Missing...

When i start missing people at home, i look at all the photos and try to piece the occurences of each picture together. Just like a jigsaw puzzle.

And after that, i realize i am missing them more. Especially when we don't talk for five days. Hell, one day is long enough. Whatmore five!

Sigh.

On a lighter note though, thank God for my outgoing funny friends here. If they hadn't asked me to the fancy dress night, i wouldn't have met Johnny Depp and Owen Wilson. Or at least those who looked like them.

I am starting to adapt real well. Thank you everyone, for the support. Even those back home.
No 'culture shock(s)' yet. Maybe later.

Speedy recovery please.

People in Singapore, please do take care ok?

It is worrying how there is an increasing number of my loved ones down with sickness or accidents. If you have flu, please rest well and see the doctor fast. Those with suspected ligament tear(s), please stay at home and stop insisting on going to the pharmacy or picking my mother up from work. Fifteen days MC is no joke. It means you, dad MUST rest. Then there's those who got themselves injured during floorball games. Please please get well soon. I got to know about it and i am terrified. I was shocked and i hope everything will go on smoothly for you, God willing.

Get home safely and rest more. Take care all you, sweet things!

Update!

I know i posted yesterday regarding the Ryan Lee concert, etc. I was looking through the pictures and it came to my attention that there are a lot of things for me to talk about.

First of all, i cooked. And my second attempt at fried egg sunny side up was a great success. This of course, not on its own. There's a Ramlee burger look-alike and my stir-fried vegetables with coleslaw. Mum, aren't you just proud of me?

I seriously think my future husband is a lucky man. Haha.

Secondly, my dearest roomie Sara taught me how to bake Cinammon (however you spell it) roll! I know Ira adores that . I'll tell you the secret recipe soon. She said it is the specialty of the Finnish to bake those. Therefore, i conclude it is authentic. Thumbs up! I swear i helped her. Of course it won't be reflected in the pictures because i was taking them.
See.. told u it looks good.

Thirdly, i followed the development of my flowers closely. My lilies are dying and worse, not every single one of them opened up. Here's how it developed over a period of one week:


Not bad eh... Pretty good i must add. It looked prettiest at 3 days old.

In addition, i was typing something on Sara's computer and it gave my head a temporary spin when i saw her keyboard. It is a little different (naturally so since they use a different language). I was intrigued still and was quite excited when she told me that the French keyboard is harder to decipher because they need to press shift in order to type numbers. Anyway, take a look at the Finnish keyboard below.

Can you spot the difference? So fun!

Last night, Huiran, Mei and I went over to the Union to watch Ryan Lee perform. We came an hour earlier and Huiran ran excitedly to the front to get as close as possible to Ryan Lee. Okay, so the rest of us did join in. For that moment, i felt so young. Like as if i was sixteen and attending my first boyband concert. By the way, i have no idea how it feels to attend a boyband concert because i've never attended any concert in my life until yesterday. Yesterday won't even qualify as a concert. He sang three songs only and the guys behind were pretty mean. They threw coins at the stage and it became real ugly when some idiot threw a glass up to the stage. That was really dangerous. Ryan Lee lost his cool when he started using the vulgarity at some of the people at the back but he managed to tone down and continued singing "for the people in front of the stage" (That's us! *grin*). I kinda pitied him. At the same time, we were so angry with a group of local girls who tried pushing their way to the front of the stage, nudging us and stepping on my foot. We bumped into Cassimmo (Italian boy) and Sophie (French girl) as shown in the picture. Sophie was visibly irritated and i am not gonna be shocked if she decides to kill them. We went back after that. I hereby declare FND to be the worse night for you to hang out at the union. It should be equally horrid on Wednesdays too since drinks are very cheap. I showered immediately when i got home because of the hideous cigarette and beer smell. Poor Mei was a lil drenched cause some cuckoo accidentally dropped lots of beer on her.
The pictures are a lil small and unclear but i'll be uploading them up to multiply soon. To my friends, please copy from there.


It is really difficult to upload pictures on blogspot but i shall persevere. Next, i have Ryan Lee himself. In most of my pictures, he has scary eyes... they call it 'Redeye'. In reality, it wasn't like that. But the pictures are pretty horrific. A little satanic i feel. Okay. Stop being mean. I even recorded his performance in the hope of 'claiming cultural capital'. Yeah... i've met him, seen him, been there, done that... u know what i mean? But really, i am NOT a huge fan of him. Although i still pity him after yesterday's performance. I was hoping he would sing song Blue ballads but he didn't. :(


Enough about Ryan Lee.

