bittersweet melancholies.

Mini update:
I spent 2.5 weeks back on the sunny island of Singapore. Indeed, the monsoon season didn't seem to want to take its attendance this year and I managed to return to Amsterdam with hints of a tan - evidence to europeans that I've been on a vacation. hohoho.


and There's been a cold spell here in Europe and this has resulted in frozen canals. Such a pretty sight and there have been people out skating on them. I went on a photo frenzy, but this will have to do for now:


At the moment, I have to get my head around an essay on the EU and energy security and the recent gas price dispute between Russia and Ukraine just gave me another headache. Sigh.

Labels: amsterdam, uni

fen at 1:51 AM | Permalink | Comments

The weekends are always awesome with my girls :)

For now..studying for my history exam come Monday. sigh.

Labels: party, uni

fen at 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments

Because (some) randomness is good, group photos from Brussels!

Labels: travel, uni

fen at 7:15 AM | Permalink | Comments

My Master's class and I spent 2 days in Brussels this week as part of our education on EU integration. We visited the EU Parliament on day one; EU Commission on day two.

I left the EU Parliament feeling rather disenchanted due to the miscommunication and uncoordination of the staff which resulted in much frustration and feeling like a struggling existentialist character in one of Kafka's novels - every tunnel had a road block. This was red tape in the flesh. Meeting at 0825 at Amsterdam Centraal also took a toll of some of us as we dozed off during a presentation by a Member of Parliament. hohum. We then attended a Q&A session with a Romanian socialist lady who appeared a little under the influence, what with her stumbling self and answers that never answered our questions.

On the train..
while walking to our hotel..
Ilias looks so smart in a suit!
us girls in formal attire..
sitting in one of the Parliament sessions..

Dinner I had with the boys in a quaint Italian restaurant as my lasses went off separately. I've grown very fond of each one, with their different personalities and quirks. Talk consisted of military stuff, "what I'd do if a boy wants to date my daughter" stuff, weather stuff, women stuff...

Thereafter, we met up with the girls..and beer had to be drunk..
Day Two was spent learning about the EU's external policies at one of the Commission buildings. Common Foreign and Security Policy talk was comme ci comme ca, but the talk about legal cooperation and extradition was majorly interesting and led by a charismatic lawyer who managed to wow us with his eloquence and wit. Oh yes, in stark contrast, receiving our class and organising a room for the session went like clockwork and improved my image of european efficiency, thankfully.

We took a class photo, of course, but alas, not with my camera..

After the talk, the girls and I decided to tour Brussels a bit although we've all been there before. We went to the Museum of modern art which was really nice. Bought many postcards and I managed to buy a poster of Dali's work, La Tentation de St. Antoine. This is definitely going up on my wall. Also, I went crazy with all the Magritte stuff.. I was in surrealist heaven.

Girls and I on the Grand Place/Grote Markt..
walking to the museum..

what say you...
we became part of the art..
this art installation was pretty cool..

After digesting modern art, we went shopping! For chocolates, for beer, for waffles...

Chocolate fountain..
decisions, decisions...
yummeh..
at the supermarket buying beer..
We caught the train back to Amsterdam at 1819h. We were happy people.

Labels: travel, uni

fen at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Comments

I haven't written an essay in a year. This is taking a lot longer and a lot more effort than I last remembered.........

Labels: uni

fen at 7:18 AM | Permalink | Comments

striking a deal between the sun and my work.

