~Overseas Dream~

29th Sept 2008 - Portugal

2008-09-28T18:55:00.006+01:00

Time really flies when I’m back in Singapore. It’s not because I’m having a blooded wicked time back here but the education system really pushes one to the brink of insanity! It’s the birthday of one of my best mates today. Happy *HaTcH*DaY Nigel Naumann (aka Kumar)! Like me, he’s now enjoying himself on a year abroad to Damascus, Syria. Hope he’s going to have a blast and a smashing time today =)

I shall now continue to blog about my final leg of my travels i.e. Portugal. College has kept me so preoccupied that I didn't have time to blog till Portugal seems so distant and hazy now. I went to Lisbon and Porto to visit my Portuguese mates since I had promised one of them to visit her in Portugal. I couldn't go back on my word and I'm glad I didn't since I had a lovely time there. Through her, I have gotten to know this group of Portuguese that were really nice and hospitable. They took time off work and their busy schedules to bring me around Lisbon and the outlying areas of Sintra and Cascais. Cascais is a very scenic place that is catered for the rich. Haha, I feel that it's my kind of place, a haven that I wouldn't mind having a humble abode in. It has its own beaches and even a casino there despite it being a small town. It feels like the whole county is landscaped and it reminded me of Singapore. Perhaps that is why I feel a connection to it. I did miss Singapore then when I was being driven around Cascais. Well, the impression that I had was that most of the well-heeled Portuguese work in Lisbon and live in Cascais as it’s only about a half hour drive away. Sintra was nothing short of breathtaking and amazing. I had a picnic there with two lovely Portuguese ladies and after that, I went to the palace at the top of the mountain. The view from above is indescribable; one has to be there to witness the magnificent view. The architecture of the palace was also unique and the windows were the highlight. They were akin to art pieces and not just mere transparent glass to allow sunshine through into the palace. Finally, the last place that I went to in Sintra was the Western most point of Europe in which beyond lies the Atlantic Ocean! It was spectacular being there; the sound of the waves crashing against the cliffs, the sun against the horizon and the rustling of the strong winds. It’s such a shame that I don’t have any pictures of Portugal as my trusty camera was stolen =(

Porto was my final destination before returning to Singapore. Porto is a city which is very different from Lisbon. It seems much older and messier as a city although its transport infrastructure is decent and comfortable. The first day that I was there, I spent my time in one of the most luxurious cafes in Porto. It had a lovely ambience despite the heat and I met an Indian couple there. We ended up having a short conversation about India and Singapore, much of which I can’t remember at present. I was also lucky enough to see a filming occurring at the cafe while I was sipping my cup of cooling ice coffee away. No doubt I didn’t understand what they were speaking but nonetheless, it was still interesting. The highlight of my time in Porto would be my first evening there. I went out with a group of American girls, two Spanish birds and two Brazilian guys, all whom I met at the hostel. Haha, in order to save money, we decided to take a risk and boarded the metro without buying tickets. Luckily, we weren’t caught red-handed by the train conductors or else it would surely be such a hassle and embarassment =P After "hitching" a ride, we ended up at this place whereby there was a gig going on to celebrate some music festival of sorts. However, it turned out to be quite boring and we took to drinking instead. Eventually, we landed at a club in an area which looks like an industrial estate. I may be wrong though since it was dark by then but it was a popular hangout as many people were heading towards there as well. I had a pretty decent time that evening considering I was initially alone in Porto. I was so glad to have met this group of people whom I had a wicked time with. It’s a shame that they were leaving Porto the next day. Hence, I had no one to kill time with and ended up walking to the beach. I guess my map reading skills were blunt as I mistook each grid for 1km instead of 2. I ended up walking 12km to the bloody beach! Coupled with that, I alighted at the wrong bus stop on my way back and I had to walk back to the city area. Goodness, I reckon I had walked about 20km that day. It was horrendous!

Thinking back, I had a lovely time in Portugal although one of my closer mates from Portugal wasn’t around to host me. My only gripe would be that of losing my camera as the only pictures I have of Portugal now are memories, which are failing me slowly over time. Even now, I can’t write much about Portugal as I am unable to recollect my moments in Portugal. Due to my hectic schedule in college, all that is on my mind constantly is work and more work. Factoring in the fact that I’m typing this post at two in the morning, it surely doesn’t help me in reliving my memories... Haha, I guess I now have a reason to contact the American girls to ask them for pictures of Portugal!

12th Aug 2008 - Spain

2008-08-12T15:40:00.002+01:00

Nearly two months ago, I was in a land so distant that I would not imagine myself being back in the centre of the equator. The land that I travelled to is a place where a melody runs through the land, and in doing so, unifies all its people. This land is known as Spain. In Spain, the national anthem is wordless as it is just a tune. From what I’ve gathered, there are 5 factions of people living in Spain and all speak different languages or dialects. Therefore, the anthem was conceived wordless to show equality.

My first destination in Spain was Madrid. It was a lovely and beautiful city. One thing that struck me during my stay there was the orderliness of it. The metro, or underground, is certainly much better than that in London or Paris. It is a shame really as both of the cities mentioned above are alpha first world cities. However, although I feel that I’m a person who appreciates cities more than nature, the place which I’m fondest of in Madrid is Park Retiro. To be precise, I adore the rose gardens found inside the park. Haha, all three of us, my mom, younger brother and me, were taking pictures while doing stupid poses! Also, I never really fancied Spanish rice, known as Paella, as I had tried it in Singapore and in the UK. However, even in Madrid, Paella isn’t that fabulous as well unless you dine at a place which specializes in it. I went to one such restaurant and it was both tantalizing and mouth-watering. The fish that my mom ordered was lovely to the palate as well. Unfortunately, we were all so hungry that by the time we wanted to take a picture of our meal, all that were left were the serving plates. It was, indeed, a shame.

Besides Madrid, I made a day trip to a nearby city called Toledo. It was the old Spanish capital if I’m not mistaken. I remembered the day as being really hot, say 30 degrees Celsius. To make matters worse, we were given wrong directions and we ended up walking for nearly two hours before reaching the old city leaving endless conquered crests in our wake. It was such a hilly place but it was splendid. Toledo is like a barren and non-luscious fort or keep that one sees in the “Lord of the Rings” movies. Thankfully, we took a mini tram, lasting about ¾ of an hour, which went around the entire ancient part of Toledo. It was certainly breathtaking and I could imagine myself being a knight then.

Barcelona was our final destination in Spain. It is much messier than Madrid and I was initially irked by the transportation system. In some of the smaller underground stations, there aren't bridges or underpasses in which one could cross over to the other platform. So there we were, three strangers who entered the station on the wrong side and were at a loss of what to do. It would certainly be foolish, if not stupid, to exit the station and buy another three tickets just to get to the other side of the platform. Eventually, we took the train in the wrong direction and alighted at a bigger station before we could cross over back to the correct platform. It was quite infuriating in all honesty. To worsen the situation, their underground systems are not integrated. Imagine if the ticketing in the north-south lines is different from that of the east-west line, one would have to exit the station and purchase another ticket if one needed to transit. In my opinion, I felt it was ludicrous. Coupled with the lack of clarity for the train network system, surely an irate traveler one would be. After lambasting the transport system, Barcelona does have its merits. The city is beautiful, even more so than Madrid and it is a place that appeals more to tourists. The architecture of Gaudi has left me deeply impressed. It is very distinct and unique till I find no words to aptly describe it for his works are really a blessing upon Barcelona. One only has to be there to witness his very work of arts to fathom and grasp the extent of the marvel of his talent. Besides the fabulous architecture, Barcelona’s shopping belt really puts Madrid’s high street to great shame. Although Madrid is the capital, the shopping arena contrasts starkly in comparison to Barcelona’s. It really is a lovely city, bar the metro and suburbs where Madrid has a definite clear advantage over Barcelona.

