Beautiful Boobs

Haha, I didn't see this from porn, but I was given a free show of how to decorate your precious asset. There was this lady in campus, who wore a low cut shirt to reveal her beautifully tattooed bosom. Wow, what a cool way to flaunt your assets. Wonder what other outrageous stunt will I see in campus? 12 more weeks to discover.

Haunt of the Drunkards

Damn, I made the wrong choice of going to the library alone in the late evening. I ended up having to walk back home alone down the eerily dark streets of Berkeley campus and surrounding areas at around 11pm. I thought I am a brave boy until this incident deflate my self-esteem in walking alone on the streets of Berkeley in late night again.

It's already freaky spooky once I step out of the Bio Science Library at around 1030pm. The campus is not as well-lit as NUS and you only see faint light emitting from distance from the widely spaced street lamps. As I am walking alone back home, I get stares from strangers who are also walking alone and people who are walking their dogs at this late hour. Quite creepy. As Berkeley is notorious for its high crime rate, I was extremely cautious of any people around me. Tortured by the freezing cold wind, I hastened my pace to reach a better lit shop houses district. Little did I know that worse thing is going to happen.

Along the famous Telegraph Avenue, I was approached by 2 white drunkards under brightly lighted street lamps.
White Drunkard: "Hi, how's is it going?"
Me: "I am doing fine. Thanks."
I quicken my pace to avoid being too close to them, but to my displeasure, they quicken their pace to tail me.
White Drunkard: "Hey brother, what are you doing? We' re going for fuck fest later, wanna join us?"
This was what I thought at that moment.
"Freak! What fuck fest are you talking about? I am not interested. Get lost."
I was kinda freak out that I accelerated my pace to avoid being followed by them. As I was walking away from them, I could hear the gross vomiting sound in the background and I keep looking back to ensure they are not following close behind me. My confidence grew when I saw a line of police cars in the vicinity and the thought of getting the policemen to send me home did cross my mind before I abandon the idea.

On the way back, the sight of countless homeless sleeping along the side of pavement of streets which has no effect on me on the past even daunted me a little. For I fear they might just strike out at me for disturbing their sleep though they were known to be harmless.

Better get a "Bear" or a friend to walk together next time. Good gracious nothing bad happened to me.

Interesting Scenes in SF and Berkeley

Statue of Poverty

This beggar can amazingly hold his hand in that same position for hours, shaking only when you come closer to him.

Please save me, my world is topsy-turvy.

This is another amazing stunt from a beggar. He can maintain in that position using just a small water bottle to support his head in addition to his 2 incredible arms. Better don't fall, or you will kiss the cars.

Hagrid's pet dog

Haha, this dog captures my attention immediately while I am walking on the street. Look at its thick fur covering its whole body and face, remind me of the character Hagrid in Harry Potter, don't you agree? The owner told me everybody likes to take a picture of it. Haha.

Apparently, a number of people have jumped off from the famous Golden Gate Bridge. What a place to commemorate your death?

Do you still dare to stay in this place? Well, I have already experience a Richter 4 earthquake just last week in Berkeley and I am still alive.

Small, Medium, Big

Amazing Rock Artwork

No glue, no sticky tape. Sheer brilliance in positioning of rocks. The artist showed us how he did it, but I doubt I can do the same stunt as him.

Scenic photos to come in future entries.

Secruity Level at Cal

This is what I saw from my Calmail.

To the campus community:                       
                                                                                                                                   
As you may be aware there were a number of armed robberies on campus and near                                     
the residence halls that occurred over the past two weeks. It's important to                                                 
realize that as with any college campus, ours is not immune from crime. While                                                
the Berkeley campus and surrounding areas are generally as safe as other urban                                                 
areas, the surge over the past two weeks in incidents of robbery, some involving                                                 
weapons, was unusual.  UC Police Department (UCPD) and the City of Berkeley                                                 
police are aware of the problem and are taking extra measures in response.                                             
These include increased uniformed and plain-clothes patrols, as well as                                                   
coordination with other local agencies to analyze the trends. UCPD recommends                                                
programming their emergency number 510-642-3333 into your cell phone, which                                                  
connects directly to the UCPD emergency desk.  For calls on a land line, dial                                                 
911.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                                  
We want to be sure you have accurate information about these recent incidents.                                                 
There have been nine robberies between September 1 and September 10 on and                                                    
around the Berkeley campus.  Suspects have been arrested in four of the nine                                                  
cases. We understand that these crimes have raised concerns about safety.                                                      
We share these concerns and have been working to address them.                                                                 
The robbery that occurred on campus near Haviland Hall on Monday evening,                                                      
September 10 caused the most reaction from our community.  In that case,                                                       
the victim was stuck by several pellets fired from a bb gun. The victim was                                                    
also punched and kicked after initially resisting the robbery attempt. UCPD                                                   
was called and advised that there was a robbery in progress and that shots                                                    
were fired and that the victim may be injured.  UCPD officers arrived very                                                    
soon after the call, saw the two juvenile suspects and pursued them. One was                                                 
caught quickly.  Although the other suspect eluded officers for nearly 90                                                
minutes; he was located and apprehended and found to be in possession of the                                                
bb gun.  During the search for the second suspect, our officers asked people                                                
in the area to "shelter in place" in their offices or residences. The arrests                                                
on Monday evening led to other cases being closed, and detectives from the                                                   
City of Berkeley and the UCPD are following up on other leads.                                                               
                                                                                                                                   
