Lake District (17th Apr - 19th Apr)

I've been pretty much a lazy person after i return from Lake District because 1) I am still in the peaceful mood, 2) Still in this state of inertia & 3) I am still thinking about how beautiful the whole place is.

To start of, the YHA Windermere hostel we stayed in was fantastic (except for the fact that they charged us for every single thing). The room was directly facing Lake Windermere and was on top of one of the green hills. From our room, we were able to catch the sunset and it was a remarkable view. We took approximately 4 hrs 50 mins to reach Windermere from Loughborough. Joan and me bumped into John at the Oxenholme Lake station and ran to catch the train because our train was severely delayed.

Upon reaching our hostel, we checked on the places to go. We left almost immediately to fully utilize the day. Troutbeck Village is home to many cows, sheeps, horses and other human beings who either stays in cottages or barns. I must say, the sheeps and cows are pretty photogenic there. I like to think that it is the most photogenic in the whole of England. You'll see!

We started off the second day with a fulfilling hearty buffet breakfast meal for 4.20 pounds per person in the hostel. It was nothing spectacular but filling and enough to make Aida happy before we adjourned for our cycling expedition. We rented the bike for 9.50 pounds for a whole day use.Taking the bus is definitely cheaper but hey, the views were stunning and we never regretted cycling for more than fiften kilometres that day. We stopped quite often just looking and being more amazed at every stop we made. We had the best-lunch-i've-ever-had-since-i-got-here-in-England at this hotel, paying 8.95 pounds for the best fish and chips in the world. I am not joking. There were no bones so i enjoyed my food very much. From Ambleside, we cycled towards Grasmere hoping to reach Grasmere in time to visit William Woodsworth (1770 - 1850) museum. (Un)fortunately, we weren't able to reach Grasmere as Joan was stuck at the Woodsworth' Home in Rydal where she spent close to three hours just walking by the gardens he designed and understanding how the nature around him influenced him so greatly that is evident in his writings. He is Joan's idol for the longest time see... It must have been such an exciting time for her. Feel free to visit her blog for more information on her visit (because John and me did not enter).

John and me climbed up the mountain together instead of visiting the Woodsworth' Home. The view was magnificent and i saw the different types of rocks that resulted in the different height of mountains, etc. Lake district is a chain of mountains but not all the mountains are made up of the same rock. Going back to the ice age, some of the mountains have gone through major folding and faulting processes while the rest, are remnants of extinct volcanoes. John and i took a total of two hours just going up the mountain and back down. I don't think i can ever forget the whole view and the experience of climbing to the top.

We re-grouped and met Joan again after the two hours. We cycled towards Ambleside town once again, finding a place to eat for dinner. We decided on some Indian food (I know..i know! Disappointing right?) BUT it was good. At least mine was. Lamb Briyani, no less! John reminded me of the lambs i passed by while cycling,trying to make me feel guilty about eating it. Meanie! Luckily, it was good lamb. :)

We went back after that and slept early in preparation for our cruise on the third day. We did not catch the cruise in the end because 1) It was drizzling and the sun was hiding behind the clouds, 2) It was freaking cold & 3) We were all in favour of just relaxing and having tea in some nice cafe. It was good because the weather made up my mind for me and that saved me fourteen pounds.

We sat in a cafe and walked very little to a chocolate shop before deciding to eat lunch in an Italian restaurant. The garlic mushroom was..orgasmic. Loved it to bits and i'll probably try to make my own next week. I found out that Miss Potter (the movie) was filmed there in Lake District and that Peter Rabbit (the cartoon character) started there as well. Third day was a relaxed one and i am not complaining at all. This is life. This is how travelling should be.

The little splurges in life made me happy. Please see the upcoming pictures for more details.

Tis' a struggle

So you come back every night to a distressing front.

Then you pray it'll be better tomorrow.

Only to realize that it does get better... slowly but surely.

Better.

Pardon my last unglamourous and unsophisticated entry.

It feels like i am being thrown around.

But today, after a refreshing shower consisting of body exfoliating scrub, hair masque and face serum, i feel more alive.Yesterday, everything went wrong. EVERYTHING... from EHB dinner to doctors.

Today, we go to war.

Now, if only i have L'occitane's Lavendar candles to help me breathe properly.

Absolutely pissed.

SCREW clauses and rules and regulations.

You are not doing me a favour but suggesting that i move out to meet your stupid needs of making more money.

You are not living up to your name and obviously, you are real stupid in planning and i am amazed that your planning can screw up at the expense of others.

