thanksgiving

i think it's the first time in my life that i won't be at a family holiday... but i do have a bad memory so i may be wrong. a little bit bummed to be missing out, but not really because i know i'll be there in a few days. and i'm too busy trying to enjoy my last days in Singapore without getting all teary. here's what i'm thankful for:

1. my parentals. they are absolutely brilliant and i couldn't ask for better ones. they support me and love me unconditionally even though I KNOW i drive them mad at times. things get rough but i love them no matter what. they don't judge, they instead express concern. they trust that i'll make smart decisions and that i'll learn from dumb things that i've done. parents are parents but i think mine are quite lovely.... most of the time :)

2. my little broski and sissy sister. i'm thankful for my brother because he does almost anything i'll ask. i try to not take advantage of it. i think it's a mutual relationship though. and my sister... well, i think every girl needs a sis. i'm thankful that she shares her bed with me when i go home. and that she'll let me play my "rock n roll" (most of the time). and that even though i don't always ask she let's me borrow her stuff. they've been pretty cool younger siblings & they make being the oldest pretty easy. 

3. my marvelous friends. my bestest friends at home, my roomies, my 'sisters' (hahaha)- love 'em all. i choose to surround myself with good people whom i respect and they do the same in return. it's that simple & it's worked out rather favorably. i've had the most amazing times of my life with some of these people and i can't wait to get back to them! 

4. my BF(F). nearly 4 and a half years..... why do we still like each other?!? even through the bad & ugly times, i knew we were merely waiting for each other to grow up. i'm so incredibly thankful to have this person in my life. & that's probably an understatement :)

there are of course other things i'm thankful for. my lazy doggie (the only one who will lay around with me alll day when i visit home). the incredible opportunity to live in a foreign country. i'm thankful for the good health and happiness that runs in my family. i'm thankful for all the cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and other 'family' that will be there no matter what... and are always down for a good old -fashion  get together. i'm thankful that i am lucky enough to be so happy. 

unfortunately, i'm not really having any sort of thanksgiving dinner. probably just some indian food like usual. since everyone's leaving singapore in the next couple days, we are going to spend these last couple nites having a good time. a straight-up debauchery festival. 

on an unrelated note- i went to the bird park and the zoo yesterday. i LOOOVED it all. penguins were my favorite- duh. perhaps one day i will have the joy of having one for myself. just a little small one? the white tigers were beautiful, magnificent, and terrifying creatures. last week (NO JOKE), a guy jumped into the white tiger exhibit and got mauled to death. crazy. apparently, the zoo people weren't too concerned because everything pretty much went on as usual a few days later. i mean, it WAS the crazy guys fault for jumping in there. did he think those tigers were just gonna lick his face? the singapore zoo and the bird park are so freakin cool. a lot different from the zoo back home. all the exhibits are so much more open. i guess it's natural since this is a tropical island. it's pretty cool when monkeys and birds aren't caged up. i just felt a lot.... closer (?) to a lot of the animals. not so many restrictions. scary and exciting. 

this kid went from thinking the bird on his head was funny to being absolutely terrified by it. the whole thing, including the kid in the background, was hilarious.