Super Hectic Week!

So, I haven't had a chance to blog or do anything much computer or internet related in the past week. So many things have been happening, there just wasn't much time for anything!

From preparing a budget for the Medical Students' Association for three long consecutive nights to a full day of work after 4.5 hours of sleep to a day out on a catamaran and a night out at dinner and concluding with another full day of work after about 5.5 hours of sleep. It's been one mad busy week but I had a great time for the most part!

I got to see this old piece of equipment, unused in the corner of one of the Guild rooms.

The catamaran cruise was on Friday and it turned out to be great despite being seasick for the first time in my life. I've been on boats and catamarans before...without any problems so I really don't know what it was about this one. But it was a great day with friends and classmates. Tiami Cruises is quite a cool choice so if any of you decide to give Barbados a visit go on a day-long Tiami cruise!

I also celebrated Tammy's birthday dinner Friday night and it was great. Turns out, I'm great at playing pool! But maybe it was just a lucky night for me? I made some amazing shots I wish were caught on camera. Either way, I had a great night and I couldn't help practicing the art of photography.

I may only have a Sony Cybershot DSC T200 but it does the job well enough.

Who said summer was for relaxing? =)

Summer

That's how I usually spend my summer...minus the beach.

This summer will be different. Sure, I want to watch anime. I plan to. And I'll read manga too if I get the chance. And, of course, I'll indulge myself in some Pokemon.

I also plan to read some books. I haven't yet completed the Left Behind series that I started over a year ago. I haven't even read Wuthering Heights yet. I gave Wuthering Heights a start so now I'm at chapter 3. I've got a long way more to go, though. I've set it as the book I'll read at night when I'm ready for bed. Considering the language, I understand it best when I'm relaxed at the end of the day. My treat before I sleep.

But I intend to get into doing more useful things in life. I've mentioned before that I'm starting to learn Mandarin. I haven't learnt as much as I would've liked to over the semester but I have learnt just a little bit. As I may have the opportunity to go to Shanghai for the expo (not confirmed yet), I'll do my best to study the language more rigorously as I have the time.

I'm not sure of what other productive stuff I'll end up doing but it'll be interesting, I'm sure.

As yesterday was Mother's day, I figured I'd show off a little of what I did for my Mum. I made her a card and some origami flowers. I think this one big flower turned out quite lovely. My present was well loved. ^_^.

Hello Summer!

It's so nice to meet up with you this year! This will be our first meeting of two. The second being at the end of August. =)

My exam has finally flown by me and I can sit back, relax and enjoy the 6 weeks of vacation I have ahead of me! Turns out, my Neuroscience II course wasn't so bad. I wasn't able to study everything at all! What I didn't study had few questions asked about them so I was so happy! All in all, it turned out so much better than I thought. I hope my grade will reflect this feeling.

It's been about a week since I made an entry, though, it's not like it's the longest my blog has missed my presence. During the past week, I've been trying to set myself on studying and studying alone. But it was quite difficult. Studying the same course for so long became quite monotonous. The closer the exam came, the more I didn't want to study. In the time I didn't study, I discovered and subscribed to three youtube channels, followed two people on Twitter and edited a couple photos of some flowers I took at school.

My favourite edit turned out to be this one:

The quality of images I take with my Nokia N97 mini astounds me every time.

I've decided that I'm starting to like photography a whole lot. It's really quite a fun hobby. Snap a photo of this. Snap a photo of that. I think I'm getting better at this photo-taking stuff. =)

As for the Youtube channels, I randomly discovered JumbaFund when I opened up the homepage which led me to KevJumba's channel. One of his videos further led me to WongFuProductions. And before I knew it, I was following @kevjumba and @wongfupro on Twitter. I watched a couple of Wong Fu Productions' videos and ended up following @thewesleychan. All actions were conducted over a period of two days.

I said all of that to say this: Wong Fu Productions uploaded a new video two days ago. "When Five Fell" directed by Wesley Chan, produced by Ted Fu & Philip Wang. I completely fell in love with it! It's so poetic. A phenomenal short film. A masterpiece. So, I just had to share it:

Wong Fu Productions has a number of other short films that have been so entertaining and soothing to my information-packed mind. Thank you, Ted, Phil and Wes.

I've also been trying to plan out a Shanghai trip that I convinced my Mom that we just had to go to. We'll be going to the Shanghai Expo, of course. Nothing's set in stone yet. We've come pretty far in our plans so it might as well be set in stone. Once I see all the reservations, I'll be one of the happiest people in the world! I'm so blessed. I really am.

Perfect Temperatures

I made it to Hong Kong safe and sound and I'm loving the temperatures! It's about 18 degrees Celsius around so it's like the environment's just air conditioned. =] A shirt and sweater is all I need really. It's just the right amount of cold =D

So, as a quick update:

• I got my new phone! The Nokia N97 mini. Lovely piece of machinery. Getting used to the technology it holds.
• NY is super cold! My flight from Barbados got delayed due to weather conditions...it was snowing! After a 2 hour delay, we got going and arrived to a wonderfully white winter.
• Had my first experiences with snow! It's so pretty and white........until it starts melting away and looks all wet and grey, then it's not so pretty anymore.
• Travelled to Hong Kong in Business First Class on Continental Airlines. Loved it. Made the 15 hour flight seem much shorter. With full, hot, fresh meals served on plates with real cutlery, a chair that lengthens out about 170 degrees to almost give you a flat bed, over 300 movie choices, over 50 tv show choices, over 80 games, and over 100 albums of music, what more could one ask for?

