27th Sept 2007 - Random Thoughts

Phew, I just returned from London yesterday and immediately I was busy into the night upon returning. The week in London was good. It wasn’t only because it was a much more interesting area with lots to explore but it was due to the company as well. Being with people you know and feel comfortable with attributes much to your well-being in a foreign land. That’s like pretty “duh” right? Haha, well on my journey back to Durham, which was a long one, I pondered upon many random thoughts, so this blog entry would be pretty disorganized I guess? Anyway this post is meant for “my cup of tea”, with sugar of course and a little milk. Hope this helps =)

I’m currently sipping the nicest milk tea I’ve had in Durham in my room now. See, I’m such a good son, didn’t disobey my parents and went to buy milk, NOT! Haha, I bought a MacDonald’s breakfast at the train station before going to the coach station and I did something a little mischievous i.e. taking like 4 additional mini-cups of fresh organic semi-skimmed milk from the counter when the cashier wasn’t looking. Boy, am I so desperate or cheappo now? Oh well, who cares, I’m having such a nice cup of milk tea now.

If you think that MacDonald’s breakfast in Singapore is not filling, try UK’s one. I think their cows or pigs etc. went on a diet, maybe they’re fed some organic food since UK’s hot on organic stuff. The sausage muffin with egg is so pathetically small, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but it really is small which is surprising. Thought it should be of the same size as that in Singapore or bigger. So to make up for the small muffin and the cost of it, I think taking additional milk is henceforth justified.

I reached the bus stand 1 hr earlier than the stipulated timing for my coach back to Durham. So I was just sitting there along with several others when this huge truck, as big as a container truck, stopped at the bus stand to unload the good. I was intrigued by how huge and new/clean the truck is, it’s unlike those we see in Singapore where they’re old and low tech, and I bet I wasn’t the only one that had my interest pricked. That’s because everyone else was watching the workers unload the goods as well. It sort of provided us entertainment for ½ hr. Then a thought came to my mind, all these workers that were unloading goods were all Englishmen. Anyway, here’s why UK is expensive. The people doing “3-D” jobs, i.e. dirty, demeaning & degrading, are their own countrymen. So they would get paid higher, if not who would want to do such jobs right, and the cost of living would rise. In Singapore, we have our infamous foreign contract workers i.e. the Bangalas. Our government purely uses them for their cheap labour in order to keep the cost of living in Singapore lower. So people, don’t complain or poke fun at them. Give them the respect they deserve or your next bowl of noodles would cost 8 bucks haha!

One thing I noticed in UK is that many people wear those yellow or orange luminous vests. These people range from cyclist to street cleaners to rubbish collectors to security guards to policemen. It’s kind of hard to know who is who at times. I think a parking warden would wear a uniform and the vest as well, so they look similar to being a policeman. Imagine if you get mugged on the street and you’re chasing after the thief… “Help! Somebody help me!” And you run towards the policeman at the corner… “Officer, I just got robbed by the guy running away in that direction.” The policeman looks stupefied and says “Sorry, I’m just a cleaner. I’m only equipped with a broom. I can lend it to you if you want, if not you gotta look for someone else.” Haha, think you guys should get my point.

Another thing I noticed was that the Englishmen aren’t really much bigger than us Asians. Perhaps on the whole their average height is taller than the average Asian but when you walk on the streets and look at majority of them, they aren’t pseudo-giants. I think the reason for their smaller physique now is indirectly due to globalization. In the past, all they had for meals were meat & chips and meat & chips and more meat & chips and more… Now, with globalization, UK has opened its door to the world. You can find various Asian food in UK and I think they like eating Asian food. I say this because I dined at a Chinese restaurant the day before and I was the only Chinese taking my meal there. The rest of the Chinese were waiting on me and the other westerners, which were of a sizable number, eating there. With a changing palate geared towards Asian cuisine, this has resulted in changes to their diet. I suspect this has led to a decrease in their physical size, leading them to become more Asian-like in terms of physique. Thus, I conclude from this observation that globalization has resulted in this latent unintended effect. Haha, now we know why some people are so against globalization!

Is Singapore a global city? Think most people would agree that it is, and even most ang mohs would say so as well, IF and only IF they have been to Singapore. The people I’ve came across would ask “Is Singapore part of China? Where is Singapore? What language do you speak there?” Even when I tell them English is our 1st language, several moments later, they would ask “What language do people from Singapore speak?” I feel that to rectify this alarming situation, the Singapore government should take a more active role to promote Singapore. Don’t just promote Singapore to the educated, promote Singapore to everyone worldwide. Maybe we can have advertisements on their local channels to show them what Singapore is like, how modern we are and that we DO speak English. I think NUS can attract more exchange students by this “Come to Singapore for exchange studies, we all speak English. If you must, approach the nearest friendly Singaporean located next to you and find out more for yourself. If you feel poor in UK or USA, fret not, for only the airfare’s expensive but food and transport are cheap. Want to experience living like a king? Come on over to Singapore and be one!”

When I reached back to my room yesterday, the President of my college was looking for me urgently. Gosh, it spoilt my day because he wanted me to do him a massive favour i.e. to shift to another room yet again! Seems like there was some administrative problem in the sorting or allocation of accommodation. He came to my room to speak to me and I found out this girl wanted to take my room. Didn’t know why she wanted my room so desperately, but I even met her father. Being Mr. Nice guy, I agreed to shift out though I was pek cek because I unpacked everything and even bought more stuff. It would be so troublesome to shift again, mind you, this would be the 2nd time they asked me to shift to another room. Am I doing backpacking around my hostel? However, the President was really apologetic about it and helped me to shift my stuff and he eventually bought me a drink. Perhaps it was worth the trouble? (Edit: I found out why she wanted my room so desperately. Her boyfriend is staying in one of the rooms on the same floor as my ex-room.)

I went pub crawling last night, though drinks were cheaper than in Singapore, I drank only 2 glasses, one complimentary of Mr. President. Didn’t want to spend much if not I cannot afford to even buy bread for my meals in the future haha. It was my first time doing pub crawling, went to 3 pubs and a club. It’s too expensive to do so in Singapore. Anyway the nightlife in Durham ends at 2am, so for people complaining that clubs in Singapore close too early, be thankful! Gosh, I’m left with only 10 minutes to change... gotta rush out for the mayor’s reception. I feel so important now! Muahaha, hope the food’s good. See you guys later!

