~~~~~

South Coast Plaza

Another huge shopping mall...

~~~~~

Orange County Performing Arts Center

Check out its Vitual Tour on its website! Good stuff!

~~~~~

Newport Ecological Reserve

This looks a bit out of place. haha, nothing happening, but just serene. With views like that,how can anyone be tired during jogging?

~~~~~

Wal-mart

Heard so much about the great Walmart, and so I guess I have to pay one a visit and see what it's really like!

And perhaps cheap is the word (don't we all already know and heard about), but somehow, it fails in comparsion to other supermarkets/ hypermarts that I've been to, cos I guess it looks a bit more run-down and it's usually the place where the not so well-off people go to do their shopping. And the difference is quite dramatic, the staff are nice, but looks-wise, do not look as well-off as those in other supermakets.

To make my trip more worth while, I bought some stuff from Walmart too.

Our most missed Fast Food chain.
Surprisingly, not many Americans know about them too.
I think it belonged to a different generation.
Oh no, we're getting old.

~~~~~

Irvine Spectrum

Another pretty shopping center. It has a website too! But this one has a ferris wheel to itself. Woohoo.

Edwards Cinemas (which is the biggest branch in US, like our GV).
This has 21 theatres inside! Plus an IMAX.

My roomates and I went to the cinema in Irvine Spectrum to catch a show before Halloween. We watched Saw II and Weatherman. We sort of cheated, because we bought 1 ticket and went for 2 shows. Well, my roommate says everyone does it here, as the ticket doesn't have seating allocation, and theatres are never full.

~~~~~

Knott's Berry Farm

Snoopy's Headquarter! For Halloween, it was themed "Knott's Scary Farm" so I thought it would be good to visit it for this once in a year timing!

Albeit too old for rides, I enjoyed people watching.

The area around there is also pretty cool, with Wax Museum and Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. But the queues were so freaking long that I didn't go in. The admission was only for $5 because the museums are closing by the end of October, thus the long queue.

~~~~~

As Jamie Reeves wrote on my Econs "S" paper once.

A "tour de force"

Sunglasses.

Definitely.

Everyone stares at you and goes "what a poser" if you wear shades in Singapore, but here in Sunny California, heck no. It's part of every attire, of every profession.

And the sunglasses are a great invention. Seriously they are, because they serve so many functions, from the practical to the look factor. Let me just list you some.

1) It protects your eyes from harmful UV rays. (I got to start with the boring and practically correct stuff)

2) When worn, it makes you look cool if you just look; fierce if you frown; energetic if you laugh; mysterious if you give that small tilt of your lips liking a smile; fashionable if you dress well.

3) You can look anyway you want, and no one will know. Come on, admit it. Everyone does it.

4) if not worn, you can also use it as a "hairband". Prop it up against your floppy hair, and it makes the worse hair look good. Trust me, if I don't comb my hair and just stick my sunglasses there, it'll look a whole lot better. Plus got the cool and just came-back-from-a-run look.

5) For aesthetic purposes, you can either:
a) wear it behind your head as if your eyes are at the back of your head (Xiaotian sees nothing cool about this)
b) put it around at the back of your neck (my fav position). It looks cool.

6) Importantly, if makes you look cool. And looking cool gives you that confidence. The confidence gives you the belief that everything you do is going well. That in turns makes your day better. And you become happier. Just because of a pair of sunglasses.

Therefore, it is of utmost importance that you choose a right pair. Make sure someone judges for you. It doesn't mean the most expensive one is the best. The best one is the one that fits your face and makes you look good. Even if it's 10 bucks, as long as it makes you look good, it is a good pair of sunglasses. Especially since there are so many brands in US, no one is going to stare and wonder if you're wearing Oakleys. Come on, there're even people who don't like Oakleys here.

Put on the sunglasses. And strut your stuff.

The day is a good day.

Before you start wondering that I'm not in school half the time because I never did seem to mention school at all of late (that would be entirely erroneous, for I am a good student. ahem ahem), so here's a little update on the happenings around school.

~~~~~

UCIncredibles (24 September)

So it's a lame-sounding event. But overall, it was quite a success! The school organized this event in the park on one of the nights, for the people in the dorm to socialise and watch "The Incredibles" together! I pulled my roommate to the event, despite the fact that I've watched it twice before, but he hasn't, so I'm alright. To our surprise, there were people crowding around the portable projector and screen, lying on the grass with their towels and all armed with sweaters and snacks.