The trip has only just begun! I'm sure there will be lots to happen and such. And my phone, my camera and myself will all be there to capture the memories =D

Christmas is almost here. And I'm finally in a Christmas mood! =P

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Buh Bye Summer!

Tomorrow starts the new academic year. Now I'm a second year med student...one year down, 4 to go! Today is the final day of my final full summer holiday of my life. From now summers shall be reduced till there's none left. Prior to our 3rd year, we're blessed with a month to vacation wisely! In fact, my Mom and I are hoping to visit France! But we'll see how well that'll work out.

About half of the first year class is made up of Trinidadians! I wonder why so many of them came here...I'll ask them about it sometime, I guess. The class supposedly has 63 people...much more than my little 39.

The start of classes signals 3 things that last until the next vacation, in this case Christmas:

1. the termination of MSN usage - goodbye chatting!
2. the beginning of the never ending cycle of study
3. a goodbye to boredom! I much prefer being busy anyway.

Escape No More...

So today is my final day in Trinidad. The end of my two-week getaway...my great escape. It truly was an escape and I've enjoyed every minute of it. As was the usual, I enjoyed my last week here more than the first. I always wonder why that is...could it be because the pressure of the end of my trip is nearing? Nevertheless, I still enjoy myself.

I do wish that I could stick around a little longer. I normally always want to stick around just another week longer but I haven't wanted to stay this much in quite a few years. I can't believe that it's been a decade since I moved away from the island. It only hit me just recently. A decade.

Trinidad is a pretty neat place to be able to keep yourself busy, I think. It helps to have friends. Ah...good friendships...old friendships. I love that I still get along well with old friends...friends that I've known for as far back as I can possibly remember.

In more than one way, this trip has been an incredibly special one for me. A decade.

For those who asked.

Here's a very brief, non-detailed description of the first week here. ^_^

Monday

Got coconut water from a roadside stall in St. Augustine. Ate the coconut jelly. Delicious. Ran some errands. Went to Trincity. Ran more errands. Went to Digicel. Got an inexpensive prepaid cellphone. Now I walk around like most other Trinidadians: with two cellphones.

Tuesday

Met a friend of my Dad's. Called up some friends. Sorted out some movie plans.

Wednesday

Rediscovered Pokemon on Cartoon Network. Spent some time at my Dad's office while he worked during the afternoon.

Thursday

Took a drive into Port-of-Spain to run some errands. Was cool. Sat in with my Dad's evening appointments. Was quite interesting. Learnt one very important thing: must review first year work.

Friday

Went to the radio station with my Dad to do a radio show (him, not me). Met up with Danny. Went to Movietowne. Watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince after we browsed Movietowne. It didn’t feel as long as it really was, which is good I think. Didn’t feel like there was much going on in the movie…which is probably why it felt like a normal length movie as opposed to 2 ½ hours.

It's been a pretty quiet trip so far...more or less.

Escape to TnT

Arrived safe and sound to blue skies and bright sun! It's currently overcast with the occasional showers now though! It's actually quite hot here as well, of course. I think it's typically 1 or 2 degrees hotter than Barbados but it feels about the same I guess. As I said in my previous post, I'm staying with my Dad this time around. He's got a pretty nice house, it's neat and comfy. I'm not entirely sure of what I'll be doing over the next two weeks but I'll do what I can to enjoy things here =]

I brought along my camera and the battery charger but I completely forgot to bring the camera cable! So I won't be able to put up any pics on my computer and blog! Boooooo! Ah well. Such is life. Something was bound to be forgotten. I'll try not to make that mistake again next time. =]

A Two-week Getaway

Tomorrow starts my two-week getaway from the island of Barbados to the neighbouring island of Trinidad. Much larger and many more things to do and places to go than Barbados, I'm just about dying to get out of here!

It's nothing particularly special though. Just my usual 2 week summer trip to Trinidad. I usually try to go every year for 2 weeks ever since I moved from there when I was 9. I haven't kept in touch with many of my friends, unfortunately, but somehow I've always kept in touch with one of them. I always wonder how long it would last...it's been 10 years since I moved and we still get along well despite how we've both changed over the years. I normally stay over at her house as well, but this year I'll be staying with my Dad so it should be an interesting enough trip, I think. =] Plus, he's got internet (my friend doesn't) so I won't get totally bored if I get such a chance.

I'm quite happy to be going away. After awhile, I always get really bored here in Barbados. I'm not very big on the beach scene and I absolutely despise Bridgetown, our biggest mall is so small that one can take your time walking around it and walk every inch of the place in 15 minutes tops. Of course, I'm not really big on nightlife either. Which leaves very few options for fun: lime at a friend's house (or have a lime at mine), go to the drive in for a movie or two, go to the theatre or go mini golfing, among others. I don't know...just gets so boring here. =[. Barbados is an amazing vacation spot or even a good place to retire but it's not somewhere that I would want to spend my life in. While the slow-pace and peacefulness is nice, it's also quite frustrating.

