11 Feb: I Made It Through.

I made it through.
11 days in Delft and 1 week in school (:

Room.
When I first entered my room, thought its really small. But now im starting to wish it could be a little smaller, so there isn’t so much surface area to clean. I just don’t understand why the room gets dusty so quickly. Sigh. I hate cleaning up!

Anyway, my room’s a studio apt, which is really ex, €426 per month!?!?! Anyway, that’s besides the point. Yea, I have a kitchen and a toilet all to myself, which is good, cos I don’t really like sharing places like this, oops. Haha. But the bad thing is that I don’t get to see my neighbours cos the weather is cold and everyone hides at home. Moreover, in my block of flats, there isn’t like a communal space or anything. Yea, so most of the time, im in my cosy little quiet room (:

I kinda like the location of my apt (though its 2km or 20-25min walk from sch!), cos ive got Albert Heijn (supermarket) and the ABN.AMRO Bank just adjacent to my block. And if I cross another few streets, there are more shops and supermkts around, so its really convenient where im living.

My workstation. Haha.

Messiness = Homeliness (:

Food.
Im eating well everybody, don’t worry (:

Vegetables from the supermkt is really ex.
4 tomatoes = SGD 1.50 !!!
1 carrot = SGD 1.00 !!!
Tou gay is the ultimate (they call it “Touge” here, haha sounds classy eh), I didn’t buy, but I think if I didn’t remember wrongly, its like SGD 4.00 per kg?!?! isn’t it only a few cents in Singapore?! I think I needa go to the flea mkt on Sundays, cos I heard its way cheaper there? But it isn’t a strong enough motivation for me to leave my warm little sty, especially when its about 3km away plus its raining and the wind’s really strong. Maybe next week.

Stroopwaffels! A thin layer of caramel btwn 2 slices of waffles. My favourite! But I think im already getting sian of it. And Dutch Spiced Cookies!

Milo was what i brought, Hot Chocolate was what i bought. Milo was running out, so i hoped the same Nestle brand Hot Choc could be a close substitute. But unfortunately, not anywhere near ):

Tasteless cheap fake CocoCrunch ): Couldn't take it, went to buy Frosties to make myself happier for €2.55.

Did I buy the wrong kinda rice?

Erm, I didn’t take pictures of the food I cook (not that I don’t cook ok), maybe next time!

City Centre.
Went there last weekend on a city tour organized by the sch with other exchange students. It was good as we learnt about the history of the town, the canals and the buildings.

And the place is really very pretty! It’s a medieval town with much ancient architecture and I really felt as though I was in the town Harry Potter was living in! I took some pictures but somehow they cannot capture the magical experience you’ll get when you are standing in the town square or walking through the town. So come and experience it for yourself (while im here, that is, haha)!

Anyway, took such lousy pics because I was scared to take out my camera. Quickly took a few shots and kept it. Didn’t want others to know that im a tourist, cos im afraid that they’ll take the chance to rob me or sth. Oh well, maybe im just too paranoid. But i’ll definitely take more and proper ones when Hun comes over. Hurry come!!!

Friends.
The Introduction Day the school organized for us was quite good, cos I got to meet other exchange students. They welcomed us with 2 glasses of beer each! How cool is that! Though I don’t exactly like beer haha. Well, managed to get to know a few nice people, those whom I can chat with when I see them in sch or on the way to sch. But that’s about it, no close friends whom I can hang out with yet, but that’s ok, I know it takes time (:


School.
School started for a wk and its really stressful! 1stly, there is so much work. 2ndly, the lectures are short and the lecturers want to cram so much info within that hour plus, and so they go at train speed. And plus their slang, it isn’t helping ): and 3rdly, whatever they are teaching is kinda cheem to me. I think that just shows how much NUS has taught me. Im glad im here.

Weather.
I don’t like it. Its been cold (below 6 degrees these few days) and I have to put on so many layers before I leave the house, and it takes so long to do that!

Saw snow on Tuesday and Thursday. Yes, for the first time in my life, but I didn’t exactly like it. 1, my toes were frozen. 2, the snow kept slapping on my face and melting on my eyes. 3, the wind kept blowing my hood off. 4, I was in a hurry to get to sch. 5, its very tiring to walk on ice.

From my window.

But I think I dislike rain even more. Cos the winds were so strong even in a drizzle, that my umbrella kept flipping! I had totally no ctrl over it. Now I see why people here hardly use umbrellas. They just walk in the rain with their waterproof jackets.


All in all.
Im ok with living here, but I still prefer Singapore anytime!

People here smoke like it’s the norm, and I really don’t like that.

The streets are not very, but still dirty. And the thing I cant stand the most is that people bring their dogs out to shit everywhere! Even in the shopping centres! I kenna-ed once cos how on earth wld I expect shopping centres to have shit everywhere!

Really don’t like the cold weather, makes the day so dreary ): Singapore’s climate’s still the best (at least for me)! Though humid and hot sometimes, it beats having to dress up daily in thick layers just to step outside.

And bikes here are the main form of transportation. People here cycle since they were 3! And if you need help with taking public transport, they cant really help cos they don’t know either. Their bikes take them everywhere. I haven’t got myself a bike, and I don’t think anytime soon, cos I think its too dangerous for me. Really bad at cycling. Confirm will get into accidents often. Plus its been snowing and raining. So guess I’ll just hafta resort to walking at least 4km a day. We’ll see.

And I miss.
My bolster!

My maid! Well, not exactly her, but the things she does haha. Its really tiring to cook, do housework, laundry and stuff. Arghs.

TV! No tv here, but at least I’ve Friends (not friends, but Friends, haha) here with me. All 10 seasons. They really are my friends who keep me in good company!

Good food! Haven’t eaten sth which I really like since the day I arrive, except for my all-time favourite IndoMie instant Mee Goreng! and its weird that they dont have instant noodles here.

Chinese New Year! At least I’ll be celebrating with my Eindhoven counterparts so it isn’t too bad. But it’ll definitely not be the same as having it at home ):

And everyone at home! At least now ive net access at home, it isn’t as miserable as in the first few days after arrival.

But never mind. Im gonna be home soon. Just 139 more days to go, or hopefully less! ):