Mei and i went to Leicester (pronounced Les-ter) today in the morning and instead of embracing the historical value of the place, we were pretty much busy accessing the comprehensiveness of shopping at that place. I managed to persuade Mei to get a handbag for 18 pounds. Pretty nice bag i must add. Would have gotten it for my mother if she didn't buy it. I bought myself a nice small coat from Miss Selfridge that is easy to wear and carry around. The long coat that i have at the moment is heavy. I wanted to get a small handbag because i forgot to bring mine in Singapore. We saw a Ted Baker handbag for 25 pounds and although i do love the design to bits, it really is not my style. Too casual. I do like the Ted Baker men's bag though. It is so practical and an acer laptop can easily fit into it. I got myself a tiny handcarry at 5 pounds. This is essential because i can also put coins in it. Very practical and small. I'll use it when i come back to Singapore. I also bought gifts for a friend's birthday and a nice pendant for my auntie girl-girl. :) Now, now... don't start asking me if it is for your birthday. You'll get it if you get it, got it? We got back early because both of us were real tired after last night. In fact, i only managed to get two hours of sleep last night. I did something useful when i reached hall: Re-budgeting.

Leicester is a nice place for shopping but i am gonna stop myself from going there unless there is a need to because i can't seem to control my urge to shop. We went into the Leicester Football Club mercandise store too and they were selling so many cute kids' jerseys. I also tried on a few pairs of boots that are real comfortable. I don't know what's up with the UK but my shoe size has shrunk from size 5 to a size 3. How cute. Now i look like one of those traditional China girls with small legs. :)

Don't worry, mum. I didn't buy the boots. I thought about my expenses so far and i felt so bad that i am actually spending quite a bit. Therefore, i'll buy the boots next month. :D

Okay. I'll upload the pictures on Multiply. There is also a picture of the sweet little shoe that i am certain Ira will adore. I'm sorry Ira. It is 18 pounds and i can only get it for you if my trip to Barcelona is cancelled. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures of Leicester and the trees near my block. I think spring is coming cause flowers are starting to bloom. Oh spring! I can't wait.


I'm in love with shopping!

(Sings) If i was a rich girl..lalalala. Cause I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl..

Someone slap me please and tell me to stop behaving like i'm rich.

All you liars...

So i was looking at old pictures and i noticed how i looked pretty horrid with short permed hair. But noooooooooooo (Russell Peters style), everyone said it was nice. Not nice ok.

Anyway, i was having this talk with a Germany exchange student during our break for lecture. Oh.. the exchange students from Europe are under the Erasmus programme while the rest of us are under the Socrates programme. I am really not sure of the difference but my room mate told me that it is only different by name.

Back to our conversation, it dawned upon me that the reason i feel so upset past few days is a pretty normal phenomenon. For my room mate and the German girl (i really can't recall her name), being somewhere far is nothing and possibly easier for them to adapt as they have always been far from their families. Even in their home country, they see their family very irregularly. In contrast, we Singaporeans cannot avoid our families much. Even if we do stay in hostel, it'll take less than half an hour by car to meet up. When i was in hall, i see my family every week. The idea that they're not really far from me is something that makes adapting less of an issue. Now that i am here, i worry about lots of stuff. Even things like my family's health. A recent incident actually made me worry more. If i were there, things would have been better cause i know i'll be in a position to control. Control the situation, Control the feelings, etc. Of course, it is not only my family that i am worried about. There are also other loved ones. I love MSN. I love technology. And i definitely love Science!

It is Friday already and i can't wait for Sunday to come. Tonight, the girls are planning to go over to the Union because RYAN LEE will be coming over for a performance! RYAN LEE as in the disbanded boyband BLUE singer. Yeah.. the one who sang 'one love'. I am not really a fan of him or Blue for that matter. Although i am a pro-friday-must-go-out person, F&D is not something i enjoy going for because i suspect it'll be real packed and bustling with people waiting to get drunk. They party everyday here and they come up with names for each day. I can only recall Wednesday (Hey Ewe!) and Friday's (F&D). The two mentioned are the more popular ones. In the Union itself, they have three rooms - chart/dance in Room One, Indie/retro/motown in Fusion and RnB/Urban in Cognito. Drinks can get really cheap especially on Wednesdays. I see it as unhealthy when they just go overboard with their drinking. Personally, i hate the smell of smoke and beer,etc. But i do enjoy watching the various antics and behaviour of the students when they step into the union.

This is Ryan Lee:



Anyway, I'll just go over for fun and i promise i'll behave.

Won't be staying too long cause i'll be heading to Leicester tomorrow morning. In addition, there's a powerpoint presentation to prepare and i am one reading away from completion.