23rd Sept 2007 - Healthy Coffee & Reading London

Many people pronounce Reading as reading. Haha, you guys must be wondering what I’m talking about right? Actually, I’m referring to the place called Reading which is pronounce as Redding. I went there today with my friend to do some shopping. It’s a simple place, much better than Slough though, but the shopping malls there are not bad. There’s this mall called “the Oracle” which is famous in the region, boasting of many shops as well as restaurants and cafes. I felt pretty much tired walking around today, but I don’t think it’s because the area is huge but rather the fatigue is cumulative over the days of traveling and much walking. I didn’t have the mood to shop initially because the atmosphere just wasn’t there. I would have preferred London or Newcastle to Reading. However, for a smaller town like Reading, the number of shops and stuff you can find in the main shopping area is kinda good as compared to Slough. I did manage to buy a jumper and a shirt. Quite happy with my purchases since I think the shirt is quite cheap and it looks great. Doesn’t everything look good on me?

Haha, however I had bad luck with my eating experience in Reading. I spent 4+ pounds on fish & chips and it was horrible. The portion of chips they served was large, but the fish sucks big time. It’s overly fried. Gosh, the fish that is served at western stalls in the hawker centres of Singapore would probably be better and at least ½ the price or cheaper! To further make things worse, I ordered an ice café latte at another café while waiting for the train back to Slough. Guess what, they didn’t have sugar syrup to go with the ice latte! They told me to use the granulated sugar. I was like “Is the latte sweetened? You don’t have sugar syrup? How do I dissolve the sugar in my drink?” The thought that was going through my mind was “what kind of lousy place is this?” Imagine not being able to add sugar for your ice coffee. It’s the healthiest coffee I ever drank in my entire existence…

My day yesterday was great though except for lunch. Food again spoilt the day. I went to London and it was fantastic. I visited the Buckingham palace and was really lucky. There was a change of guards parade going on and the entire area was so crowded. It’s really cool. The music being played by the marching band suited the grandeur of the parade and it is nicer than the music being used in Singapore Armed Forces parades. After the marching of the band and guards, there was a contingent of cavalry. And the crowd that gathered to view the change of command was crazy. There was a sea of people flooding the whole place. Besides visiting Buckingham palace, I visited Downing Street, National Gallery at Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben etc. Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are huge and the architecture of it will “wow” you. It’s splendid and definitely fitting for the British government. From there, I walked to several other places but the highlight wasn’t the majestic buildings but Regent Street. Girls, you will definitely love this street. Regent Street and Oxford Street combined is nearly 2km long if I’m not mistaken. Imagine 2km worth of shops and the amount of shopping you can do. It’s a shopper’s paradise, not to mention the other streets of London where you can shop as well. I was so engrossed in shopping till I didn’t have time to cover Oxford Street. Sigh, oh well, I’ll be going back to London tomorrow to cover the places which I didn’t manage to do so previously. It’s not possible to cover London in 1 day as the place is humongous.

Oh ya, as to why lunch was bad, I had to wait for more than ½ hr for my food which is only so so. The burger wasn’t worth the wait and money and the beer was ordinary, just nicer than Tiger beer but not by much. Erdinger still rocks man! I ate a donut from Krispy Kreme and it was nice. I think it’s nicer than what I tried from donut factory in Singapore. I still don’t understand the rationale of Singaporeans queuing 1 plus hr for donuts. For me, plain old sugar coated donuts will do and not those fancy designer donuts.

Tonight, I had my first cooking lesson and it turned out great. Cooked cream based pasta which is superb, I think it’s even nicer than some cafes in Singapore. What to do, my teacher is good in cooking. I told her to quit her job and go set up a café. I think she can probably cook better than those hoax Chinese takeaways in UK… maybe I’m exaggerating but she can really cook. It’s time for more cooking practices for me! Dinner, over these few days, has been nice because she’s cooking for me and my buddy. We’re crashing her place and she’s feeding us well. Guess when I go back to Durham, it’s back to bread and more bread. Need a girl who can really cook to be my flat mate and I’ll be redeemed! Hee, I supposed I've written quite a fair bit tonight but there’s so much more to describe and write about but I’m getting really tired now. After all, I’ll be heading back to London again tomorrow so have to conserve energy. Lastly, I won’t be uploading pictures of Windsor, London and Reading till I get back to Durham because my internet connection there is much faster than over at my friend’s place. Okay, my aching neck is a sign telling me I should end off now… London here I come again!

21st Sept 2007 - Windsor Castle

Today was fantastic for me although it was tiring. I traveled to Windsor & Eton to visit Windsor Castle. It’s one of the Queen's residences. It’s really a beautiful place with much to see and explore. One can easily spend 2 hours within the castle. Unfortunately, I wasn’t permitted to take pictures in the nicest places inside the castle which were St George’s Chapel and the State Rooms. I’m quite tired typing this now, so I shan’t elaborate much on them. Entrance admission was 12.70 pounds but I felt it was every bit worth it. What you see within the castle, especially the State Rooms were fantastic. Not only were they elaborately furnished, but you can see famous paintings by Michelangelo etc. Some rooms have painted ceilings, many paintings on the walls, some are fully furnished with arms and the list goes on. It’s really hard to describe what I had seen earlier on today, not to mention I’m too tired to describe them in detail. I shall let some of the pictures do the talking instead.

Besides entering the castle and walking along the streets of Windsor, I went to the River Thames. Goodness, it was so delightful being there. There’re so many swans and ducks in the river and it feels so tranquil looking at the birds swimming along the river. Crossing the bridge which led me to Eton, I went to Eton College which is famous, think you guys should know as well? It isn’t that spectacular to me, but what intrigued me was the attire of the students there. Wearing a tail coat, plus a vest and stripe pants, with white shirts neatly tucked in and buttoned to the collar, these student epitomized the meaning of an English gentleman. Hehe, I secretly took a snapshot of a few students so you peeps can have a clue as to what I’m talking about.

Lastly, every thing is pricey in Windsor, the cheapest food being Macs. So I ended up eating pastry again. I tried a new pasty though which was Cornish pasty. For a week, I thought Cornish pasty was a pastry filled with corns. Only upon stepping into this shop which I heard has one of the best Cornish pasty, I realized that it’s actually a pastry filled with meat and onions. It’s really quite nice, though pricey for a pasty. The origin of it came from Cornwell, that’s why it’s called Cornish pasty. Haha, not because it’s filled with corns… silly me! It’s time to hit the sack now, good night folks, or rather… good morning to you people in Singapore.

19th Sept 2007 - Shrinking Shirt

Today I tried something new, it's called regular bacon. I thought it was some unique bacon burger, but it's actually hot dog bun with lotsa bacon in it. Some of the bacon was fine, but the bigger ones were kinda tough. Not too bad overall, but kinda overwhelming for me. I added brown sauce to it, the first time I added it to my lakeside burger, couldn't really taste it. Today, the regular bacon had no other sauce except for the brown sauce, it's sour-ish, but not to the extreme.

