confirmed!

it's confirmed. i will be back in singapore in september.

i went for an interview with lenovo and it went all right. but at the end of it all, i had to decide between dulwich in shanghai (a confirmed position) and lenovo in beijing (a fighting chance at the position). and i had already made a prior commitment to dulwich and hence, i'm not one to go back on my words. my father told me before, "if you promise something, even if it is by mistake, you see it through."

but anw, the beauty of dulwich is that i get to be in shanghai (and travel to see zhenjiang (the yangtze river), yangzhou, suzhou, hangzhou, nanjing etc) and i get to go back for my nus term. whereas lenovo would mean that i would still be in beijing and i would have to defer my studies by one semester. so it's not a mistake. it's a different experience. i wanted both. and there was no way that would be possible i realise.

all things worked out well i guess. i was intending to apply for the washington center internship. but i decided to think about it. whether september this year or january next year would be a better idea. i asked darian and seb and they both independently voted for january. and as it turns out, if i had applied for september and gotten it, i might not dare to go to the usa cos of the swine flu situation.

well, i have various options now. do i want to go overseas again next year? i really don't know. i don't mind moving overseas long term (i would actually love it). but to move in and out of singapore six months at a time, it's quite tiring. to move and start from scratch. the good thing about doing that is, it is exciting to start from scratch. but it does take a toil. hmmmm...

having lived in china for three months now, i have grown quite accustomed to beijing. i don't know how i'll move back to singapore. here, i spend and spend and the currency helps me make sure it doesn't get out of hand. when i go back to singapore, gosh. i will have to live like a pauper. hahahaha.

things that must reach singapore because i will sooooo miss them when i leave china:
娃哈哈C柚 (wahaha's pomelo drink - wahaha is a big drinks manufacturer here)
统一蜜桃多 (peach juice)
统一鲜橙多 (orange juice - trust me, it's different and it's yummy...well, sweet and a lot of sugar)
纯果乐果缤纷金橙香芒美味 (tropicana has wonderful drinks here, i especially love the mango one)
天津铁板 (hot plate squid, pork ribs, beef, mutton, buns etc...avail everywhere and really yummy)
汉拿山 (korean bbq that i love!)
海底捞 (the best steam boat i've ever tasted...actually parkway's mini steamboat is not all bad)
水煮鱼 (fish cooked in spicy oil. it is so yummy it is unbelievable)
烤鱼 (this wonderful fish that they grill and they put in spicy sauce with condiments, my favourite of which is beef balls)
宫爆鸡丁 (kung po chicken in china is sooo different from kung po chicken in singapore or in the usa. it's really delicious)

man, i love the food here (not all the time...it can get sickening at times). but singapore is food heaven too. so i shan't complain when i get back (i'll try not to). there's so much i miss about singapore food.