I went to another two smaller towns but I reckon they’re not worth mentioning so I guess these three main cities depict my experiences and feelings in the “land of melody”.

10th Jul 2008 - London & Paris Revisited

2008-07-09T19:14:00.000+01:00

One month has just quickly flown by. I reckon this is the result of travelling for nearly a month. I’ve visited several places and I returned to London & Paris for a 2nd time. However, instead of being a carefree tourist in both cities, I was acting as the unofficial tour guide. As mentioned previously, my mom and younger brother flew over to Europe to meet me almost immediately after my examinations.

I remembered London as a huge city which I was fond of. It was one of the first few places I travelled to upon my arrival in Durham. Compared to the other smaller cities which I explored in the north of UK, nothing really comes close to London. In my opinion, even Edinburgh isn’t as awe-inspiring as London which may be an obvious statement haha. Although I did enjoy London, I felt wanting. It was as though an element seem to be missing from the capital of England. A few months later, I finally realized what that element is. Going to Paris was just simply amazing. Everything was extremely majestic and lovely. Surprisingly, I did not encounter any snobbish French people contrary to popular belief. I felt that Paris had a very unique and rustic charm whereby pictures do no justice to the absolutely splendid city. It was so enchanting and romantic being there, something which I didn’t feel when I was in London. Hence, I naturally favoured Paris over London.

A couple of months later, I made my way to both cities again. I knew what to expect as I’ve been there and am pretty familiar with both cities. What was flabbergasting was my paradigm shift of my views on both cities. I honestly grew to like London a lot despite it lacking in charm as compared to Paris. The English are so lovingly polite that it’s hard to fault them. I am impressed that no matter how busy or crowded the underground is, everyone would still queue to get onto the right side of the escalator and keep the left side free from obstruction for any passerby who is in a hurry. If only that happens in Singapore, I would be filled with glee. On my 2nd visit to Paris, I didn’t feel that it was as magical as before. There is no doubt it is still a very lovely city, one which I would highly recommend to others. Nevertheless, I was very disgruntled with a staff in Charles de Gaulle airport which is Paris’ main and international airport. I was asking the staff for directions, in English, to the display panel but she replied to me in French with a contorted expression on her face which screamed “too bad u do not speak French”. I was so annoyed by her condescending attitude and she even had the cheek to turn her back on me and walked away. I was utterly dumbfounded. It seemed ludicrous that I would face such treatment at their international airport and not along the streets of Paris. This isolated incident totally marred my 2nd visit to Paris. Well, English or French, your call =P

15th May 2008 - Pictures of Switzerland & Italy

2008-05-15T10:25:00.000+01:00

It is 2 days to the commencement of my examinations! I’ve decided to write this short post before starting on my daily routine of revision. Well, the pictures of Zurich, Lugano, Schaffhausen, Lucerne & Venice are up! Hope you guys would enjoy them while I study away~

14th May 2008 - Birthday Mom =)

2008-05-14T00:07:00.000+01:00

Today is a day of utmost importance for without it, I wouldn’t exist in this world so… happy birthday mummy! Hope your celebration later would be lovely and unique. Remember that it’s just a prelude to your main celebration in Europe in 2-3 weeks time! Your dearest second son would bring you on an extravaganza shopping trip in some of the most famous cities in the world i.e. London, Paris and so forth! I’m really looking forward to seeing you soon. It has been 246 days since I last saw you haha. Are you touched that I actually counted the days?

Well, here’s a little gift for you… pictures of Geneva, Bern, Fribourg and Interlaken! It’s nothing much, just a small gesture but I do hope you find them pretty. See you later then!

11th May 2008 - Summer Holidays

2008-05-11T23:41:00.002+01:00

Goodness, examinations are commencing in 6 days! I haven’t updated my blog for about a month, so I thought this would be a good time to do so since I’m done with revision for the day. Oh yes, happy mother’s day, mom! I’m highly anticipating the day I conclude my examinations as my mom and brother would be flying over to Europe. I’ll be acting as their tour guide in both London and Paris and thereafter, we’ll explore a couple of places in Spain together, namely Madrid, Barcelona, Toledo and perhaps Salamanca. I am so totally looking forward to it. It’s a shame that my Dad wouldn’t be joining us as he’s really busy with work. Right now, I’m also trying to finalise my trip to Portugal. Hopefully I can get it done and out of the way soon. Planning for trips is such a hassle unless you’re willing to fork out cold hard cash to the travel agent to do all the planning for you.

During Easter break, I went to a number of places which was absolutely lovely. I can’t even count all of the places I’ve been to with my fingers alone. Amsterdam was alright, the tulips there are so pretty but you can get killed by the stupid trams and bicycles there! Switzerland is so picturesque, nothing short of being fabulous! Imagine the snow capped mountains, the clear blue lakes, the beautiful cities… The cuisine in Venice was delightful, nothing less than expected of Italian cuisine! Well, I will definitely upload all the pictures once I finish sorting them out which would be after my exams. It takes a heck of time to do so as I’ve been to so many places then.

After returning from my Easter holidays, I worked under an interior designer for about 2 weeks as part of my curriculum. It was certainly challenging but I learnt that engineering methodologies can also be applied to areas which are so non-engineering! It was overall a good experience although I was so tied up with work during those 2 weeks. After my short stint at the interior design company, it was time to hit the books as the exams were 2 weeks away which explains why I couldn’t upload any pictures. Furthermore, my mom informed me, at such a non-idealized timing, about her wanting to come to Europe. However, being a filial son, I shuffled between studies and planning for her trip and in doing so, I managed to finish planning the 16 days trip in about 3 or 4 days. Guess she should bequeath me with some nice gifts as a reward for my hard work. Haha, I’ve decided to bring lesser clothing for my trip so I would be left with no choice but to shop! Well, I’m really looking forward to seeing my family in London. It will be really lovely… till then, it’s back to studying!

21st Apr 2008 - Gatecrashing

2008-04-21T21:41:00.006+01:00

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

2008-04-20T03:43:00.002+01:00

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

2008-04-13T21:48:00.001+01:00

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…

23rd Mar 2008 - Florence & Pisa

2008-03-23T23:47:00.001Z

I’m finally blogging again after finishing my revision for the day. Italy seems so distant even though I was there till a couple of days ago. This time round, I went to Florence and Pisa, both of which were lovely but charming in different ways.

