cool shots:

Part 1
Part 2

Will probably blog later on. Haha...

Warning: from now onwards I'll attempt to blog as much as possible, all that's been happening for the past 3 months (starting from Dec 14, the day of my departure from Singapore)... be prepared for the influx of words and pictures! Anyways, if you wanna see more pictures, here are the links from my Facebook...

Amsterdam

Copenhagen - Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

Oslo

Stockholm - Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

London - Madame Tussaud's - Part 1 / Part 2

Alternatively, join Facebook so we can communicate! I log in like, every few minutes to hours! Haha!
Add me as "Linjin Yang" or "fricky86@yahoo.com"!

14 dec - the day of embarkment on my journey halfway around the world

I took connecting flights that took me to London Heathrow on Royal Brunei airlines. Altogether took me about 27 hours i think! Really tedious... first a 2h ride from Singapore to Brunei, where i rotted unproductively at the very boring transit lounge for 7 hours (i actually did get out of the airport for 30min before that!), ...





...then boarded the flight to Dubai, 2nd stopover, which lasted 8 hours. The plane was horrible - the inflight entertainment system broke down halfway through my first movie, the Bourne Ultimatum! So we basically lived like pigs on the plane - eat (they served meals and snacks every 3-4h), drink, and sleep. For the cleverer ones, they had a trusty book to keep them sane. I had my mp3 player playing back music while i slept, so it wasn't that bad. Meals, as usual, weren't that appetizing, and besides, i usually get indigestion on the plane :( but i still ate anyway.

When we stopped at Dubai we got out of the plane to the transit lounge, where it was PACKED with many many people. Maybe about 10x the volume of people at Changi! Not surprising, since Dubai should be the gateway between Europe and Asia, so it makes an ideal stopover location. Lots and lots of duty-free shops. But i didn't have much time to walk around anyways, and mor,eover i had to carry 2 laptops and some other stuff in my backpack which was really heavy. Real hassle to use the toilet too. Well anyways, the transit time was only about an hours, so basically, after leaving the plane, we only just walked all the way through the transit lounge to the gates to board the SAME plane again. Yeah, the one with the broken-down entertainment system. Darn - there were so many good movies that i could watch! Ratatouille, Stardust, Bourne Ultimatum, The Family Stone etc... SIGH



After landing at London Heathrow, I was worried that my luggage may get lost because of so many connections that I've been on, and also because I was almost the only passenger on the plane that came all the way from Singapore (while the others started from Brunei). Thank God, my luggage was one of the first to arrive on the belt (extremely rare situation anyways) so i quickly collected them and left for the central bus station, where i took the national express coach to Southampton to meet my sis.


15,16 dec - Southampton University

After meeting my sis (whom i haven't seen for 2 whole years!), we took a cab down to her hostel where i settled down for a while.



We went out to the city to have dinner at a fine Italian restaurant, ...



...and did some clothes and grocery shopping at the biggest mall in the city. Topshop, Miss Selfrige, River Island etc had better designs here but the prices are slightly higher or about the same.



There was also a German Christmas Market, but i didn't get to see much cos we were in a hurry. Was the same thing on the 16th - we rested for a while, packed our luggage and did a few more shopping in the city. Next stop is Amsterdam the day after!


17 dec - Amsterdam

Plane ride from Southampton to Amsterdam was really fast, just 50 min. Unfortunately i had an extremely bad start to the day when i left my precious baby (laptop, the one which i'm typing on now!) at the airport! It was so scary, i panicked and basically started running back to the airport and grabbing airport officials to help me retrieve my laptop. I behaved like a total idiot, but thank God my laptop was sitting untouched on the seats next to the luggage belt. I felt so relieved, man! Thereafter we just took a cab down to our hotel, extremely drained, and just fell flat on the bed. After a few hours I got up and went out for a while, to the supermarket to grab some food and supplies. Hotel didn't supply shower gel/shampoo, sadly :( But well, at least wireless is free :)
After typing this, i'm gonna grab dinner with my sister soon. I'm sure the food will be great!