an epiphany.

my first ski instructor at steamboat springs (not outgoing, friendly, austrian axel) was a grumpy guy.

on one trip up the slopes, i had the misfortune of getting on the same chairlift as him. it was a rather long ride, and i thought i should try to hold some sort of a conversation with him.

so i asked him if he was busy at work. the guy mumbled something about how prior to our arrival, he worked 30 days in a row. no days off.

which is crazy! and i exclaimed as much. the grumpy guy then looked at me, and said, "yah. it's tiring. but at the same time, you know, it's just skiing."

at that moment, i wished that was something i could say about my job - that it's not really a job, it's just fun. but i couldn't.

maybe it's time for me to seek greener pastures somewhere else.

bad things do not happen once.

in four days, i have been on the ski patrol snowmobile twice.

in four days, i have been to the ang mo kio x-ray clinic and laboratory twice.

i visited the technicians at ang mo kio today. again.

i add a new injury to my battered body.

i have a very badly sprained ankle. i cannot put any weight on my right ankle, and i cannot walk.

what with an unmoveable right shoulder, and a gimp right ankle, the right side of my body is officially not functioning.

i knew coming back to singapore was a bad idea.

memories from steamboat springs.

i love staying in a ski resort.

i love that for 10 days, you belong to this small town where everyone knows everyone else (a novelty for a city girl), and free bus rides are provided around town (ditto).

and i love that for this short period of time, all you do is eat, ski / ride, watch tv, and sleep.

i love the trips we make to the huge supermarkets with not bottles, but buckets of peanut butter for sale, to buy enough food to last us for the week.

and i love my elder brother, who is an amazing cook, for whipping up meal...

after meal...

after meal...

after meal of delicious dishes to keep us all happy and full.

i love the skiing.

(nothing, and i mean NOTHING prepares you for the agony of squeezing your feet into those tight-fitting ski boots.)

(but it won't be long before you get used to that painfully numb feeling, and start enjoying the feeling of zooming around in your skis.)

(an apprehensive look at the slope we're about to conquer.)

but i love the riding so much more.

(pre-fracture - with a big smile.)

(post-fracture - less smiles, less confidence, and with a much more cautious stance.)

and of course, i love love love the beautiful, beautiful snow scenery which you will never see here in the lion city (not even at our infamous snow city).

i love the new friends that we make.

(axel, our austrian ski instructor who's always shouting "hey! i'm the old man here!" whenever i want to take a break. i swear, he is a slave-driver. but he's such a hilarious person.)

(and there's todd, our southern riding instructor who's all about sharing the love of snowboarding and music from his side of the world. he's grown very weary of seeing ski patrol snowmobiles zoom past him whenever i disappear for short periods of time. i'd like to think i'm his star student - two trips on the ski patrol snowmobile in four days! that HAS to be a new record.)

and finally, i love the wacky, paris-hilton-esque photos you take whilst on holiday.

i DO NOT love being back in singapore.

photos from the big apple.

i'm suffering from the post-vacation blues. so this is my way of doing something about it - arranging my holiday photos.

gosh, i wish i was anywhere but here right now.

fairy lights from the huge, huge, HUGE christmas tree at rockefellar plaza. i took this picture whilst standing under the tree. gorgeous.

on the subway to soho. i love this photo for reasons unknown to myself. it's just a very "旅游" photo, don't you think?

details on the prince street station wall. the whole wall was filled with such silhouette details. beautiful.

balthazaar, a french bistro at soho. a supposedly fantastic place for celebrity-spotting. but i haven't seen anyone the 4 times i've been there. typical. celebrity-spotting aside, this place serves excellent fare at reasonable prices, with a cosy, if somewhat noisy atmosphere to boot. advanced reservations recommended.

another fantastic restaurant in the big apple - asia de cuba. a fusion restaurant along madison avenue.

world trade centre site.

flatiron building - one of my favourite buildings in the big apple simply cos' it's an interestingly-shaped one. it really looks rather flat, doesn't it? and not too far from this cafe, city bakery, which serves one of the best salads i've tasted ever.

a big apple icon - the empire state building.

a boutique hotel next to the museum of sex (which i would have visited if i wasn't with my mama). i thought the lights on the building's exterior rather looked like sperms swimming, no?

park avenue. one of my favourite avenues in the big apple cos' it's so wide! and it's very upper class. my mama made a very astute observation - buildings which a very upper class tend to have white, rather than black people as their door men. hmm...