I might wanna go to the Union on the 14th March though because Chris Moyles will be coming. Chris Moyles is a comedian and although i haven't heard much about him, i shall visit and watch without any expectations of him. Besides, it is part of the fund-raising project by the Comic Relief to promote Red Nose Day. Red Nose Day is everywhere here and they sell loads of mercandise in the supermarket ranging from a red nose to T-shirts to raise funds for the under-privileged here in the UK.

When i feel less lazy, i'll continue updating about the Leicester trip and the Ryan Lee performance today.

Did you know... Aida cooked her first fried sunny-side-up egg without it turning to scrambled egg on the 21st February 2007?

With olive oil too! Mei took the photo of it for me and when i get the picture from her, i will post it up and boast about it. Such achievement! I even cooked my own stir-fried vegetables.

Wah... based on the Malay traditional mindset: If you can cook, you can marry already! Haha.

All emotions in one.

As the title suggests, i just went through an emotional roller-coaster ride. What with PMS, adjusting to this surrounding, missing my loved ones at home, having no car (which forces me to either walk or go public) and the amount of work that i need to complete before Easter break. There aren't many due dates of course... just that Fiona and i planned our one month break already and i really must complete all the work so that i can travel without fear.

I should just list out the dates so that people at home will know where i'll be.

23rd March: Barcelona (Veryyyyy Cheetah Girls!)
2nd April: Lisbon (Portugal... Where i belong.. 1/8 of me)
10th April: Greece

Fiona will be coming to London on the 9th i think. I'll probably wanna continue to Rome. Don't blame me.. All roads lead to Rome, you know.

That's one whole month of backpacking. Can't wait to check out Mango's Warehouse over at Barcelona. Oh it's so hot. And yes Hairi.. of course i won't neglect my cultural side. I shall take tons of pics of the monuments. Yay!

I'll be away on the 2nd to the 5th March as i'll be joining the International Student Association (ISA) on their trip to Edinburgh. I wanna visit the Loch Ness lake and take pictures of the monster! (Oh how naive, Aida).

I also must complete ALL my work fast cause Amirul Hairi is gonna come over in June. Wheeee... Some familiar face finally. Luckily he has been to the Manchester United Football Club. Can save money and go to his all-time favourite Liverpool FC already. He must be so glad at this moment. I can't wait for you to come over! *grin*

I am waiting for John Kong to recover from his chicken pox so that i can visit him in Bristol before going to Bath. Poor John. Second attack of chicken pox and it is in UK! I sure hope he'll recover fast... especially since his girlfriend will be coming over this March. Have a speeeeeeedy recovery boy! :)

I am into my second week in school and i must add that today is particularly boring attending Economy, Society & Space lecture alone. THANKS to the lovely two other Geographers, Melody and Ying Zhi who left me for Ireland this morning. Mei must be suffering too cause Yu Shan has joined them and she will also be enduring reading her Frankenstein book alone. But everything is good except for the fact that they don't seem to have RBR here and all the books are on either long term loan or short term loan (1 week). Under short term loan, there are already 10 requests before me. This would mean that i'll get my book two months from now. I am so tempted to just get it from the bookshop but i've already spent close to S$140 on three books and it will be so heavy bringing them back later on. Sigh.

I am bored and just killing time before going to Tesco for the weekly groceries. I should really try to spend below 20 pounds today if i want to survive next week. We'll see how it goes. No more eating out. Boo.

I am reminded about how i met this really nice man at the immigration when i reached London on the 8th. This 50-ish year old man spoke to me in MALAY! Gosh, i was appalled. His malay was better than mine (anyone's malay should be better than mine, anyway). He is making a serious assumption that every Malay can speak malay. haha..okay i'll stop before i get slammed for not being proud of my roots. His first sentence to me was "Apa Khabar?" It was fluent! And then we continued talking... Me speaking in English and him speaking in Malay. How cool is that? Such a switch. He said he'll be coming to Sentosa this summer and wondered how many people in Singapore can speak Malay. I told him that there is quite a huge proportion of the population who are able to speak malay since we are possibly the second biggest race after the Chinese (Is it still? The last time we were. It was stated in my primary school social studies book). God, i was so ashamed that he spoke my mother tongue language more confidently and fluently than I do.

Well, good thing is... He let me pass without asking too many questions. This couple beside me managed to get out only an hour later. I saw them an hour later walking out while waiting for my cousin to pick me up. I am still amazed by that guy until now. He looked like Santa Claus. Such uncanny resemblance.