And we thought no one is going to show up.

There were some crazy happenings too, as fans come in "The Incredibles" attires and taking photos. Of course, there's also the occasional Batmans and Superwomen, who, despite a little out of theme, provided much entertainment.

We watched the show in the cold, the good things is that my roommate and I had "VIP" seats, as in we found 2 slabs of rock and got ourselves comfortable. Well, at least till even the rock got too cold. But it was great fun!

But hey, with a show like that, and at least with a sizeable audience, how can it screw up?

~~~~~

Midnight Magic (15 October)

16 October is the first official day that the college basketball teams can start training for the season (don't ask me who sets these rules), so in UCI, it's a tradition that we hold a "Midnight Magic" the night before to celebrate the beginning of the Basketball season!

Free food, drinks and a CIA (Completely Insane Anteaters) T-shirt to be given out!

Plus cheerleaders' performances, amounting to the introduction of the Men and Women Basketball Teams, and Slam dunks competitions! It's a whole lot of fun as everyone gathers and cheers in the Bren Events Center to witness the countdown to Midnight and the beginning of the season. The players show off their stuff and audience joined in the games.

What a way to feel the UCI Spirit.

As the mascot will say: "ZOT! ZOT!"

~~~~~

Career Fair (19 October)

I went for classes bright and early at 8am, well aware that there will be a Career Fair going on in school today along the Ring Road. Tentages were set up the day before by the contractors, but no one was at the booth yet, for obvious reasons that it was too early. Little did I know that it was more than what I expected.

So I stepped into the lecture theatre, and to my surprise, half the class was all dressed up. No, I don't mean the Singaporean definition of dressed up = shirt + pants. I mean suits. Ties. Portfolios. Combed hair. Shiny black shoes. Black business skirts. Stockings. You get the idea.

For a moment I thought everyone had presentations that day. Well. Nah.

Everyone was suited up for the Career Fair, and since my Econs class is a upper division, many of them will be graduating this year. Seeking a job, or even an internship is serious business here in the US. So it's not even surprising that they all have their resumes ready in their professional looking portfolios. And suits. Everyone has a suit here, and it's called "business formal".

One thing we got to learn from the Americans, definitely, is the way to market ourselves. I mean, these guys are the pros man. Smooth, slick and big enough to fill the suit to make it look great. These packages make a confidence man.

And sometimes it's true. That even if all you say was bullshit, you got to say it with style.

~~~~~

Oktoberfest! (21 October)

So the annual beer-drinking event is here. Right here in UCI.

Before I go on to (boringly) describe the event, I would like to make a bold claim that "kiasu-ism" is not a Singaporean thing. It's a everyone thing, but it just happens that we put a word to it when no one else does.

So when there is free food and beer, there will be people.

The queue 1 hr before the beer was distributed.

Ok, so there were games, lucky draws (called "raffles" pronounced "RA-furs" but I shall not used it), and a concert by some random rock bands. Come on, this is the US, people just decide to form rock bands like how we decide what to eat for lunch.

"UCI is no good!
Treat your workers like you should!"

The last few days have been gloomy, and cold. Even rain. Most strange weather, by southern California standard.

I love rainy days in Singapore, but over here, I just wish it goes away and let me see the beautiful sun again. The warm sun which so brilliantly light up everything and make them look happy. Every morning for the past week I huddle in my sweater with hands in my pocket and walk through the wet dark park, missing terribly the sun rays that shine through the autumn leaves, which never fails to kick-start a good day.

But the sun smiles again!

And the world smiles with it. Even the infrequent cold chilling winds will not take that away.

~~~~~

And for all those that cared to listen. It's a miracle.

I've lost 7 lbs in 3 weeks. Whatever that is in kg, but using pounds make it sound a lot huh? haha.

Thanks to gym on Mon, Wed, Fri, and running on Tues, Thur, Sat, and yoga on Thur. Sunday is sort of a make up day in case I missed any due to mid-terms of excessive homework, else it's officially slack day.

No I don't spend all day exercising, it's only an hour a day and helps tremendously in relieving stress and thinking through homework actually. And I go out exploring every weekend. =)

And now I have this sudden craving for chips. Ruffles Sour Cream and Onion in particular, but I must resist the temptation that will kill 3 weeks' work in a moment of folly.

