We had an excursion to d town area of stuttgart for architecture lesson yesterday. Imagine about 20 ppl being herded in town in d relentless rain. Horrid. It was so cold my fingers were too numb to press d buttons on my keypad. D funny thing is, yesterday was d 3rd time i've been given a guided tour thru d town area to d same buildings, to d same church, to d same market hall. D only thing i was actually lookin forward to was d visit to d main train station n going up the station tower n being able to get a bird's eye view of stuttgart, but d excursion insisted to b a disappointment wen we arrived der n Mark, d teacher realised its closed on mondays. Grrr.... ah well, der's always tmr, or d next day or d next 40 days.

Dis architecture teacher of mine, Mark Phillips, is a 36 yr old English man who has been livin in Deutschland almost all his life, so he talks like a german. He has dis mysterious, brooding face w dark brown shoulder length hair n a hint of stubble. He wears a knee length black jacket n brown shoes w orange laces. Ok, so y m i describing him in such detail? Cos i fancy his look, der i've said it. But unfortunately, dis man w a hugh-grant-like aura cannot, for d life of me, hold my attention. He is so monotonous! But alles kla, i'll manage. Ahhhh....

Moving on....
I called home yesterday. ok u c, i had to be strategic, so i called d love first. i managed to control my tears n d phone call was pretty good wer we exchange funny stories for a while, so i laughed a lot during this phone call. Then, i called mom n d niagra falls were utterly unstoppable. d whole time, i spent talkin while trying my best to wipe d streaming tears off my face. i did calm down abit but wen she passed d phone to my dad, d dam broke again. it was crazy. i came out of d phone cubicle 20 mins later w swollen red eyes. Woosh! ok dah, satisfied for d day.

huifang n hajar came back w me to my place n we cooked dinner! Fusili w tomato/chilli sauce with champignons n rosenkohl.... Kenyang.....

Ok now i'm gonna share w u about d place wer i am now.
Some general info about Stuttgart:
Stuttgart is d capital city in d state of Baden-Wurttemberg. It is one of the highest industrialized areas in europe n d largest wine producing state in germany. It produces 60% red wine n 40% white wine. D name stuttgart came about wen a man came hear to look for a horse stable. He made dis place a big horse stable n named it Stuartgarten(stuttgart) from Stuart=female horse n Garten=garden.

Ok dats it for now..... lunch time is ending
Local time 1349 hrs.
Tchuss!

11th day. i made it thru d 1st 10 days !!! 3 more 10 days den we're off! den der's 2 more 10 days of travelling b4 i finally reach home on d 64th day! weeeeeeee.....

hahah... ok its not dat horrible here, but one cant help missing home wen one's in a foreign country, reading oneself to sleep everynight wishing one could pick up d phone n call d love, eating jam sandwich and an apple for lunch, n maggi or even nothin for dinner everyday, wondering if one's mom is missing her wen one is curled up in bed trying very hard to protect oneself fr d biting cold.

Ah well, but wen one's out exploring dis beautiful foreign country, being amused by d ppl, being confused by d directions, being awed by d scenery, feeling jakon-ed by d history, she's all but making herself sad abt not havin her mummy ard.

Last weekend was pretty interesting altho tiring. we went to heidelberg on sat, d most romantic town in germany.... visited d castle of king george d 5th n his wife, princess elisabeth. U know, he is such a romantic, he presented his wife a gate, yes u heard right, A Gate, for her 19th bday! a gate dat was assembled overnight. how totally touching. man in those times had great ideas. Now, dey give vacuum cleaners or new food processors. Hah!