In the meantime, you can do the following to maximize your safety.                                                            
Use personal crime prevention strategies:                                                                              
* Be cautious and aware of your surroundings at all times, especially at night.                                                
* If you are on the campus late in the evening and you are unable to use UCPD's                                                
 Night Safety Services, try to walk with others on well-lit and well-traveled                                                 
 routes (see them on the Night Safety Map at                                                                                  
 http://police.berkeley.edu/PDFs/NightMap.pdf).                                                                               
* Do not wear earphones or talk on the phone when walking at night.                                                            
* Do not carry your laptop in an obvious laptop case.  Using a regular backpack                                                 
 or book-bag reduces the ability of criminals to pick you as a target.  Load                                                   
 tracking software, such as Computrace, onto your system to assist with                                                        
 recovering your property if it is stolen.  Record the make, model and serial                                                  
 number of your laptop in a secure location.                                      
                                                                                                                                        
Use Night Safety Services                                                
UCPD offers a few different ways to ensure the safety of you and your belongings                                               
when you're leaving campus late at night. Choose one of the following ways of                                               
getting home safely:                                         
                                                                                                                       
BearWALK                                                                           
                                              
Call (510) 642-WALK (9255) after dusk and before 1:45am, 15 minutes before you                                                
need pick up and a UCPD Community Service Officer (CSO) will meet you and walk                                                 
with you to your destination within a four to five block radius of the campus.                                                 
CSO's are uniformed, trained, and carry a police radio. Experience shows that                                                  
CSO presence makes a difference. Program boundaries are Cedar (N),                                                            
Prospect/Highland Place (E), Parker (S), and Shattuck (W.).                                                      
                                                                                                                                   
Night Safety Shuttles                                                     
                                              
Call (510) 642-WALK to find out when the next shuttle stops near you. Use the                                                 
Night Safety Shuttle to travel to BART or the southside residence halls. The                                                 
Ride To-Your-Door lines allow you to ride all the way home within service area                                                 
boundaries.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                   
Owl Service                                                                                                             
After 3am, UCPD offers van pick up and drop off service from door to door.                                                 
Call (510) 642-6760 before 5:45am.                                                 
                                              
                                                                                                                                   
Report Suspicious Activity                                                         
                                              
Immediately report any suspicious individuals or activities to the University                                                
Police at 642-6760.  As with any emergency situation, call 9-1-1 from any                                                    
campus phone to reach the University police Department.  Program the University                                                
police emergency number into your cell phone, as well: (510) 642-3333.  This                                                   
number is treated the same as a call to 911. Although we encourage you to utilize
the Night Safety Shuttle and/or Night Escort Service (See
http://police.berkeley.edu/programsandservices/campus_safety/ index.html),                                                
there will be times when you cannot.  In those cases follow these guidelines:      
                                              
* Travel with a friend or in a group                                             
* Be alert and aware of your surroundings                                        
* Avoid dark, vacant or deserted areas; use well-lit, well traveled routes.                                                
* Dress in clothes and shoes which will not hamper movement                                                         
                                                                                                                                   
If You Sense You Are In Trouble:                                                   
                                              
* Move away from the potential threat if possible.                                             
* Join any group of people nearby; cross the street and increase your pace.                                           
* If a threatening situation is imminent, and people are close by to help, yell,                                                  
 scream or make a commotion in any way you can to get their attention.                                                      
* Go to an open business.                                                
* Call 911 from a safe location                                                    
                                                                                                                                   
