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…