I'm on the bus to New York right now. In a generally low tech country (as compared to high tech Asian countries), America actually has free wifi on their buses, which makes 4 hr bus rides so much more enjoyable. I'm on my first ever business trip. Not that I'm going on a trip for work, since I'm not even employed yet, but this is a trip purely for business. I leave for New York on Thursday morning and return Friday night, you would think I could stay for the weekend to eat more yummy food and shop and watch musicals and visit museums, but no, I have to come back to camp out at the library over the weekend cos I have so much work to do. I'm arriving slightly pass noon and immediately after leaving my backpack in the room after check-in I need to rush over to where I used to intern to meet my former employers for lunch. Then, I have an appointment with the director of Hu/man Ri/ghts Fir/st. After, I'm going to a lecture event where I'm hoping to network and hand out resumes because the high profile speaker and the contents of his speech will be drawing lots of people working in NGOs and think-tanks concerned with the prevention of crimes against humanity and genocide. Friday morning, I journey into Brooklyn to have breakfast with a career mentor who I met through a Brown program that helps pair senior students with Brown alumni who have volunteered to mentor them on their post-graduation lives. I have the afternoon free which I left open just in case I meet someone at the lecture who is willing to meet me for an informational interview the next day. Even if I have nothing scheduled I probably won't have enough time to hit Soho. What has become of my life and how did I get sucked into this crazy career focused mindset? The good note I'm ending on? The Hu/man Rig/hts Wat/ch phone interview went well yesterday. That's what made my day.
My brother decided to visit his girlfriend in Hongkong for his one week spring break. He bought an air ticket from LA to HK with my parents money without informing them. Typical. Just like how he bought a BMW Z4 with their money without giving them the slightest indication, just like how he makes decisions in life without checking in with my parents. Naturally, he assumed I was the partner in crime. I wasn't supposed to tell my parents because they would be angry and he'd get into trouble, the story was that he stayed in LA for his spring break. Then, his friends started posting messages on his Facebook wall, "Have fun in Hongkong!", "Say Hi to Queenie for me!", "I'm so jealous you get to have good food in Hongkong for a week!". Both my parents are friends with us on Facebook and stalk us rather obsessively. I tried calling my brother and his girlfriend's HK number to get in touch with him to get him to delete those messages. They were having too much fun to bother with me, precious time together so rare in their long-distance relationship. So I assumed my role of partner-in-crime-for-life. I sent his friends private facebook messages explaining the situation and requesting politely that they deleted their wall posts. That worked quite well. So for the entire week, I checked his facebook wall several times a day, even more than I checked my own profile. Censoring messages whenever I had to. On Sunday night, he finally returned to LA and I called him up telling him the trouble he put me through. He chuckled, "oh I called them the first day I was in Hong Kong to tell them because Queenie's dad told me I shouldn't lie to them". What happened to informing your partner-in-crime when the plan changes? I was that person: the Japanese soldier running around in the jungles of Philippines on high alert, fighting WWII for 30 years after the war ended.
The first time I visited New York City, the relatives whom I stayed with bought me a print of a painting of Times Square. It was one of those prints framed in smooth black cardboard, the kind that are sold on makeshift stands in touristy areas, that slowly progresses from $15 to $10 to $5 to 3 for $10 each night as it gets later. This year, as I was decorating my room for senior year, I put it up on the wall. It seemed fitting, something to remind me of my New York dream, to motivate me for my job search. The Times Square painting wasn't the most apt, it's not high on my list of my favorite places in New York. The only time I'm ever in Times Square is when I'm rushing to a box office or a theater, trying my best to avoid the sensory assault and comedy show touts. But I don't have a painting of Astor's Place, Central Park, 23rd and Lexington, 45th and 3rd Ave, so I suppose I had to make do. It's been falling off the wall regardless of the amount of blue tack I use, which by now, has been quite substantial. Sometimes I can see it slowly slide off the wall; sometimes a loud plop jolts me from my sleep; sometimes I return to my room to see it on the floor, with blue blobs dotting an outline of where it used to be on the wall. Each time, I press it back into it's original spot. Occasionally, I add more blue tack for extra measure. It still falls. Each time it falls, the corners of the black cardboard frame gets dented and chipped. It's worn and looks simply depressing . I've run out of blue tack and I don't see how much more energy I can use as I push down hard on each corner into the giant lumps of blue tack on the wall. Perhaps this painting, not quite symbolic of what I love of New York, is symbolic of my New York dream. It's fucking hell not going to work out.
January - France: Grenoble and Annecy
Hanging out with Shanta in Grenoble, France
Then, I went to Lyon, France to meet up with my study abroad group and we spent time in Annecy, awkwardly and then not so awkwardly getting to know each other while we explored the lovely French town.
People in the photos are actually people from my lovely group of 30 students. Here's us hiking in around our hostel
Us walking through the main part of the town, can you spot me?
