Knowing that there would be no water today, last night I had some water boiled and kept in containers. This morning there was little water coming from the tap as anticipated. Every morning I would need to go to the toilet and bomb Hiroshima. Keeping in mind that the water supply might be cut, I flushed the toilet first to give it a try. Ok so there was still water. So I did my business at ease. After I was done, I flushed the toilet but there was no water!!! There would always be some water in the tank for a flush. Then water would be pumped into the tank. So I just flushed away the only tank of water during my first try! I went back to my room and filled my kettle with water. Went back to the toilet and pour the water into it. The job was partially done. There was nothing I could do but to close the cover and come back and flush when I return in the evening. Anyway, there is no one staying on campus right now. Even the cleaning lady has gone on holiday. If she were to see this, I think she would kill me. She always greets me in the morning with a stare in her eyes, like she never seen a Chinese before. Maybe she never seen a handsome Chinese here before, haha.
After that little incident, I went to the office to hand in some forms. The only lady who can speak English was not around. Another lady who can only speak French entertained me but the matter was settled quite easily. I wanted to ask her about the water supply and the moving out of the residents but guessed she would have a hard time explaining to me. So to spare her from embarrassment (actually to spare myself lah, haha) I thanked her and went to work. Anatole came awhile before lunch and returned me my report with comments on it. I was amazed that he actually read it very thoroughly although I told him the supervisor was not required to vet it. Still he gave me suggestions on how to improve the report, some small corrections, etc. On the whole he said it was ok. Then we talked about work and when it was lunchtime, he said he would go to another restaurant to eat with someone else. He said I could join him but said that the place is rather expensive. So I said I would go catch up with the rest of the guys. However, he said he can have lunch with me tomorrow. Good. Because I didn’t really have the opportunity to ask him about the exact date regarding my last day here. I really hope I can be released on 18th June.
I couldn’t find the guys at the restaurant and so ate alone again. Today for no reason, I was full to the max. I had fries, vege and a gigantic sausage wrapped in some pancake stuff. I was so full that I almost feel like vomiting and could hardly walk back to IRISA. Back in Singapore, I would definitely have thrown away the unfinished food. Here, I ate every crumb on the plate. I went straight into my work immediately after lunch, amending my report. With that done I continued on with my code. Halfway through I was too tired to continue and chatted with hoe on msn. He told me about the Hall 2 canoeing expedition yesterday and there was a big cock up regarding the canoes. It was super tiring he said but still fun. Yes, ACE (Annual Canoeing Expedition) is always fun and I really wish that I was there, especially I had seen it through twice already. I don’t think I would have the chance to do it in year 4 as I wouldn’t be staying in hall. I am really in a bit of dilemma between staying in hall and staying at home. Although I wasn’t very “on” while I was in hall, I did participated in the activities especially ACE and the orientation and I had so much fun. Not to mention the Z4 staying together, the night runs, watching TV together. It is also very convenient as I do not have to wake up early in the morning and can go back to take a nap in between lessons. 2 years of hall life is really very memorable. But on the other hand, I had less sleep at night, had to do mundane chores like sweeping the floor, washing the toilets, etc. I also had less contact with friends in NUS as I was constantly in campus and NTU is really quite inaccessible. After some thoughts, I think I would still move out of hall since most people have already graduated and no longer around and also I might not have enough points to stay on.
After chatting with him for awhile I returned to my code until I was too tired to continue and left the office. Back in INSA I went straight to the toilet and flushed away whatever remained there. Then I went to the mart again to buy a loaf bread and a corkscrew because I had to open my red wine bottle. Back in INSA I began to prepare dinner. Tonight’s meal would be luncheon meat and fried egg with rice. I pour some oil first and fried an egg but realized I used too much oil. Will keep this mistake in mind. With the remaining oil, I began to cook the luncheon and that’s when I knew I made a big mistake. With the oil, my luncheon meat was burnt and a lot of smoke was created. In the end the whole kitchen was filled with smoke and I had to open all the windows. Half of my luncheon meat was spoilt in the process. Then I took out a sachet of rice and cooked it in water for 10min according to the instructions. Each sachet is for 2 servings but I really find it just enough for 1. After cooking for 10min, I mixed the rice, egg and meat together and began to eat. The rice was very hard and next time I am going to cook it for 20 min. The rice served here at the restaurant was also very hard and I had to pour a lot of sauce on it. No wonder it says one sachet for 2 servings because the rice is so hard it is difficult to digest. I poured some drinking water to it hoping that it would soften but it spoilt my meat and egg. It was the worst dinner I ever had.