Sunday, we visited Blackforest. It was raining d whole morning. Fortunately my host gave me a thick jacket dat keeps me fr d cold n is also waterproof, dat way its easier to manage. or else i'll look like a nyonya trying to handle umbrella, bag n camera all at d same time.
We went to d outdoor museum der. It was an area wer 6 old, authentic blacforest barnhouses stood. We get to go thru all d barns n see d structure, how dey slept, the black kitchen which was blackened by soot comin out fr d coal stoves, their living room, we saw the place wer dey kept their farm tools n wer d animals lived. All in d same 'house'. Den we also saw d flour mill. Dis was interesting cos d flour was still in working condition so urs truly had d chance to turn d lever n cos d whole mill to come to life!! We could actually c flour pouring out n d hard grain being separated. Dey use d flour to feed the animals which was kept within d same museum but in another barn. Der were actually live cows, dogs n pigs! It was such a real experience cos it wasn't ur typical museum. One of d kitchens were actually constantly in use to cook for the men who worked in d barn. So we saw d old lady cooking on d old stove n filled d kitchen w such aroma. Its like going thru someone's life for real n not juz trying to imagine how dey lived from lookin at artifacts. Dis was d most interesting n real museum i've ever visited.

Aft d museum we went to d largest waterfall in germany. It was B-E-A-U-tiful! D hikeup was challenging tho cos it was cold n i couldnt feel my toes n d slope was steep, but it was all worth it. But we didnt get to go all d way up cos we had to catch d train home, or else d next train is 2 hrs later. It is a more than 2 hrs ride home...

Time for my next lesson now...

Bis dann.
Local time 1354 hrs.

hoho Singapore!

so today is d 6th day i'm in stuttgart. Its still springtime, so its pretty much still cold. I sleep w 3 layers of comforter, socks n sweater n its still freezing cold!

Ok so today is d 1st day of lessons. I've been placed in german lvl 2 n its so difficult cos back in spore i still havnt covered d whole of lvl 1. so yah, pretty much struggling la, but machts nichts, i'll try to cope aye!

Its been 6 days n all i've eaten is a whole lot of bread, butter, cheese, jam, nutella equivalent shoko-nuss and salad. day in day out, dats all i eat! i'll soon be sick of it.
anyway food is expensive, so abit hesitant to spend la...

d only time i get to use d internet is during lunch break, so its too short a time to update on everything.

d family i stay w is nice, w 4 kids but only 2 girls, 14 n 19, still stay at home. d house is always so quiet n initially it got really claustrophobic cos d silence was ringing in my ears n 4 d 1st time i understand d expression 'd silence is so loud'. Its pretty lonely at home cos d parents r always reading or knitting n d kids r not usually at home n ders no sound of tv or radio. really, it gets miserable. well, i've gotten into a routine, wake up in d morn, hav bfast, leave 4 sch, return in d evening n sleep. cant do anything else but sleep. d atmosphere makes it easier to doze off. ok i sound like i'm complaining but i'm very glad i'm not staying in d dorms like d others. dat's worse cos its a single room n d corridors r narrow n dark n other ppl fr spore live in different blocks. but at least dey hav each other if dey get lonely. but these ppl r worse in a sense dey hav to fend for demselves for every meal. i atleast get bfast n packed bread for lunch n apples. its good living w a family, more exposure to d germans n their way of life. the german family eats d same thing for dinner as their breakfast! oh well...

now dat i've started sch, its not so bad. initially, i missed my mom so bad, i missed home, missed d love, but now its all good. i can go to sleep without beating myself up for makin d decision to b away 4 so long. Ah well, its d experience ya.

Sch is abt 30 mins away fr home. i travel everywer w hajar cos her host lives on d same street as me. d 1st few days we were here, we had a lot of time to look ard d city n meet w d host's frens n got invited to their party, so its good. i'm so glad she's here too, or else i dont know wat i'll do.

hav i mentioned its cold? i walk ard w a jacket buttoned up n my hands in d pocket n i feel so ang moh especially walkin home fr d subway station to d house. feels like i'm in d show seven heaven walking home fr sch... Its such a funny feeling n i still get amazed by it everyday i walk down dat street.