The weather today was slightly erratic, though not as bad as in Singapore. It poured suddenly but the day was warmer than the previous few days. The rains here usually don't last that long. I ended up going for a jog because of the fine weather, didn't get my jaws numb this time round as the temperature wasn't as cold as yesterday.

Dinner was bacon again. Haha, it's bacon with egg mayo. It tasted good, better than lunch, but the portion's not filling. I'm now contemplating whether should I get a drink from my college's bar. It just opened today I think, didn't see it open on other days. Or maybe it opens on every Wednesday and Saturday, just that I didn't realise it. It's a nice place, with a big screen projector playing soccer matches etc. I met the girl who I mentioned was nice the other time, the one from my previous post about her changing my coins into 1 pound coin and 50 pence coin for laundry. Found out that she's from Taiwan, so that explains her accent.

Gosh, I'm feeling hungry as I'm typing this. And I'm stuck at the main college building since it's raining. Am unable to return to my room... I did my laundry earlier on, wanted to wash my clothing, bed sheet, duvet cover and pillow casing before I leave for London tomorrow. This PRC girl told me I added too much washing powder. Haha, I shall be more careful in future. But that's not the worst mishap that happened, I set the dryer temperature to near max. I thought that by doing so, my clothing and all the bed sheet etc. would then be dry. Sure, it all got dried, but 1 of my favourite t-shirts shrunk!!! Goodness, shall leave the dryer temperature at medium from now on. Think I'm gonna get a drink now...

18th Sept 2007 - English Breakfast

My day began early today, waking up at 6+ am for no apparent reason. Couldn’t get to sleep after that so I watched anime instead. I passed by a restaurant/café yesterday which serves English breakfast for 2.69 pounds. Was really tempted by it since I haven’t eaten any eggs when I left Singapore. It was a very filling meal, choosing 8 items + toast for 2.69 pounds. However, it was rather disappointing except for the egg. The bacon was near to being rock hard. The sausages were big, but after eating a portion of it, it didn’t taste as good as when you first eat it. The tomato however was good, it’s soaked in tomato puree and it’s a whole tomato which looks cucumber-ish in shape though it’s much smaller. Something like an egg shaped/sized tomato. I ended up not finishing my breakfast, with leftovers of sausages, potato and this potato pie with peas and some other veggie in it. I went there late, so the hash browns, mushrooms and perhaps some other items were already finished, thus limiting my selection of 8 items. I would say that my treat didn’t turn out well, wasted my money…

In the evening, I went for a jog. It’s my first jog over here and it was pretty tough on me. I haven’t run in 2 weeks or so, plus the climate is another factor. It was quite an experience because my throat was like numb, so it’s a little painful plus irritating. My jaws were numbed as well and after the run, my forearms were stiff and numbed. Don’t know why, but I did run under such conditions before in Austria. Think it’s the clothing? Was wearing 2 t-shirts and a track pants then, but only a t-shirt and shorts today. But the areas that were affected were my jaws and throat, which I presume have nothing to do with clothing? I may be wrong since I’m no doctor… wish I’m studying medicine instead haha.

This coming Thursday, I would be taking a long bus ride from Newcastle to London! Am pretty excited about it, because I’m not only meeting my good friend there but my best friend is going to be visiting his girlfriend, who was our good friend. She still is my good friend, mind you, just that she’s no longer his good friend though the abbreviation is still similar. Anyway he didn’t even bother to tell me he’s going down, so it came as a surprise when she broke the news to me. Bloody “zhong se qing you”, I’ve been telling him this since time immemorial… some best friend I have right? Gonna charge all my electronic devices now, and carrying on with packing tomorrow. Think I should make a cup of piping hot tea too since the weather’s cooooold. Till then, cheers.

17th Sept 2007 - Sweet Donuts

My day was rather mundane, did the usual stuff like going to the library to use the internet and a little window shopping. Realised there's a small department store which sells rather reasonable priced clothing, it's the same as one of those I've seen in Newcastle. My day begun with going to Old Shire Hall aka University Office. I wanted to try register for my course so I can get my internet access up asap, but looks like it isn't possible at the moment. Anyway it was quite frustrating to be directed to 3 different places, all on different levels and different corridors. Had to climb the stairs and walk to and fro the building, rather silly of them. The exchange coordinator knew who I was the moment I mentioned I'm from Singapore. Think I'm rather popular? Haha, I was told that I have to register with Durham police and when I saw the cost of it, I nearly fainted. You have to pay 34 pounds to register with the police! Gosh, that's bloody expensive... luckily the exchange student advisor saw my passport and my VISA didn't state that I have to register with the police, so she said I didn't have to do anything. Phew, if not I would have to make an appointment with the police at this funny far away place, I have no idea where that place is, and still have to foot a 34 pound bill. How ridiculous?

After that I went to get breakfast which was donuts. I wanted to try their donuts and boy were they superbly sweet. I had a fudge donut which consisted of a chocolate fudge layer on the top of the donut. The surprise was when you bite into it, there's actually custard. It's like a donut and custard puff merge into one. Buy 2 for the price of 1? However, after a while, it gets too sweet for my liking. My other donut was a sweet icing donut, I think that's what it's called, it's a donut with those rainbow bits that you see in ice cream. The sweetness of both donuts were overwhelming and I decided to peel off the top layer of rainbow bits and just eat the plain donut beneath. By the way, "normal" donuts coated with sugar above are called jam donuts over here (Edit: I found out that jam donuts are donuts with jam fillings inside, normal donuts are called sugar coated donuts, my bad). I got complimented during lunch by the burger shop uncle! His wife gave me an extra of 5 pence change and I told his wife her mistake. She thought I wanted to change 10 pence into 2x 5 pence coins... till I explained that she gave me extra change. "The boy's an honest lad" and smiles were the result of my honestly haha! Dinner was cheap, it was a 1 pound ready meal aka 7-11 meal. Guess what, I can't even prepare that properly, left it in the microwave for slightly too long and the edges were all burnt and harden. I really suck at cooking eh?

Oh ya, I had a funny conversation with my mom as well while I was at the public library earlier. Here’s short excerpt from my conversation with my mum which made me laugh! The way she emphasized drinking milk is quite comical, I think the man sitting opposite me at the library would think I’ve gone bonkers because I just burst out laughing. And I was trying hard to surpress my laughter, after all, no noise allowed in the library right?

rosalind says:
dad said he will get angry if you dont drink milk daily. whatever kind. not enuf $$$ draw from hsbc, ok?
rosalind says:
uk diff, cos u have cold weather. moreover uk food is not tt balanced.
rosalind says:
dad get angry then u know. cut yr $$$
rosalind says:
milk, milk, milk, and milk. YOU MUST DRINK
rosalind says:
daddy get angry, angry, angry !!!
rosalind says:
ok now. mum gotta catch the last TV series at 9pm. chat with u tomorrow. make sure u dont catch cold in this cold weather.