February - Switzerland - Cartier Snow Polo Cup in St. Moritz, Field trip to Bern, Basel and Geneva
Geneva -- moving in with the homestay family, going somewhere new for class everyday -- WTO, ICRC, United Nations, etc, exploring, having fun, getting close to the best people ever
At the flower clock in Geneva
We had chocolate almost everyday. This is what one of the many chocolate aisles an average Swiss supermarket would have
Hanging out at the United Nations (our third home in Geneva, after our homestay and the main office of the study abroad program)
Obligatory UN shot
Eating at the UN cafeteria
Creating havoc in Swiss train stations
Depleting my homestay family's Nutella supply and showing it off to Margy
Field trip to Bern
Eating German sausages in Bern
Walking the streets of Bern (all synchronized in jeans and black jacket)
Karaoke madness in Bern after escaping from this crazy stalker who chased us down the streets of Bern for a full 40 minutes
Climbing churches and taking scenic tours of Bern
Spent 20 hours on a train ride by myself to watch the most epic polo tournament ever in the world -- played on a frozen lake in St. Moritz, glitterati and royalty gather in their fur coats to watch the world's best polo players compete.
this was how close i stood to the game, i was freezing like crazy from standing in the snow for hours but it was so worth it, the mist of the snow sprayed onto me when the horses galloped by. i could watch every play and call out fouls immediately from being so up close
Oh why are all good polo players so hot, this one is my age too. sigh
March - Field trip to Brussels & Paris, Easter trip to Prague, Weekend whirl in Krakow, classes in Geneva
Field trips to Brussels and Paris! Brussels was for classes at the EU HQ. Paris was for classes at UNESCO and the French Foreign Ministry. Contrary to what photos show, this study abroad program was for academic reasons
Apparently Brussels is the land of fries, so of course we had to binge on some after we were done with our pub crawl
Belgian waffles! HEAVENLY -- i ate at least two a day
Meeting up with Lijun in Paris
and of course the girl had to pick up smoking in Paris
Obligatory Eiffel tower shots
Musee D'Orsay
Finding our kind of fun in Paris
Chilling with Lijun and Michelle by the Siene -- drinking wine and eating crepes
View from our spot on the edge of the river
Walking through millions of skulls and bones in the Catacombes
Quick weekend trip to Poland with Mary because the both of us really wanted to go to Auschwitz. Anybody who knows me now would know of my unhealthy preoccupation with all things genocide and crimes against humanity. Krakow was a surprisingly lovely city, Mary and I enjoyed it more than we thought we would have. Auschwitz was so somber and so very sad and terrible but preserved and presented in such a dignified way; it was important that I visited it and I'm glad I did.
Auschwitz entrance. The words on the gate says: work will set you free
Buildings inside Auschwitz
The wall that thousands were lined up against and shot
Each bed fit about a dozen people; nearly a thousand people were crammed into this room
Mary and I exploring Krakow
His friend offered to take a photo, then they proceeded to jump behind us during the photo
Giant cotton candy and then accosting a giant beer
Sarah and Erin and I lost our marbles in Prague, or maybe we just never had them to begin with
I found a new friend in Prague
I also ran into friends from Brown randomly at a club in Prague. They were there for Spring break, Erin and Sarah thought I was hallucinating after taking 3 shots of Absinthe and kept on apologizing and dragging me away from them, convinced that I just randomly imagined them to be my friends. It was hilarious for them. Evidence that they really were there:
(yeah it was in a club, it was dark, but they were really there)
Prague was so beautiful
Okay I guess by now I need to provide evidence that we were actually in class, so here goes
Lecture in the International Labor Organisation
Close up so you can see it's really us
Sections with Professor Lambert
April - France: Aix-en-Provence, Marseilles and Arles, Geneva, Croatia: Zagreb and Pula
Shanta comes visit me in Geneva
We go pedal boating. Ana comes visit me and we go pedal boating as well. We feed the schwannies
we had to pedal really quickly to get this photo
i love the back of this random sign in Geneva
I insanely tried to compete with this boat, we nearly capsized, Shanta was not amused
an anchor bigger than Ana!
we had to climb up a huge fort to get a view of the harbor
took a gazillion jumping photos, or rather, tried a gazillion times to take jumping photos
of course they have Louis Vuitton trash cans in France, what are you talking about
this was a really lovely flower garden in the middle of nowhere in Aix-en-Provence
our couch surfing hosts -- chloe and simon who were a really cool vegan, hippie couple -- didn't pick up our calls for an hour and we were sulking. we ended up making our way to their place with just the vague street name, it was crazy
we hung around this fountain while trying to contact them
we ate our way through the south of france
Roman ruins in Arles
A bull fight was supposed to take place in there while we were there but they canceled it cos of the rain -_-
This is me (check out the awful shoe tan), wrapping myself in my blanket to hide from the smell of the bed, which belonged to our second couch surfing host in Arles. He was called Dominique and was 18 and high on mushrooms the ENTIRE time we were there. He and his friends were just sprawled all over the place, high from whatever they injected and speaking in a mix of French and English, there was music blasting and they drummed on this small African drum to the music and there was this cat strolling around and the whole place was lit up by pink light. We sat there feeling like it was out of a movie.