We are aware that the campus community is concerned about these recent events,                                            
and we share your concerns.  If you want to contact UCPD, you can email                                                       
police@berkeley.edu or call the Crime Prevention Unit at (510) 642-9101.                                                    
You may also contact the Dean of Students at poullard@berkeley.edu.                                                           
Have a safe and healthy semester.                                                  
                                              
Victoria L. Harrison                                       
Associate Vice Chancellor &                                         
Chief of Police                                                                                                                                        
Jonathan Poullard                                                  
Dean of Students 

Now you can understand how safe Singapore is compared to America. Personally,
I haven seen any suspects being arrested in school, but I saw two blacks being
arrested near my local home on one late night. Something I only get to see
once in a blue moon back in Singapore. I would most likely call the BearWalk
service once to experience what is like to be have a "Bear" walking with you.
Haha. Tell you guys more when the day comes.

                               

Culture in Cal

I have wanted to write this a long time ago, but since I have some time before my next lecture starts, I shall pen this all down before I forget.

Interesting sights or scenes in Cal.

• Cal students cycle, skateboard, skate scooter in campus to travel to various class venues.
• Majority of Cal students walk alone in school campus. You hardly see groups of people walking together and chatting. I believe this phenomena indicates students take classes of their interest and not with friends.
• Significant percentage of Cal students sit alone during lectures and discussion. You see spaces in between seats and even if they sit together, they might not be friends. Hence, if you are alone in class, you will not be condemned or rather considered the norm. Guess students here are very individualistic or independent or more focused. This doesn't mean they are anti-social, it's just that their social context is different, may be socializing is purely out of class.
• You don't hear any whispers during class. Everybody is attentive during class and the only person they interact with is the lecturer or discussion instructor.
• Some couples openly display their affection in lecture. There was once I saw a lady resting on her bf shoulders in the middle front row and the lecturer did nothing about it.
• Cal students like to lie on the carpet grass to study in bright sunshine. Well, I can understand as weather here is very cold, but I rather stay indoors which is much warmer.
• Accquitance chat up with you easily. There's a few people I just met once and say a few words, but they would walk up to you, greet you warmly, and chat up with you. You even get greetings from strangers giving you well wishes in the morning or night while walking on the streets.
• This is the most intriguing phenomenan to me. American Asians here are generally shorter than Asians in Singapore. Suddenly, I just feel taller. Believe me. Haha. I thought it's just my feeling until I verify this with my full-time students from SMSA who have studied here for a few years. I can't reason this out considering the food serving here is homongous, about 1.5 to double the normal serving you would find in Singapore. Any explanations from anybody? And when I say they are shorter, doens't infer they are plump as well, but smaller built in general. Think this will make it easier for me to find a partner down here? Haha. This is just a joke and please don't spread this nonsense around.

My Revised UCB TimeTable

Here's my new TimeTable. I just dropped a class and added another new one. All these done midway through the 3rd week of school. Wonder if I would be able to catch up with my newly added class. The reason I have to go through such hassle is because I got conned by the description of the module or class as it is called here. It turned out Biophysical Neurobiology is more of a physics class with lots of formula and equations than a biology class with factual content. There's just too much derivation and complex equations which I simply can't fathom. The final straw came when I look at the graded take home assignment and to my astonishment, I can't do any of the maths based question. Only then did I realize I have been a stupid fool to persevere for the 2 torturous weeks. Apparently, my maths sucks or it's not as good as I thought myself to be. I have no choice but to drop the class and find another replacement class fast. That's how I landed in my current situation. Haiz. At least, the new class, Introduction to Neurobiology, is more like a biology class or I will have to hunt for classes at the eleventh hour again.

On hindsight, I wonder if that's a signal for me to drop one of my class as everybody here is only doing 4 classes and yet I am trying to be gutsy and do 6. I have to say I am suffering badly right now, unlike others who's going out to experience activities in the school or explore around the place. I am in a dilemma whether it's worth doing extra classes here in exchange for a easier time and more flexibility in choices of modules back in NUS over more time to enjoy and absorb myself into this amazing new environment. Please give me some advice? Thanks.

Cooking Lesson in Cal

Haha, believe it or not, I just went for a cooking lesson held by the Cal Cooking Club. Yep, in UCB campus. On my god, the lecture theater was so crowded, by the time I reached the place 10 min late, we got to sit on the stairways. Ok digress abit. FYI, Cal is the nickname of UCB, as it the first and oldest of University of California, so UCB took up this nick and trademark it before other UC can take it, so the next time you see a Cal shirt on the streets, it doesn't just mean California, it's UCB!!! Bet you will see me with a Cal T-shirt, sweater or cap when I am back in Singapore. Those are the must-haves man.

