Home Sweet Home

Ah, its good to have some quiet time. It's been a busy the past few weeks and I'm finally

alone in my apartment and I'm enjoying it.

A little packing, organizing, cleaning and pottering around the apartment is something I never thought I'd enjoy. Ha! But look at me now! Surfing Crate & Barrel, West Elm and Etsy.com for cute pieces I can add to my new home

and apartmenttherapy.com for decorating inspiration.

Lazing my Saturday morning away with a hot cup of "teh tarik", with

Dog Whisperer on the telly PERFECT!

Here are some snippets of my work-in-progress pad:

"Ga-lang Guni"

So i head downstairs to do my laundry and as i'm exiting to go back upstairs, lo & behold i spot a spanking new IKEA BILLY bookcase in birchwood sittin by the recycling / garbage area. Immediately, my Singaporean "kiasu/cheapo/cheap-ass" instincts kick in and i scurry upstairs to inform my roommate of the delightful teasure of trash i've discovered. She jumps up from her desk and hurries downstairs with me to attempt to lug it to our apartment. Thankfully, living on the mezzanine floor is a blessing in this case and having elevators in the building are a bonus! We lug it out of the garbage area into the elevator and to our apartment, where now it sits happily in the corner of our dining / study area ready to be filled.

Ahh..there's nothing like free furniture. One less piece to buy! YAY!

yay! internet!

it's 8:30am and i'm waiting for my PIN from the school to be sent via email so i can register for my classes this Fall....so are the other 300 people in the AAS programs as well. so today is the glorious day when the whole world of new students at AAS register, i'm wondering if the school servers can handle it...the last thing we need is a major crash in the system *touch wood*

good news is: the furniture is finally coming today! so i'm going to be home for most of the time to ensure the furniture gets placed properly. last night, i had a heck of a time with the internet but thankfully all it needed was a call to my very, own, very personal IT support over in Boston and all is well with the wireless in my apartment! *thanks baby!* i still need to settle with the telephone jack issue though...there are none in the apartment! so i need to figure out how to get those installed...

yesterday was another day filled with advising appointments, socializing orientations, international students orientation and a campus tour. discovered several canadians, mostly east coasters though. no singaporeans as yet, although i did hear there was 1 malaysian from the UK but i don't think she's in the Fashion program.

i'm happy to report that my area is very convenient, littered with grocery stores, restaurants, delis, bagel shops, pharmacies, dry cleaners, banks etc. the subway is less than a 3 minute walk from my front door and there are bus stops all along the street. its supposed to be an up and coming area, it feels very Yaletownish but at the same time, it also feels like a University town too and you gotta love 'em squirrels..hahaha!

and i just received this email:
Dear AAS Students,I understand that you have not received your alt-pin for registration yet. No students have been emailed alt-pins yet; you are not the only one. All students will be emailed the alt-pin list by 9:30am. We apologize for the delay.

its undergrad all over again...

Pooped

So no furniture yet. But I met my room mates - they are both korean and aimable. They brought everything though...rice cooker, pots, pans - all in 2 suitcases! I on the otherhand, sheepishly lugged in 3 suitcases of nothing but clothes, accessories and shoes. Much to my roomies amazement. Hahahaha. In true fashion style. Hee.

I forsee our apartment being furnitureless in the living and dining room - my roomies aren't going to be around for more than a year so investing in furniture isn't worth their while. But we still need a place to eat! I'm looking into renting furniture possibly or at least a large coffee table and some throw cushions.

Went shopping today. Note to self: make reservations for car rentals. No IKEA or Target today cos, no car :( So Bed, Bath and Beyond it is to purchase only the basics. I'm leaving the rest to my trip to Jersey. Ventured to Chinatown as well - I was overwhelmed by how huge it is! It felt nothing like North America - it felt like I was in Asia! Everything and everyone was asian, chattering of foreign tongues and Chinese characters on all the store signs - it was like Hong Kong all over again! Note to self: bring all visitors to Chinatown! but not on weekends... After getting lost - we eventually found the absolute necessity of all Asians - an Asian supermarket. (Thank God for Google maps on my phone!) My respects and gratitude go out to TNT - Deluxe and Dynasty Supermarkets are nothing compared to TNT back home! TNT I MISS U! Even managed to steal a drink at a cool bubble tea spot! ;)

Orientation tomorrow. I'm pooped.