Away! Damn crave. Away!

~~~~~


Running makes me feel patrotic these days. A strange notion. People run with headphones in their ears, and I tried that, but it just doesn't work for me.


Army songs drive me on, somehow, the rythme and the pace, and remembering the runs I take with my mates in OCS even before the sun rises. It makes me go on, and motivates me against stopping. Like the world depends on my running.

The past few days have been filled with much thoughts. And even a test of my patience and tolerance level. But the good thing is, that I've come to realised howI'll never be able to click with highly realistic/ practical/ materialistic people. Or even highly scientific people.

To all hardcore scientists out there, I apologise.

I don't know what kind of person I am. Some of you might think I'm realistic, and some might believe that the idealism is still very much alive in me. Probably a mix of both; not extreme enough to be 100% practical and yet not 100% dreamy about life to be seeing the rainbow in everything I do.

It can be exhausting talking to highly practical people sometimes. Especially if you talk about the social sciences and the humanities, and his first question is

"But what kind of job can you get? Is there a point in studying such soft sciences at all?"

I was taken aback. Literally. To link the pursue of an education, interest, life goals with a job immediately just struck me as... too practical?

Look mister. I'm an Economics major and one who is really interested in philosophy and history and political science and think that they are really useful at looking at the world...

"So you study why there is money? What for? Isn't it taken for a fact?"

Well, no sire. There's a lot more to money that you think. Anyway, nothing guarantees you a job these days...

"Yes, Chemistry. Physics. The hard sciences. Where all the facts and truth are! I mean, like philosophers, what can they do? Interesting to study, maybe, but what can they do?"

Some people just like these stuff. I mean I do, because the world is made up of more than rational stuff. There's the irrationality and the emotions and the thought processes. And people may not end up getting a job related to what they study...

"That's exactly my point. What a waste of investment, and time and money, all these years spent in something that you are not going to use? I mean, look, you don't even need to study business to do business, but you definitely need to study sciences to be in the field."

Yes, true to an extent. But humanities allows us to look at the human in our essence, of what is good or evil, right or wrong, to understand ourselves better. Social sciences allows us to look at the world and understand it...

"Why the heck do we need to know all that? Without the sciences, there will be no world! No energy, no future! Science is the way to go for human kind."

... ... (if you could see me, I have this exasperated look, and on the verge of getting pissed off. Almost chafed would be a good term.)

I guess I have gone too far, and ventured into the science-non-science argument. But being realistic, yes, it is important to be aware of our futures and not waste time and what not. But to link everything to the job prospects and money and the likes... well, maybe it gets a bit too much on my idealism-nerve-endings.

Argh! help.

Or "Welcome!" in English if you like =) Or if Spanish isn't for you!

Edward and I took a day trip on Sunday down south, since he especially flew from U Penn, Philadelphia, we just got to explore Southern California! And even crossing the border into Tijuana, Mexico!

So 2 crazy uniform groups PAL back in the good old RI days took a run early on Sunday morning at 9am to the car rental place (after sifting out a lot of dubious companies the night before), since no public buses were easily available. Was about 5.5km I think, but we were running in our windbreakers, and it's still cold.

After getting the car... we were ready for our little exploration! Of San Diego and Tijuana!

Looming dark clouds will not stop our quest, as we drive down the Pacific Ocean coastline. Edward made a good point that the trees were purposely grown on the freeways to block out the view of the ocean because its beauty and vastness will simply distract drivers and result in accidents. But yet, glimpses of it became more valuable, and more beautiful.

Safety first. Safety first.

On impulse and unplanned (like what's new), we decided to turn into San Juan Capistrano when we saw the directional signs on the freeway, since we read a bit about the Mission in San Juan Capistrano in some of the travel guides.

Mission San Juan Capistrano is now a monument to California's multi-cultural history, embracing its Native American, Spanish, Mexican and European heritage. Originally built as a self sufficient community by Spanish Padres and Indians, the Mission was a center for agriculture, industry, education and religion. And you can even find barracks in the buildings, which goes to show how self-sufficient it was.

The old bells and its time worn paths with historical remains of the stone church were the highlight for me. Not forgetting the serenity and peace amid the 10 acres of lush gardens and cool fountains, cloistered by old adobe walls. We took a lot of pretty pics in the gardens and the stone church too! The Serra Chapel is also magnificant, a very old and traditional church, still having people praying inside in Spanish.

Me at the Mission

~~~~~

Leaving the Mission behind, it's on with the adventure!