Ok, back to our cooking lesson. They invited an alumni graduate, who is currently a chef in one of the restaurants in SF, to teach us how to make a nice dormitory meal using just a microwave and some cutlery as most dormitories here don't have a stove. So, the meal they taught us was "Yogi". So what the hell is Yogi? It's basically a flour ball, or dumpling as the Westerners call it, made from corn flour, potato, bacon, milk plus other ingredients including flower petals. Yes, you didn't read wrongly, it's flower petals. Flower petals remind me of the flower restaurant I ate at Eden Cafe back in Singapore. Haha. In fact, flower petals is quite a common ingredient in America food as most Americans have a garden in their backyard where they grow flowers and add them as flavorings or spices for their food. I can't really recall all the steps but it's basically mixing the milk with corn flour, cook the potato and bacon using the microwave, put them altogether and knead them into balls, using black pepper sauce as topping and Vola. There you have your Yogi balls. Waited for about 20 minutes to taste the Yogi balls. Hmm, not too bad but it's unlikely I would go through the effort to prepare Yogi balls in my apartment, too much effort plus I don't have a microwave either.

Oh, the Cal Cooking Club also has weekly dinning activities where they go to different restaurants in the Bay Area to taste different cuisines, yep pretty much what you call fine dining or in a more crude term, food hunt. The Bay Area is a wonderful place for food lovers simply because it has the most diverse and balance population in US, be it Asians, Americans, Europeans and maybe Africans? Well, I don't know of any African cuisines, but at least I can even find Singapore food here, what more can you ask for? Bet the RV4e guys would have join this club long ago if there's one in NUS. Wonder why isn't there such a club in NUS? Strange. Maybe HH and HF can be the founders of NUS Fine Dinning Club and add them to your resume, wouldn't that be wonderful? I bet alot of food-lovers are also drooling while reading this. Tag me if you are. Haha.

Roundup of 2nd week in School

Apologies for the lack of updates. I have been too tied down with too many stuff I hardly have any time for myself. Time seems to fly faster here and I wonder why I am left with so little time at the end of the day. Guess it's a double edge sword to be occupied. On one hand, I am learning and experiencing new things just about every other day, been moving around much more than back in Singapore, never been more independent before by doing my own laundry and cooking my own meals. Now I wish I hadn't taken my Mum for granted for washing my clothes and cooking my meals. I really wish my Mum is here to help me. Haha. Well, but it's time to grow up. Because of all these hassle, I am starting to stress out with my studies. Pace of school is much faster down here, no spoon feeding, minimal notes, no breaks in between lectures and maximum independent self study. Sharks man, I really hope I can survive this grueling torture by the end of semester, totally didn't make any contingency plan if I fail any of the classes. Please bless me everybody.

Ok, here's the list of key events or incidents I can recall that happened for the past one week.

31st August, Friday
I was supposed to contact my exchange mentor for EAP Dinner, but only realized my mistake on the day itself, so of course I didn't meet my mentor unlike what I state in my previous entry, but guess what happened. Another EAP mentor, UC Berkeley student, couldn't find his mentee and he adopted the whole bunch of mentor-less Singaporeans as his mentees. The interesting thing was this guy, David, went to NUS for exchange last semester, i.e. AY06/07 sem 2, and he stayed in Eusoff Hall, which was the same hall as Shaun, so we clicked right away sharing about our experience and perspective of Singapore. The thing that struck me most about him is he shared how he actively search for SPG, sarong party girls, high and low in Singapore but he couldn't find one, so he felt very cheated and label it as a scam. Haha. And there was once a Singapore girl in Eusoff Hall invited him to her room and chat up with him for long hours, so he expected some request for "XXX" in return. But yet again, he was so shocked and disappointed that nothing happened. Haha, it's just so funny the type of mentality and attitude those whites have, really amusing. Another interesting thing about him. He can speak Singlish amazingly well for a white, like wa lau eh, la, lor, ma etc, so damn funny and cool. He also commented local movies sucks and the jokes are bad. Well, that's your opinion dude.