I met up with one of my closer friends in Florence. I would have to admit that I was excited and anxious to do so since the last time I caught up with him would probably be more than 7 months ago. Furthermore, our meeting point is in Florence, how awesome can that be? And it certainly was… imagine meeting someone in your freshmen year in varsity and suddenly, 30 months later, both of you sitting at a café in Florence, enjoying the cool weather while sipping wine and slowly savouring Parma ham. Absolutely wicked! Fantastic company and great food, what more can one expect (bar a girlfriend!)? One thing’s for sure, food in Italy is so much nicer than in UK and also substantially cheaper. Everything about UK is nice except the food and weather, I’m sure I have said this several times in my other blog entries haha.

Florence didn’t exactly appeal to my senses when I first arrived. It was only through more thorough exploration and a comparison with Pisa that I grew to appreciate Florence as a city. It may not be as enchanting as Paris but it definitely has its own character. To add on, after my friend left Florence, I ended up mixing with the people in my hostel. Goodness gracious, it was such a wonderful experience that I’m contemplating travelling alone during summer for a while. I met 2 Americans, 2 Koreans, 2 Japanese, 1 German, 1 New Zealander and even 1 Kenyan. I think I might have missed out on some of them, since there were so many of them. Speaking to people, from such diverse cultures and backgrounds, is amazing. We ended up touring the city and having dinner together. Unfortunately, I had to leave for Pisa the following day and it was such a shame to not be able to spend more time with them. Oh well, it was a good end to my stay in Florence, I shan’t complain any further…

The journey to Pisa took an hour by train and I was all alone again. Pisa is very different from Florence and it is much smaller as well. But, lo and behold, nothing can prepare you for the sight of the “Square of Miracles” in Pisa. It is extremely captivating and seeing the leaning tower of Pisa and the Duomo with your very own eyes is just dazzling! All my weariness left me and I scurried along to purchase my tickets for all the attractions at the Square of Miracles. My first task was to climb the leaning tower of Pisa. Haha, it was quite tiring, albeit not for me, but for the older folks as they had to stop several times along the way up. Never would I imagine myself to be climbing up one of the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World! I slowly while my time away while exploring just about every inch of the Square of Miracles since I had nothing to do after that except to spend the night at the airport. Even so, I managed to finish my tour of the Square way beforehand, hence I took to the streets of Pisa. Gosh, there really is just nothing to shop for in Pisa. In fact, I found out from a boutique manager that most shops close from about 1 till 3.30pm in Pisa for lunch. As it was a small town, people make their way home for lunch, wow, what a life! Good for the locals but despairing for tourists like myself haha. Besides the Square of Miracles, I doubt there is anything else noteworthy. Furthermore, I felt that the people in Florence were friendlier and more polite as compared to those in Pisa despite both being touristy and Pisa being the smaller town. Perhaps, the shopping industry in Florence is much more dependent on tourists, which may be a reason for their attitude towards tourists. Anyway, shopping is far better in Florence than Pisa which is quite pathetic with respect to shopping. Therefore, with nothing to do, I commenced my way to the airport to spend my final night in Italy.

My last night in Italy was devastatingly horrendous! It all began with my atrocious dinner. Can u imagine eating pasta that seems to be cooked in a microwave? The final pasta that I had was hard and dry, prompting me to suspect that the café just reheated it in a microwave. It was such a letdown especially since I was in Italy. But the tales of horror didn’t end there and then. At about 11.30pm at Pisa airport, I heard the announcement that the airport would be closing at midnight. I immediately knew I was in trouble… I was caught in a dilemma, unsure to brave the cold weather like a man or to act like a pampered kid and hail a taxi to a hotel to spend the night. So, being the tough person that I am, I stupidly chose the former option. You guys have to know that the weather in Italy is just so perfect, but only during the day! I reckon the temperature dipped to below 5 degrees at night and I didn’t have my winter coat with me. Please note that I didn’t expect to spend a night out, in a literal manner, thanks to the airport closing. I could say, on hindsight, that I should have checked such a minute detail before I left for Italy, but I suppose most of us wouldn’t expect a closed airport. As such, from 12 till 2am, I was sitting outside in the freezing cold and there has to be a slight breeze to add to my torturous night. It was a very horrid feeling till I ended up walking about and stationing myself in a staircase of the airport car park. It was only slightly warmer but the place was so dirty that I remained standing from 2 till 4am. I recalled that I was checking my watch every 5 minutes or so, only to see time trickling away. I was despondent… very…

At the magical hour of 4am, the airport reopened and I was thus saved! The rest of my journey back to Durham was just a hazy affair as I spent most of my time catching up on sleep. It was a long journey though as it took 3 hours to fly to Glasgow, another 4 hours by train back to Durham and about 3 hours of waiting time in between. Boy was I wasted at the end of the entire ordeal. What a trip to Italy and BACK!

To end off, a very happy and meaningful Easter to all!

9th March 2008 - Harry Denis

2008-03-09T10:10:00.002Z

Last night, something that my friend did really tickled me and caused me to burst out laughing. I think it’s rather cute and nice. As you can see, I am the new lead actor for the next installment of Harry Potter, if there are any further installments. You have to be aware that Harry Denis is not a fan of the Potter series, hence my ignorance towards it. My Portuguese friend created the picture for me. I dare say that it is a rather good picture. One friend of mine commented that the picture has to be suited or ideal for superimposing onto Harry Potter. Apparently, with my trademark cheeky smile, I am without a doubt that my pictures would make the mark! Haha, well, my Portuguese friend did use a nice smiling picture of myself and I think it looks pretty darn good!

Besides that, it was the birthday of a good friend that I’ve made in Durham. After sending him my well-wishing for his birthday, he replied with this text which took me by surprised as it was sincere and deep. It said “Dear Denis, thanks for your support throughout this year. You have been my role model for the year and to be honest, sometimes I look up to you as a big brother. Thanks for the kind words and I’ll carry on with my future with no regrets”. After reading it, I didn’t know what I was feeling exactly. But a funny thought came to mind, I bet a 100 quid that my younger brother doesn’t even look upon me as a role model haha!

More surprisingly, a friend told me at a party that I’m like a fountain of morality! I was like “huh”? I really am bewildered, and a little amused, by the impressions that I’ve formed on others throughout this year for I don’t feel like I’m exerting much influence over my friends…

6th March 2008 - Speaking English

2008-03-06T00:49:00.002Z

I’m finally done with my work for this evening. I feel quite relieved now, especially with the bulk of my design project done. It really is annoying when I have to spend more time on the project just when I thought I’m done with it. Alright, enough of griping now since work’s over, at least for today. I didn’t know that some of my friends do read my blog, so I’m now writing this entry for someone =P

Apparently, there seems to be some animosity between the British and Americans. I just watched a programme and the host for the show said something along the lines of Americans are fat and they have to have cheese in their food. It was quite hilarious actually. For myself, I particularly like British humour because it’s not only witty but creative. The usage of the English language is simply fascinating! However, all the Americans that I’ve met so far are absolutely lovely people. They make an effort to get to know you better and through conversations with them, one can sense that they’re sincere. I suppose this prejudice against the Americans stems from the past. I may be wrong but I suppose to the British, it seems that America has corrupted the English language. I do hear some of my British mates occasionally raising a point or making a joke about it. From what I’ve heard, the colloquial English used in America is inherently “ancient”. It was the way English was spoken eons ago in the past when the British colonized America and the Americans have kept that style of speaking English. I reckon it’s similar to how a Portuguese might feel towards a Brazilian. I found out that some people who learn Portuguese find that the Brazilian way of speaking it is nicer and more romantic as compared to the way the originators of that language speak it. This, perhaps, explains the slight biasness.