the chrysler building at dawn. another big apple icon. beautiful isn't it?

really, i wish i was anywhere but here right now.

when a sprain becomes a fracture.

i went to see my trusty sin sei about my sprained shoulder yesterday. he massaged it a little, said it felt a little swollen, and asked me to get an x-ray.

so i went to ang mo kio to get my x-ray done (not very friendly people i might add). turned out my sprain was not so much a sprain as a fracture. explains why i couldn't lift my arm up.

so now i'm out of action for about one to three weeks. i'm not supposed to move my arm at all. not that i can even if i wanted to.

my very first sports injury. i'm so proud yet so annoyed at the same time.

my trophies of war.

injuries sustained from my skiing / snowboarding stint:

• a slightly sprained left ankle (from forcing my foot into my ski boot)
• a bruise on my right calf (from my ski boot which was buckled a little too tightly)
• a bruised right shin bone (from the too-tight ski boot which pressed against it)
• sore butt and knees (you either fall on your booty or your knees when you ride)
• a sprained right shoulder - i can't lift my right arm at all (hard fall from riding a little too aggressively)
• aching muscles everywhere. and i mean everywhere.

and a grand finale from today:

• a bloody nose (again, from riding a little too aggressively. a little confidence is a dangerous thing.)

i have officially gone on every form of mountain transportation possible:

• skies
• snowboard
• snowmobile (twice - once after my sprained shoulder, another after my bloody nose), and
• in a stretcher (a few seasons ago - i was brought down the mountain to the first aid clinic in a stretcher).

with all these sports injuries, i'm officially a sportswoman.

ps: todd, don't worry, we're still feeling the love.

styeasy.

this is a new snowboarding term i've learned. it short for stylin'-with-ease.

ski pants tucked into the bindings of your snowboard? not styeasy. ski pants covering the bindings? that's styeasy.

my instructor producing a piece of cloth attached to his jacket just when i needed to clean my sunnies after a hard fall? pure styease.

when you're snowboarding, you're not snowboarding, you're not even boarding. you're riding. how styeasy is that?

it's time to styease up for riding dudes.

second leg - the big apple to steamboat springs.

i left the big apple (*sob*) for steamboat springs, colorado, yesterday morning. and here was my journey, door-to-door:

6.30am
woke up to my mum shouting, "xin ah! wake up and wash your face lah! i want to keep the toiletries already!"

7.00am
left the hotel. crossed the road to 42nd and 5th to wait for the airport express to newark liberty airport.

7.10am
boarded the airport express.

8.00am
reached the airport. checked in. was asked to pay usd100 for overweight baggage by a white chick. probably the highlight of her day.

8.00am to 10.00am
waited to board my flight to denver, colorado. read half of my new chick-lit "the nanny diaries". so brainless, but so hilarious.

10.00am
boarded ua785. fell asleep before the plane took off.

10.00am (big apple time) to 12.30 (colorado time - 2 hours behind)
slept my way through the entire 4 hour flight. i think the flight attendant attempted to force some water down my throat, but to no avail.

12.30pm to 2.30pm
waited for my dad to arrive from san francisco. finished reading the second half of "the nanny diaries". hated the ending.

2.30pm
met my dad at the baggage claim area. he asked me to arrange for transportation up to steamboat springs, the ski resort where we'll be spending the next week or so. nothing too difficult. or so i thought.

2.35pm
asked the guy at the ground transportation information counter the fastest way of getting up to steamboat springs. was informed that there was only one shuttle that goes up.

2.40pm
called the one shuttle company that provides transportation up to steamboat springs. was informed that all shuttles for the day were FULLY BOOKED.

2.45pm
ran back to the guy at the ground transportation information counter for help. he said the only alternative was to charter a shuttle.

2.50pm to 3.00pm
ran around denver international airport looking for a shuttle to charter. finally found a grumpy asian guy willing to do it for usd500. he's supposed to be worth every cent cos' in his words, "i experienced. i drive you up there."

3.00pm to 5.30pm
waited for my brothers to arrive from the big apple and london respectively. ate a garden salad from burger king, as well as dodgy chinese food from a place called "panda express", whilst waiting. also walked around a small bookstore, and found 4 books i'd like to read.

5.45pm
elder brother finally, finally arrived from london. i was starting to feel a little like tom hanks in "the terminal".

5 hours after arriving from the big apple, we were finally, finally on our way to steamboat springs.