Finally in the evening, I shifted into my permanent room and spent quite some time arranging my stuff and cleaning up the place. The table and wardrobe were already clean, hardly any dirt when I wiped them. The cleaners are really on the ball, doing their job with pride. Haha, in fact, the admission officer for my college (hostel/hall) told me the cleaners are trustworthy and very friendly. They are the ones that take care of sick students since they would inform the office that a student is sick. Have I mentioned that the cleaners would enter the rooms once/twice a week to clean the place up including the toilet? After settling my room and dinner, I headed to the postgrad bar. I'm really glad I did, I made several more friends from India, Mauritius, Bangadesh etc. These people are all MBA students, most are around 28/29 years of age with work experience. One is even a businessman and talking to them is really great because they're insightful. It's a good networking opportunity as well - I love bars and pubs haha! I didn't drink though because they left early, didn't want to spend money on drinking yet. Things are finally brightening up for me? I managed to get internet access in my college as well, though not in my room. I'm currently typing this post in the college's IT suite. I like the way they name things here, the English way of calling stuff haha. Alright, my fingers are getting tired from typing this post. The keyboard buttons are kinda stiff, so it requires more force to depress them unlike my laptop keypad. Gonna head back to my room for a nice hot shower, signing off now.

16th Sept 2007 - Newcastle

Wow, it’s already 8.30pm here. I did my laundry for the 1st time and I’m pretty please with the results. Washing machines and dryers are pretty simple to operate, just need to know the amount of detergent to add in. Luckily I met this postgrad student, from Newcastle, at the laundry room. She showed me and another Indian postgrad student how much detergent to add. Haha, the Indian guy is also using the washing machine for the 1st time! Looks like I’m not the only one around who’s a mountain tortoise… Eventually we exchanged mobile numbers, I mean the Indian guy and myself, because we were chatting while waiting for our clothing to dry in the dryers. He was already inviting me to join him at the café/bar. Seems like he’s there nearly daily at night because there’s nothing to do at night. It’s quite a hassle to walk out to the town area.

Today, I did a lot of walking because they aren’t any bus service from the “park and ride” area. The only way to take a bus is from the main road but the bus had a frequency of ½ hr. The porter advised me to just walk to the town area since it would be faster. So I walked nearly 3km to the rail station because I decided to go on an “adventure”. I went to Newcastle today. Gosh, it’s so cool man. It reminded me of Hong Kong, albeit with wider streets, pavements and English architecture. I spent 8 hours out and I think I only sat for less than an hour the entire day. So bloody tired… but it was well worth the fatigue. I went into St Mary’s Church, and boy was it beautiful inside. I didn’t expect the interior to be so nice. This time round, I managed to take a few pictures inside the church. On my way out, I witnessed a baptism of a baby. An auspicious sign?

The highlight of my day was supposedly to be Chinatown in Newcastle. The PRCs told me that Newcastle had a Chinatown. However, all my hopes of having a Chinese meal was dashed when I went there. After walking past half a street or so, Chinatown was English again. I expected Chinatown to be significantly big but it was less than 1 street long. And the prices of the Chinese food were exorbitant! Why in the world would I pay more than 5 pounds for a plate of noodles? Also, what the hell is “Singapore noodles”? There’s no such thing man, all a scam to cheat Westerners… So I ended up having chicken again for lunch.

I visited St James Park as well, but I couldn’t look inside the stadium. What a pity, could only take pictures from outside. Sorry to disturb all the Newcastle fans out there, but I did take some nice pictures of the Newcastle stores and stadium. That aside, I went window shopping. Think I haven’t window shop for a long time and it was really fun. I was so tempted to spend money, but thinking that I haven’t settled into my permanent road, I decided not to buy clothing just yet. The prices are pretty reasonable and you can get decently cheap stuff if you’re a bargain hunter. Surprisingly, it’s easier to get cheaper clothing in Newcastle than in Durham, considering the fact that the shopping/banking area of Newcastle is at least 3 times that of Durham’s. This is because there’re several shopping malls and departmental stores, so you can really compare clothing and prices. It ranges from cheap to mid-range mostly. One more thing to add, Marks and Spencer really seems like it’s for old people! Saw so many nice clothing but didn’t buy any, hehe think I’m gonna do shopping this coming week.

The streets of Newcastle are generally nice, however I think the buildings are simpler than those in Vienna. Somehow, the carvings and structure of the buildings in Vienna seem more sophisticated than the ones I’ve seen in Newcastle. Not that Newcastle isn’t nice, but I feel it cannot be compared to places like Rome, Vienna etc. I think that the people in Durham are generally friendlier too, probably because it’s a much smaller town and there’re many tourist as well, both whites and others. Gosh, did I just brand myself as “others”? Haha, I am an alien here anyway but things appear to be brightening up. Hopefully, I am able to register myself as a student tomorrow and receive my userid and password to log online in my dorm. By the way, shops here close generally early which is quite irritating. After I arrived in Durham, I couldn’t get any dinner. Luckily I chanced upon Subway which was ½ hr from closing. Managed to get something decent for 1.99 pounds. Despite going to Newcastle, I spent only 9.30 pounds in all, inclusive of the train tickets. Anyway, I’m glad I decided to venture out of Durham and head for Newcastle. It’s really nice and interesting to explore, not to mention the shopping, especially without a map. The stupid tourist information centre is closed on Sundays, damn slack, and the only alternative is to purchase a map/guidebook of Newcastle for 1 pound at the train station. No way am I going to spend that pound on it… thankfully my sense of direction is pretty good, after all, I’m an army instructor, cannot teach my soldiers to get lost right?

Gonna stop writing for now because I’m tired already, did so much walking today. Thankfully I’m army trained! Well, it’s a good time for anime now =)

15th Sept 2007 - Dur-em

It’s the time of the night to write down my thoughts and happenings in Durham. Most people in Singapore wouldn’t know the correct way of saying Durham. It’s not pronounced as Dur-Ham but Dur-em. Blogging is quite a good way to kill time when there’s nothing much to do at night. To begin, I just (just before I started typing this entry) tried unsuccessfully to borrow from my PRC friend her userid and password, haha, can’t blame her anyway since it’s personal. Was just trying my luck… It beats me why I keep waking up so early daily, must be due to the fact I have earlier nights now. My day today was rather mundane, but I did walk a lot because I went to different shops to compare prices of the basic necessities. This is something most Singaporeans wouldn’t do at home I reckon. I finally heeded my Dad’s words “Son, I don’t want you to live the poor student life that I led in the States. Your parents sent you to UK to have fun and enjoy the culture”. So, I went to the supermarket and bought myself a box of teabags. Yeah, I know you people must be thinking that’s nothing much. Wait till you come to UK for exchange and you’ll get what I mean.