My British friend complimented me just the other day. He told me that he fancies the way I speak English due to my usage of various words. Haha, he also mentioned that my vocabulary is good. This coming from a British was especially pleasant =) I noticed that many of my friends commented on my hair and that it is long now. I don’t really think it’s long, just not as short as before, after all, hair does grow in length over time if I’m not mistaken? Besides this, some also commented on my smile, my cheeky smile to be precise! What exactly is a cheeky smile? I can’t really help the way I smile I guess? It seems like I am being defined as a person through my hair and smile now, which is really quite sad since my character relies on my hair & smile!

Putting that aside, it’s only less than 2 weeks before the end of term. I shall then be in Italy and a multitude of other places in the weeks to come. Gosh, I sure am getting excited as my anxiety builds up. UK is really a decent place to live in. The pace is slower here and the way of life more relaxing. I wouldn’t mind staying here indefinitely if not for the cold weather. The times when I desperately wished I have a car are when the weather gets insanely cold and windy. Walking up the slope to my college in the absurd weather is akin to… I can’t even find anything apt to compare it to. It’s just simply suicidal! Haha, those are the days where one would just want to stay in the room and laze about doing nothing. If I’m studying here as a full time student, I think I would pleadingly request a car from my parents. After all, the cost of a decent car here isn't sky high. In addition to the horrendous weather at times, the worst thing about UK is its cuisine. Welcome to the land where one’s palate gets poisoned and killed. If you want to nullify your taste buds and develop Ageusia as a result, do come to the UK! English food is just plain lousy & unappetizing. Ask anyone, any Asian or European, and you will find a common consensus. Goodness, one aspect of Singapore that I miss sorely is the FOOD! At times, I would think of the day I return to Singapore and having supper with my brothers while talking rubbish. Haha, we speak rubbish not because we’re airheads but you can’t expect an engineer-to-be to speak about boring “techy” stuff!

Today, while I was walking up the dreaded slope, I saw my flat mate in front of me. Being the usual friendly self, I attempted to catch up with him but alas, I was having a tummy upset. It greatly hindered my ability to walk fast and imagine that I usually take 15 minutes or longer to walk up, it really is a torment to have to climb back up to my room, especially when I’m one kilogram heavier filled with S***! Originally, I intended to fly off to travel after my exams, but I heard from my British friend that the weekend after the exams concluded was supposedly the biggest weekend of the year in Durham. Think I shall alter my holiday schedule! Hehe, it’s going to be parties after parties, typical of the English which is cracking, after the exams while waiting for the release of results. I do not know why, but recently, I started developing a sweet tooth and am becoming a sugar addict… I have an urge to drink coke which I rarely drink in Singapore. Meanwhile, to satisfy my cravings, I’ve been indulging in cakes which are certainly splendid. Gosh, just thinking of it is enough to send me into a state of blissfulness, NOT! I have to drop by a café soon =P

Hmnz, I think I am really getting old. Throughout the day, I made a mental record of what I want to blog, but it seems like my memory is failing me. My thoughts are fleeting and fading into the depths of my mind. “Depths of my mind” makes it seems like I’m a deep person haha! Oh yes, I wanted to conclude this entry but I suddenly remembered something. I’ve began to ask my lecturers from referrals and one of them has already obliged. It really is easier to get a referral since the classes are so small and the lecturer would probably know who you are and know you better as a student. Hope the rest would similarly follow suit then *crosses my fingers*. Well, it’s time to get some well deserved rest! Good night peeps.

28th Feb 2008 - Earthquake

2008-02-28T00:32:00.002Z

Currently, a familiar tune is echoing in my mind & resounding throughout my room. This melancholic tune brings back many memories, of all sorts of shape and sizes. I wonder what people would do with their memories? Cherish them, hold on to them as a beacon of hope, no matter how faint or dim it is? Or chuck them aside, locking them in a mental cage for all eternity? Perhaps some would place them into a treasure chest, occasionally taking them out and reminisce the past, while a smile forms subconsciously. I think for most, we never bother to think about what memories really are to us…

Sometimes, I feel so inept, in terms of character, especially after attending church. Since I left Singapore, I felt it has been so much of a challenge trying to be a nice person to everyone. To be able to concoct the right mixture of being firm and reasonable, yet being understanding and tolerant, is by no means a simple task. A few days ago, a friend said something along the lines of this “only by our sins would we be able to see the grace of God”. I suppose our inadequateness has a role to play in developing and redefining our lifestyles as we journey through life.

As I was trying to sleep last night, I experienced the tremors from an earthquake. It is rare to encounter earthquakes in UK. I was reading the papers this morning and the frequency of an earthquake is approximately once in every 10-25 years. If I am not mistaken, the only injury sustained, from this earthquake, was by a man who hurt his leg due to a collapsed chimney. Apparently, when I first felt the tremors, I thought someone was probably making loads of noise in his room. However, I thought to myself then that no one could make so much noise till my bed would be shaking as well. Furthermore, my ceiling was also trembling. I couldn’t imagine that it would be either of my 2 resident tutors, living above me, to be having a party that would bring the house down. That was when I realized that it was probably an earthquake. In my mind, when I conceptualized the probability of an earthquake, I was thinking of whether should I get dressed and take my valuables with me including my passport. I thought that it would be extremely troublesome to replace a passport, especially when I have a VISA in it. It seems like safety isn’t of paramount importance to me. Well, guess what I did eventually? I just carried on with my numerous futile attempts to stumble into slumber land!

It’s another 2 weeks plus till my vacation in Italy. Meanwhile, I’m feeling quite stressed by my work and project. I really hope I will be able to fully utilize this time to do a productive revision in preparation for my upcoming exams. I strongly feel the need to discipline myself into doing so… as time ticks away silently and perhaps, cruelly…

19th Feb 2008 - Edinburgh

2008-02-19T00:08:00.004Z

Chinese New Year has since passed as I’m penning this entry. It is once again the year of the rat, meaning I’m already 24 years old. I would soon be able to lay claim to being a quarter of a century old! Many Singaporeans would consider Chinese New Year as a chore, but ironically, when you’re overseas, you tend to even miss the bothersome visitation of relatives and friends during Chinese New Year. I’ve been rather preoccupied with work till I’d to work through Chinese New Year and even Valentine’s Day. Thinking of which, Valentine’s week has just gone by.