I should continue with my readings now. Sigh. Someone is supposed to come online before going to bed but he is nowhere in sight. Hmph.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

It is an eye opener celebrating the Chinese New Year here in UK. For a small town, Loughborough has quite a huge number in terms of its Chinese population - 1500 including students. Not too bad eh. Last friday, the group of Singapore exchange students (6 of us) went over to the Town Hall to have a supposed formal dinner with the mayor. He is a pretty nice guy. Dr Peter Lewis, the SEP English Literature coordinator drove five of us to the town hall and introduced us to all the important people in the Loughborough community including the mayor himself!

The mayor is voted every year and the various political party will take turns to run Loughborough. This way, they won't get into some huge argument. Dr Lewis told us something real exciting about his son: His son is Tony Blair's secretary! I was pretty excited upon hearing that. No idea why. Dr Lewis however, is the opposition. It was funny when he actually told us about it.

It is Sunday morning now and i just got back from the CNY celebration at the Union. I don't know.. It is alright i guess. There were a lot of Asians but i stayed closely to the Singaporeans i am familiar with. Partly because i was tired and in no mood to socialize. Another reason could perhaps be the stomach cramps i've been having the whole day. I drank two bottles of coke and three glasses of fruit juice. Those must have caused me the excess energy in my body. It is almost 3 a.m. now and i am not the least tired. This biological clock of mine needs help.

I'll be posting pictures soon. Especially of Nottingham. Oh the trip to Nottingham today was fantastic. I went to ice-skate at the National Olympic rink..supposedly UK's best. 4.5 pounds for two hours and i only managed to circle the rink thrice cause my ankle was in pain. I blame the skates. Like totally. We then went for a buffet lunch of Thai, Indian, Italian and Chinese food at the Red Hot. Nice ambience although the menu is slightly a lil confused. We then went shopping and although i didn't manage to buy the red outer jacket i wanted, Melody, YingZhi and Jerry managed to get their stuff i think. Shopping was so much fun there as compared to Loughborough. We went TK Maxx, H&M and many others that is not so familiar to me as yet.
We had to rush home for the CNY party but it's ok. I'm glad i didn't get that jacket. "You'll find something nice elsewhere," Jerry told me.

I wanted to say something else but i can't remember what i wanted to say. Today, i discussed my dreams with the other students from the Singapore Society. Jerry said we could drive a Lamborghini for 150 pounds for an hour in Leichester and 100 pounds for an hour of Ferrari. I told them that i wanna stay in a two storey house with five bedrooms, two maids, a garderner and have four of my own personal cars. My cars would be a Lexus RX300 for family picnic, Mercedes SLK for shopping with best friend, red Mazda RX8 for spa and maybe a Porsche Cayman. I'm not so keen on Lamborghini because it is not sexy enough for me. Also, my dream is only possible if i marry a Brunei king. I don't like the Brunei king and i'd prefer to earn my own money. Therefore, those will continue being my dreams unless i strike 4D. But since i can't gamble, that will remain as one of my many dreams. That was what we discussed at the CNY party with Will, Jerry and Jeremy. Easy to get all those for Jerry. He is on the Brunei Shell scholarship! Lucky guy.

Anyway, i've got plans for a Lexus 250 in the near future already ;) My dreams will come true. At least, a bit of it, yes? I'll blossom in this year of the pig, God willing.

Enough crap. I'll upload the pictures another day.

By the way hor, Happy New Year... Gong Xi Fa Cai to one and all. I'm gonna miss the yearly mahjong this year. Bummer. Don't snigger, Jannah. I'll be back for the next one. Hmph.

Sigh.

This is another brainless entry brought to you by me. Good night.

(Stomach pain pain right?)

Airport send-off

I know this is a lil overdue but better late than never you know..

These people here sent me off on a very gloomy 8th February 2007 at 6 a.m. I'm too touched for words until now and please do know that i think about you guys a whole lot.

I didn't manage to take pictures with everyone for the simple fact that we didn't manage to and for most of us, it wasn't exactly our glamorous moment with the puffy eyes and all.

So a great HUGE thank you to my family, Jannah, Yihui aka Lydia, Siok, Bin, Molly, Adrian, Kak Lina, Mak Ngah and Amirul. I know, i know.. It is not easy to wake up that early. I apologize for the inconvenience caused. But like i said, it is a test of love.
Also many hugs and no kisses to Aliah, Alex, Jo, Sya and Ivy for the going away wishes. Thank you also to Gerald and Benji. It is heartwarming to know i've got such high-quality friends. ;) Blessed indeed.

19 more weeks before i return home. (Please don't moan and groan.) And, and... a happy convocation for some of you! YAY!