Accommodation services that is totally not accommodating and i suggest you shove all those rules and license agreements up your asses and for once, think with your heart.

Bitches.

Things are made not to be seen...

A lesson learnt when i visited the British Museum in London a few days ago.
Apparently, in Africa, statues were made for own private meditation and worshipping functions. They were made not for show. Colonial rulers brought back these statues without truly understanding what it has been used for.

Most of the statues were built using a piece of wood, carved with various designs to portray qualities of someone who just died. It is believed that the spirit will be attached to the statue.

Contrary to the popular belief that African women are repressed or weaker in society, women there are actually more powerful and have the upper hand in many issues pertaining to practices and decision making in households. This is manifested in the many processions where their status in society is very important.

The Hippo Masquerade is organized yearly in Nigeria. Over there, men with hippo masks will parade and dance without the presence of the women. They believe that the hippo spirit is able to bring them good luck and fortune for their harvesting needs.

Ghana: You need not say a word and people will stay know about your status and problems (personal ones even). This is due to the clothes and materials they adorn every day. Each fabric has meanings to it. Almost like the Batik prints from Indonesia, they have their own style. There is even a fabric for husbands who are responsible and good. I think that is the sweetest thing a wife would do for the husband over there.
I went on the London Eye and i do not think it is as spectacular as i thought it was. I should have saved that 13 pounds to watch the musical 'Wicked' instead. Next time, i should really budget well. I watched 300 though. Now, i see why the people around me are so caught up quoting these actors. Fine... i quite like 'Tonight, we dine in hell' and 'only Spartan women give birth to real men'. I think Singaporean women also. But that aside, I saw an exhibition on the Sparta people over at the British Museum. It got me interested in the history of Greece. I had a debate with Fiona over that. Fiona was astonished that i looked to movies to be interested in history. She was obviously irritated. But hey, let's just say that Hollywood movie triggers the interest and i see no harm so long i get the facts right... Anyway, if you have done 'Film and History', there's always the question of what is history. Let's not get into epistemology for now. It can get pretty draining.

I passed by Buckingham Palace and visited all three popular parks in London - Hyde Park, St James Park and Green Park. The Garden City Movement is quite apparent in Central London and i love the culture of hanging out in the park. Of course, that is possible in Singapore but made impossible by the weather. But then again, that is no excuse because temperature can get as high in summer and that doesn't stop the locals and residents from hanging out in the park during those times.

Had an absolutely fun time today with the floormates, three distinguished members of the Singapore Society and Joan's boyfriend, Jeff. We went Charlton Park with a tower that you can actually go up to see the whole of Loughborough. It started off with a fun run session and although i wasn't exactly dressed properly for it, i managed to run quite well considering how i've actually taken a long break from it. We played ultimate frisbee. I suck at it.Following that, we went to the supermarket to get ingredients for our lunch party for eleven. Mel, Yushan and YZ are good cooks. They cooked such a filling meal. My egg omelette with onions, mushroom and cheese didn't turn out so well. It must be the egg. haha.

I'm going random so here goes...

First of all, I am on my UK line as of now. Ira, please tell mama.

Secondly, I had a miserable morning as well. But i don't think i threw it out on you.

Thirdly, i read a report discrediting the usefulness of evening primrose after it reached my mailbox today. I hope the report is wrong.

If I email you, you better treat it well. I do not email everyone and the least you could do is to acknowledge that you've received my mail.

Fifth, I love you Jannah. Thanks for everything. I don't think i need to go on about what i'm thankful for.

Sixth, I enjoyed the talk on 'Men' last night. Thank you fellow exchangees. Let's drop the question because i really hate chicken-or-egg questions. Do you need a man and therefore you like him OR do you like a man and therefore you need him? I do not think it is mutually exclusive. :)

My back is killing me. Please get well soon.

My road to self-discovery.

There's so much to say about Portugal and Spain but like how it normally is, when there's stuff to say, things just slip off my mind and now i am clueless as to what i wanted to say.

A list of things i discovered about myself (and Fiona for some):

1. Shopping makes me full.
2. Only in Spain, will people 'Konichiwa' me.
3. Only in England, will people associate me with China.
4. I love long train rides.
5. I enjoy long night bus rides.
6. I don't like budget airlines.
7. Fiona and i miss our cars.
8. We also miss being driven around.