After that I had to spend a lot of time washing my pot because of all the soot due to the mistake I made in cooking the luncheon meat. In the end I spent almost an hour just to prepare a simple dinner. But it is a start nonetheless. I have never cooked a proper meal in my entire life before and prior to my attachment, I wanted to learn some cooking from mum but was too lazy to do it. When I return, I definitely would help her out during dinner so as to learn some tricks. After dinner, I removed the cork of the red wine bottle with the cork screw. Initially I was thinking how can I preserve the wine once I removed the cork. I was thinking to pour the bottle of wine into my water bottle and put it inside a ziplock bag. In the end, I found that the cork is asymmetrical. I can overturn the cork and insert it into the bottle. But it is still not 100% air tight and so I have to finish it fast. I am not a good drinker but after drinking a little bit of it, my body really felt warm and I guess I can have a good night sleep later. But I still don’t like the taste.
After that little incident, I went to the office to hand in some forms. The only lady who can speak English was not around. Another lady who can only speak French entertained me but the matter was settled quite easily. I wanted to ask her about the water supply and the moving out of the residents but guessed she would have a hard time explaining to me. So to spare her from embarrassment (actually to spare myself lah, haha) I thanked her and went to work. Anatole came awhile before lunch and returned me my report with comments on it. I was amazed that he actually read it very thoroughly although I told him the supervisor was not required to vet it. Still he gave me suggestions on how to improve the report, some small corrections, etc. On the whole he said it was ok. Then we talked about work and when it was lunchtime, he said he would go to another restaurant to eat with someone else. He said I could join him but said that the place is rather expensive. So I said I would go catch up with the rest of the guys. However, he said he can have lunch with me tomorrow. Good. Because I didn’t really have the opportunity to ask him about the exact date regarding my last day here. I really hope I can be released on 18th June.
I couldn’t find the guys at the restaurant and so ate alone again. Today for no reason, I was full to the max. I had fries, vege and a gigantic sausage wrapped in some pancake stuff. I was so full that I almost feel like vomiting and could hardly walk back to IRISA. Back in Singapore, I would definitely have thrown away the unfinished food. Here, I ate every crumb on the plate. I went straight into my work immediately after lunch, amending my report. With that done I continued on with my code. Halfway through I was too tired to continue and chatted with hoe on msn. He told me about the Hall 2 canoeing expedition yesterday and there was a big cock up regarding the canoes. It was super tiring he said but still fun. Yes, ACE (Annual Canoeing Expedition) is always fun and I really wish that I was there, especially I had seen it through twice already. I don’t think I would have the chance to do it in year 4 as I wouldn’t be staying in hall. I am really in a bit of dilemma between staying in hall and staying at home. Although I wasn’t very “on” while I was in hall, I did participated in the activities especially ACE and the orientation and I had so much fun. Not to mention the Z4 staying together, the night runs, watching TV together. It is also very convenient as I do not have to wake up early in the morning and can go back to take a nap in between lessons. 2 years of hall life is really very memorable. But on the other hand, I had less sleep at night, had to do mundane chores like sweeping the floor, washing the toilets, etc. I also had less contact with friends in NUS as I was constantly in campus and NTU is really quite inaccessible. After some thoughts, I think I would still move out of hall since most people have already graduated and no longer around and also I might not have enough points to stay on.
After chatting with him for awhile I returned to my code until I was too tired to continue and left the office. Back in INSA I went straight to the toilet and flushed away whatever remained there. Then I went to the mart again to buy a loaf bread and a corkscrew because I had to open my red wine bottle. Back in INSA I began to prepare dinner. Tonight’s meal would be luncheon meat and fried egg with rice. I pour some oil first and fried an egg but realized I used too much oil. Will keep this mistake in mind. With the remaining oil, I began to cook the luncheon and that’s when I knew I made a big mistake. With the oil, my luncheon meat was burnt and a lot of smoke was created. In the end the whole kitchen was filled with smoke and I had to open all the windows. Half of my luncheon meat was spoilt in the process. Then I took out a sachet of rice and cooked it in water for 10min according to the instructions. Each sachet is for 2 servings but I really find it just enough for 1. After cooking for 10min, I mixed the rice, egg and meat together and began to eat. The rice was very hard and next time I am going to cook it for 20 min. The rice served here at the restaurant was also very hard and I had to pour a lot of sauce on it. No wonder it says one sachet for 2 servings because the rice is so hard it is difficult to digest. I poured some drinking water to it hoping that it would soften but it spoilt my meat and egg. It was the worst dinner I ever had.
After that I had to spend a lot of time washing my pot because of all the soot due to the mistake I made in cooking the luncheon meat. In the end I spent almost an hour just to prepare a simple dinner. But it is a start nonetheless. I have never cooked a proper meal in my entire life before and prior to my attachment, I wanted to learn some cooking from mum but was too lazy to do it. When I return, I definitely would help her out during dinner so as to learn some tricks. After dinner, I removed the cork of the red wine bottle with the cork screw. Initially I was thinking how can I preserve the wine once I removed the cork. I was thinking to pour the bottle of wine into my water bottle and put it inside a ziplock bag. In the end, I found that the cork is asymmetrical. I can overturn the cork and insert it into the bottle. But it is still not 100% air tight and so I have to finish it fast. I am not a good drinker but after drinking a little bit of it, my body really felt warm and I guess I can have a good night sleep later. But I still don’t like the taste.
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