Spending most of my day at the library, I was just chatting with my parents and a couple of friends. Gosh, my parents are really naggy now, telling me to do the obvious! But can’t be helped I supposed, gotta be more understanding since I’m not around in Singapore anymore. Finally I got tired of hanging around in the library and I decided to do some exploration. I walked to the castle and wanted to enter. But it was closed for the day, guess why? There’s a wedding going on in there, I managed to take 2 pictures of the people in there. It’s uber cool and romantic to wed in a historical castle, don’t ya think so? I also found out that the castle and cathedral are 2 separate buildings. The castle is the building which overlooks the river as in the pictures I uploaded. The cathedral, to me, didn’t impress me much when I first saw it. I thought that the churches in Italy and Austria where nicer and more impressive due to the architecture. Those churches are structurally more complex I think. However, I decided to enter the cathedral today, and goodness, it was really beautiful. All the stain glass and monuments inside, plus there was a beautiful choir singing. It was really surreal and tranquil. How shall I describe it, the Vatican in Rome is very beautiful and its interior is very well done up. The Durham Cathedral on the other hand, it has a more old-ish feeling to it, without the glitz and glam of the Vatican. It exudes a different type of charm, an English charm unlike that of St Mary’s Dome (if I remembered the name correctly) in Milan. St Mary’s is very nice, the largest marble monument in the world, but the interior feels older than that of the Durham Cathedral, more archaic/gothic? Haha, it’s actually hard to describe, you have to visit these places to see where I’m coming from. I think the architecture and the different eras in which the churches were built plays an integrate role in exuding the different kinds of church-y feelings. Too bad, they didn’t allow cameras in the church, can’t take any pictures of it to show you guys.

It was already 5 plus when I left the Cathedral. The weather today seems colder than yesterday, the winds felt colder. Wonder why women still wear tubes to walk about. Stockings seem to be in fashion also, with the younger girls, I mean high school girls. By the way, the students here dressed like what you see in Harry Potter, though with a modern twist. They wear coats/vests to school and their pants/skirts are pseudo-formal looking. So it’s really pretty classy and chic. They put on heavy make up as well, and the way they do so is quite different from our Singapore girls. I prefer our local chicks honestly. Of course, there’re pretty girls around but you can never tell their age since ang mohs look more mature than Asians. I’ve seen a number of girls with similar Victoria Beckham looks, but certainly not as good as the real thing!

Alright, guess I shall stop elaborating on their clothing… think tomorrow I wanna head down to Newcastle and travel a bit and do some retail therapy. Hehe, I decided to give myself a treat for dinner. I spent 3.10 pounds and got myself 2 fried chickens plus chips and coleslaw. My my, it’s my first hot meal in Durham excluding the burgers and pastries I eaten. I practically rushed back to my room and gobble down the chickens. I was on the verge of being barbaric while eating them! I ended off my meal with 2 nice cups of tea, English tea if you would say. While eating and drinking, it came to my attention I lack those small stuff like a coaster and a tea spoon. So irritating, have to spend money getting them tomorrow. Oh, please bring a laundry basket if you guys wanna come to UK for exchange. I spend 3 pounds buying one of those foldable laundry baskets today. It’s so not worth it but no choice because tomorrow I’m going to experiment washing clothing with the washing machine for the 1st time in my life! Wish me luck guys…

14th Sept 2007 - First times

Sitting in front of the computer each night and typing down my thoughts seems to become a routine now. Perhaps it’s because there’s nothing to do at night and I’m still friendless here in Durham bar a few PRCs. Today was a day with a few 1st times for me. It resulted in a day which I think is slightly better than the previous 2 days.

Waking up in the morning, I went to the office to apply for a student smart card which would let me ride the buses (Oh, by the way, it isn’t bus here. The way they say it is Boo-us). Somehow, the guy manning the office didn’t quite understand me, I think it’s not because my English sucks but because of the way we use our lingo. They don’t quite comprehend some of the sentences/statements we use, likewise for us. I got conned into purchasing a 1 pound photocopying card as well as the photocopying machine in my hostel is spoilt.

I had time to kill before my bank appointment, so I walked around and explore, taking the longer routes to walk while munching on a corn beef/potato pastry which is 68 pence. I suppose I’m getting used to having something light/cheap for breakfast. I took many new pictures, and realized the city’s really beautiful, with the castle/cathedral and lush greenery overlooking the river. I chanced upon a Catholic Church as well. It’s the 1st Catholic Church which I came across. Walking further down, I wanted to capture pictures of the Cathedral/Castle so I entered into the backyard of this apartment as it provided a better view to take pictures. Who knows, after I was done taking pictures, I saw the apartment gate being closed automatically as the person drove off! I was stuck within the apartment grounds and contemplated climbing over the damn gate. I saw a policeman walking towards me and almost wanted to ask him for help haha. Thankfully, an old English gentleman came out of his apartment and I told him I was stuck. He gave me the pin to unlock the gate and I was finally free. First time I got caught in this kind of situation. Still having time to kill, I decided to find my way to the castle/cathedral as I only saw it from afar and never close up. When I reached the cathedral, I realized my university was part of it. The university library was housed in the side wing of the castle. Pretty cool eh? One of the scenes of Harry Potter was filmed in the university library as well. I thought to myself, the university is in the city where all the shopping is and banks are.. kind of weird as Durham University is so scattered. It’s not like in Singapore where a piece of land is set aside for the university. The university buildings in Durham are interspersed with other public buildings and shops as well as housing. So it’s quite hard to locate the various university buildings actually.