My weekend was especially surreal as I was in Edinburgh. More so, it was my companions that made my short trip to Edinburgh worthwhile. Being in Edinburgh was akin to living a dream, taking a break from the monotony of work and just pure indulgence in the comfort and presence of friends. Edinburgh is quite a nice city, with its architecture surpassing most other cities in the UK. It is, after all, the capital of Scotland. Once again, I shall let the pictures do the talking as a picture speaks a thousand words. I had a really nice Chinese Dim Sum meal in Edinburgh. It was surprisingly good, better than what I had in Newcastle. If only there’s such a nice Chinese restaurant in Durham… Well, besides visiting attractions in Edinburgh, our evenings were particularly enjoyable as we had our get-together sessions. Seeing the group of us together was an interesting sight as well. Averaging 1.6 plus metres in height, only 1 of us stood out at nearly 1.9 metres! Haha, he’s my close friend from Lithuania who followed me to Edinburgh. I think it was much more of an experience for him than it was for me, being the only European among a “sea” of Asians! It wasn’t only his height that made him stood out but he was pretty striking amidst us, gaining most of the attention from the peculiar stares of the Scotts. I never imagined myself having a good friend from Eastern Europe, much less traveling with him. Likewise for him, it never occurred to him that he would mix with a group of Asians. The way life unravels for each of us is certainly mystifying although satisfying =)

Gosh, I think I caught a slight cold from the chilly weather in Edinburgh which was further pronounced by a long walk that I took in the dead of the night. Oh well, at least the walk did tire my friend out, resulting in her incessant snoring which reverberated throughout the room! Hehe, perhaps I might have exaggerated a fair bit, but at least her snoring was the absolute truth! I reckon it’s a fair tradeoff for me catching a cold? Anyway the weather today in Durham was brr…. cold and there was even frost on the fields this morning. I pray that the weather warms up tomorrow. Seriously, once the novelty of cold weather and snow wears off, one would prefer the warmth of the sun grazing upon the suppleness of our skin.

It’s already past 12am, guess it’s time to hit the sack. It’s now my 161st day away from Singapore… time really flies in the twinkle of an eye. I’m certainly looking forward to having supper in Singapore once again. Food most definitely rocks in Singapore, even more so since English food does not do much to gratify one’s palate!

16th Jan 2008 - Left with Memories...

2008-01-16T17:21:00.000Z

It has been more than a month since I last blogged. I even lost count of how many days I’ve been away from Singapore. Before I carry on, a belated Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all, especially to my family!

December has been a month of mixed emotions for me. I wouldn’t even say that I’m emotionally starved but rather I’m emotionally drained. I remembered the last few days of school… everyone was a little upset that we all had to part with one another during the holidays as they were just around the corner. Neither did I expect myself to have felt that way nor did I think that I would feel a tinge of sadness when parting with my newly found friends while I was still in Singapore. It seems like so many things that I thought wouldn’t happen to me, or things which I never thought about would actually happen to me. Thank you, Dad & Mom, for giving me this opportunity to experience these life-changing instances (I sound like I’m giving a Grammy Award speech).

I spent my holidays traveling around Europe. My 1st destination was Dublin, followed by Paris, after which I flew to Glasgow and finally to Gothenburg. Each of the cities are unique, but I would say that Paris really made an impression on me, it pretty much “wowed” me as I stepped into the city of the lights. I really am unable to describe how magnificent it is as it would do Paris a great injustice. I would let the pictures speak for themselves. Glasgow was good for low to mid-end shopping, probably the nicest place to shop in Scotland. Boxing Day sales was amazing! I did a fair amount of shopping in Glasgow but I felt it wasn’t enough but I ran out of moolah! You can’t really find high end boutiques in just about any city, including capital cities such as Dublin. Only in places like London, Paris & Milan can you find such stuff, in a way I really miss the convenience of Singapore, where one can just about find anything one wanted regardless of the price. Gothenburg was nice as well. I spent a few days in the countryside at a friend’s place. Gosh, every night was like a wine drinking session thanks to the OLDEST man in our group, probably our father-figure since he’s 33 and married. Alas, despite his age, I taught him how to withdraw cash from an overseas cash withdrawal machine, thus giving me a sense of smugness!

Traveling with friends is an experience in itself, for one would learn how to compromise and tolerate one another. Even simple things such as a difference in budget can lead to squabbles which can be pretty damaging if not managed properly. I learnt so much from my European friends and they really made an impression on me with their wealth of knowledge and it’s really interesting to learn about the different cultures and behaviours. Without a doubt, one would not agree with everything one sees or hears, but it does broaden one’s perspective in all certainty. Traveling with my friends also bonded us subconsciously. Guess the time spent together, the petty squabbles and the good times we shared allowed us to understand one another better as well as oneself better. To all my Singaporean friends going on abroad or on exchange already, try not to just stick with Asians, mixing with people who are vastly different from us would really add meaning to your overseas experience. I think that being on exchange allowed me to not only understand, tolerate and be sensitive to others in greater depth but more importantly, it gave me a chance to understand myself better, providing me with an opportunity to grow and develop as a person and adult. Once again, kudos to my lovely parents!

While I’m typing this blog entry, I already feel like I’m a shadow of my former self. Despite the numerous wonderful times I had during the holidays, a part of me seems to have ceased existing. It would take a miracle to pen everything down in just plain words and I rather let memories tell our story. Hence, I would end with this…

终于还是走到这一天, 要奔向各自的世界, 没人能取代记忆中的你和那段青春岁月。要对你说再见真的很伤感，我真的很希望能够相信你所说的我们一定会再见，而你会再次回到我面前。那一天送你送到最后，我有千言万语，好担心好难过，却没对你说。我只能让眼泪留在心底，深深的祝福你最亲爱的朋友，祝你一路顺风。。。

6th Dec 2007 - My 1st Handkerchief & a lovely dinner

2007-12-06T19:40:00.000Z

I’m into my 2nd last week of school now as the school holidays draw nearer. Nothing spectacular has happen except for the occasional parties such as the Arabic party which I mentioned 2 post ago and this interesting party which was the China, Hong Kong, Singapore & GREEK winter party! Haha, I am totally clueless as to why the Greeks were included since it seems at odds with the other societies. Maybe perhaps Greece is one of the EU countries nearest to Asia? Anyway, I went to that party with my international friends. As expected it was dominated by Chinese, regardless of nationality. However, I did feel a little out of place at the party although I knew quite a number of people from China and Hong Kong. I’m not sure as to why as well, but I think I was one of the few Chinese hanging about with an all European crowd and doing stupid stuffs! There was also this International Students Christmas Party which I attended at the last minute which was way below expectations. I should have studied instead haha.

I reckon the nicest event that I attended, over the past week, was the Singapore Society Christmas Social. We went to this Spanish restaurant in town that looked real cosy. The menu is a little misleading as well because everything looks cheap. That is until you factor in the size of the dish and the portion per dish, it’s in fact kind of costly. But we had good fun, being with a Singaporean crowd once again. I shouldn’t use the word “crowd” in all honesty as it would be a mistake. There are only a handful of us, fewer than 20, that are in Durham. Oh yes, we had this guy from El Salvador who joined us as well. Seriously, he can speak mandarin better than most of us, since his enunciation of all the Chinese characters are way better than us! Hehe, the reason for his fantastic command of Chinese was because he used to study in China, and for some reason, he likes everything about China!

I met this friend from Portugal 2 weekends ago, when she decided to visit my friend in Durham. Coincidentally it was her birthday as well, isn’t it cool to fly off for your birthday and spend it elsewhere? I have never tried that before, so maybe I should in the near future. Anyway, she’s called Rita but I can never get the pronunciation of her name right in Portuguese. Haha, so I say it something like “Crrrriiiipta” when I tried to say her name in her native language! She’s a very nice girl, actually she’s 26 years old, hmnz perhaps the term girl may be a little too young for her! Putting that aside, she’s fun loving in nature and despite knowing her for a couple of hours, we had a lot of fun together with the rest of the international students. We were all in the college bar till it closed, following which we sojourn to my kitchen where we made a hell of a din! I’m glad we managed to make her feel that her birthday was well spent. In addition, it was the birthday of another of the international students from Bulgaria, so it was a 2-in-1 celebration! It was an awesome smashing get-together session despite the simplicity of it.