I must say though, I have no intentions of staying and working in Barbados for the rest of my life. Whenever I think about the future, it's not in Barbados. I'm not sure where I'll find myself but here doesn't feel like the place I really want to be. I love my friends though! They keep me happy and satisfied enough here =D

Well, I'll be returning home in Barbados on August 16th! The new year begins on August 31st so I'll have another two weeks to get myself sorted out and back on track for classes again.

Fun Times

Yesterday morning I went to Town to meet up with a couple of my friends. One of them was leaving to go home to St. Vincent for the month before the next semester starts, so we were meeting up before he made his way. My other friend chose Bridgetown as our meeting venue, just to walk around and stuff. As far as I'm concerned, there's little to do there.

I actually don't like town very much. Not to mention, we went on a Saturday so there were a lot of people around. It was hot, as one would expect. But I'll admit, it wasn't as hot as it normally is (not in the morning anyway) so I was thankful for that much at least =D I tend to do my best to avoid going to town, since I can get just about everything I need outside of it (thankfully!)

Town is usually boring, hot, crowded and small...and there's absolutely nothing I like about it. But I decided to go anyway and I actually enjoyed myself! The three of us spent a good set of our time in Italia Coffee House poking fun at each other and sipping down Frescante Espressos!

Across the street from Italia Coffee House

We were looking at this building and thinking that it was weird cuz the railing said "Barbados Mutual Life Assurance Society". Something no one would've noticed unless they were sitting down and staring at it...like us. One corner of the building, also inconspicuously written, was something about the building being around from 1840...I think. Yet the little triangular piece at the top of the building has "1894". The 1800s...what a long time ago. Before Barbados got its Independence. Back in the plantation days, I guess.

We visited "AnimeSpot", a little store selling anime andmanga and was setup for playing anime games. Quite little. And filled with testosterone. But there wasn't much in there. Not much at all. Independence Square was our third stop. It's quite nice now. Didn't used to be so pretty with a fountain and all. We hung around there taking silly pictures and stuff. I was forced into the picture taking silliness...*sigh*...I prefer to be behind the camera than in front of it though! Ah well...sometimes it's hard to get away =]

Part of Independence Square and beyond...

Yesterday was quite possibly the most fun I've had in Town...ever!

A Weekend in NY

So, as many of you know, I went to New York just last weekend for about four days over the long weekend we had here in Barbados. I haven't made an earlier post about it, mainly because I've been feeling really busy with stuff: classes, assignment...beach =P Although, I haven't actually been in sea in...probably about a year or more (sad considering how close the beach is) so I just had to go!

I'm missing NY already! The weather there was wonderful. The temperatures were just perfect. I came back home and all I could do was sweat in the heat. Insane! I wish I could've stayed there longer...it would've been great! I heard on the radio that it was

 like 37°C, an incredibly large difference from the 23°C (18°C at night) that I was enjoying.

I was happy to have a change from the food I always eat here. Just had some of the usual food when I go to New York: Chinese food. Real Chinese food. Not the fake little chow mein, fried rice, sweet and sour chicken rubbish that's called Chinese food and sold in this country. Real chinese food.

Pic from Dec 2008. Chinese food! Yum!

We went upstate to this really awesome place called Woodbury Common Premium Outlets. It was insanely HUGE! Obviously, it wasn't anywhere near possible to look through all the stores. In fact, it wasn't even possible to look through all the stores in just 1 section (there were 5 sections). Hundreds of stores and we just chose a few. We were there for over 2 hours, spent loads of money and went into 6 stores or so.

A map of Woodbury Common Premium Outlets

So during my stay, generally what my Mom and I did was shop, eat, got our hair cut, and we both got the things we ordered and shipped to my Uncle's house. One of the things I had shipped to his house was...my awesome new Macbook Pro 17"!

Isn't it lovely?

That's about the gist of my trip. Not much. But I enjoyed myself and that's all that matters. =]

Finally...Vacation!

Exams finished on Friday and I couldn't possibly be happier! Vacation has had a good start so far too! Yesterday was my friend's birthday =) We just had a little get together thing at my house and then we went to the drive in to watch The Day The Earth Stood Still and Lakeview Terrace.

The Day The Earth Stood Still was a pretty good movie actually...I liked it =D Lakeview Terrace wasn't too bad...but it got boring after awhile watching the people go at each other over and over again. Ah well...was a good night all in all =]

My mom got Red Eye =[ so I'll be working during the week in her place. It's an alternative health business and since its December, it's our slowest month of the year. Nobody wants to be healthy during Christmas and they're all spending their money on buying gifts than products lol There's always the "gift of good health" haha

I don't mind working cuz there won't be much work to be done. I'll just take a book and read or I'll take my laptop and watch some anime =D I've got a list of anime that I plan to watch during the next 6 weeks or so ^.^