Finally it was time for my bank appointment. I was early by around 20 minutes and yet I was only served 1 hour after my appointed time. I had my 1st cup of coffee in the bank as well. The staff were polite and nice, casually chatting with the customers. One of them saw me waiting for around ½ hr past my appointed time and he offered to get me a cup of coffee or tea. It was then I realized I missed having coffee. Haha, drinks here are not that cheap, but I was wondering to myself “a cup of coffee here is actually cheaper than coffeebean/starbucks in Singapore, why can’t I afford to buy coffee/tea here?” Well, that’s because food isn’t cheap over here… Finally it was my turn and I got a shocked when the lady told me “you can’t open a savings account here, only an international student account is available”. I was like “what the F***!”, I told her that I wouldn’t even be there for 12 months because that international student account would bind you to the bank for at least 12 months and you have to pay some lame subscription charge of 5 pounds a month for some services such as a debit card etc. which I didn’t need. All I wanted was to have a simple account with an ATM card. Gosh, I told her that and she said I can’t open a savings account because I’m not a resident and am an international student. I told her that I have no use for all the lame services that was provided for international students because I already have a debit and a credit card. After a while of discussing, she said she would further clarify with her manager. Haha, she asked if I wanted to get a drink and I told her I wanted tea. I know I’m damn kiasu now, anything free also take, but that’s the life of a student on budget right? That’s my 1st cup of tea as well! Finally they opened an account for me which was the “basic bank account”. In Singapore, isn’t savings account the same as a basic bank account? Anyway, I told her my banking needs earlier on and she could have just told me that I needed a basic bank account and not a savings account. After all, I’m a foreigner so I wouldn’t know their labeling… but at least my bank account’s finally settled. A tip for those who want to come to UK for studies, do check where you’re headed for and see if there’s a HSBC branch at the UK area. If there is, just open a HSBC account in Singapore and ask them to email HSBC UK to open an account for you. Trust me, it would save you all the hassle of paperwork and time wasted in a bank, your account would just be ready for you by the time you arrive with all the necessary cards. I had to go to the bank for 3 consecutive days! Banks here aren’t like those you find in Singapore. I almost burst out laughing over my cup of coffee when I read in this article that said France has neither the exporting prowess of Germany nor the “excellent” financial service of UK.

After spending 2 and ½ hrs in the bank, I grabbed lunch from the same burger shop. The man remembered me and this time I tried this steakette burger. Wonder if I got the spelling correct… The burgers there are simple yet much more satisfying than the ones you get at macs or burger king etc. in Singapore. Haha, I purposely walked on the side on of the road where there’re fewer pedestrians because eating stuff in UK can be quite messy. Didn’t want them to think that we Chinese are a messed up bunch (pun intended)! But honestly, those ang mohs are quite messy also, they just use their hands to eat and not the serviette, which I learnt from them as well because tissue is expensive over here. I seldom eat a burger with just my hand holding it, I usually use a tissue or serviette to hold the burger. But heck, this is UK haha. Not trying to say they’re dirty or unhygienic but “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”.

Spent the next few hours in the library checking mail and chatting with family and friends. My parents told me to just eat something good and not be so hard on myself! Haha, think they realized they have a good son. My dad also told me not to be such a miser because I told him that I’m going to visit those places of interest that doesn’t charge an entrance fee. Sometimes, I wonder why my parents bother to tell me that they’re going for a BBQ or they went here or there for meals, telling me how good the food is and how much they spent etc. Are they trying to tempt me into spending money? Haha, I almost wanted to try the fish and chips but seeing it costs 5 – 6 pounds, I decided I shall try it when I’m emotionally down! Read about the s/u policy thingie, hope that NUS allows senior students to review their s/u and choose to un-s/u the modules. That way my CAP would improve because I s/u-ed stuff which I think I can score in *crosses fingers*.

It was already 5 when I left the library. I tried to get some dinner but all the pastry/bread shops were either closed or had few selections left. So I ended up going back to hall without buying dinner. Haha, I had my 1st pasta over here for dinner tonight, the ever-ready microwavable 7-11 style of instant-ready-to-eat pasta. See, it’s another 1st for me today… though not something I want to repeat often. You guys at NUS should be thankful there’s fong seng and stop complaining the food there sucks or is expensive because I will hammer or wallop you when I get back. I found out there isn’t boo-us service after 7pm and no service at all on Sundays! I need to walk out at least 20-30 minutes to reach the town area. Geez, order ins are also not cheap, figured I need at least 4 pounds for a decent order in meal. I miss the convenience of Singapore seriously, but I’m a fighter… gonna make things work for me or make other people work for me! Haha, thought I wouldn’t write so much today but it sure is a good way to kill time. Well, it’s time to go back to my anime!

13th Sept 2007 - Emo-ness

Sitting cross-legged by my laptop, wearing a singlet yet donning on a jacket, I might as well wear something thicker as I thought to myself. Peering out of my windows, I see so many other Asians busy chatting and washing utensils in the kitchens which are located on every floor in every “block”. I went to the kitchen to microwave my dinner, which was subway’s sub of the day because it costs 1.99 pounds. The other fillings cost like 2-3+ pounds, which isn’t exactly in my budget. I think I’m the only Asian eating bread for dinner, the others all seem to have cooked dishes and were happily engaged in their conversations. I think I know the reason for this: they were all PRCs, all Chinese while I was the only non-speaking Chinese. I really feel like a “PRC” in Durham, recalling how PRCs would behave in NUS halls.

I had a pleasant sleep last night. It was filled with dreams and I dreamt of my Tudor girls, can’t really remember what the dream was about but I did remember being waken up at 8.30am by this guy who wanted me to switch to another room and later into the week, switch to another room. This would mean staying in 3 rooms altogether but being the nice person I am, I just agreed to it without kicking up a fuss. I think maybe it was still early in the morning, that’s why? After washing up, I went to the office to obtain the letter, stating Denis Chai is indeed a student with accommodation here in UK, for opening a bank account. Upon reaching the bank, I asked to open an account and was told “sorry, you have to come another day, we’re fully booked today”. So this is UK for me, working on a slack schedule and why in the world must I see a manager to open an account? It’s not like I have a million bucks, though if I did have a million bucks, it would only be 333k pounds haha. So I went to another HSBC branch and was told “sorry, this is a small branch meant for withdrawals only, you have to go to the main branch at market place to open an account.” By the way, I walked to and fro the bank branches because I think it’s cheaper and the place isn’t that big either. So I was back at the “main” branch, which is small by Singapore’s standards, and made an appointment. My next stop would be to the library, so that I would be able to connect to the world.

The public library was housed in a nice looking building, but it was surprisingly small. Think our housing estates libraries are much bigger. Haha, either they have a really small population or people in Durham just don’t read much! The library was filled with people, mainly older folks. I was on the verge of being ecstatic when I finally logged onto msn. I chatted with several people, mainly my closer friends (Tudor people is included in this category) as well as my parents. I think my parents miss me a lot, after all, I’m such a sweet little thing? Gosh, I sound like a girl with that line… I lamented to my parents and friends about how lonely and poor I felt. Being lonely is bad enough, but not having money to spend when you’re emotionally down is even worse, you’re just stuck with bread/pastries and more of those. Also, I did bitch about the retarded system in UK banks.. I told my parents “I think the people working at the bread/pastries shops are busier than those working in the banks”. My mum thought I was “very poor thing”, eating all the unhealthy stuff. I mean I am a very poor thing, both literally and figuratively! My dad told me “if you really need more money, just let me know. Son, I didn’t send you to UK to starve yourself”. My mom told me to charge everything to the credit card because I kept saying I don’t have money. I think she thought I was out of cash and that I didn’t have an account to withdraw money from. Well, I wasn’t out of money but I just didn’t have a lot to spend. In fact, I think I’m budgeting myself to 6 pounds a day on food, which amounts to 2 pounds per meal. Oh ya, I told her that I couldn’t buy a pastry for 68 pence and charge it to the card, it would indeed be weird. As I ended the conversation with my parents, my parents told me to go get a grill for lunch at a restaurant and charge it to the card. Haha, I was surprised by that, I think they couldn’t stand the fact that their cute son was eating bread only. Maybe they just don’t want me to get thinner, hidden agenda, my cunning parents! Reading what my parents said, I became emotional at the library. Well, it wasn’t only that but talking to my dad, mum, brother and closer friends, it just made me feel out of sorts. I don’t know why but thankfully I was alone. It would be utterly embarrassing! Besides talking to people online, I streamed 24 episodes of anime to watch tonight, because I really have nothing to do at night since I didn’t know anyone. The internet speed at the library’s pretty fast hehe. Putting my computer on standby, I left the library to find some lunch and do some shopping.