We drove down to University of California, San Diego to check out the UC by the ocean.

Desptie being a Sunday, finding legal parking on campus was no easy task. But after we did, we walked around the school and visited the school bookstore to get some souvenirs *grin*, Edward with his love for college's shotglasses and me, being sick of blue and gold T-shirts that I've been buying, got myself a cool UCSD penant.

Thanks to Photoshop, Edward and I can be in the same picture

We had lunch in the cafe in UCSD, Mexican food of course, since this is a Mexican food day. The interesting thing is that when I placed my order and was asked for my name (something like how Starbucks work), I was surprised to see how they spelt it on the receipt.

"KENITH"!

I wonder if it's my pronounication or what, but Edward thought it's pretty cool (of course, they didn't get his name wrong), and was determined to name his son that. It's like a mix between "Kenneth" and "Keith" and pretty unique. Plus the fact that if you change the "K" to a "Z", it becomes "Zenith". Well done Edward.

Imagine what stories I can tell his son about how he got his name *laughs*

"Hi Kenith, you know, your dad and I were having Mexican food one day..."

~~~~~

Hitting San Diego, we went on the 59 Mile Scenic Drive, or at least try to, by following the road signs, stopping at the major attractions (or whatever catches our attention). But it's simply the beaches and the ocean. How the great waters curves the land in, making it so postcard-perfect.

Edward is especially excited by the UCSD Institute of Oceanography, wondering if he can do his graduate degree here. The institute, as you can guess, sits just beside the ocean.

Oceanography by name, Surfing school by nature.

More surfers, more oceans, more scenery. Never can get sick of them somehow. Even forgot about the 3 mid-terms next week. hmm. So many nice pics of ocean and scenery that we took, that I don't know which to choose to post up here, and it seems to be getting all cramped with pictures already.. haha.

City in the background, glimmering sea and soft white sand.

So we continued exploring San Diego, and visiting the world famous San Diego zoo. On the way though, we saw a whole lot of people wearing pink in Balboa Park, and got to realise that it was for the Breast Cancer thing, and apparently someone was going to walk/ run/ drive into the park, because literally, the streets leading into Balboa Park was lined with pink. Didn't have time to stop and wonder and wait, and this neatly sums up the problem of driving.

Before it gets too dark, we went to the famous Hotel del Coronado. You got to check out its website to believe how pretty it is.

"Rising from water's edge on the quaint island of Coronado in San Diego , the Hotel del Coronado is considered one of America 's most beautiful beach resorts... A classic historic hotel... an enchanting Victorian atmosphere... beachfront location... quintessential Southern California resort experience... for a romantic retreat, the resort's magical architecture and island setting are perfect".

And indeed, it feels like a Victorian Disneyland resort.. ermm.. if you can imagine that. =p

~~~~~

Determined to have Mexican food for dinner in Mexico, we hit the roads again heading south.

Crossing the border into Tijuana, Mexico, is an amazing and disappointing experience.

Amazing because there is a structure resembling a checkpoint, but there us no one to check us and our passports. So we just drove on, and wala! We're in Mexico.

Disappointing because we so wanted to have our passports stamped as proof that we entered Mexico. *sulk*

And they say illegal immigration is a problem. I wonder why.

Anyways, entering Mexico is so fun, because suddenly everything just changes. No more the normal shops you see in US, no more orderly traffic lights and clean streets. But so much more happening and lively, people walking the streets, street-side stores vendors hawking after business. It's amazing, the experience is not unlike entering Malaysia crossing the causeway.

We parked and started walking along Revolution Avenue, the main happening street in Tijuana, amazed by the night life (with many bouncers shouting after us with promises of "sexy girls") and the many pharmacy stores. The city of cheap booze, sex and drugs here we come! Wecame across this street vendor selling tacos, whose business is so good that we had to stop and see, and ended up buying a fish taco for 1USD (they accept both peso and dollars in Tijuana, since it's so close to US borders), and it was really good! Everyone around us was like eating one after the other, and the vendor was preparing the tacos with experienced hands. The funny park was that no one seemed to be paying, but just eating! We were the only one who paid when we get out food! Our guess is that since they eat more than 1 tacos usually, they pay up after they finish their share.

Determined to try other food, we restrained from eating more than 1 taco. And we soon found ourselves in a decent looking cafe and had our dinner of tortillas and quesidallism, with a beer. And it's only 11USD in total!

