Day 131

Perhaps I haven't been studying so hard for that last paper, perhaps its because I have only 6 more nights to spend in the space that's home for the past 130 days, perhaps its the thought of a new term back in NTU, or perhaps its just letting my thoughts getting the better of me. I've spent the last five hours looking through my past entries on this blog and laughing at them, still shaking my head in disbelief that it had been 105 days ago when I was in Manchester, celebrating what I think had been the best birthday so far.

At the same time, I was also blog-surfing to see how friends and ex-students back in BP are doing. From one perspective I reminisced the good days that have passed me; on the other end, I got an insight of how job-hunting, stress at the work place, and pressures to settle down could be so real.

Apart from the enriching experience this exchange has brought, it has also given me the opportunity to enjoy life like one should, without having to worry about all the other things in life, like the many I've read on the blogs of others.

This chapter of my life is coming to an end soon. To have been able to do, see, feel, experience the many new things(plenty which I've never even dared dream of), I am thankful. To think it was only a week or so ago that I was telling my mum I didn't really miss home or wanted to go back. Looking back, that sounded rather irresponsible. I was here on a holiday (I never doubted the fact that 'student-exchange' was just a smokescreen), I didn't have to worry about not having money, I didn't have to worry about any problems back home (numerous computer breakdowns included), I didn't need to go through a fourth time of endless 'mug-your-ass-off' sessions in N2 (though I will go back to it). Of course, given the above, who wouldn't want to stay on forever?

Strange but real, while packing my luggage over the afternoon, there was this readiness to return back to Singapore. I was actually looking forward to it! I'd like to believe I'm thinking responsibly, that I will be motivated to work hard, do well, and repay mama for all she's given me. I know I'll probably start missing all the good times in Europe, and whining to go back the moment I touch down in Singapore, but hopefully I will not! Somehow, something in the brain just snapped, and its telling me to look forward to the new challenges that await upon my return. Now the only problem is how long this eagerness/motivation can be self-sustained.

Its good to spend some time doing some self-reflection. I've lived a most enjoyable 131 days, another smashing 38 days that I strive to make the most of! Time to sleep, it shall be another great day ahead. Have a great sunday for those back home, cheers.

Day 118 - 120

Time is passing so quickly now its scary to think about the events line-up that's going to take place!

To put things in perspective..

9 days to first exam..
14 days to the second..
16 days to the last (if I will go for it that is)..
17 days to the crazy Belgium-Slovakia-Austria-Germany-Spain-Scotland-Ireland-England tour..
36 days to the end of that crazy tour (if nothing bad crops up, fingers crossed) and the Jason Mraz concert which I'm really quite looking forward to..
48 days to the flight back to Singapore..

Frankly speaking, the simultaneous emotion of not wanting to leave Amsterdam and the eagerness to go back home for everything that's worth being reunited with is too much to bear. I'm trying hard not to think of the day when it eventually comes, which explains why I've been really serious about studying. I'm sure if I pace myself like how I did today, everything will turn out to be just fine.

My battle rations, and I'm sure they will be sorely missed when I eventually leave Amsterdam.

Went to the last borrel as well, kind of disappointing since everyone's busy with exam preparation. Went to walk around the red light district with a few friends, of which one whom I just made friends with tonight is actually a local who's so familiar with the whole place. It occured to me how amazing it is to be seriously studying about Economics at one moment, then find myself in the red light district, looking at the windows and the ladies behind them, with someone telling us things we never really knew.

In other news, some of the things to look forward to in the nights this week include the Champions League finals tonight, the red light district tour which will be the last time we see the 400+ windows (afterwhich half will be closed in June), as well as the final ISN party on saturday.

All right, lesson in the morning. Gotta sleep! Will update again!

Day 105 - 106

Yes, after 2 days of reading, preparation and mad rushing, the presentation for the course on history of economic thought is over and done with. It seemed to me like I've worried for nothing, since the fifteen minutes seemed like 3 minutes, considering how I spent 10 minutes on a quarter of my slides.

I don't know why, but it seemed like I've lost that flare for presentation or public speaking for that matter. It's been once again proven that when I faltered with 'the household allocation of time' by saying 'the household EDUCATION of time', not once, but two times! I refuse to think that the side effects of weed has taken a slightly longer period to wear off. The next presentation shall not see a repeat of this!

Anyway, the prime reason why I've decided to blog today is because of the special day 106 that I've been in Amsterdam. Well 106 has always been quite a special number, the previous house I stayed in was house 106, and my secondary one/two class in BPGHS was also 106! Was reminiscing about the times back in high school with the rest, and it occured to me that our best times were those spent in high school, regardless of whichever one we went to. Thinking back, its been 10 long years since secondary one, and I just learnt that a friend from the same batch (though in a different class) has just wed! Not trying to sound too old here, or rather, to get settled down at 23 seems like too young to me!