I wandered into a store looking for a kettle. I couldn’t just keep buying mineral water though it’s 25 pence per 500ml. I saw a shelf with a few discounted items such as irons, microwaves etc. Thinking that I could find a cheap kettle, I look at the shelf with a price tag stating “Kettle – 5 pounds”. Damn, it was out of stock as the shelf was completely empty. Walking further down the street, I entered Topmen. The prices are similar though there’s student discount. Guess when I’m finally settled; probably get clothing from there since I saw some stuff which caught my attention. Now I know why girls like retail therapy, but I only need it when I’m far away from home and all alone. Wonder why would girls in Singapore need to do shopping so much… I saw this burger outlet yesterday but it was closed. It only reopened today so I was bent on trying it. I asked the man what’s lakeside burger? He pointed to a map and then his finger went to a region on the map. He said this area’s lakeside and the beef comes from that region. Adding on, he told me that it’s pretty good and so I tried it. Seriously, for 1.95 pounds it isn’t cheap but it’s kind of good and I can’t get anything much cheaper! He was very nice as well, coming out of his shop and directing me to a place where I could get a kettle. He even explained to me how to buy a kettle from that shop. Haha, I know you people would be wonder, how difficult is it to buy a kettle. Well, buying a kettle from that shop “Argos” is similar to buying a mobile in Singapore. Let me explain: first, you look through a catalogue and choose a model. Then you enter that model number into this atm look-alike machine which will tell you whether there is stock. Second, if there is stock, you fill a form with the model number/quantity and pay for it at the cashier. Lastly, you go to another counter where you wait for the staff to get your item from a storeroom behind and you’re done with your purchase. See, that’s why the burger man was kind to explain to me how to go about buying from that store, if not I would probably appear stupid to the locals. Guess what, I bought the same kettle for only 4.87 pounds. It’s even cheaper than 5 pounds! After that, I walked around town buying a cup for 28 pence, hand soap for 1.56 pounds and detergent for 1.86 pounds. Englishmen are weird, selling stuff with such funny pricing. You know, their 1 pence coin is bigger than 5 pence but their 2 pence coin is much bigger than either! Their 10 pence coin is bigger than 1 pound coin and there’s a 2 pound coin which is dual-coloured I think. Haha, I already spent it, can’t remember clearly.

After returning to my hostel/college, I popped by the convenience store to see if that sweet girl from yesterday was working part-time again this evening, but I was greeted by this ang moh guy instead. Haha, I think if I’m stuck here any longer without friends, I might be driven into desperation and get a PRC girlfriend… please save me! Help urgently needed! I was hungry when I reached back but it was only 5+ pm, too early for dinner and I had to eat at a later timing so I wouldn’t feel hungry in the middle of the night. So I watched a little anime and tabulated my spending on excel to kill time. Actually, one other reason why I bought subway was I wanted to eat vegetables. I didn’t want to get constipation here in Durham haha. I was happy that my stools were finally harden, this meant that my gastric flu is finally cured. For those that didn’t know, I suffered from gastric flu for a few days till I flew off. That aside, my subway really tasted nice – it was Italian bmt or something like that. It’s my first time trying this filling and it’s nice when it’s warmed up. So this concludes the end of day 2, back to watching anime and taking a nice warm shower.

Ps: I feel like a peeping tom, occasionally looking out of my window hoping to see some pretty Asian girl who will happen to look in my direction and I can wave “hi” to her. I really should call myself “fantasy” boy…

12th Sept 2007 - The feeling of being poor

Listening to emotional English/Chinese/Cantonese songs and spending time walking slowly in the very cool air around my new hostel as well as walking circles to ascend this “mount” at the centre of my hostel, freezing myself in the midst! So why am I doing all these as some may wonder… maybe think I’m crazy or I’m just plain bored… well the story unfolds below.

The night was one of emotional ambivalence, having a nice time with my family, sipping our cups of coffee together for 1 last moment before I would enter the gates that would barred me from seeing my family for a year. Until the arrival of my floorball mate, who painstaking delivered a very splendid card which was solely designed by him (don’t worry, he isn’t gay, just damn metro sexual!), my night turned into one of smiles despite the time to bid farewell creeping closer in the shadows. Looking at my watch, I was barely left with 15 minutes to enter the departure gate, when the arrival of my Tudorians really brought all the emotions I contained within me to the surface of my heart. I couldn’t stop smiling, not just because they were there but also because of the gifts they made as well as some other gifts made by others who couldn’t make it to the airport. I didn’t expect their arrival, much less the gifts that were made specially for me. Is it a good or bad thing, for my heart to be stirred so much just before I left? I only knew that my heart got a whole lot heavier…

My parents were right in asking me to hurry into the departure gate, as I was just on time in submitting my boarding pass. The Tudor girls said I have to read it while I’m inside the departure lounge, but I couldn’t as there wasn’t enough time to do so… I really wanted to read all the beautifully decorated cards. And so, into the plane I went while throwing my haversack into the overhead compartment. All the events just before I entered the departure gate dazed me, not sparing my heart the least bit, engulfing me deep in thought and emotions. Finally, I plucked up the courage and stop running, sending a few texts which were long overdue. Perhaps it was futile sending them, but humans are never rational all the time. The announcements came, the plane taxied on the runway and lifted off into the darkness. The flight was one clouded in darkness, never ever being able to see the sun and the only source of light came from the stars, and the occasional lights from the lands far below. I was desperately awaiting for the plane to land, this being one of my most uncomfortable flights, but the hours and minutes just trickle by slowly but certainly.