More photos from within the UN -- which I spent almost every day at when I wasn't traveling all over the place. Even though the photos suggested otherwise, I worked hard! I was interviewing experts, researching at my desk in the library, getting more books from the UN library
Last night in Geneva -- hanging out with our favorite guy at the kebab store, who bought us roses and brought us out for drinks cos we were his first frequent customers
and it's off to Croatia we go cos our Schengen visa hit the 90 day limit
view from hotel balcony
Roman ruins
Staging epic fights in Roman ruins
Since we were done with classes and almost done with our research paper, all 30 of us pooled money together to hire a boat and go island hopping in Croatia -- lots of drunken merry making and awesomeness, plus the people manning the boat for us fished and cooked for us too
us getting off our boats and exploring the islands
May: last days in Croatia, couple days in Grenoble, back to Brown, a week in LA, back to Brown for commencement, then it's off to NYC for my internship!
Near our resort in Croatia, there were 6 huge trampolines put together to form one massive one, we had lots of fun
Croatia was just way too beautiful I feel the photos will never do it any justice
Last official dinner with the entire group
June - July: Best internship ever in Manhattan
As much of a cliche as it can be, I am so in love with New York City (but no, I don't have that tshirt). It could be because my internship was the most amazing experience ever. It matched my research and professional interests perfectly, I met some of the most respected people in the field, I had the best manager and supervisor ever. They gave me real work to do, not the usual intern-y work. We sent out letters to all 192 missions to the UN convincing them to speak up for Res/pons/ibility to Pr/ote/ct at the General Assembly Debate, who drafted the letter? Me. I also researched and wrote for the website, drafted op-eds, compiled listservs that we went out every week, took notes at Security Council and General Assembly debates, etc. I love it so much my heart raced sometimes, when I was writing and reading stuff for work. On Sunday afternoons, I was eager for the weekend to end so I could start work on Monday.
It could also be because I really lived life in New York. I danced almost everyday in New York. I went to a dance studio for ballroom and latin classes everyday after work and for many hours in the weekend too. I collected Michelin star restaurant experiences -- Jean Georges is my current favorite, discovered the most delightful speakeasy bars and the best food places, went to the Metropolitan Museum and watched Broadway musicals almost every weekend (I love student rush!). I went to Shakespeare in the Park and Balachine ballets by the New York City and performances by the American Ballet Theatre. I picnic-ed in Central Park. I brunched almost every weekend: eggs benedict and mimosas.
Obligatory Times Square shot -- living in the same building with Deeksha was probably the best decision ever made
The only time I didnt have a salmon egg's benedict, cos they offered lobster egg's benedict!
I went to watch the Veuve Cliquot Polo Match on Governor's Island -- featuring PRINCE HARRY and NACHO FIGUERAS!
Nacho! I couldn't decide who I was swooning over more -- Nacho or Harry
Harry anticipating the play (I think he got the ball after this)
Helping out to press the tufts of grass back into the field during breaks between chukkas
whoaa so much hotness in one hug
Harry trying to get us to cheer for Nacho, who won best player (of course he did). Check our Mr. Bodyguard being in the way of all my photos
Spraying champagne at Harry and us
Oh look it's Marc Jacobs, wanting in on some of the royal action. So was Madonna (and her kids), Kate Hudson, and a bunch more too
Before a NYC Ballet performance, this was George Balanchine's Mid Summer Night Dream
Met rooftop
I didn't like that they transported an entire temple from Egypt to the Met. Apparently the US government gave the Egyptian government US$15 million to preserve their cultural artifacts and architecture and as a "gesture" the Egyptian government allowed the US to pick one of its four fineness temples to be shipped to the US. seriously wtf?!
Degas' ballet class. I'm really glad I got to see this cos when I was in Paris' Musee D'Orsay the Degas selection was closed -_- loved the Degas collection at the Met! :)
Inside the Guggenheim. Rachel (a.k.a Miss Christie's) brought me on an awesome private guided tour
Alana and Carolyn came to visit. Brought them to Jojo's, which is part of the Jean-Georges chain but only has 1 Michelin Star
Then when Erin came to visit me, I brought her to Jean-Georges main restaurant cos she bought me a giraffe from Kenya. (okay didn't really work that way)
Giraffe (named Harold) that Erin bought from me from Kenya. Chilling with drinks in PDT, a speakeasy bar you enter through an old phonebooth in a corner of a hotdog place
Erin! :)
I wanted EVERYTHING on the menu
Drinks with colleagues
Abi!
Nishana and Jade at a awesome German beer place
WFM-IGP/CICC Summer 2009 Interns (well, some of us)
Okay, here's some evidence that I did work
Trusteeship Council Chambers at the UN. informal interactive panel before the General Assembly debate on the Responsibility to Protect. Panelists include, Gareth Evans (my hero!), Noam Chomsky (astounding intellegence!) and Ngugi wa Thiong'o (amazing Kenyan writer)
I literally transcribed the Responsibility to Protect debates in the General Assembly for an entire week
View from the UN staff restaurant (Lunch with Marion)
August: Back in Singapore for 2nd internship + one week in Taiwan
No photos. Twas a very miserable time.
September - November: last Fall semester at Brown
I've been playing alot of polo -- twice a week actually, and there was a tournament earlier this year
Brown Polo Team represent!
Me on Daybreak (best but bitchiest horse ever)
Before a trail ride
Next to the giant lamb our coach was roasting for us. We had an Argentina style cook out after the polo tournament to hang out with the other teams
The lamb
Our coach cutting up the lamb for us, it was SO GOOD
Halloween -- two parties at my place! The first one was a get together for Singaporean students at Brown, the other was a potluck dinner with my friends
My friends and I made our own costumes -- we were sushi!
