A short edited Asian note.

And that stands for... ASEAN, haha! Yeah, I'm back in the lands of the Association of South-East Asian Nations! Just arrived in Singapore today and will be staying for two days before heading back to Brunei! I have to admit, the trip has been quite eventful so far - the three B/C seats given to my parents and I on the flight from Frankfurt to Singapore had malfunctioning entertainment systems (Dad was so bored!), the wire for my braces came apart (lucky there was a good dental clinic near the Hyatt! If you need emergency dental treatment whilst in Singapore, go to the 13th floor of the Paragon Medical Centre on Orchard Road, haha!), had a nose bleed (thank god I was at the hotel room by then!), my mobile phone (both German and Irish) has no reception, pulled a muscle near my right hip joint... hmmm, I think that's it! Fortunately, things started to be better after that, went shopping (how am I going to bring the stuff back!!!), ate lots of Asian food, plenty of cuci mata (oriental guys are sooo bishie!)! Anyway, just wanted to give a little update! I've a back log of posts (sorry!!!), including:

• Liza's visit to Germany
• Lunch visit from my inLingua classmates and teachers
  
• The Sultan's Birthday celebration in Berlin
  
• Karl's and Siobhan's wedding

Well, have to go! I'm using my dad's computer at the mo, so he wants it back soon! Bis bald!

Photos: Glendalough, Cork, Cobh and Blarney (Ireland)

More photos! The days straight after my viva, I decided to travel to some of the well-known sights of Ireland.

Glendalough, Co. Wicklow

An extremely peaceful and beautiful place. There are two lakes in Glendalough, the one in the photo is of the larger lake. It's a rather nice walk from one end to the other, which brings you to a waterfall behind some mining ruins.

Middleton, Co. Cork

Myself and Debbie (pale pink top) went to Cork to visit our friend, Flo (blue top). It was sort of an "end-of-Ph.D." get-together, since all three of us started the same year and also ended the same year! The first three photos were taken outside Flo's house. The third photo was taken when we discovered that Flo's car had a leak and wouldn't start! Haha, what a way to start the holiday - definitely interesting! And finally, the last photo was taken at the studio of Flo's fiance, Blessing - sculptor extraordinaire! I gave my mum one of his art pieces for her 60th birthday last year.

Cobh, Co. Cork

This is famous for the fact that it was the last port where the Titanic docked at before it sailed for New York. Not sure which church is in the first photo, but I thought it looked amazing. You can actually see where Flo's green car (yeah, we managed to get it fixed!) was parked! The two other photos were of a statue of Ann Moore and her brothers (she was the first person to be admitted to the US through the new immigration centre at Ellis Island, New York on 01.01.1892 - she wasn't on the Titanic!!!). The statue marks the location from which the Titanic sailed from.

Blarney, Co. Cork

Finally, we went to Blarney, famous for the Blarney stone, which upon kissing it, one would receive what is called "the gift of the gab", haha. In other words, you'd be very good at telling stories. The stone is located at the very top of Blarney Castle (first photo) and I have to tell you, climbing the narrow staircase was pretty nerve-racking for me! The second photo is of us after we've kissed the stone, haha! Wonder if it worked? I thought the shadows looked cool in the stream, so I decided to take a photo of it.

That's it! I have to say, I have been living in Ireland for almost 10 years, and this is the first time that I've visited these places! City girl, through and through, that's me, haha!

Photos: Viva celebration!

Okay, here are the photos taken after I did my viva. Sorry for the delay in posting them! Anyway, the first three photos were from the reception prepared the research group to celebrate my finishing the viva. It's a tradition! Don't worry, I was drinking de-alcoholised champagne (a gift from my friend, Michael!) while others were enjoying the usual bubbly. The first photo is of me with my two supervisors, Prof. Thorri Gunnlaugsson and Dr Paul Kruger (guy with the glasses!), and the external examiner from Southampton University (Prof. Phil Gale, he's wearing the tie!), an expert on my work (i.e. anion-sensing). The following two photos are of most of the people working in the research group - they're a brilliant crowd!!!

The following photos were from the Bank Cafe on Dame Street. Most of us headed there after the reception and then my friends who weren't from the group met us there! It was a good night!!! Only wished my family and my other dear friends could have made it too. Hopefully, we can celebrate when I go back to Brunei for holidays!

The last two photos are of me with my Spanish friends, Elenita and Alberto. Elenita always laughs whenever Alberto and I bicker - it's an act... ummm, I hope, haha! Anyway, they couldn't make it on the day so we met a few days' later for coffee.

Finally, just wanted to thank everyone who helped me celebrate the occasion on the very day as well as the following days! Danke!!!

Leaving my 20s... (+ Aesthetic Tribute: June 2007)

My god, that sounds so final! Well, today I just turned 30 years old, but to be honest, I don't feel any different. I thought I might have felt depressed or something, but no, I didn't feel anything of significance. It just felt like any other day, thank god! However, I have decided to use this day as a starting point to work more seriously at achieving the rest of my 2007 resolutions. It's rather a long list and I'm only 30% there and half the year is already gone!!!

Oh yeah, one other thing, I just finished my first drawing after a long hiatus (approx. two years!). It's for a forum-based monthly fanart exhibition. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to spend on this drawing since the deadline was June 30, and what with the viva and Liza's visit, I only had hours to get it finished. I have to admit, I'm really rusty!!!So gommen ("sorry" in Japanese) if the drawing destroys your eyes, haha!Every month, three manga characters (and two themes) are given to use as subjects for our fanart. I chose Rukia and Ichigo (you'd probably remember them from the anime I was telling you about before!) as my subjects and the theme I chose was "Manga Garden" in honour of the forum. The basic idea is that the two people got summer work at Manga Garden, picking manga flowers which have blossomed. Of course, Rukia is from an aristocratic family and so has a different idea of "work", haha. She's not really like that in the anime, even though she is an aristocrat. Anyway, the title of this art piece is "Summer Work At Manga Garden" - original, huh? Haha!

Well, hope you all like it. I have to go now! Tomorrow I start my German classes again! Tschus!