back to bedlam

just got back from america. and i miss it so already.

i left for america expecting a busy schedule with lots of sightseeing, expecting also to come back with a whole load of shopping and spending lots of time with friends in america, all of which i haven't seen in ages.

i came back from america with sub-optimal sightseeing, spending time with friends and friends-of-friends, which was good in a way and not so good in a way. ren was with us the whole of the first week, so that wasn't so bad in terms of catching up but mandy's little double room served as a hostel for the 4 of us plus her roommate. tight squeeze so we moved into the lounge where i found out to my surprise that late-night american tv is very entertaining! the next supermodel, top chef.. but we should have hung out more in nyc. blame bad timing.

three words to describe each city i went to:
princeton - scholarly, cambridge-esque, apartment-style dorms
cape may - relaxing, surreal, pleasantville
boston - COLD, brighter-and-cleaner-version of london, beautiful
new york - perfect-foodie-haunt, shove-and-push, overwhelming

there was quite a bit of individual exploration of the crazy city that is new york, which was very refreshing, no limitations, no waiting around for decisions, just me and my plans. taking in the sights in midtown, trying to find my way around the grid-map of newyork wasn't as easy as i expected. the newyork subway made me miss the tube, horror of horrors. but the craziness of times square, the hustle and bustle in chinatown, the quaint history-laden litarary streets of greenwich village, the no-nonsense seriousness in wall street and at ground zero, the majesticity of the brooklyn bridge and what little i saw of central park made up for the confusing transport system. also, after the epic trip to woodbury commons, i find i shop best alone. and yes, i came back with a whole shopping bag full mostly of clothes, which goes to show just how much of a rugged traveller i am inside.

food-wise (and yes, this deserves a whole paragraph), america ranks as one of the top destinations. the food in cape may was amazing, thanks to all our chefs, impromptu recipes and of course, the internet. there i was, stuffed like a turkey every night, any movement was effortful. it was restaurant week when we were at boston, as if welcoming our arrival. all the top restaurants for less than half the price. serene our host was the most sincere and helpful person i have ever met! she went to extremes to make us feel comforatble, giving up her bed in the process.. makes me ashamed of myself sometimes. the final day dinner party she hosted could very well be the top dinner party i've been to in terms of the amount and variety of food served - all home-cooked too! big singaporean gathering at harvard made me think of home.. all the rendang and satay helped too. i have come to a conclusion that america has wonderful desserts. there was finale in boston and a million good dessert places in nyc. there was also grimaldi's famous pizza under the brooklyn bridge, good enough for any renowned italian chefs, good enough for me. peter luger's steakhouse: steep prices but oh-so worth-it. i don't think i have appreciated steak properly until that dinner. perfect desserts at bottega del vino recommended by the peninsula where we posed at hotel guests. magnolia bakery where cupcakes and sweet things ruled the world, and our stomach's afterward. clinton st. baking house - in my 20 years, this is the first time i have enjoyed a plate of pancake sooo much that i have vowed to learn how to make pancakes as good as those. they were seriously a STACK of pancakes, all fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. and not to mention all the great chinese restaurants they had in chinatown, which beats the one in london. it's much larger firstly, and so authentic they even have wet markets on the streets! everyone speaks to you firstly in cantonese, then in chinese when they realise you're not from hk, then maybe a splattering of english if you're lame and not a chinese-speaker as well. we ended off with dimsum which was dirt cheap.. i couldn't ask for more.

america was fantastic. i feel so lost now without a plan of where to go and what to eat for each day. it's back to boring cambridge, where there's not much choice either-way. i also found that i've missed the annual snowfall here. : ( what a waste. i wanted a proper snowball fight this year too!

oh boy. tmr marks the day i start my mad dash to the finish line of tripos. i hope it's a mad dash all the way and not just a jog. or else i'm screwed.