Darn. I only heard about this yesterday:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/408509/1/.html

And the CCTV building is like so near my apartment too. No wonder everyone on the bus was staring it when we passed by the other day. I looked, and only saw this funny looking building which I thought was still under construction. Darn. I'm so not in touch with the real world. But somehow I don't really mind living in my own world...

昨晚全世界的烟花都约好了在北京市开聚会。

有生以来第一次看到那么多的烟花。当然也不能少了那连续不断的爆竹声。看到我的眼睛都花了！从晚上8点开始，到午夜12点的高潮，到今早被爆竹声叫醒；这是一个难忘的除夕夜啊。

那扑鼻的烟火味、那镇耳欲聋的声响；这是有别于一般火药味的味道；它是充满着希望和幢景和欢腾的味道。它在帮着人类把愿望传达给天上的神明。

至少在这一晚，和平和希望变得好像没有那么遥不可及。就像是把手一伸出窗外就能触摸到一样。于是我迫不及待地拿着相机，冒着冷风，立在窗前；想把希望给捕捉下来。

Ok I haven't been updating this blog for AGES! I don't know why, probably because I'm tired from school everyday. Anyway, the exams are FINALLY over and I'm a free person -- till 23rd February. My parents are arriving tomorrow, and they'll be leaving on the 3rd, so that leaves me with 20 days on my own. What will I do during those 20 days? Have no idea at the moment. But it's probably better just to see how things turn out, instead of making a plan and then getting upset when it doesn't work out. Yeah. That's probably one of the changes that I've undergone in recent years. 10 years ago you wouldn't catch me leaving things up to chance.

Bought a couple of magazines, and a book -- 'The Time Traveler's Wife'. Wanted to buy the Chinese version of it, but ended up buying the original English version (imported)which cost like, 4 times more expensive than the Chinese version. I think I need to read more English stuff, lest my Englis

我想我爱上这首歌了。

《如烟》五月天

Mom flew back to S'pore on Sunday. Sigh. I miss her cooking!!! I didn't have much time to go out with her because of school, but we managed to go to 前门大街 and 天坛 and 三里屯:

My mom arrived in Beijing yesterday!!! Rushed down to the airport after school yesterday to fetch her, and now we're at Starbucks using the net because she has to check her emails. By the way, we have finally subscribed to the internet, but it hasn't been installed yet, so in the meantime it's still Starbucks to go online. Will be installed in a few weeks' time I think.

Am still thinking of where to go after this. Wanted to bring my mom to the Fragant Hills （香山）but it'll be super crowded because the whole of Beijing will be going there to see the autumn leaves. And we couldn't wake up early enough to catch the first 'MRT'. Oh well. Maybe we'll go to the Forbidden City later.

Autumn is here and it has become very VERY cold all of a sudden. Freezing cold. Ok maybe not. But when the cold wind blows in your face

Exams are over!!! And we are beginning new modules on TCM -- finally! 我又重返中医的怀抱了啊！！！

***

On another note, I have a confession to make. I dyed my hair. It was a very impromptu decision -- I'd only wanted to cut my hair, and then, I dunno, I guess I was just very tired of all the studying and blandness in my life; and the hairdresser was like I should add some colour to my life -- he was actually pretty insistent-- and then it wasn't very expensive and then I was just very tired I guess. The hairdresser said that he knew exactly the colour I should dye, so I just said ok. (I think I've become very adventurous ever since I came here huh) Here's how I look now:

同志们好！

That was me fooling around in a Communist hat at 南锣鼓巷 on Wednesday. Haha. And my outfit seems to go well with the Communist hat too. Went to 南锣鼓巷 with Ivonne and friends. 南锣鼓巷 is this arty place in 后海;  it's a 胡同 which is like the Haji Lane of Beijing, while 后海 is like Clarke Quay with all the bars and stuff (and ang mohs too, at night -- I suppose).

I was at this other Starbucks just now -- at 建外SOHO，and the network connection was HORRIBLE!!! GRUMBLE... So after 1 hr of trying to get connected, I'm back at the Starbucks near my place. Sigh. Anyway, I took a photo of the 建外SOHO Starbucks, which is, by the way, 4 storeys high. It's a 10 min walk from my place:

建外SOHO is a 'yuppie' kinda place. Lots of foreigners -- one was like 'Taking a picture, huh' to me when I was shooting with my camera. I smiled a little at him.