Nearly forgotten about it, but I went to York over the weekend. I was pretty excited about it as I heard it was really nice. However, I was kind of disappointed because it wasn’t as beautiful as what I would make it out to be. It was, in many aspects, like a bigger Durham. They have roughly the same shops, with the exception of Mango & Zara in York but not Durham, so it was similar to walking a greater distance to go to the same shops haha! But I did take quite a number of pictures there, shall post some up later. Most of my photos are in my friend’s camera though, haha, I’m still waiting for that lazy bum to upload the pictures and send them to me.

In my 23 years of my life, I’ve never owned a handkerchief before and neither have I use one. However, just a little while back, a friend gave me a handkerchief… haha don’t go away thinking it’s a cheapskate gift, mind you, it’s from a designer label. Anyway the purpose of the handkerchief was for me to use it as a pocket square. I would have to admit that it’s actually quite chic. Furthermore, it’s the thought that matters more when it comes to giving gifts, if I’m not wrong to say so? Because it’s my 1st handkerchief I received, it is automatically conferred the title of “special gift”! I actually spent an hour or so trying to learn how to fold a pocket square…

Last night, I prepared a meal which was painstakingly put together. Haha, in order to cook the meal, I had roughly 3 weeks of practice, in particular, roasting chicken thighs DAILY till I’m so tired and sick of them! Thankfully, I managed to reap the fruits of my labour as the entire dinner turned out great. The ambience was right as well as there was instrumental music playing in the background. It was akin to dining in a restaurant although it was in my kitchen! Hmnz, maybe I should let you peeps in on what I prepared last night. And so *drum roll*, the menu consisted of fettuccine in Aglio Olio style served with prawns, honey glazed chicken, with pepper & salt on one side and herbs on the other, with mushrooms drizzle with honey & herbs beneath it and buttered asparagus under the mushrooms and for drinks, chocolate, with a tinge of Irish flavour, served cold. Yummy, I must say for I was impressed by my own cooking and the own layout of it! Think I shall post the picture of the dinner up as well to make you guys drool! All in all, it was a really lovely dinner which would be a part of my memories even with the passage of time.

Wow, initially I didn’t know what to blog and I ended up typing so much already. I only decided to write an entry because I was just done with my research which is due tomorrow. To end off, I shall leave you with these words…

-----------------------------------------------

「愛情是有時間性的」

只有在對的時機

搭上對的列車

才會有好結果。

-----------------------------------------------

28th Nov 2007 - What Mommy said...

2007-11-28T13:57:00.000Z

It’s nearly the end of the week. School has became a little more relaxing now that I’ve finished some of my assignments, so there isn’t a need to go for some labs, thus freeing up some spare time for myself. Anyway to the lads in Singapore, good luck for your exams! It should be over in approximately a week I reckon. I didn’t intend to blog, but upon request from my Mom, I’m as such obliged to do so(remember I’m a filial son?). So here it goes…

(Some Background Information)
rosalind says:
the gala dinner yesterday nite was very grand
rosalind says:
it was emcee by this MTV girl, i think. her name is sonia mc.... something.
åien@ted says:
how was e food?
rosalind says:
they had the beauty world cast on plus the singer george chan
åien@ted says:
who's george chan
rosalind says:
food was so so, a 4 course dinner
åien@ted says:
beauty world?
rosalind says:
it's a singing and dance troupe
rosalind says:
this george was also featured in some of the mag like 8 days, and others mag dealing with mtv

(And now, the reason for putting this on my blog)
rosalind says:
at the dinner your daddy said mummy looked beautiful tonite
åien@ted says:
haha
rosalind says:
all the male guests wore jackets /tie or bowtie. most lady guests wore long evening gowns
rosalind says:
mummy just said thank you.
åien@ted says:
then what did u weaR?
åien@ted says:
cheongsam?
rosalind says:
put what dad said on your blog so he can remember what he say?

(Sidetracking now)
rosalind says:
åien@ted says:
icic
åien@ted says:
u have a gown? haha
rosalind says:
last min managed to hunt down one + a $100 shoe + evening bag.
rosalind says:
dad and me were giggling like small kids, you know
åien@ted says:
icic
rosalind says:
cos he said his christian dior jacket managed to see daylight for the 1st time
rosalind says
I wore a blue gown

rosalind says:
me, after so long, dressing to the nines since uncle peter's wedding
rosalind says:
the only thing missing is a big blue stone like the sapphire in the titanic
åien@ted says:
...
åien@ted says:
u all crazy or what
åien@ted says:
talk until so excited
rosalind says:
so i hinted to dad that the next thing is a pretty necklace
rosalind says:
what, u not happy for mum?
åien@ted says:
happy .. really happy.. give me more money pls
åien@ted says:
never worn a gown before?
rosalind says:
the last time i wore a full gown was my own engagement dinner
rosalind says:
so u know how long ago, right
åien@ted says:
because after that u got fat
åien@ted says:
hahahaha
rosalind says:
right
rosalind says:
then all my old gowns cant fit

NB: Certain text has been omitted or edited to protect the confidentiality of the writer and all those involved. Any resemblance is purely coincidental.

24th Nov 2007 - Sleepless in Durham

2007-11-24T13:40:00.000Z

It has been 10 days since I last blogged. These 10 days were mundane, nothing much worth mentioning. I did a little catching up with my international friends this week, since I haven’t seen them for the past 3 weeks or so. It’s always nice to set aside some time to catch up with friends, in a way, reckon it’s a little luxury in itself? This warm and fuzzy feeling of being surrounded by friends… and being abroad all alone actually accentuates this warmth. I tried to go on a “money” strike for the past 2 weeks, and its success was lukewarm. Despite cutting back on my daily spending, grocery shopping really upset my “grand” plan of saving money. Haha, I don’t even know why I’m talking about this, think perhaps there isn’t much to write on? Anyway, just suddenly changing your lifestyle can push one to the brink of insanity! Hee, perhaps I’m exaggerating but it’s not easy to do so especially when you’re already not living in luxury all the time.

Yesterday, I was so wrecked when I went for my laboratory session. I was so tired while walking down to my venue and out of the blue, I thought my vision became blurred. I saw fine whitish specks in the air and I thought to myself, is the air so dusty? I looked around and I saw there was construction going on about the area, thus leading me to the conclusion of “dirty” air. Surprisingly, about half an hour later, my laboratory room was filled with squeals of delight and wonder. It was snowing outside! Haha, my British friends asked if I’ve seen snow before and upon finding out that I haven’t, one of them brought me outside to “play” with snow. I felt like a small kid once again, like in the movies where children get so fascinated by snow. It was only snowing lightly and for a short period of time but I did manage to catch some snow =)

Sleepless in Durham has become something of a common “theme” for me now. Being unable to sleep well at night took its toll on me. I have become something like a walking zombie, with my friends rubbing it in… “you always look so tired”. However, I still managed to impress people. I kid you not, everyone was so surprised when I styled my hair for the 1st time since arriving in UK. They all complimented that it looked good and asked if I did go to the salon for a haircut or went there to style my hair which I obviously didn’t. My mom said that I would come back with a pony tail, so I have to be filial and do so accordingly! Actually, the reasons why I didn’t bother about my hair were laziness, lack of hair styling wax (haha, I only had a ¼ of tub left, so I had to use sparingly) and lastly, there wasn’t anyone to impress. Maybe I’m lying but I did tell someone before, if I don’t look good now and yet I manage to attract people, isn’t it all the more better? So when I start to groom myself again, haha she would be so impressed!