We also spotted this Tequila fair. Imagine. Tequila fair!!!! where you pay 5 bucks and go in and sample all the Tequilas on exhibition there! But being good responsible drivers, we decided not to go in.

After a few hours of exploring the city, we decided to leave Mexico and back to the US. We top up our gas tank (which we later found out was about half the price compared to US) and joined the jam filled with Californian cars back across the border on this Sunday night.

So like Malaysia, we thought.

~~~~~

We hit back to San Diego to check out the city's night life. Walked the streets and took many pictures of the city. I apologise for the lack of photos from Tijuana onwards cos my camera died and we relied on Edward's camera and the photos have yet to reach me.

Driving back to Irvine was not as exciting as before, because there was nothing to see in the dark. I was falling asleep at the wheel and had to have Edward take over about more than half way through.

We arrived back at our apartment at around.. what.. erm.. 3am? woohoo.

And so I end this long entry, with this meaningful goodbye.

Balboa Beach, October 2005.

Everyone should just throw away their laptops, and see what the world has in store for them.

Easy for me to say, when I have just happily gotten back the laptop. But all these past 3 weekends, I have taken a bus down, just to be by the Pacific Ocean.

It is so majestic, so beautiful and yet looked so different from the 3 different beaches I've been to. The strength of the waves, the people on the beach, the pelicans (or lack of) in the area, the surfers, the volleyballers, the ocean.

It feels so magical, to have just your trouble blown away by the ocean breeze, feeling the soft sand beneath your feet and smelling the ocean scent. I could stay there forever just watching the waves break onto the shore, and not just 1 layer at a time, but layers upon layers at different distances from the shore, all breaking at the same time. Little wonder Southern California is surf city.





I'm not just a wave,
I'm part of the ocean.
enfold me,
and bring me to the center of you.
you, who envelops the earth,
and fills its deeper chasms.






The ocean teaches us so many lessons, as I reflect upon them gazing out into the sunset.

Little drops of water and the little grains of sand. They make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land. (haha, it rhymes!) And you think, little wonder, that the little minutes that goes ticking by, humble though they may be, make the mighty ages of eternity. Eternity.

The ocean is a harmonist, I believe William Wordsworth said that, and how true, as I listened to the ascetic music of the waters. Sometimes it's calm and horizontal and monotonous, and by virtue of its serenity, almost anti-sensuous, but yet sometimes its so intense in its contemplativeness and strength that it verges on ecstasy. Crazy.

Enough said of oceans, let's visit the beaches I've been =)

~~~~~

Laguna Beach

Of all the beaches I've been to, Laguna is my favourite. Because it is a pretty beach with a lot of activities. Not really much surfing, but more like people lying around tanning, basketball, volleyball or just catching a dance concert or visiting the art galleries in the town of Laguna.

It has a wide stretch of soft sand, and very beautiful coastline with beautiful small waves. As I took the bus along Freeway 1, the most scenic highway in US I think, the coastline is just breathtaking, as we go up onto the cliffs and down into the beach. I wouldn't mind being the bus driver for the route.

The town is really quaint and different too, with nice shophouses and stuff. It is town where it is not strange to see people walking around in bikinis (for the ladies) and surf shorts (for the guys), and being so comfortable in them. T-shirt and berms are considered over-dressing here.

If the sand is not for you, there is a nice stretch of turf grass just beyond the sand, where familes have their picnics and couples just lazing around reading their magazines. Puppies chased one another around the scattered palm trees and owners smiled with genuine peace as they gazed upon their pets.

~~~~~

Newport and Balboa Pier

Tucked along a man-made island and a stretch on the coast, this little town is very very quaint. The shops must have been there for like decades, and its charm lies there. But the best part of this two beaches are the piers, where fisherman (and their families) swing their rods and watch the ocean. I love it because it allows me to see the coast from out in the ocean, from another perspective.

And I think Newport has the prettiest sunset. The first pic of this entry is taken at this beach, with the nice waves, good sunset and an old couple walking down it. Lovely.

Balboa Island is an artificial island I think, but it has nice marinas with yachts and stuff, and houses here are so amazing! Must have cost a bomb! Because instead of having yard spaces and gardens like the typical Amerian house, these houses have the ocean in front of them! And their boats anchor to their front space! Gosh, imagine going out for a ride means a cruise around the ocean on your boat!

I'm going again in late Nov/ early Dec, because I heard the X'mas decorations start then, and it's really gorgeous =)

~~~~~

Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach IS Surf City USA. The header pic of me at the top is taken at Huntington beach by Edward, who flew all across the country to check out the OC. It was just nice too, as we came on the last day of the surfing competition, so we managed to check out many surfers in action. Really good stuff!