Labels: random, uni

fen at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments

fen at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments

fen at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments

walking by the travelex yesterday afternoon in the city, i chanced upon this:

how cool is that? i watched a documentary some time last year or early this year about the race to (commercialise) space - spearheaded by none other than richard branson who wants to make 2008 a year to commemorate with space tourism.

however, apart from the many issues behind man's insatiable appetite for commodification, the fact we're living in the (21st) century that could well mark the start of this genre of tourism is rather mind-numbing.

on one hand, it'd be lovely to view the planet from such a bird's eye perspective, authentic and unphotoshopped. on the other, inevitable competition has led to the plight that the earth is facing at the moment..do we really need to trash space and start another period of colonialism?

in other news: i've finished Woolf's "to the lighthouse" and have to say, after starting and re-starting this book 3 times, i think i've finally come to appreciate her style. she's far from being one of my favourite authors, but i tip my hat to her and her modernity. there is a hauntingness in her prose that emphasises our streams of consciousness that is a first to me. it somehow puts our daydreams and fantasies to words, those periods of time when we drift off, and gives them meaning to which we often dismiss.

another random thought: in this world of connectivity, where screens (ie computer, mobile, television) have replaced physical face-to-face interaction, i'm not quite sure how much i appreciate it. to see/read what one doesn't want (or need) to know could create one of the most unpleasant feelings.

afterall, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Labels: reflection, travel, uni

fen at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments

today in my cultural studies tute, we discussed places. what they mean, how they work, how our behaviour is determined by space and design. it is interesting to consider then how (in)dependent we are as (supposedly) rational human beings and how conscious we are of our surroundings. one could apply Williams's base-superstructure analysis of Marxist theory, or be optimisitic and consent to the hope that Habermas brings in his public sphere. to be fair, it's gotta be 50-50, i'd say. but the romantic in me still sides with the latter.

i'm not a business student/person either, thus to talk about marketing to zhongyu today meant talking about ethical advertising - if this paradox exists. and it's interesting to think about how we're influenced to think we need something when actually, we just want it. so, does the base (the mode of production) determine products we think we need (ie superstructure: related range of cultural practices)? or does demand = supply?

nonetheless, i walked into Borders today and knew exactly where to go (i wanted to pick up a cd) and where to find it - but in vain. and as i turned to head back up to the ground level, i chanced upon this in the art section, strategically placed, i'd assume:



a delightful coffee table book of oil paintings/posters by Alex Gross. i was completely thrilled and enchanted by his surrealist style (as right now i'm doing Dali in my modernist class) and the "moments" that he creates instead of captures.

alas, when i found out it was AU$87, i put it down. too much 'surplus value'.

it is, however, oh so alluring.

Labels: desire, theory, uni

fen at 9:10 PM | Permalink | Comments

some outdated pictures with darling shoobs, taken on my last day in singapore.
and in perth, yet again, at the bubble tea place. we're addicted la..headed to the beach yesterday to catch the sunset..but alas, this is what was awaiting:so as i sit here, finishing off the crumbs of my krispy kreme doughnut and thumbing the pages of Woolf's To the Lighthouse, there is a feeling that creeps up from my cold, numb toes. that feeling of familiarity of being back in perth.

in other news, 10 books on my reading list this semester (of 4 months) is a number i have yet to deal with. they range from medieval texts to modernist ones, with a couple of theoretical essays to help bridge the leap in time. reading Ivanhoe along side Dadaist poems kinda warps one's perception.

and at the moment, i'd much rather read de Sade's Philosophy in the Boudoir which i oh-so-impulsively picked up at the co-op bookshop.

Labels: reflection, uni

fen at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments

oh my, ticktock goes the clock and as much as i tried to put that annoying reminder at the back of my head, the luggage is packed, the passport is lying on the table and i'm almost set for leaving - again. the emotional baggage can give my check-in luggage a run for its money in weight.

i've tried to make the past two weeks as fruitful as possible - family, friends and food. there's nothing like the simple things such as coming home to a hot meal, being able to find 24h food places and walking alone safely at night. surrounded by the familiar, it is always hard to get over that initial inertia. for me, at least.

shuttling between perth, singapore and amsterdam this year has been quite a challenge. but alas, i'm glad i did it.

some parting shots:

while waiting for the bus at Ang Mo Kio station..
my walk along Rochor road i think..
Sungei road market!!
tong zi men...
barbie bodies, anyone?
canal?
haji lane..blue evening sky..while waiting at the traffic light..

goodbye,

Labels: goodbyes, travel, uni

fen at 7:57 PM | Permalink | Comments