Tmr is a german christian holiday, no sch. we cant go shopping cos germans r very serious abt day holidays, sundays, d town almost looks desserted.

oh, d keyboards here r diffrent dat wat we're used to, so pardon me if der's wrong spelling or weird symbols...

oh i havnt describe d house! fr d outside, it looks very country n quaint. d inside is even more country. everything is so cottagey, d furniture, d decoration, d plates, d mugs, d cutlery. everything in my room is dark brown wood. oh n also d rooms n d toilet look like something out of an ikea showroom! its a 2 storey house w an attic, wic is d parents room cos ders only 3 bedrooms. n my room is almost as big as my room at home w a bed, wardrobe, study table n a sofa. Pretty comfy la...

Anyway, i'm enjoying myself here la, even if i dont sound like it in dis entry, heee...

i almost lost my camera cos i was sleepy n it fell off my lap in d mayoral house. fortunately a guy saw it. i'll b miserable d rest of d time i'm here if i lost it...

ok ppl, take care... Tchuss!

My exams ended last thurs n i had the luxury of enjoying the long weekend unlike some of my counterparts who still hav papers this week. But the long weekend was not how i imagined it to be.
Since it was aft my exams, i fantasized that it was gonna be full of lively activities, meeting up w my mamachakududs, catching up w d love, going into town juz to remind myself there's a world out there(i've been stuck at home thruout my exam period, u c).
Swimming was cancelled cos i was havin a cold n it was rainin dat thurs aftnoon. Friday was spent at home researching on my europe destinations n in d evening was the first Germany peeps meeting juz to sorta kekenal w each other n discuss travel plans. It was quite late wen my parents decided to visit my grandad. Apparently he's getting worse...
Saturday i thought i cld spend w him, but d flight fiasco made us spend 4 hours at d travel agent's. 6 of us were der tryin our best to get d best flight but thanks to d world cup, many flights were fully booked during the period we wanna fly home. Ended up changing airlines altogether. So we're now flying emirates. Finally getting our flight itinerary in my hands, juz got me so excited to go. So we're flying off 19may at 3am to frankfurt n returning fr paris on 21st july. Whoop! I cld hav met up w d mamasitas dat evening if i didnt hav tuition,urgh!
Sunday morning, went jogging w bur. My legs hav forgotten how to run, couldnt cover my usual distance(or juz too malas). I'm really startin to prefer swimming to running, haiz... Oh n on d swimming front, according to my coach, i'm definitely much better now, altho i'll hav to start swimming away fr d edge of d pool. My water confidence still needs work. Anyway, i spent d rest of a good sunday at home semi-reading a book, semi-watching tv and semi-sleeping on the couch. Pathetic. So much for lively activities during the weekend.
I was awaken early on monday morn by my parents. We had to go pick up my aunt n go visit my granddad, some urgent things. So spent d whole morn n early noon at my aunts plc where my granddad was staying for now. My cousins n families came n it felt like hari raya. Spent d rest of d day w my parents aft dat, grocery-shopping n ceramah-listening at clementi stadium. It was a good monday.
I'm currently trying to make a list of d things i hav to bring to germany. Its driving me crazy. 2 months. I havent been away fr home dat long n i'm worried i might forget to bring stuff. Its not as if Stuttgart is near enuf for me to juz trot off home to fetch watever i left behind. N i'm wondering if all my stuff will fit into one huge backpack.
Not only do i hav to worry abt my preparations, i still hav to worry abt my FYP, or lack thereof. The supervisor i want is no longer on the list. N those 2nd,3rd n plus plus choice supervisors have mostly allocated their projects. I might end up w a sucky supervisor w a sucky project for d whole of my final year!
N i'm worried abt exam result release date n subject registration date. I dont wanna hav to make someone else do subject registration 4 me again, but it might b inevitable.
I havent purchased d europass, insurance. Havent contact my host family, havent research for hostels for our backpacking trip. Havent buy supplies. I'm really worried abt my fyp!!!! Havent met my chakududs!
Today is 2nd of may, 16 days to go, to worry, to think, to research, to book, to purchase, to register, to catch up. If i wasnt stressed during my exams, i'm stressed now.