My secondary 3/4 classmate Dehua has also dropped by, since he's going to Stuggart for his summer exchange on sunday. Good to have a friend bring my already-depleted supply of Myojo instant noodles. My only regret was forgetting to tell my mum about the lor-bak ingredients which would surely sweep everyone here off their feet. Yes, I hate to admit it, but lor-bak is the pareto-superior equilibrium in a dual-food battle between it and curry chicken. Curry chicken always leaves you at a (0,0) when you compare it with lor-bak at (9,9). The Nash equilibrium is always at lor-bak for an infinite number of players in infinite periods. Okay, John Nash has successfully haunted me in my dreams for the past two nights I spent reading about him. Kindly ignore my last 2 lines, I'll leave it for the sake since I'm too lazy to backspace. Hahaha.

Well, am quite looking forward to the weekend, since there's a boat ride. Its kinda sad that we've been here for almost 4 months and we haven't been riding around the canals before! Its also Paris next week, and frankly speaking, I have less than one month before I need to move all my things out of the room, and leave Amsterdam for GH's European Exploration, and then make the painful (though I still do look forward it) trip back to Singapore. The thought of leaving this all-too-beautiful city is just too painful to bear, and I am not exaggerating.

I think I've said this before, and I'll say it again, living for the moment is the second best policy henceforth. (till July 14th that is)

The song of the day, I think I can't find a better song that best expresses this mixed bag of feelings I'm having now.



Till next time!

Day 97 - 104

It has been proven time and again that trying to update my experiences here in Amsterdam is as difficult as trying to read a dictionary from the first to the last page. So even if The Amsterdam Times cannot be published on a daily basis like any other leading newspaper, it will reinvent itself by trying to publish highlights on a weekly basis. The editor will also try to cover historic happenings worth reading in due time. Hahaha.

Anyway, after the highly enjoyable week which saw our other econs friends join us in the Netherlands, school this week has basically been about catching up with all the work that's to be due. And its ALOT! I've just spent almost 50 hours in Sebastian's room, yes we did not step out of his house for almost 50 hours, just to finish up 2 assignments. The weather was so fantastic, but yet we had to slog our asses off school work. Worse still, its not over yet, and I'll still have to clurn out a 10 page essay on 2 beloved Nobel prize winners, followed by another presentation, 6 essays and 1 other paper. Okay I should not rant on, since ranting will not aid in getting those things done as well. Still, it shall be and it will be done!

In other news, GH's European Exploration plan has more or less been fixed. Starting from 13th June and stretching all the way to 2nd July, he will attempt to cover as many cities, including those in Slovakia, Austria, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, and possibly a trip to Estonia to visit his friendly and beautiful friends. However, in not-so-good news, the Legoland trip may have to wait, till the next time, since there is really almost no time for it already! T_T.

I wish to extend my sincerest gratitude to Ryanair for once again making this exploration possible, while helping me maintain whatever's left in the bank account of mine. If only the railway or bus companies would learn from Ryanair, wouldn't it be nice?

A look at how much I will spend on air tickets, and how many flights I will be taking!

Brussels to Bratislava €10
Berlin to Dusseldorf €2.10
Dusseldorf to Barcelona €2.50
Barcelona to Dusseldorf €2.50
Dusseldorf to Edinburgh €2.50
Edinburgh to Dublin £4
Dublin to London £4
London to Eindhoven €2.50

Oh yes, I will also be heading to Cambridge, where I will meet my senior Julia and her husband! Yes I think its only nice to visit that institution that has determined the lives of the average Singaporean ever since O and A levels were inducted into Singapore's education system.

All right, looks like that's all the time I can afford to update this page for now. I know, reading the Yellow pages may be even more exciting than whatever's on here, but when all this is over, I'll make the entries here look longer than a PHD thesis. Hahahaha. Till next time!

Day 87 - 96

Hello again my readers, due to the massive amounts of work plus fun that has been happening for the past week, trying to report the sequence of events this week has been anything but possible.

In no more than 5 points, these are what happened in Amsterdam this week.

1. Queen's Day
2. 10 friends from different exchange universities sleeping over at my place over 4-5 days.
3. Keukenhof, in my opinion 100000000000000 times better than Botanic Gardens.
4. Scheveningen beach, in my opinion 100000000000000 times better than Sentosa. I've been there once, and revisiting it made me feel that it was 100000000000000 (instead of 10000000000000) times better than Sentosa. Hahaha okay I've super-exergerated.
5. A trip to space, which was kinda bumpy but good.