Tonight, there’s an Arabic party going on at the postgraduate college. I was invited by my tutor to attend the party and it seems pretty fun. After all, I’m in UK to receive exposure and experience the various cultures of the world right? Not going would be utterly rude haha… alright, I’m just giving myself an excuse to attend. Yup, I’m kind of looking forward to it since the past 10 days were quite horrible… Next week would be packed with more activities though it means having to spend more money =(

Lastly, this Taiwanese drama “转角遇到爱” that my friend recommended me to watch was delightfully and absolutely entertaining. I would highly recommend it to anyone who understands Chinese haha! This show kept my loneliness at bay as I lived through my palate-less week. I feel that my life is like a stage, or rather like a drama. Is this what I hope for, to live life in a fantasy setting, reconstructing the numerous scenes that can supposedly only occur in movies? If I had a wish, what would I wish for? If I could, I would want my story to not only unfold but to also conclude as in a drama. Hopefully in time to come, my days would be filled with florid moments… and memories... of 她&他.

14th Nov 2007 - A fantasy week filled with the fireworks of life

2007-11-14T15:18:00.001Z

The whole of last week, weekend and weekdays inclusive, was nothing short of magical for me. The days seemed to be devoured quickly with the passage of time. Perhaps it is due to the impending winter, or was it due to the special moments which I shared with others?

Probably the highlight was on Friday whereby I played with fireworks for the 1st time in my life. It’s actually pretty similar to what we do in the army, like laying trip flares and firing off some explosives. Mixing around with a Singaporean crowd once again brought back a sense of familiarity. The usage of Singlish combined with Hokkien words and phrases reminded me of typical army days. Anyway, we managed to set the sky ablaze by the numerous and thunderous fireworks and it was quite a sight! Haha, not only that, we managed to shoot some of the fireworks into one of the colleges accidentally. We were firing them off by the river banks and across the river was one of the colleges, so due to the strong winds, some of the fireworks didn’t fly up high into the sky but instead, across the river into the colleges. Imagine if you’re showering and you see something bright heading towards you? However, doubt they’re any windows in the toilets anyway…

After the fireworks, both Singaporeans and Hongkongers went to Varsity, which is a bar, for drinks. We had some friendly competitions such as a “boat race”. People would queue up in a line and finish off their drinks, turn by turn, in one go. The first line to reach the end and finish their drinks wins the “boat race”. Well, being army trained, we Singaporeans managed to do Singapore proud by winning both the Durham HK society team as well as the Newcastle HK society team. Guess this is the result of going through army?

Following the drinks at Varsity, my friend came over to join me. I was really impressed by her that night. She was looking gorgeous and she made me felt so underdressed. I still have no idea why she dressed up and put on make up that night when we were just meeting for drinks. The night went by very pleasantly, in fact, pleasant isn’t the correct word to use but I just can’t seem to find the words to describe it. I could only say, it was as though the night was laced and sprinkled with wonder dust… and the remnants of the wonder dust remained through till Monday. It was, yet another wondrous weekend, which no words could aptly describe. Probably any description would not befit the days that passed so heavenly!

Last Tuesday was the first time someone cooked for me, besides my maid, and I was really surprised by it. I really appreciated her cooking for me because I was sick. It was really nice and sweet of her to do so. She even prepared honey lemon water for me as it would soothe my throat and she didn’t allow me to go back till I finished the cup of honey lemon water. Haha, she also gave me her honey and lemons so I could make it myself. But, I didn’t do so because I was just too lazy to prepare the drink. I told her that I would drink if she prepared it for me! Hehe, cunning me… You know, it was strange that she suggested cooking for me on Tuesday because I actually intended to cook for her on Wednesday because she was flying off. She beaten me to cooking for her by a day earlier, and she had no clue that I wanted to cook a meal for her. Is this a case of serendipity?

On Wednesday, it was my turn to cook for her. I dare say it turned out good enough because she complimented my cooking. Anyway, some background information, she can’t really cook haha, so my cooking’s nicer than hers! But I feel that it’s not the taste of the food that matters, it’s more of the thought and company that matters, with the exception of my maid cooking haha.

I think I basically summed up my entire last week, though I don’t want to go into too much detail… a little imagination or fantasy wouldn’t harm anyone right?

5th Nov 2007 - Wondrous Weekend

2007-11-05T23:22:00.000Z

Today is my 55th day abroad. Time really flies, having been in the UK for nearly 2 months already. I realized that I enjoy my weekends in UK so much more than in Singapore, so much so that they go by in a blink of an eye. Weekends in Singapore would just be spent on studying, studying and more studying. There wasn’t a differentiating factor between weekends and weekdays back then. Now, you must be wondering why I keep droning on and on about weekends right? Hehe, I had a wondrous weekend. I’m not sure if it’s my nicest weekend in UK, but I daresay I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Although it was a meager weekend, with only 2 days which is stating the obvious, I felt like I’d gone through more than what 2 whole days should encompass. I went to the Metrocentre twice, just to find a suitable winter coat but the stock didn’t arrive, which is really a shame. On my escapades to Newcastle, I encountered a few funny incidents such as a group of very jovial, bordering on the brink of being rowdy, Leeds fans who were on their way to Newcastle. I reckon there was a match being scheduled there, and they were running up and down the train, cheering, singing, shouting and dancing on board the train. It was as though they chartered the train, but they didn’t bother any of the passengers except with the decibels they were creating. That aside, they were indeed pretty comical. It’s something you don’t get to see in Singapore, so I tried to record a video of them secretly, after following my friend’s suggestion haha.

I felt like I was living life in a movie as well last weekend. It was as though I was in a fantasy world where realism had no place in it. I was walking with my friend along the streets in the midst of the night, only to be stunned with sudden loud bangs echoing through the darkness of the night. We gazed upwards towards the sky, only to be greeted by the fabulous sight of fireworks brilliantly lighting up the otherwise gloomy night. Isn’t it like a scene from the movies, where fireworks can coincidentally occur while one is walking along the riverbanks or crossing a bridge, creating such a romantic setting?

Besides being caught in the brilliance of fireworks, I was unfortunate enough to get caught in the rain as well. Haha, not only was it wet, but it was cold as well. However, it was quite a memorable walk in the rain for me. Perhaps it’s my 1st time being caught in the rain in UK or was there another reason? Hehe, shall leave it to your imagination!

