about the 22ND and other cold adventures

because i lost my camera, because i haven't got the photos off facebook-and because I like writing about what i'm going through before the moment passes- this post is going to be somewhat long winded without any pictures. gotta rely on my writing skills to make this interesting, wish me luck! HA.

So the holiday started off with me watching BLOOD BROTHERS with a couple of uni people in London, it's an excellent musical, it's my second favourite now after Wicked.

Stayed at Hsi Wen's place after that for a couple of days until we went to Copenhagen and then to Berlin:-

Copenhagen

was freezing cold, and I actually kinda found it a bit boring, but we shopped a fair bit and well.. that's always fun! (:

Berlin

was OMG-Iwanttodie-KILLMENOW cold, I do this thing where I am extremely tempted to pretend to faint so that people will carry me/put me in a nice warm/cold room when I am exposed to either biting cold or sweltering heat. And at one point in Berlin, I was, I would say.. one gust of wind away from dropping to my knees in a pretend collapse.

I guess the reason why I found Berlin more interesting was because I'm really into the whole German Nazi business. I blame the movies I've watched(Valkyrie,Schindler's List) and the books I've read (Anne Frank, The Book Thief) haha. So as I walked down the streets and as I listened to the tour guide, the things I saw and heard made sense to me and meant something.

And so, haha.. the thing that intrigued me the most (and Hsi Wen was nice enough to humour me and to go for it even though she was unsure about it at first) was probably the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp tour.

That was the day I almost "fainted", it was -13 degrees out and I was wearing so many layers I could barely button my coat let alone bend over to put my shoes on bless my soul, and I was wearing leggings and jeans and three pairs of socks but my toes were still frozen, and I had my hood up, wore ear muffs and wrapped my scarf around my face, I looked like a proper hobo.

But I really liked the tour, the tour guide was interesting- we walked along the streets the prisoners had to walk along to get to the camp- and we actually saw the remains of the killing chambers, I don't wanna be too boring about the details- but one of the things the tour guide told us was that in winter, prisoners were made to stand for 15 hours in the freezing cold. That kinda meant something to me cause I was already close to developing frostbite and hypothermia when I was tottering around bundled like a big fat red bean pao, so in a way I could kinda understand how the prisoners must have suffered- a lot of them just dropped dead in the cold. Bless their souls.

Let's fast forward to my birthday- I took my bday off facebook and I highly recommend it, it was so nice cause 90% of the messages/wall posts I received were from people I love dearly and I actually found it sweet when people sent me a message instead of typing me a wall post cause i don't know, the privacy seems to have more intimacy associated with it- but I LOVED THE long, personalised wall posts too (not just happy birthday!- shut your gap and go away) and yeah, it was really sweet of everyone! can i also mention that a certain lala made an adorable voice recording that made me guffaw in the train. HEH

Went to EBF's, and she cooked an amazing lunch- and highlight of my day, cause:

1) I didn't expect it

2) I kinda forgot how retarded they are and

3) It's been years since HELD has been a thing..

Elise brought her laptop into the kitchen with Lina and Deborah's warm friendly faces bobbing around on the computer screen.. best surprise ever(: Besides the very retarded video they also made, their unselfishness and willingness to take the time to make me feel the teensiest bit special was what I loved the most. We've all gone our separate ways in uni, and I know that everyone has their own new friends and that people don't always have time for each other so i don't really expect much from anyone cause i know they're busy. but they found time and it touched me that I still meant something :)

It just makes me realise that I'm so blessed to have friends that are steadfast in their unwavering loyalty to me- chongaberry, my 4 IJ sidekicks, hostel people and Victorians(besides ELD and stella, can i also say that for some reason unknown to me, Liz is fiercely loyal to me(if i may say so myself Liz, i sure hope im not mistaken) and i really appreciate it)- I'm not the most popular of people but it's indescribably relieving to be able to bask in the friendships that I've made and nurtured over the past 22 years of my life on my special day.

I'm emotional. I know.

haha

okay trouble, exam in 3 days.

huayshan