Stuck in separate undergraduate colleges, separated by 2500 miles of country roads / 6 hours flight / 3 hours time zone difference, we spent countless hours on video-conferencing on MSN/Skype and on the mobile phone chatting (so much so that Jas burst her phone bill terribly twice!)… Breaks were always anxiously looked forward to, as it meant times that we could spend quality time together!

Winter Breaks

Winter Trip 2004 – East Coast, USA

Our first meeting since Jas left for the states in Aug 04… the first and longest separation we faced at 4.5 months!! FM was the first to land at LGA in NYC before sunrise, waiting patiently in the freezing winds curbside, for an airport shuttle that almost never came, to bring him to JFK to meet his soon-to-be-arriving darling. Jas remembers clearly the anxiety she felt as she sat in the plane waiting for it to land in JFK… at last!

Our hectic road trip covers all the major cities along the north-east coast of the USA, and was done mainly by Greyhound and Chinatown buses:
New York –> Philly –> Virginia –> Washington DC –> Boston –> New York.

The long journeys were tiring, but the trip was definitely fun and fulfilling! We learnt a lot about each other that very first trip, e.g. the many kisses, the big fights, the uncovering of habits and (dis)likes. We soon realized how useful these long trips were in the development of our relationship: without the long process of low and continuous friction that other couples go through to grow into each other, we had to depend on intense moments of fiery emotions that emerged in the course of facing a strange and foreign world to forge our understanding of each other and of ourselves. We dare say that the process we went through was more painful than what most couples had to endure, but as the saying goes: “a stronger fire forges a hardier steel”.

Winter Trip 2005 – Italy

After our first overly ambitious winter trip, we vowed never to have a super hectic trip ever… Winter in Italy was a nice and slow trip… but perhaps we overdid it and it ended up being a wee bit too boring… different cities, but too many churches, cathedrals and museums! Though it was certainly lots of fun with skiing in the Alps, street-milling in Venice, and roaming in Rome!

Rome –> Dolomites (the Italian Alps) –> Venice –> Florence –> Siena –> Pisa –> Milan –> Rome/Vatican City

FM’s favourite Italian city: Venice for its endless narrow streets and quaint little stores hidden throughout the walkways. Full of picturesque moments around every street corner, perfect for young couples to wander aimlessly around in day or night, even on Christmas Day itself!

Winter Trip 2006 – Mexico

Exótico México! After some European travel experience in ’05, we decided to explore another part of the world! By now, we were bolder, adventurous seasoned travelers! Armed with only a rough itinerary of cities to visit, one-way plane tickets from San Diego to Mexico City, and a hotel booking for the first 2 nights in Mexico City, we set off for our trip! And boy was this the fun-nest of all our trips! A true backpacking trip in the foreign lands of Spanish-speaking México!

Mexico City –> Teotihuacán pyramids –> Guanajuato –> Anguana (Paricutin volcano) –> Patzcuaro –> Morelia –> Matzalan –> Copper Canyon –> Creel –> Chihuahua –> Tijuana

Note: Neither Jas nor FM speaks or understand any bit of Español (Spanish), so the trip involved much finger pointing and endless consumption of uniquely delicious food we can never order again (since we have no idea what we are eating. :p)

The rest of our undergrad years…

Although the main bulk of traveling and meeting up with each other was during the 3 winter breaks, short but regular visits to visit each other were scheduled throughout the rest of the year. Often, this arrangement meant that we each had to give up potentially-fun-filled times with our own friends to other holiday destinations like Florida or the Grand Canyon, but… keeping darling company is still more important, right?

• Spring breaks – because UCSD operates on a quarter system and Duke runs on the semester system, our spring break misses each other by 1-2 weeks every year. Therefore, when one person is having spring break, the other is having finals or the first week of classes. It’s thus the time to keep the person in sch company, while classes still goes on for him/her. E.g. crashing classes, cooking meals, spending simple time together… plus having a little fun together when possible!
• Summer breaks – a little traveling somewhere, and time back home in Singapore! Although we had long summer breaks (~3 months/year), 2 months of the first summer was spent working in an A*STAR lab, while another 2 months of the second summer was spent working in our senior honors thesis labs, so there’s actually not much time to meet up and play.
• Thanksgiving/Fall breaks/Birthdays – Especially during the 3rd (final) yr when frequency of flying to and fro somehow intensified… =P