Taylor, being the awesome person she is, took the commuter rail down from Boston to drive me to the Renaissance Faire!
Loved the adorable kids in Renaissance garb
Poor lil dragon running away from the fox. I don't blame him, this was what the fox looked like from the front
My first jousting event! :) was a dream come true
Another reason why Taylor is wonderful
YAY SLYTHERIN! i saw Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) 5 mins after taking this photo. That makes it the 3rd Harry Potter star (in addition to Dan Rad and Emma Watson) that I've met in person! ♥ to taylor barnes for getting me tickets to the opening night of harry potter: the exhibition.
Thanksgiving: NYC with Lisa
Lisa flew in from Singapore to come hang out with me the week of Thanksgiving!
Showed off my school a little bit too excitedly to Lisa
Then we zoomed off to NYC on the Chinatown bus the next day!
First stop: Joe's Shanghai's xiaolongbaos! (I went there so much with Rachel that the people there recognized us and gave us free umbrellas when it rained) Though the Chinatown branch isnt as nice as the midtown one
Then we checked into our hotel. Not gonna lie I was particularly pleased with my hotel pick
Super comfy bed
Too comfy, in fact, this was me in the mornings after Lisa managed to wake me up and drag me into the bathroom for my shower
We kinda went musical crazy. Lisa and I watched West Side Story together. And then we watched Hamlet (play, not musical) featuring JUDE LAW! I managed to speak with him after the play at stage doors. Tres yummy. Too bad all my photos didn't do him any justice cos it was awkward taking a photo of a person standing a couple inches in front of you. Then I forced Lisa to watch Next to Normal (my fave musical) and I scooted off to watch Wicked on my own (my 2nd fave)
Wicked set!
Supper at Junior's after Hamlet. To get an idea of how enormous the servings were, that is a ENTIRE head of broccoli next to our fried chicken
Brought her to my faveee Japanese restaurant at St Marks
We over ordered like crazy but can you blame us when the menu looks like that?
Then I brought her to my fave speakeasies. PDT and Angel's Share
Had to be touristy for Lisa since she flew all the way here to hang out with me. First time up the Empire State building even though I only lived blocks away from it over the summer
Nectar Cafe for the best egg's Benedict evarrr. I dream of it all the time after having it the first time over the summer
Led her through a crazy walk (which was way too long considering we were both in heels) through the park
And so I made it up to her by getting out of the correct exit and surprising her with the Plaza which she had really wanted to go to
Admired statues at the Met again
Went to this nomtastic paella and tapas place in Chelsea. We ate so much we had to go back to our hotel room to nap
December - just finals (my birthday during finals), flying home and bumming with friends and family
Hanging out with Shanta in Grenoble, France
Then, I went to Lyon, France to meet up with my study abroad group and we spent time in Annecy, awkwardly and then not so awkwardly getting to know each other while we explored the lovely French town.
People in the photos are actually people from my lovely group of 30 students. Here's us hiking in around our hostel
Us walking through the main part of the town, can you spot me?
February - Switzerland - Cartier Snow Polo Cup in St. Moritz, Field trip to Bern, Basel and Geneva
Geneva -- moving in with the homestay family, going somewhere new for class everyday -- WTO, ICRC, United Nations, etc, exploring, having fun, getting close to the best people ever
At the flower clock in Geneva
We had chocolate almost everyday. This is what one of the many chocolate aisles an average Swiss supermarket would have
Hanging out at the United Nations (our third home in Geneva, after our homestay and the main office of the study abroad program)
Obligatory UN shot
Eating at the UN cafeteria
Creating havoc in Swiss train stations
Depleting my homestay family's Nutella supply and showing it off to Margy
Field trip to Bern
Eating German sausages in Bern
Walking the streets of Bern (all synchronized in jeans and black jacket)
Karaoke madness in Bern after escaping from this crazy stalker who chased us down the streets of Bern for a full 40 minutes
Climbing churches and taking scenic tours of Bern
Spent 20 hours on a train ride by myself to watch the most epic polo tournament ever in the world -- played on a frozen lake in St. Moritz, glitterati and royalty gather in their fur coats to watch the world's best polo players compete.
this was how close i stood to the game, i was freezing like crazy from standing in the snow for hours but it was so worth it, the mist of the snow sprayed onto me when the horses galloped by. i could watch every play and call out fouls immediately from being so up close
Oh why are all good polo players so hot, this one is my age too. sigh
March - Field trip to Brussels & Paris, Easter trip to Prague, Weekend whirl in Krakow, classes in Geneva
Field trips to Brussels and Paris! Brussels was for classes at the EU HQ. Paris was for classes at UNESCO and the French Foreign Ministry. Contrary to what photos show, this study abroad program was for academic reasons
Apparently Brussels is the land of fries, so of course we had to binge on some after we were done with our pub crawl
Belgian waffles! HEAVENLY -- i ate at least two a day
Meeting up with Lijun in Paris
and of course the girl had to pick up smoking in Paris
Obligatory Eiffel tower shots
Musee D'Orsay
Finding our kind of fun in Paris
Chilling with Lijun and Michelle by the Siene -- drinking wine and eating crepes
View from our spot on the edge of the river
Walking through millions of skulls and bones in the Catacombes
Quick weekend trip to Poland with Mary because the both of us really wanted to go to Auschwitz. Anybody who knows me now would know of my unhealthy preoccupation with all things genocide and crimes against humanity. Krakow was a surprisingly lovely city, Mary and I enjoyed it more than we thought we would have. Auschwitz was so somber and so very sad and terrible but preserved and presented in such a dignified way; it was important that I visited it and I'm glad I did.