1st September, Saturday
Went IKEA to shop for furniture, bed sheets, pillows and cutlery. The meals in IKEA are just as budget as those in Singapore, $4.99 for 15 meatballs plus potatoes, very cheap for a meal in US. Miss one of the most significant events in UCB calender. Yep, it's Football night, but I mean America Football. Every time there's a home match, the 72,000 seater stadium will be filled to the brim, the roadsides will be full of parking cars and there will be traffic jam on the streets. And mind you, this is just college football and UCB student population is only about 20,000 plus, while Berkeley population is about 150,000, but yet the locals are so supportive of their local football team just like the way the locals support their local football clubs in Europe. College football team is equivalent to their local football club and they staunchly support and follow their favorite football team. Good Gracious, UCB, nicknamed the Cal Bears, emerged victorious over Tennessee University and you could see the rave celebrations of the delighted fans on the streets and restaurants. The whole town is momentarily painted dark blue with the Berkeley shirts or pullovers. So do you now understand why it's so hard for Singapore to excel in sports internationally? The sporting culture is just not the same. In this upcoming notable fall fixture, the Cal Bear is going to play against UCLA and their fiercest local arch rival, Stanford University at home. My goal is to catch at least one of these football matches before I fly back home, hopefully the ticket price don't jack too high up because of the black market. Tickets here are all sold out and black market tickets are over 40USD per match. Crazy man.

2nd September, Sunday
Nothing significant except we took 1 hour of train ride to Oakland just to eat Singaporean food at Banyan Tree restaurant for dinner. The food is no way near average Singapore food standard. Bet any Singapore hawker who come over to the Bay Area will have better business than this restaurant. No idea how they manage to expand to that many chain restaurants in the Bay Area either.

3rd September, Monday
It's a public holiday cos it's Labor day, but I rather forget what happened on this day. Accompanied Qi Rong, a fellow Singaporean exchange mate, to San Francisco before taking a long futile trip to northern Bay Area to "Target", a super mart, only to find out the prices of the cutleries there are more expensive. So, we have to make a another rush trip down to IKEA. Wasted hell lot of time waiting for the train and buses that I got very vexed and frustrated. The schedules they displayed at the train stations and bus stops are useless if they follow them. Really make me appreciate Singapore efficient transport system after experiencing those nerve-wreaking, torturous wait for trains and buses, waited like half an hour to an hour just for the train or bus to arrive. And to make matters worse, public transport here are so exorbitant, I spend about 10 dollars merely just on all the train rides that day. Living expenses here is almost triple that of Singapore.

4th September, Tuesday
Start of 2nd week of school. Didn't submit one graded assignment for discussion cos I didn't know it's counted. Oh gosh. Students here are very outspoken. They actively answer instructor or tutor's questions and come to class prepared with questions. Instructors will answer questions in the middle of lectures and pause to look around for questions from students. In essence, students never bring their doubts back home, so unlike Singaporeans. I heard the consultation hours of the tutor and instructor are always packed with long queue and they are flooded with emails from students everyday. Culture shock man. For my law class, it's even more scary, every student fight to speak in class, I feel so timid when I am with them , plus my inability to slang like the American accent makes it hard for them to understand me too. Jesus Christ. To make matter worse, my law instructor gives no notes and write no notes on the board and whatever lesson you learn comes solely out of his mouth. This is what I call the highest order of learning. Make your own notes and read the textbook. Instructor is here just to facilitate you. Guess this is the way to groom top academia and researchers. Independent motivated self study and instructors are just here to facilitate you, not feed you. I thought Singaporeans should be the most competitive people on earth since they are renown for their kiasu-ism, but I am proven so wrong down here. Passion for learning, or what you call thirst for knowledge beats kiasu-ism in the long run. If there's a statement to distinguish students in America and Singapore, I would say Singaporeans are result-oriented while Americans are more conscientious and passionate of their work and studies.

5th September, Wednesday
I cooked my meals for the first time in overseas. Made vegetable and chicken soup and I dare say my soup taste as great as my mum's soups. Mum, I am not kidding. More home cook meals to come.

7th September, Friday
Another EAP party organized by the International Office. Finally, I get to meet my mentor, a UCB graduate, and oh my, she's a gorgeous beautiful white lady. She went to two places for exchange during her time as an UCB undergraduate, India follow by Italy. An environmental economics major graduate, she's currently working in a small environmental consulting firm. We struck up pretty good rapport and before she left, she arranged to bring me to Santa Cruz to chill this coming Sunday, so cool and exciting. My exchange mates who haven't seen their mentors till then were so jealous they keep teasing me about her, but come on, she's attached and she is bringing her bf and best friend along for this trip, don't think too much people. David, the same guy who met us last Friday joined us for dinner and come over to our apartment to chill out and have a chit-chat session. For those who uses Facebook, Facebook is very big thing in America and I always see people using it in computer labs or talking about it. Friendster is totally non-existent here now. In our apartment, David, showed us the photos of the Singaporean girls he fancy and dated using Facebook as well as the places he went in South Sea Asia, very cool dude.