At 5.15am (GMT+0), I was in Heathrow airport. I had approximately 2 hours for my transit to Newcastle. I thought I had more than enough time but alas, I was mistaken. The staff were too few in comparison to the crowd, too few to effectively conduct the various security checks which includes checking our shoes for athlete’s feet and seriously scanning my laptop for some micro-bomb and bringing it for further testing to see if my laptop could transform into a killer machine! When all these security measures were finally done with, I thought it would be a breeze thereafter, with enough time for me to spend my 1st English note on a cup of coffee. It turned out that there was another immigration/custom checkpoint. Gosh, I thought to myself, how troublesome! The queue was short, but the people in the queue were non-Singaporeans. Travel tip: please avoid queuing behind people of nationalities where standard of health care is not comparable to English standards. Those entering UK for more than 6 months have to register for some dumb health thing at the airport (I don’t see a point when I have to register with a GP in my university). It was already 6+ in the morning, but the staff handling the health checkpoint was still a lone ranger. And goodness, these people from other countries can’t just prepare their health documents right, and they all had their x-rays submitted. Every time they submitted an x-ray, the lady would take like 5 minutes or longer to go somewhere else to get it verified/certified. This might not seem like a lot, but it really pisses the shit out of you when the time gets nearer and nearer to the time your boarding gate closes (6.55am). At long last, it was my turn and it was already 6.50+am. Preparing all my documents beforehand to reduce the wastage of time, as I couldn’t afforded any, I passed everything to her. She asked for my chest x-ray but I told her it was in my check-in luggage but I had the written report of it. Taking a glance at it and looking at my passport, she asked “you’re from Singapore?” and with that she didn’t bother to look through the other health documents and cleared me. This is one of the few times I’m glad to be a Singaporean! As the English are so “efficient” in their service, it was already 6.55am and I did what any trained soldier would do! Carry my haversack and ran all the way to the boarding gate. I was thinking, “thankfully I had army training! F*** those people who took so long to clear the immigration checkpoint!”. I know I should be more tolerant but missing a flight is no joke, having missed a plane in Europe before!

On the flight to Newcastle, I had my first English meal, Ciabatta with cheese, mushroom and ham, not too bad for airline food. When I landed, I spoke with this British cop who was really friendly, despite his accent. Mind you, the British may not be as efficient as Singaporeans, but they’re really helpful and courteous from what I’ve seen so far. Seems like they aren’t any coaches to Durham and I’m stuck with taking the metro (aka train) and then transiting to the National Rail (also another train). Taking the metro was simple, but the National Rail, goodness, so many different routes, destinations, companies etc. Upon reaching Durham station, I was proud of my little achievement, traveling so far away (2 planes, 2 trains) all alone. Now, I just had to take a taxi but guess what, I had to roll my luggage for around 100m or more before I finally hailed one. Could have died man! The people in UK are all just so friendly, so chatty, I think I have English blood in me as well…

Tada… I reached my hostel and was brought to my room. Had to carry my 22.5kg luggage plus my haversack up 2 levels I think. Thankfully I’m strong, so you Kentridgeans better be thankful there’re lifts as well as many helpful seniors to carry your shitload for you peeps! The door to my room opened, “wow” it’s carpeted, my bed’s made with a nice pillow and comforter, my toilet’s clean and geez, it was great but short-lived. I couldn’t connect to the internet and I found out that I had to be matriculated first to receive my userid and password. I’m like bloody 2-3 weeks earlier in UK before matriculation and I’m stuck without internet! How lame can that be, but I refuse to let my spirits be dampened and ventured into town. The staff at the bus station was so ever friendly and helpful. All the bus drivers would greet you when you board and when you alight, so everyone returned the greeting! How cool is that man, semi-utopia? Went to several banks, couldn’t open any account because they needed a stupid letter from my university due to some new UK government regulation. This is one of the rare times when the bank doesn’t want to accept your cash. Even the lady at the bank said it was silly but gahmen said so, so they have no choice. So I went in search of a mobile prepaid card but I couldn’t find anything suitable. By then, it was already 2+pm and I was famished. My last meal before that was at 8+am. Now you people might wonder what the big deal about it right? Add 8 hours to those timings and they’re pretty similar to our meal timings in Singapore. Haha, my body was still eating meals following my SG bio-clock! I bought 4 cans of pepsi and 2 bottles of water for 1.50 pounds. I never felt so poor in my life and I bought 2 pastries for 1.60 pounds. Haiz, everything is so expensive that I have to scrimp and save. I kind of regretted coming here, with the need to live like I’m so poor. What a sharp contrast to being in Singapore… Making my way back to the hostel, I got a little lost trying to find the correct bus stop.

“Hello”, my first friend in Durham greeted me and she’s a postgraduate student from PRC! I saw a number of PRCs in town, looks like even Durham isn’t spared from the grip of China. Oh ya, I saw a few pretty Asians also, hope I will know them soon! After talking to her and another slightly sexy but taller PRC, I decided to head to town again. They thought I was mad and asked me how come I wasn’t tired. I decided to bring some documents and went to even more banks but all of them couldn’t open an account for me. This is like how retarded… well, I went prepaid card hunting again and this time it was successful! Am glad that I could finally contact my best friend in UK and I bitched about UK to him. He told me “now you know what I’ve put up with for the past 5 years”. After getting the pay-as-you-use/pay-as-you-go card (UK calls prepaid card by these terms), I wandered around a little to try to find dinner but it was all bread. Didn’t want to pay so much for roti again so I decided to go back to the hostel. I went to the convenience shop and there was this Chinese girl, she’s pretty sweet and nice, tell you all why later. There was this guy talking to her so I walked around the store a while, and it seriously isn’t a big store before I finally settled on my dinner. At the cashier, I took some time giving her the coins because I couldn’t recognize the different shapes yet UK coins are thicker than SG ones. I told her I was new and she helped me out by telling me she could change my coins for me. I didn’t really understand her then, but she took the coins from my palm and then changed it into a 50p so I’m left with a 1 pound coin and 50pence coin. She told me I can use it for laundry (the washing machines requires an exact 1 pound coin and 50p coin), see… she’s so sweet right!

I left the shop, went back to my room, and later did what I mentioned in the introduction. I took my dinner, it was pathetic, eating those meals you will find at 7-11 except this costs me 1.69 pounds or something like that. It was some yellow rice with curry chicken, haiz, the lack of friends, the need to scrimp and save, living such a life do make me wonder if I made the right choice in going abroad… All in all, spent 13.30 pounds on transport, 1.50 pounds on drinks, around 3.20 pounds on food, totaling 18 pounds. I feel so lost and cut off from the world, hence I’m typing down whatever that’s being recalled for my 1st day in UK, which isn’t a very good one… but people say, you can’t expect Singapore standard when you travel, so I’ll take it as a cultural experience, it’s just the way they work here...