Auschwitz entrance. The words on the gate says: work will set you free
Buildings inside Auschwitz
The wall that thousands were lined up against and shot
Each bed fit about a dozen people; nearly a thousand people were crammed into this room
Mary and I exploring Krakow
His friend offered to take a photo, then they proceeded to jump behind us during the photo
Giant cotton candy and then accosting a giant beer
Sarah and Erin and I lost our marbles in Prague, or maybe we just never had them to begin with
I found a new friend in Prague
I also ran into friends from Brown randomly at a club in Prague. They were there for Spring break, Erin and Sarah thought I was hallucinating after taking 3 shots of Absinthe and kept on apologizing and dragging me away from them, convinced that I just randomly imagined them to be my friends. It was hilarious for them. Evidence that they really were there:
(yeah it was in a club, it was dark, but they were really there)
Prague was so beautiful
Okay I guess by now I need to provide evidence that we were actually in class, so here goes
Lecture in the International Labor Organisation
Close up so you can see it's really us
Sections with Professor Lambert
April - France: Aix-en-Provence, Marseilles and Arles, Geneva, Croatia: Zagreb and Pula
Shanta comes visit me in Geneva
We go pedal boating. Ana comes visit me and we go pedal boating as well. We feed the schwannies
we had to pedal really quickly to get this photo
i love the back of this random sign in Geneva
I insanely tried to compete with this boat, we nearly capsized, Shanta was not amused
Ana and I couch-surfed in the South of France for a week
We spent a day by the harbor of Marseilles
an anchor bigger than Ana!
we had to climb up a huge fort to get a view of the harbor
took a gazillion jumping photos, or rather, tried a gazillion times to take jumping photos
of course they have Louis Vuitton trash cans in France, what are you talking about
this was a really lovely flower garden in the middle of nowhere in Aix-en-Provence
our couch surfing hosts -- chloe and simon who were a really cool vegan, hippie couple -- didn't pick up our calls for an hour and we were sulking. we ended up making our way to their place with just the vague street name, it was crazy
we hung around this fountain while trying to contact them
we ate our way through the south of france
Roman ruins in Arles
A bull fight was supposed to take place in there while we were there but they canceled it cos of the rain -_-
This is me (check out the awful shoe tan), wrapping myself in my blanket to hide from the smell of the bed, which belonged to our second couch surfing host in Arles. He was called Dominique and was 18 and high on mushrooms the ENTIRE time we were there. He and his friends were just sprawled all over the place, high from whatever they injected and speaking in a mix of French and English, there was music blasting and they drummed on this small African drum to the music and there was this cat strolling around and the whole place was lit up by pink light. We sat there feeling like it was out of a movie.
More photos from within the UN -- which I spent almost every day at when I wasn't traveling all over the place. Even though the photos suggested otherwise, I worked hard! I was interviewing experts, researching at my desk in the library, getting more books from the UN library
Last night in Geneva -- hanging out with our favorite guy at the kebab store, who bought us roses and brought us out for drinks cos we were his first frequent customers
and it's off to Croatia we go cos our Schengen visa hit the 90 day limit
view from hotel balcony
Roman ruins
Staging epic fights in Roman ruins
Since we were done with classes and almost done with our research paper, all 30 of us pooled money together to hire a boat and go island hopping in Croatia -- lots of drunken merry making and awesomeness, plus the people manning the boat for us fished and cooked for us too
us getting off our boats and exploring the islands
May: last days in Croatia, couple days in Grenoble, back to Brown, a week in LA, back to Brown for commencement, then it's off to NYC for my internship!
Near our resort in Croatia, there were 6 huge trampolines put together to form one massive one, we had lots of fun
Croatia was just way too beautiful I feel the photos will never do it any justice
Last official dinner with the entire group
June - July: Best internship ever in Manhattan
As much of a cliche as it can be, I am so in love with New York City (but no, I don't have that tshirt). It could be because my internship was the most amazing experience ever. It matched my research and professional interests perfectly, I met some of the most respected people in the field, I had the best manager and supervisor ever. They gave me real work to do, not the usual intern-y work. We sent out letters to all 192 missions to the UN convincing them to speak up for Res/pons/ibility to Pr/ote/ct at the General Assembly Debate, who drafted the letter? Me. I also researched and wrote for the website, drafted op-eds, compiled listservs that we went out every week, took notes at Security Council and General Assembly debates, etc. I love it so much my heart raced sometimes, when I was writing and reading stuff for work. On Sunday afternoons, I was eager for the weekend to end so I could start work on Monday.
