Here's some pics taken in europe. My internet connection's really bad; refer to the rest of the pics on facebook. :)

Yh and gina posing as ampelmaenner. ;)

Yh and gina in front of a tree I wanted to take a pic of.
Yh and gina in one of the courtyards in the hackescher markt area.
Gina and I in one of the shopping areas around hackescher markt. :)) The shops were closed though, when we went.
Gina and I on ku'damm, with the Kaiser Wilheim Gedaechtnis Kirche in the background.
Gina and I at hackescher markt, right outside the s bahn station.
Gina, yh and I at the tiergarten on a lazy sunday afternoon.A nice tower in hamburg framed by the trees.
The river in hamburg. I love the geese!

Yay! I've survived the first week of classes- now it's just 3 more weeks to go. I'm really glad I decided to switch out of my global politics class and into the class about the third reich, despite the 75 euros course-change fee. :)) One more classmate from that class switched over today; he says that the prof expects too much of the class- something yh and I felt when we first met him during orientation on sunday. It's good that we trusted our gut feeling and switched before we missed any lessons with the new class.

Both classes are pretty cool, despite periods of boredom when the profs drone on.. I guess my attention span for history does not stretch to 3 hrs. XP I'm kinda suffering from an OD of museums though. Visited the third museum of the week today and I was pretty much counting down to dismissal time. Both classes consist of an american majority as expected. I mean, where else do universities expect students to take summer courses? :P It's definitely not a trend in europe..

We visited hamburg on wednesday, and I have to say that I really LOVE hamburg. :)) It reminds me of boston, with the nice breeze, seafood, and rather fashion conscious crowd. The architecture is really cool too- modern glass buildings juxtaposed with traditional red brick ones. It's a refreshing change from berlin's regimented architecture characterised by restored facades of historical buildings.. I had a grilled fish platter for lunch at this Portuguese restaurant for all of 6 euros! I miss fresh fish. The fried potato cubes which came with it were so good that I practically polished them all despite my usual reservations about potatoes. ;D And I managed to find some stuff at massimo dutti and mango. =) I think I seriously need to consider shipping some things back to penn or I'd break my back travelling to frankfurt's airport. :X

I really miss home.. und dich auch. :((

Milan was overall really fun. It didn't start off with a bang though. We were kinda apprehensive initially cuz the weather was unbearably hot (up to 38 degrees at some point) and milan wasn't exactly what we expected. It is as yx warned, dirty. Somehow, I had this impression that milan is this pretty cosmopolitan italian city with paved streets and friendly people all clad in the latest fashion. So sue me for being idealistic. XP Ahwells. Truth is, my image of milan is only right in the city centre, where the rich and the tourists shop. The store fronts are truly amazing. Window displays are taken to a higher level than they are elsewhere. Simply window shopping along the fashion quadrangle where all the luxury brands are located is a worthwhile experience. :)

Our "hotel" is family-run. Which is, I guess, a euphemism for tiny and dingy, in a way. It was converted from an apartment (or a few), and strangely enough, each room came with it's own toilet seat, sink and shower, right smack in the room itself. I was rather surprised, but we came to terms with it by having me shower in the shared bathroom on the first floor while yh showered in our room. By the end of our trip, the weather turned for the better (ie. I stopped sweating before I even step out of our room) and I felt better about the whole trip. Our hotel might be small and old, but the owners are friendly (despite them not speaking much english) and the place is kept clean. :) Italy is a land of friendly people, but my initial reserve is probably due to the language barrier. English is definitely less prevalent in milan as compared to berlin- and all announcements and signs can only be found in italian. I'm glad to say that I can now converse in basic (very basic indeed) italian.. :D

One of the most interesting things about milan is it's happy hour. From pretty much 6pm to 9pm every day, the bars in milan will set out a buffet which customers are free to enjoy as long as they purchase a drink. :) This pretty much constituted our dinners for the trip.

In any case, I'm back in berlin again, and school has started today. I'm in for a rough ride, I'd say. 150 pages of reading per day is NOT what I expected. :(( SIGHS. I guess that's what happens when I take 2 history classes concurrently.

It's strange how lonely I feel surrounded by friends.. Berlin is lovely, but some how, I'm not entirely enjoying it. I guess I miss Singapore, my mum, my friends. I dunno. It just seems weird. I should be on top of the world right now but I'm not.

Und ich vermisse dich. Ganz ganz viel. :(

I'm leaving Singapore tonight!! :( 2 months in Singapore has passed really quickly. Despite looking forward to 7 weeks in berlin/milan/paris/tours/barcelona, I'm 100% sure that I'd miss Singapore, especially since I'd only next be back in 10 months time.

I've sent off the packages to myself- they cost more than the $200 I originally thought it would. Ahwells. It beats bringing 2 huge suitcases ard Europe..

Annoying Thick-Skinned People

I loathe thick-skinned ppl who think they're welcomed wherever they go. Hey, if I didn't invite you, you're NOT wanted. STOP barging your way in. It's MY choice who I wanna meet up with. NOT yours. UGH. I DON'T CARE IF I'M BEING BITCHY. I'm sick of being nice to all and sundry.