Edward with his mat and Oakleys, all ready for the beach!
With the pretty Huntington town behind him.







So we laze at the beach, keeping our profile low. The sun was out, but the wind is still cold, so it was kinda weird situation. But we had a lot of fun walking around the shops and looking at the surfers and the volleyballers.

Dudes enjoying the beach.

As luck would have it... erm.. or rather, as money would have it, I got the laptop back. A new hard disk (and faster), full data recovery, and USD250 poorer. I convinced myself that all the photos and data and convenience was worth the money, but mentally summing it up tells me that I would have to save more than what I planned to. Gold mine is low indeed.

So in typical Californian style. I'm back.

Not with a loud bang though, and this I seek forgiveness. Blame it to the 3 mid-terms tests and 2 homework assignments I have due next week, in view of a terribly busy weekend when Edward comes visiting, all the way from U Penn. Hit the beaches while the sun is still nice and warm.

Its getting colder here too, and walking through school early in the mornings for lessons turns my cheeks rosy. How the American girls still go about in their mini-skirts and simple tops without a sweater beats me, but it is no time for me to prove my manliness, nor do I feel the need to. The afternoon sun is still warm and nice, thankfully.

So anyway, this means that the journey continues (I hear some groans already, with exclamations of "oh no, not that boring travelling stuff again?") from where it was left off.

Somewhere in the depths of my memories.

It has been nearly a week of mourning, and I guess it's time to blog on.

A little update on the casualty: I have sent the laptop to the Toshiba center here in Irvine, some ulu place that took me an hour on bus, and it seems that the hard disk is corrupted due to wear and tear over time. It will cost me USD250 to recovery my data onto a new hard disk, and after much consideration (a lot of consideration... that money can probably fly me to New York and back!), I've decided to pay the money. So it's under repair, return date unknown.

And sometimes it's hard to imagine returning to a time when you have no handphones and no computers. But just think about it, we survived it well then, And so maybe it seemed that we could be over-reliant on our new techy gadgets; the mechanical needs to make us feel complete.

In a return to innocence without the above-mentioned, I'm faring ok, till the weekends I guess. There's nothing much to do here around Irvine, and local students all go home over the weekends. Sick of doing homework over the weekdays, and American Football and baseball can only keep me entertained for that amount of time. So here I am at the library, checking out the 2hr bus routes to go exploring this county again.

After this entry of course.

The most striking thing over the last week was discovering what the image of Singaporeans was like in the minds of the Americans, or well, the people here who have never heard of us.

I could fogive them for not knowing where we are geographically, but I must say I was really annoyed (and even pissed) when they thought we can't write essays.

Like what the heck right? I must admit that I do not pronounce every word of English perfectly, but I would have gladly wanted to say that I can probably write a better essay than him, even if he can speaks better than me. And I'm damn sure my vocabulary is better too, not to mention my SAT scores. And besides, they weren't the original inventor/user of the English language, excuse me.

So much for trying to be helpful.

As I launched into a delightful philosphical argument on Aristotle's definition of "happiness" and "reasoning" in his Nicomachean Ethics, I was haughtily glad to see his jaws drop, and very much thankful to PH1101E back in NUS.

1 Point to Singapore! Cheers to the tiny red dot on the map people! Be proud!

Dear Readers,

If you noticed that this entry is actually on time (as in not back-logged), then I thank you for being such a observant follower.

But alas, a blogger with his laptop is like a knight without his lance, and as my laptop sits impaitently in the UCI Computerstore Tech Services waiting to be diagnosed for problems queer to me, I could only withdraw to my castle of books and do battles from here.

And it is through loss that we appreciate what we have. And losing the tool of communication made me feel home-sick even earlier than I had expected, now that I can no longer entertain myself with the cyber-nonsense of web-surfing and MSN to take away the lonely nights.

When this letter burns (ie entry deleted), it is an omen that I'm back.

I await that moment with nothing but hope. Hope that my mobile phone rings soon.

Yours truly,
Kenneth