It could also be because I really lived life in New York. I danced almost everyday in New York. I went to a dance studio for ballroom and latin classes everyday after work and for many hours in the weekend too. I collected Michelin star restaurant experiences -- Jean Georges is my current favorite, discovered the most delightful speakeasy bars and the best food places, went to the Metropolitan Museum and watched Broadway musicals almost every weekend (I love student rush!). I went to Shakespeare in the Park and Balachine ballets by the New York City and performances by the American Ballet Theatre. I picnic-ed in Central Park. I brunched almost every weekend: eggs benedict and mimosas.
Obligatory Times Square shot -- living in the same building with Deeksha was probably the best decision ever made
The only time I didnt have a salmon egg's benedict, cos they offered lobster egg's benedict!
I went to watch the Veuve Cliquot Polo Match on Governor's Island -- featuring PRINCE HARRY and NACHO FIGUERAS!
Nacho! I couldn't decide who I was swooning over more -- Nacho or Harry
Harry anticipating the play (I think he got the ball after this)
Helping out to press the tufts of grass back into the field during breaks between chukkas
whoaa so much hotness in one hug
Harry trying to get us to cheer for Nacho, who won best player (of course he did). Check our Mr. Bodyguard being in the way of all my photos
Spraying champagne at Harry and us
Oh look it's Marc Jacobs, wanting in on some of the royal action. So was Madonna (and her kids), Kate Hudson, and a bunch more too
Before a NYC Ballet performance, this was George Balanchine's Mid Summer Night Dream
Met rooftop
I didn't like that they transported an entire temple from Egypt to the Met. Apparently the US government gave the Egyptian government US$15 million to preserve their cultural artifacts and architecture and as a "gesture" the Egyptian government allowed the US to pick one of its four fineness temples to be shipped to the US. seriously wtf?!
Degas' ballet class. I'm really glad I got to see this cos when I was in Paris' Musee D'Orsay the Degas selection was closed -_- loved the Degas collection at the Met! :)
Inside the Guggenheim. Rachel (a.k.a Miss Christie's) brought me on an awesome private guided tour
Alana and Carolyn came to visit. Brought them to Jojo's, which is part of the Jean-Georges chain but only has 1 Michelin Star
Then when Erin came to visit me, I brought her to Jean-Georges main restaurant cos she bought me a giraffe from Kenya. (okay didn't really work that way)
Giraffe (named Harold) that Erin bought from me from Kenya. Chilling with drinks in PDT, a speakeasy bar you enter through an old phonebooth in a corner of a hotdog place
Erin! :)
I wanted EVERYTHING on the menu
Drinks with colleagues
Abi!
Nishana and Jade at a awesome German beer place
WFM-IGP/CICC Summer 2009 Interns (well, some of us)
Okay, here's some evidence that I did work
Trusteeship Council Chambers at the UN. informal interactive panel before the General Assembly debate on the Responsibility to Protect. Panelists include, Gareth Evans (my hero!), Noam Chomsky (astounding intellegence!) and Ngugi wa Thiong'o (amazing Kenyan writer)
I literally transcribed the Responsibility to Protect debates in the General Assembly for an entire week
View from the UN staff restaurant (Lunch with Marion)
August: Back in Singapore for 2nd internship + one week in Taiwan
No photos. Twas a very miserable time.
September - November: last Fall semester at Brown
I've been playing alot of polo -- twice a week actually, and there was a tournament earlier this year
Brown Polo Team represent!
Me on Daybreak (best but bitchiest horse ever)
Before a trail ride
Next to the giant lamb our coach was roasting for us. We had an Argentina style cook out after the polo tournament to hang out with the other teams
The lamb
Our coach cutting up the lamb for us, it was SO GOOD
Halloween -- two parties at my place! The first one was a get together for Singaporean students at Brown, the other was a potluck dinner with my friends
My friends and I made our own costumes -- we were sushi!
Taylor, being the awesome person she is, took the commuter rail down from Boston to drive me to the Renaissance Faire!
Loved the adorable kids in Renaissance garb
Poor lil dragon running away from the fox. I don't blame him, this was what the fox looked like from the front
My first jousting event! :) was a dream come true
Another reason why Taylor is wonderful
YAY SLYTHERIN! i saw Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) 5 mins after taking this photo. That makes it the 3rd Harry Potter star (in addition to Dan Rad and Emma Watson) that I've met in person! ♥ to taylor barnes for getting me tickets to the opening night of harry potter: the exhibition.
Thanksgiving: NYC with Lisa
Lisa flew in from Singapore to come hang out with me the week of Thanksgiving!
Showed off my school a little bit too excitedly to Lisa
Then we zoomed off to NYC on the Chinatown bus the next day!
First stop: Joe's Shanghai's xiaolongbaos! (I went there so much with Rachel that the people there recognized us and gave us free umbrellas when it rained) Though the Chinatown branch isnt as nice as the midtown one
Then we checked into our hotel. Not gonna lie I was particularly pleased with my hotel pick
Super comfy bed
Too comfy, in fact, this was me in the mornings after Lisa managed to wake me up and drag me into the bathroom for my shower
We kinda went musical crazy. Lisa and I watched West Side Story together. And then we watched Hamlet (play, not musical) featuring JUDE LAW! I managed to speak with him after the play at stage doors. Tres yummy. Too bad all my photos didn't do him any justice cos it was awkward taking a photo of a person standing a couple inches in front of you. Then I forced Lisa to watch Next to Normal (my fave musical) and I scooted off to watch Wicked on my own (my 2nd fave)
Wicked set!