5.45pm to 10.45pm
grumpy asian guy drove us up the mountains. it started to snow. grumpy asian guy was quite the reckless driver. for those who have sat in my car before and thought i was reckless, you haven't met this guy. his car SPINS everytime he does a u-turn. i am NOT joking.

i made myself sleep the entire way so i wouldn't get freaked out by his driving. i'm deluded that way.

10.45pm
finally reached steamboat springs. had to locate the mgmt company next, so we could check into our condo.

11.00pm
stuck in falling snow outside mgmt company, which was obviously closed. a security guard was supposed to be around to check us in, but he was nowhere in sight. f**ker was probably eating snake somewhere. countless attempts at contacting him finally paid off. he drove down to the company, and handed us our keys.

11.00pm to 11.30pm
drove around steamboat springs, trying to find our condo. when we finally did, the vehicle we were in refused to go up a snowy slope. the van wasn't equipped for such snowy grounds apparently. hah! hah! hah! grumpy asian guy not so experienced after all!

11.45pm
finally, finally, FINALLY got to our condo and moved all our luggage in.

the entire journey, from the big apple to steamboat springs, took 18 hours and 45 minutes (big apple hours). to put things in perspective, my journey from singapore to the big apple (on different continents ah, for the geographically challenged), door-to-door, took less time.

i'm HOU tired ah.

new york moments.

an adolescent moment

i took a photo with the poster for "suddenly last summer". cos' gale harold's face was on it. my mum asked if one photo was enough.

and here's the thing, i had to think for a moment before answering in the negative.

an unhappy moment

i saw two ho-ho-hot guys along fifth avenue today. they were tall and lean and impossibly stylish.

the catch? they were holding hands. sometimes, the world is SO unfair.

a tiffany moment

i visited the flagship store on fifth today, and pretended to be someone i wasn't - someone whose wealth was in the paris hilton league. i got the sales lady to show me piece after unaffordable piece, and i admired each and every one of them.

it feels good to be SO pampered.

a moment of realisation

it might have been my purposeful walk. it might have been my air of apathy. it might even have been the cream cheese bagel i was holding in my hand.

a tourist stopped and asked me, another tourist, for directions today. and i managed to direct her.

it's a sign. i was born to live in the big apple. why else would people mistake me to be a new yorker?

foray into times square.

the day - 31 december 2006, the time - 11.15pm. the location - manhattan, new york city, the junction of 6th avenue and west 40th street.

my mum and i were just two of the tens of thousands of people stupid and disorganised enough to venture into new york's famed times square at this late hour. needless to say, we didn't get very far. all the roads leading to times square were blocked, and my mum was getting seriously freaked out by the crowd.

so i sent my mum back to the hotel, and set out to get into times square on my own.

i contemplated taking the subway to times square. but figured the station was probably closed. i thought about walking further downtown along 6th avenue, finding an unblocked street that would lead me onto broadway, and heading uptown again. but i got as far as 37th street before giving up.

i wondered if i should have taken up my brother's invitation to go to his friend's brother's friend's (i kid you not) apartment which overlooks time square. but decided i really didn't want to spend new year's with a whole bunch of strangers.

i wasn't keen on spending new year's on the streets with angsty people, annoyed with not being able to get into times square either.

so i headed back to the hotel, where i changed into my new jeans and top, counted down with dick clarke, got a close-up of the ball dropping on my flat-screen tv, and spent the new year with my mother.

just where i want to be.

10 things i love about the big apple (so far).

1. what's not to love about a city with four seasons?
2. the city's many villages - each with a unique character of its own.
3. broadway.
4. soho. shopping (victoria's secret. h & m. mexx boutiques which are bigger than my closet space. dean & deluca - so much more than an upmarket tea-selling shop at ann siang hill.). balthazar. mm-mm.
5. post-christmas sales. i got two pairs of levi's for usd44. 'nuff said.
6. since we're on shopping - bigger clothings cuts for the fuller caucasian figure. and me.
7. stretch limousines. paris hilton has GOT to be in one of the 10 i saw in the last hour.
8. new york public library. no matter how noisy or rowdy this city gets (especially during this holiday season when everyone decides to congregate at the big apple), the new york public library, conveniently located opposite the gorgeous boutique hotel i'm staying in, can be counted on for some peace and quiet.
9. bryant park hotel (www.bryantparkhotel.com).
10. seeing gale harold (a.k.a. brian kinney) performing on stage. less than 5 metres away from me!