I am back! In chronological order..

Haller lake is interesting. Most of it is frozen, but the sides remained as the liquid form. It is, however, more interesting when you see Singaporeans amused at the rocks near Haller Lake rather than the Lake itself. Krispy Kreme was next (yes, again), but this time the marginal benefit fell lots. It doesn't really taste as good, probably because its not piping hot this time.

Seattle Premium outlets - where GAP is Giordano, Guess is Hang Ten and Levis is Espirit. You get the idea. It is atrocious how Singapore marks up the prices of certain brands. I bought one Arsenal long-sleeve and a pair of Levis, while the girls' mission there was basically to boost the economy of the States by a huge margin. Relatively cheaper does not equate to cheap in my opinion.. ha. It snowed extremely heavily as we tried to return, and I bet the locals were fascinated with our cuddling-as-we-wait-for-the-bus behaviour.

Snowshoeing was fun, but I thought FIUTS could have organised it much better. Pumping petrol after setting off 2 hours behind time is not very funny, and going to a wrong place initially isn't really that hilarious. Fortunately, the activity compensated for the displeasure. A major snow fight took place after the long hike on snow, and Dobson obviously couldn't contain his obsession for snowman.

Portland, a place where you avoid paying taxes. It became another shopping heaven for the ladies, a fact that I am completely perturbed. Cycling in this bike-friendly place is certainly the highlight for this trip. Staying in the city area only doesn't make me feel I have been to Portland, and since this patriotic Singaporean believes that the Singapore Zoo is ranked one of the bests it does not make much sense to visit the Portland Zoo hah. Roads in Portland have a designated lane for bikes, so CK and I basically cycled through everything - highways inclusive =P. Efficiency remained its best, and we covered much ground. Very pleased =).

School. Subject registration was a complicated and frustrating process, and I would urge all NBS students to reconsider coming over to UW. Foster is too ngeow, and international students will face much barriers and restrictions to take any core modules here. I very much wanted Strategic Management, taught by this Prof Sonali - graduated from UPenn then MIT, worked in Morgan Stanley then McKinsey. I doubt I can experience this education back in NTU =(

Culture. The people here are really really nice. Smiles are everywhere, drivers would give way to people who jaywalk, and people who ride get the right-of-way (hint hint). Education here is very different, and the most obvious point would be the punctuality. While bells or clocks don't work that well back in Singapore (consider VJC and DHS), they perform very well here in Seattle. It is actually amusing to see how everyone disappears within 30 seconds of the bellring. The attentiveness of students here is another impressive point. While I doze off, all the locals are busy scribbling notes. I have yet to catch any local student sleeping in class...

Workload - Insane. Readings and quizzes are given freely. Within a short span of 3 weeks, I have already covered ~3 chapters for each module, taken 2 quizzes and handed in 2 assignments. Mid-term is 2 weeks away, and the scent of Finals can be detected. Foster library is now my favourite haunt, because it is the place I find my productivity. Weekends are reserved for outings and thus I have to work doubly hard on Mondays - Thursdays =(

Gym - OMG. I have been visiting the fantastic IMA very often - for the gym, the track and the pool. Nothing beats the cycling machine seriously. With dinner getting better each day, my appetite is growing and fortunately there is now a means for me to rid off calories haha.

Liquid state at the sides, solid state in the middle. Check out the pebbles.

Again.

THE Premium Outlets. Janice, the one with slippers.

The rewards.

The standard routine.

Our first snowman haha.

Snowshoeing =)

Praying to the snow god. For more/less snow depending on who you are.

Snow is edible, seriously.

An attempt to ski.

The snowman grew.

The largest bookstore in the world, really.

The other people were shopping...

Chio right.

State of Oreo must have delicious Oreos =)

View of Portland.

Partner-in-crime =D

Cycling on the highway, probably once in a lifetime =P

Portland park 1.

Portland park 2.

I double up as a delivery man sometimes..

This restaurant is haunted, so maybe you can find another lady in the picture.

Bikes in train. An impossibility in Singapore. CK and I cycled an additional 2 stops just for this picture...