instead of posting cryptic thoughts ran through ciphers and censors, i am now at heartunbriefedii.wordpress.com

i am very very pleased this morning because i received very positive feedback for the stochastic resonance/phoneme restoration paper from my tf at harvard!

now to write it up a little better and send it to mo and possibly ken stevens at mit.

hope the publishing dream is coming along... ^.^

looking at yet more houses today and it made me very happy. ^.^

i love the reservoirs!

and i would also like to get married on a rainy weekday afternoon

(mud splashes on the dress, hair wet and plastered to face, drenched and why should we listen to what others think is picture perfect?)

boy in my life & me!

i never cease to be filled with gratitude at how blessed i have been.

all of a sudden, i'm filled with energy and optimism for the year ahead, goals and dreams alike.

mom and dad are both so supportive of our future plans and dad even suggested that ning and i should start looking into the new cdl property at balestiar/thomson and i just feel so doted and loved all round.

just, really really really happy ^.^

feel a sudden burst of energy and excitement for the year ahead.

^.^

fall is always the season of being swept off my feet, tumbling in the wind with the falling foliage.

now that the season is long over, and a new year lies ahead, i feel the impulse to just live it rise again.

i still love the cello, the emotional weight of haunting bass. (and i will start lessons once i'm back from boston)

i still love god, the spark of spirituality as insistent as ever. (and i will return to church so very soon)

i still love linguistics, after a very lovely lunch with tomasina and mo, and a very useful direction to prof ken stevens at mit, i'm more confident than ever about my stochastic resonance/phoneme restoration paper. (and i will publish! someday...=P)

and other things. marathons, yoga, eating like a rabbit and breathing in white.

and more things i have always loved, my family, this life, who i am, books and poetry and the quiet quiet afternoons.

and one thing i have grown to love, may the love grow still.

in this time, when life is good, days are bright and i feel such peace even while riding the crest of happiness, may i remember the lessons learnt, mistakes made, and tasks unfinished.

may we always remember to live, more than being alive.

as of last night, ning and i have applied for the cityview flats at boon keng.

our decision-making process went something along the lines of: it's a good location near ning's future workplace and his parents, and it seems like a good investment and the apartment is nice. but more importantly, given the huge demand for it (the news reported that at the closing of the application there were 5 times more demand than supply) it's unlikely that we'll get it anyhow so well, let's just try.

this is in the light of:
1) we have zero savings (happily, mom and dad agreed to loan us the downpayment should we unexpectedly make the ballot)
2) we will likely not even be in singapore for the flat selection
3) we are not even sure if we'll be eligible for loans given that we haven't started work

but in the end, we concluded that if we still manage to get the flat despite all these, then we must really be meant to stay there. so there!

(of course it was never an issue that ning hasn't proposed and we've been dating officially for all of 10 days)

we are very poor
we are really very poor
we got no savings
but we want to get married
and make babies for the nation

i'm surrounded by such insanely adorable people who make me laugh in amusement and smile with affection at once.

i always refrain from blogging when i'm happy because i can say nothing of philosophical or poetic value and end up sounding like i've regressed to a sappy giggly schoolgirl.

but i'm really happy!

despite the assignments still to be completed, the sense of peace and well-being from this lazy sunday afternoon is lulling me to a nap.

i guess, i always could sense that i was exactly the sort of person who would take forever to be sure, but am completely, doubtlessly sure certain once i am.

i am completely, doubtlessly certain now. =)

going house-(window)-shopping on tuesday!

^.^

just a iridescent, gossamer lightness in my heart.

everything feels so different because there are no ifs, only when.

there is no stay or leave, only how to best love the one you love.

^.^

despite the jetlag, still looming deadlines, weird sleeping hours and overall fatigue, feeling unbelievably happy.

i've only ever wanted, in this life, to live the way i choose ^.^

after a very gruelling trip with delays that culminated in missed flights and rushed connections, i'm back!

the first day of the new year!

at the end of 2006, i loathed to send it away because 2006 was such a painfully real year for me, such stark blacks and whites, moments of utter peace, and utter devastation. i loved it the way i love everything small and complete in itself.

2007 was so different because it's marked by so much more joy and accomplishment that i feel slightly embarassed for the blessings i've been receiving. from harvard, to the first class, to actually getting moe's sponsorship, and being in boston and meeting *someone* right until the desert.

i am less unwilling to see o-seven away, because i know that things will only look up from here and so, some small resolutions for 2008:

1. to remain happy and cheerful
2. to continue reading
3. to care well for the people i care about
4. to run the vermont marathon!!!

^.^

happy happy new year!

sand dunes. petroglyph canyons. road to hotsprings. el tatio.

still in chile, and loving every bit of this country.

but mostly, this morning as i was in the jeep towards the el tatio geysers (fact: at over 4300m above sea level, it's the highest geyser in the world), dawn hasn't broken, and driving over the rough roads of the atacama desert, the sky was dark blue, sirius the brightest star in our sky shines bright and over the undulating hills of the andes, i really believe i'm in the same desert as the little prince.

part of me is still in awe that i really spent the past week jetting to far off places, making my way in a land where i can't speak the lingua franca, taking buses to towns i have never been to and have no map of, and best of all, spending 3 perfect days (albeit with slight altitude sickness) in the desert with the hot springs, the petroglyphs, the canyons and rolling mountains, the sand and stone, the geysers, the salt lagoons, the ilamas and vicunas...

too tired right now to craft a proper post but if there's ever a plan to head to south america, look out for awasi! sarojin was lovely but awasi is yet another class of its own, with the yummiest food i've had in a long time!

and i'm so excited to hear that more are being planned with the next one being in the argentinian jungle near the iguazu falls! honeymoon anyone? =P

as it turns out, sarojin started the luxury outdoor/adventure type travelling bugand awasi totally sealed it in! more deserts, jungles and the great outdoors please!