Yeah, will elaborate again when I have the time.

It really sucks to be not able to share so many stories to all my dear friends when there's so much more other important things to be done. But I'll still try my best to blog about it when I have the time to!

*Updates*

Day 87-91

The weekend 2 weeks back saw us do alot of shopping to prepare the meals for our guests who would come visit us during the Queen's Day week. Our fellow Economists from NTU who are based in Denmark and Sweden respectively were coming to celebrate Queen's Day as well. I also spent the sunday trying to shop for my orange stuff (instead of doing my work), which ended on a not-so-fruitful note considering I failed to find my orange jeans. I did eventually find it in the Hague, but it was well past Queen's Day already. Since Queen's day is also pretty close to Liberation day (which Netherlands celebrate its liberation from German invasion during WWII), our RAs also oragnised this plantage tour, where we got to know alot more about what exactly happened during WWII in this very neighbour where we are spending 5 months of our lives here. Absolutely thought-invoking and the atrocities of war have never resonated so strongly before.

I also tried smoking weed the first time proper, thanks to Peter who taught me a whole deal more about the different types of weed and how to smoke them. (to my sisters who might be reading this, do not mention a word of this to the mum, or face my wraith when I get back. hahaha)


The different types of weed as seen here. The one in the joint is White Widow mixed with tobacco, while the other two are Jack Herrer and something else. These are some of the most popular weed among consumers here. In fact, every year in Amsterdam, the Cannabis Cup is being held. Smokers can sign up as judges by paying a sum of about S$300-400, they will be given this pass where they can flash it to all the participating coffeeshops in Amsterdam, and each coffeeshop will bring out their own competing product to let them have it for free. The coffeeshop that has got the most popular product will win this Cannabis Cup, and it also means a huge doze of advertising and revenue, since everyone will literally want to try this award-winning weed.


Smoking the weed from a pipe. There are many ways to consuming weed, of which this is one of them.

Comparing smoking weed, and eating weed disguised in a cake, smoking is definitely less enjoyable. This is given by the fact that it causes quite a fair bit of irritation to the throat (maybe less to people who smoke cigarettes) However, the advantage to smoking lies in that you feel the effects almost instantly. It took me just 2 puffs to feel the typical 'high' sensation, drifting between moments of sanity and hysterical laughing at anything that I set my eyes upon (including my watch). The other good thing is that effects come and go quickly, like 5 minutes to get high, but it will last like 40 minutes maximum. Before accusations of GH turning into a junkie surface, I would like to say that weed is by no way an addiction like heroin or hard drugs. The media that we have been exposed to for so long usually paints that picture of people getting wasted on anything labelled as drugs. It is an extremely false accusation on what is otherwise something as enjoyable as clubbing, swimming, or playing mahjong.



Day 92

Well, Wanteng arrived on tuesday to join us for the Queen's day potluck party thrown at Sebastian's place. Turnout was fairly good, and I cannot express the sheer delight of trying out a good spread of international food, of which all are unique and delicious.


My curry and tom-yum combo. Hurhur.


Daniela and her authentic Italian way of preparing pasta.


Marcial from Texas and his delicious wrap!


Richard, this friendly Dutch who made some really good stoompot the last time round!





Quite the kind of potluck I was expecting. This kind of thing is only possible when everyone brings a dish so that everyone else can get to try. An international one is all the more interesting and diverse! Surely this will be something I will miss when my exchange comes to its end.. and it ain't that far away =/

Day 64

By far the lousiest day. Various factors have contributed to this.

1) Studying 7 hours straight in the library, and the worse thing is studying it half-heartedly, selective studying and trying to spot questions, as usual.

2) Thanks and no thanks to the course co-ordinator for one of the courses we will take beginning next week, there is a 0.99 probability that we will miss the Italy trip. Transaction cost ~ S$50. Opportunity cost: Missing out on my Legoland opening day trip. Perfect.

3) Trying to do some last minute revision while everyone else are going for gay bar tours (not that I am interested in that) and partying, I am still staring at the notes.

4) The new timetable in school is obscene. I wished I didn't need to take so many modules (ya I hear the 'S/U still complain!' 'Take more subjects or regret it!)

Garf. What needs to be done has to be done. Will manage the exam in 9 hours, and I guess the only thing to look forward to is the party+drinking tomorrow night.

Day 63

There is a very strong, positive relationship between drinking and feeling happy while studying. Okay there is still no evidence to support the hypothesis that drinking helps in memory retention, but I will find out soon enough.

Beer, or more specifically Heineken, is starting to taste like Coke now. Coke is my favourite drink. Hurraf.