Supper at Junior's after Hamlet. To get an idea of how enormous the servings were, that is a ENTIRE head of broccoli next to our fried chicken
Brought her to my faveee Japanese restaurant at St Marks
We over ordered like crazy but can you blame us when the menu looks like that?
Then I brought her to my fave speakeasies. PDT and Angel's Share
Had to be touristy for Lisa since she flew all the way here to hang out with me. First time up the Empire State building even though I only lived blocks away from it over the summer
Nectar Cafe for the best egg's Benedict evarrr. I dream of it all the time after having it the first time over the summer
Led her through a crazy walk (which was way too long considering we were both in heels) through the park
And so I made it up to her by getting out of the correct exit and surprising her with the Plaza which she had really wanted to go to
Admired statues at the Met again
Went to this nomtastic paella and tapas place in Chelsea. We ate so much we had to go back to our hotel room to nap
December - just finals (my birthday during finals), flying home and bumming with friends and family
Not to brag or anything (since this only excites people overly preoccupied with crimes against humanity and war crimes, i.e. me), but I was at this Security Council Session yesterday. And immediately after I was at a conference by Luis Moreno Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (here from The Hague!), who filed an indictment against President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan, and he did a shout-out to the organization I'm working for and praised their work (which had us interns scrambling to reconstruct the exact quote for archives and listserv purposes). And LMO is apparently coming over to the office later, after he's done briefing the ambassadors and Security Council in the UN!
Okay I just realized alot of people don't know where I am or what I'm doing for the summer, so here it is. I got back from Europe early May and was bumming around Brown and went to LA for a week. I started my summer internship in NYC last week, doing exactly what I want to do in life - Responsibility to Protect advocacy. I love the internship, my supervisor is wonderful and everybody else is nice, and my obsessive preoccupation with crimes against humanity is seen as a good thing here. I'm also taking ballroom classes every weekday (after work) and Sunday and it's been fantastic. I'll be interning here for 9 weeks, then I'm flying on the night of my last day of work (a Friday) and arriving in Singapore just in time to start my second internship the very next day (on Monday) at the Mi/nis/try of F/or/eig/n A/ff/air/s/. I am evidently way too cowardly to blog about it considering I had to censor that alot. I'll be working there for a month. Hopefully squeeze a short trip back to Taiwan before I return to Brown for my fall semester which starts early September.
Today, I was on the way to the tram stop, when a Swiss man walked by me with his dog. And he felt the need to swerve over into my path and shout "Sayonara" and "Moshi Moshi" at me. Yes, in that order. He was either being extremely poetic or being a racist asshole. This has happened so much in Europe, and the most when I was in Paris, I've lost count of such encounters. People love playing the which Asian are you? game over here. They try "Konichiwa" and "Ni Hao" and keep on trying when you don't respond. I usually glare, ignore, or say Salut/Bonjour. For how Switzerland and France are supposed to be civilized societies. They are probably the most racist countries that I have been in. I'm not saying that I don't get random Konichiwas thrown at me in the US, I do, but it's not as prevalent as in Europe. It's not even like Asians are that uncommon here, but they remain so ignorant and backwards in their reaction to Asian sightings. What exactly are they trying to prove, astound me with their amazing linguistic capabilities? Because what if I was to respond in Chinese, would they able to hold a conversation with me in Chinese? I speak French/English better than they speak Chinese/Japanese anyway. And besides, who says goodbye and then hello? Evidently that person had no idea what the hell "Sayonara" or "Moshi Moshi" even means, he just felt the need to toss some Asian words at an Asian person, whatever the hell that achieves. There somehow seemed a need to vocalize the fact that they recognized, from my skin color and features, that I was Asian, and since to them, there is only one type of Asian and one type of Asian language, hell yeah, by logical extension, they're going to shout random words! And this only extends to Asians, and East Asians in particular, cos we're oh so recognizable and look all the same (or there's only one type of them). Nobody goes up to a Caucasian and tries to shout random salutations at them in French/German/English/Russian/Dutch/Swed
I'm in Grenoble right now, and it's quite a lovely French city, with beautiful people and gorgeous old architecture. Getting around using my disastrous French has not been that bad, actually, but also because I've been relying on good ol' Shanta and her more fluent French.
We've been traversing about town since we got here yesterday. Dinner at a lovely French/American family's place and then pubbing and clubbing with them afterwards. Today we went to Ikea (to get stuff for Shanta's apartment) and we went grocery shopping, and Shanta is whipping up dinner for us as I blog.
I've heard from my homestay family, though I wish I heard from them 3 days earlier, when I was deciding on the gifts to bring to them. My homestay family consists of a mother and her 22 year old son, I'm not sure how that would work out but we'll see. The gifts I bought from them are slightly not that appropriate: a Vanda Miss Joaquim seedling (that will bloom!) and souveniry pens that say Singapore (they've both travelled to Singapore last year and must have seen better souvenirs, oh well)
The headache and fatigue is getting in the way, I'll blog more when I can.
We've been traversing about town since we got here yesterday. Dinner at a lovely French/American family's place and then pubbing and clubbing with them afterwards. Today we went to Ikea (to get stuff for Shanta's apartment) and we went grocery shopping, and Shanta is whipping up dinner for us as I blog.