In Lisboa, a football match between Porto and Lisbon was held. It was a really huge match so we decided to go to the stadium to see what it would be like to watch soccer in Portugal. Everywhere, there were policemen. People fighting and at the ticket counter, a few men were kicking the counter because they could not get the tickets they booked earlier. The police appeared to be from the Special Operations Command type since all were padded and wearing helmets. People managed to push the police right into the stadium without having tickets. It was a wild night. Fi and i were being typical tourists, photographing people going crazy about soccer. We even managed to enter the press and Television broadcasting area without getting caught. It makes me wonder how we could easily do that without being stopped. In the end though, we were caught. That ended our adventure and we then visited the shopping centre nearby for dinner and soccer (live through cable!). It ended with a draw.

Pedro, our host told us how Portugal's national spirit is heightened by soccer. Previously, people were not very proud of Portugal until four years later when a Brazilian coach came over to help Portugal into the World Cup. It is amazing how soccer brings the world together... or sometimes, break people apart.

The Portuguese are much nicer people than the Spanish. They are amiable, more than any other people i have seen so far. Apparently, the Spanish and the Portuguese are like Singapore to Malaysia. They have strong contestations in some areas.

The Portuguese are funny people. Some of the things they said amused me:

"Portuguese people are friendly. Give them drinks and they talk to dogs, cats and anything".
"We were everything. Then, the English and French came. Bloody pirates. Now, we're nothing".
"We elected that dictator Salazar out and now, we're electing him into our Goverment again because he is the best".
"Portugal is funny. Last time, we conquered everything. Now, we give the land we conquered away so freely. So why did we conquer in the first place?"

Another thing about the Portuguese is how they are so warm by nature. It is normal to just give each other pecks on the cheeks and say hi. They'll insist that you join them for dinner when they're halfway eating. They make you feel at home. No formality at all. The way they talked is also amusing. I thought they were arguing but it is just them saying hello in the loudest brightest way they are able to.

Fi and i went to the University of Coimbra. There, we saw this group of people called the Tuna, who will come together wearing formal wear and just sing loudly. They can sing ANYTHING, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE. At 1 a.m., our host brought us around town and there were people just sitting in groups laughing and screaming around the neighbourhood without the neighbours making a huge fuss about the noise. It was so happening that we realize we are missing something in Singapore. No one feels out of place. Everyone joins in to whoever is singing whether or not you know the person. The University town concept is evidently succesful in Coimbra.

There's more to say but i am a little tired right now. Hmm.. i better start writing down everything. Won't want to forget those moments five years down the road.

Guess what i came back to?

Mails!

I love mails! Snail mails too.
Let's see...

First up, thank you John for the lovely card with the acrylic bookmark. It was a nice surprise because i was like.. "What? John?" and stood there stunned for a good half a minute. It feels really nice to receive mail from the same country too. Thank you once again. See you soon.

Secondly, my sweet ex-roomie did the sweetest thing when she left hall on the 10th March 2007. She slipped an Audrey Hepburn card into one of my library books (I suppose she thought that i would open it up to read and return on my birthday week). Alas, i touched my book only ten days later and saw the card dropping out of the book. This is motivating me to read more because surprises come in books! :) Thank you sweet Saara. If there's any roomie that i should choose, i would pick you. You're my first and i can't imagine having a second different one. (I should stop now before i sound too wrong).

My four darlings from the Jups sent me a parcel! Of course, i expected it already but i like to sound surprised. Thank you so so much Captain Yihui, Vice-captain Molly, Team Manager Nuruljannah Binte Mukasim and partner-in-crime Alexandria Neoh. I love you all too. heh. I love the skirt so so much and i can't wait to wear it soon. I know i know! I'll wear it out to London to meet Fiona. Will probably freeze but it's all about the love. :) Great taste la Jan. I already know what to wear it with. Can't wait to be back because of people like you. And no Molly, you need not pick me up although i know Fiona has already demanded that you do pick her up. She also said that her first stop would be Chili Crabs at East Coast Park. Make sure you pick up that Princess Fiona cause i think she misses her best friend lots and no Shrek here is able to replace you.

I also received a 'Welcome back to Lboro card'. Pleasant surprise really and thanks for the pictures. Not shameless at all. I love it. It's only normal you send such things because i miss home and having printed photos is good because i can put it up on my empty board which, others have already decorated weeks ago. I hope everything is well over there and the orthopaedist is kind enough to help you cure your hand. You poor poor lil thing. :( Get well soon ok? At least before you arrive in London because it'll be no fun having hand pains for your graduation holiday trip. Take care!

I feel good... lalalalalalala. :)