8th September, Saturday
Went for SMSA, Singapore Malaysia Student Association, of UCB BBQ in a park off-campus for lunch. It's was a freezing cold afternoon and I can't stop shivering even with my jacket on. Wonder how am I going to survive in the winter. Think I need to wear thicker clothings than everyone here soon, so embarrassing. Met Ying Xim who used to be Hok Him and Liren's classmate back in Hwa Chong JC, what a small world. Talked to alot of people and realize some of the full-time students have become very Americanized and majority of them come from RJ as expected. I was pretty amazed that quite a number of them have actually seen me in campus as I took same classes with them, but I didn't notice them in class. Guess it must be me coming late for classes always which make me more "visible" than anybody. Not that I want to, but my classes are all packed together with no breaks in between and the lectures here end at the very last minute and I need time to travel to the next venue. After I talked to some of the scholars, I realize I have been pretty much overloaded and they joked the reason I am seen by so many people is because I took too many classes. Haha. Even full-time student don't take on so much workload, let alone an exchange student. Haha. What to do? I want to transfer those credits back to my home university. But I might seriously consider dropping one module which I totally don't understand what's going on but still trying hard to persevere. Haiz. That's this one cute very Americanized girl who took one same class as me and she was so glad she finally found somebody she know for this class that she requested me not to drop this class and sit with her. Haha. So flattering. But knowing America do not have the culture of exchanging cell phone numbers with new found friends easily, just like they hardly sms, I didn't ask for her number and doubt I would find her that easily in lecture, maybe discussion session is possible. We shall see.

Thanks for reading this long entry. Give yourself a pat for enduring my long-windedness. Haha.

My New Accomodation

Phew, so glad I finally get to move into my new permanent accommodation yesterday. No more cramming in the backpacker hostel where 4 people squeezed into a tiny room. There's hardly space to walk or sit after we placed our big luggage on the floor. My new accommodation is about 3 blocks away from the south side of my campus, very much walking distance and convenient. UC Berkeley campus is build in the middle of a big park, everywhere you walk is green lush fields and temperate tress and shrubs, and there's groceries, cafe and shop houses everywhere outside the campus, albeit like SMU except the commercial buildings are shop houses and not shopping malls.

However, my excitement was dampened when we realised the previous tenant hasn't moved out the house because of an misunderstanding and confusion between the house manager and previous tenant. Because of this, we were forced to live together with the previous tenant for one night yesterday. Hopefully everything will be settled tonight by the time we reach home with all their furnishings cleared. Can't take any more "headaches" after all the hassle we have been through searching for accommodation and commuting from San Francisco to Berkeley everyday for early 8am classes. Our apartment is minimally furnished and won't have any Internet access at our home til we get our wireless up next Wednesday, so pardon me if you guys can't find me on MSN til then.

On the brighter note, we met some very nice people from SMSA, Singapore Malaysia Student Association, a student society in UC Berkeley. One of them happen to be Shaun's friend, Zheng Yu, who not only kindly offer his sleeping bags to us to sleep when he learned of our situation, but drove and showed us around Berkeley yesterday. He drove us to the Famous "In-and-Out" US fast food restaurant for dinner and I have to agree the fries there is very unique, contains the original raw potato crunchiness which you can never taste in any other fries from other fast food franchises. Accordingly, they are the first company who invented the drive-in order concept which are widely adopted by other fast food restaurants today. We also wanted to try the famous Krispy Kream doughouts which I heard is much more better than the doughnuts from Doughnut Factory in Singapore, but unfornately we were late by about 4 minutes when the shop closed at 11pm. Haiz. Not to worry, I am sure we still have plenty of time to try it another time. Zheng Yu later drove us to the top of Berkely hills which is on east side of UC Berkeley campus where we get see the night view of the 3 main cities on the Bay area of California. The view is so awesome we could see the all the famous landmarks of the Bay Area like the Bay bridge, Golden gate bridge, Alcatraz Island, the Campanile Tower of UCB and the sea arrounding the 3 cities. What a view, but I didn't bring my camera to capture this wonderful image.

Going for my mentor/mentee dinner assigned by the International office of UCB later tonight. Pretty much like the SP dinner we used to play in Orientation Game. Haha. Quite excited to meet and interact with her, wonder how's she like. If it's good, you guys will see my updates soon. LOL.