I've heard from my homestay family, though I wish I heard from them 3 days earlier, when I was deciding on the gifts to bring to them. My homestay family consists of a mother and her 22 year old son, I'm not sure how that would work out but we'll see. The gifts I bought from them are slightly not that appropriate: a Vanda Miss Joaquim seedling (that will bloom!) and souveniry pens that say Singapore (they've both travelled to Singapore last year and must have seen better souvenirs, oh well)
The headache and fatigue is getting in the way, I'll blog more when I can.
I haven't blogged in a while cos I've been too busy with school, and then with bumming. But just in case people wonder where I am now, I'm back in Singapore. But I've been relatively quiet about my return because I enjoy waking up just in time for lunch and spending the rest of the day reading in bed and eating chocolates (See's Candies). The air conditioning and my new silk sheets are quite comfortable. I tried to venture out once, to return to Orchard Road and take a stab at that good ol shopping addiction, but it did not work. The crowds got to me and I ended up seeking refuge in Citigold's lounge in Paragon, reading one of my Twilight books till it was time to go home for dinner. The only times I've been out was to eat and grocery shop with my family, hangout at Lisa's house (two streets down) and to take the oath at the ICA building (so that I'm officially a Singaporean citizen). It's nice being an anti-social bookworm sometimes.
So I've become quite a Twilight fangirl. I watched the movie in Providence and then thrice again illegally online. And upon my return I borrowed all 4 volumes from Lisa and finished all 4 books, each tome upwards of 500 pages (the new trend in supernatural children book I gather), in 2 days. And then I went online to Stephenie Meyers' website and read all the other chapters that didn't make the final cut for the books. I'm not quite ashamed of my taste in books, Harry Potter and the Twilight series are fun to read, so there.
The rest of the books I've been reading are not particularly literary either, but I enjoy fluff once in a while. And I have the occasional good book (Jack Kerouac, Dave Eggers, etc) among my rubbishy novels and travel books. The travel books are relevant pre-trip research, at least. It's all very pre-emptive I think, I'm quite aware that for the next semester, I'll be reading tons of heavy and depressing text (my research project is on genocide and crimes against humanity), so I'm kinda filling up on light reading while I can.
I know I'm terrible at telling people where I am. People always think I still have lots of time in Singapore when I'm back in Providence, and people get surprised that I'm in Singapore because they think I'm still in Providence. The rest of the time till May is going to be quite hectic and confusing, so here's my schedule:
now to Jan 15: Singapore
Jan 15 to Jan 21: Lyon and Grenoble, France
Jan 21 to Jan 23: Lyon and Annecy, France
Jan 24 to Feb 10: Geneva, Switzerland
Feb 11 to Feb 13: Bern, Switzerland
Feb 14 to Feb 21: Geneva, Switzerland
Feb 22 to Mar 1 : Brussels, Belgium and Paris, France
Mar 2 to Apr 18: Geneva, Switzerland
Apr 19 to May 4: Pula and Zagreb, Croatia
May 5 to end of May: Providence, RI
Summer of 2009 is still unknown, but probably (and hopefully) NYC or Washington DC
I know Taiwan is conspicuously missing from my schedule. My mom decided I've gone back too frequently this year and decided to only book herself and my brother on next week's flight. I am still sulking.
So I've become quite a Twilight fangirl. I watched the movie in Providence and then thrice again illegally online. And upon my return I borrowed all 4 volumes from Lisa and finished all 4 books, each tome upwards of 500 pages (the new trend in supernatural children book I gather), in 2 days. And then I went online to Stephenie Meyers' website and read all the other chapters that didn't make the final cut for the books. I'm not quite ashamed of my taste in books, Harry Potter and the Twilight series are fun to read, so there.
The rest of the books I've been reading are not particularly literary either, but I enjoy fluff once in a while. And I have the occasional good book (Jack Kerouac, Dave Eggers, etc) among my rubbishy novels and travel books. The travel books are relevant pre-trip research, at least. It's all very pre-emptive I think, I'm quite aware that for the next semester, I'll be reading tons of heavy and depressing text (my research project is on genocide and crimes against humanity), so I'm kinda filling up on light reading while I can.
I know I'm terrible at telling people where I am. People always think I still have lots of time in Singapore when I'm back in Providence, and people get surprised that I'm in Singapore because they think I'm still in Providence. The rest of the time till May is going to be quite hectic and confusing, so here's my schedule:
now to Jan 15: Singapore
Jan 15 to Jan 21: Lyon and Grenoble, France
Jan 21 to Jan 23: Lyon and Annecy, France
Jan 24 to Feb 10: Geneva, Switzerland
Feb 11 to Feb 13: Bern, Switzerland
Feb 14 to Feb 21: Geneva, Switzerland
Feb 22 to Mar 1 : Brussels, Belgium and Paris, France
Mar 2 to Apr 18: Geneva, Switzerland
Apr 19 to May 4: Pula and Zagreb, Croatia
May 5 to end of May: Providence, RI
Summer of 2009 is still unknown, but probably (and hopefully) NYC or Washington DC
I know Taiwan is conspicuously missing from my schedule. My mom decided I've gone back too frequently this year and decided to only book herself and my brother on next week's flight. I am still sulking.
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