21st Apr 2008 - Gatecrashing

Here I am doing something sinful while typing this blog entry. I’m drinking, and nearly finishing, a bottle (1 litre!) of Belgium chocolate flavoured milk that I bought today at the supermarket. Goodness, it has been so long since I drank such a thick and flavourful bottle of milk. Since arriving in the UK, I have only been drinking skimmed or semi-skimmed milk which is nearly the equivalent of water! Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only sinful thing I did.

Upon returning to the UK, I’ve been acting a little queerly, doing things which I’ve never done in the past. I jogged twice in the rain but at least this is excusable for it keeps me healthy and fit! However, my jogs were compromised as I’d finished 2 tubs of Ben & Jerrys ice cream in 4 days and ended up buying another tub on the 5th day. To add on, I’ve never been a fan of sausage rolls but I’ve eaten 7 sausage rolls in a week! My random and peculiar behaviour is rather worrisome… even to myself.

Last Friday, I cooked mussels for my friends. I guessed I bought them on impulse as I happened to be at the supermarket when the price of the mussels was reduced. After buying them, I decided to prepare them for my friends as a form of gratitude for the lovely “birthday” surprise they sprung on me. Thankfully I didn’t screw up while cooking as it would be utterly embarrassing!

What we did after dinner was even more fabulous. We had decided to gatecrash a joint birthday party and we didn’t even know the 2 birthday celebrants haha. It was my first time doing something like this and it turned out to be good fun. The trick is to pretend you know everybody at the party, if not majority of them at least, and then to introduce yourself to the host(s). For the wicked party, good music, free food and drinks, being unabashed and shameless was certainly worthwhile! It was a party that one would be familiar with as it was akin to those portrayed in American film, pretty awesome I would have to admit =P

Alright, my bed is beckoning me over. It’s time to enter my sweet (hopefully) state of slumber as I would have to arise at half six tomorrow and don on a suit as I would be going to an interior design company. Sigh, from dawn to dust, I would be away from the comfort of my room. Needless to say, the sad life of an engineer-to-be tsk tsk.

19th Apr 2008 - "Birthday" Surprise

It has been a week since I returned to Durham. These 7 days that passed don’t feel like 7 days as the week neither felt long nor short. It seems like I’m fleeting somewhere in between space and time. Wonder if it’s any good to do so or is it detrimental?

4 nights ago, my crazy European friends did something really out of the blue, yet special, for me. They declared 15th of April to be my birthday which obviously isn’t my birthday. They were clueless as to when my birthday is, so they just decided to make that day my birthday! When I met up with my clique that night, the girls suddenly just hugged me and wished me “Happy Birthday Denis!” Goodness, I was dumbfounded and was perpetually rooted to the ground after their antics. Furthermore, they prepared some small gifts for me which I thought was very sweet of them. Haha, my other friends even got conned by them into thinking it was my birthday that night. Of course, I vehemently sounded out that it was just a prank, albeit a very pleasant one, but no one seemed to have paid attention to what I was saying then -.- The situation was really hilarious and we all had a good laugh about it. It was quite a memorable night!

I found out that most of my friends’ parents are coming over to visit them in Europe bar mine. But I guess it’s alright since they can save more money that way… more cash for me to spend abroad =) My mom only knows how to send me list after list of items to buy for her in the UK. Haha, I’m exaggerating a little but yes, she did send me a list of “help-mom-to-buy” items. Oh well, not that I’m complaining. Gee, since I returned to Durham, I’ve been very much anticipating the day that I would set foot in Singapore again. I wouldn’t say it is purely homesickness but there’re several other reasons as well.

Anyway, this song that’s currently being played on my blog was recommended by a friend. She told me to listen to it only just before I retire for the night, and while listening to it, I’m not supposed to do anything else. Haha, it seems that she is rather demanding, don’t you think so? Well, being a nice person, I heeded her words. While listening to it, my emotions stirred, setting me into a thoughtful mood of reflection. It was definitely a lovely piece of music. So, Ms Demanding, I’ve placed this song for you on my blog. Hopefully, together with little splashes of raindrops outside your windowsill, this emotion provoking piece of music would enthrall your senses and feelings, thrusting you into a surreal state of fantasy…

13th Apr 2008 - Incoherent Thoughts

Goodness, I’m actually at a loss now, thinking of how I should start typing this post. I’ve just returned from my travels a couple of days ago. However, most of my pictures are with another friend who is still currently travelling, so I would talk about the places I’ve been to another time after I receive the photographs from her.

Returning to Durham from overseas has always been a chore. The budget flight timings back to UK are never ideal, which is an understatement since they’re budget flights, and they usually fly from and to airports which are not close to the city. Coupled with the long train rides back to Durham, it really is a hassle flying out of UK and this time round, much more of a pain flying back into UK. So far, I’ve been to 2 airports in London and on both occasions, the service (especially the immigration control) is wanting. I am unable to comprehend why the service in major airports in London can be so utterly inefficient till it’s shocking. The queue to clear the border control is as long as the Great Wall of China and BAA can just have 2 counters open. In my opinion, I think it’s quite retarded and the level of service in airports leaves much to be desired. Efficiency is something that most Singaporeans take for granted till one has seen how frustrating it can be when efficiency is nowhere to be seen. Due to their incompetence, I nearly missed my train, which was rather costly, back to Durham. I reckoned it took me about an hour and a half to clear the immigration control although it was already half eleven in the evening.

After reaching London Liverpool Street, I had to while my time away in MacDonald’s for a couple of hours before the train to Durham departed. It was there that I met an interesting gentleman, Dr. Antonio, who is from Italy. He was of British nationality but had lived in Italy since he was young. The only reason, according to him, that he is back in the UK is for the financial benefits i.e. a much higher salary. It was quite comical to hear an Orthopedist lambasting just about everything in the UK. Paraphrasing him, he said that nobody comes to the UK for food, which is rubbish, or for the weather, which is lousy. Also, he told me that he was working for the largest government hospital in London which was under the ward of the National Health Service (NHS). The NHS has a very high budget allocation from the government but the management of funds is horrific. I found out that even the cleaners in the hospital aren’t paid on time. Furthermore, I met a group of British travelers in Switzerland and they were complaining about the NHS as well. It seems like not only are the airports lacking in efficient but so are the hospitals.

On the way to Treviso airport, which is near Venice, I began to miss my family, friends and Singapore quite a fair bit. I kept thinking of the day I would return to Singapore and how I would spend my first week back in Singapore. Strangely enough, when I returned to Durham, a few of my friends messaged me via msn and asked me when I would return, that we should meet up etc. and they were quite emotional. I’m glad I’m not the only person feeling emotionally disjointed. This trip has no doubt been very enjoyable but it has also left me feeling emotionally breathless and suffocated…