Oh yes, I was also pretty unlucky! I actually missed the last train back to Durham from Newcastle. Gosh, I didn’t realize that there was a last train because in London, trains are like running through the night I think? And it was quite a surprised because I was at the train station slightly before 10pm and the last train back to Durham had already left. How irritating and annoying! Thankfully, I approached another couple and asked them about the electronic boards being totally black (i.e. display-less). It was through them that I found out I missed the last train, and so did they haha. With a stroke of luck, this couple also happened to be heading back to Durham, so we ended sharing a taxi back to Durham. It cost 30 idiotic pounds! But thanks to the taxi ride, I received my 1st British pecks on the cheeks, to be exact, it was thrice… and she was pretty as well! My companion could testify to that.

Many other incidents happened throughout this weekend, albeit it was only 2 days. I witnessed someone slipping and falling unglamorously, a British girl coming up to me and asking me for 40 pence at the train station, some British punks who tried to be funny with me, thankfully I managed to walk away unscathed by pretending I didn’t understanding English and ignore the fact they were hurling abuses and insults.

All in all, it was a lovely weekend, with great food as well. Dad & Mom, I heeded your advice to dine at a restaurant haha! I had my 1st Japanese meal in UK and it was surprisingly not bad. Not as good as in Singapore for the price of it, but it was seriously quite tasty and appetizing… Alright, time to collect my laundry though I’m really lazy and it’s freezing cold now. The weather’s crazy today, sigh, I dislike windy days.

30th Oct 2007 - Lamb Chop

2007-10-30T21:28:00.000Z

Last Friday evening, while I was walking back after my lecture, an air of gloominess surrounded me while darkness obscured my vision. It was just a quarter past 6, yet it seem like the night had gone on forever… Despite being shrouded in darkness, I felt otherwise. It was a new experience for me, someone from the tropics, who only knew the Sun would rise and set for fixed hours a day back in Singapore. Last weekend was also the end of daylight saving, in which the time in UK would be pushed back an hour following the end of daylight saving. I was pretty intrigued by this whole “episode”!

I had my 1st picnic in the UK at Durham’s botanic garden. I thought my friend was crazy for organizing a picnic without a regard for the chilly weather. Fortunately for us, the temperature rose and it wasn’t as cold as usual. It was good company as well, and I was glad I went for the picnic despite my initial reservations about it. The garden isn’t as big as the botanical garden in Singapore, but it was really amazing to see lambs roaming about the garden. I felt, for a brief moment, that I was in New Zealand! Haha, I think lambs are really gluttons. When I entered the garden, they were eating non-stop. When I left, they were still eating, seems like all they do each day is just munching and munching non-stop. I wonder why they don’t get fat. Also, there is only one single ram in the entire lamb population. It’s akin to the “emperor” of China and his harem of “concubines”. Lucky ram I must say!

Recently, I went to the Metrocentre near Newcastle. It’s touted as one of the biggest shopping malls in Europe. It was pretty impressive when I 1st arrived there, a little overwhelmed by the size of it. However, after spending several hours there, I began to feel that much of its fame is over hyped. I would still prefer shopping in London because the shops or boutiques there don’t carry as wide a range as those in the capital. It’s quite a shame since the Metrocentre is supposed to be THE place to be at, I think…

I have just gotten myself a good nonstick pan today, haha, quite happy with my purchase. The 2 previous cheapskate nonstick pans I bought were around 6 SGD each and both were spoilt within 2 weeks of cooking. I’m sure I took care of my pans, after several initial disastrous episodes with nonstick utensils! Anyway, my future sister-in-law said I gotten a good deal with my new Tefal pan. It’s relatively cheap even when compared to Singapore prices. Found out that the Tefal pans cost roughly the same whether it’s in the UK or in Singapore. By the way, hehe, my fried rice is much nicer now and so is my aglio olio pasta… My Taiwanese friend said my food always looks nice to eat, but I told her that looks are deceiving! My British flat mate also commented that I seem to know how to cook well, I guess it’s just my poise when I cook, ever charming and professional!

Oh yes, before I end off, there was a stupid fire alarm this morning at 7.15am! There was no way you could stay in your room and carry on sleeping, unless you're already dead haha. Every room has a fire alarm and it's so bloody loud that I bet that even the corpses from cemeteries miles away have woken up for this fire drill as well! Furthermore, you can't just step out in your shirt and shorts because it's so cold, still had to change into my jeans and donned on my jacket... zzz... going back to "sleep" now!

24th Oct 2007 - Cold Start

2007-10-24T14:19:00.000+01:00

I had a cold start to my day this morning. It wasn’t because I had a late night or that the weather was negative 1 or 2 degrees Celsius through the night. It was because the boilers and heaters for the water and room respectively weren’t functioning. Gosh, there was no way I could shower in the cold water when the temperature was around 2 degrees Celsius in the morning. Think I would get hypothermia… I’m wondering how can some British girls wear so little at night, which is much colder than during the day, when they go out to a bar or club. It’s crazy… perhaps they have thicker skin than us Asians? My British friend in my course always pokes fun at me, saying it isn’t cold though I always lament to him that the weather’s cold. So I came up with a good rebuttal line “I’m from the equator, where there’re coconut trees!” Haha, anyway the weather is going to get colder, so I’d better get a pair of gloves and my winter coat before I become a snowman on the streets.

This morning, as I walked towards school, despite feeling very cold since it’s just a tiny weenie bit above zero degrees Celsius, I noticed that the grass patches had a slight whitish glaze over them. It was quite nice actually, though it means that winter is just around the corner. I made a mental note to myself that the first thing that I’m going to do when I return to my room was to take a nice hot and long bath. I was gambling on the fact that the heaters/boilers would be repaired by then, anyhow the technicians are pretty efficient from my experience because this was the second time it happened. However, the first instance this happened, they took a much shorter time to rectify the problem. It looked like my gamble paid off, as I could feel “warmth” being radiated from the heaters when I reached my room. But, I didn’t take a hot shower immediately. Something much more urgent required my complete attention. I had to “bake” a cake in the toilet! Imagine walking for 20 minutes or so out in the cold, mind you, it’s upslope all the way, and trying to curb/control your tummy. It’s not funny, haha I was in a distressed state! I’m sure most of you people never had the urge to clear your bowels with the very cold weather making your situation much direr.

Talking about toilets, this reminds me of something. My British friend once said to me “you’re proud to be Americanized right?” I was in a blurred state when he said that as I had no clue as to what prompted him to make that remark. Then he carried on saying that I always want to drink Starbucks and I use the phrase “I have to go to the washroom”. I found out that British people just say they need to go to the toilet and they use bog as well, though this term is a very crude word for toilet. I once told my friend that the banks in UK are quite “anal” about details and she burst out laughing, saying they don’t use that over here in UK.

Anyway, I think I’m settling into life here over in the UK. It’s not as fast paced as Singapore, a laid back kind of feeling, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing except for when you need something done quickly and because of the way the system works, it really drives you nuts. Well, going to study now, hope everything’s going fine for you guys…

21st Oct 2007 - Purpose

2007-10-22T01:15:00.000+01:00

It has been a while since I last posted an entry, hence I decided not to procrastinate my blogging. Actually, blogging is something one does when he’s free, so perhaps it shouldn’t be thought of as procrastinating? My life has been held up by school work, giving me way lesser time now to write a blog entry. Also, what can be so interesting about school? The only amusing thing I observed while in school is when my English lecturers couldn’t spell some English words properly, which is an irony.

Yesterday was a day filled with events for me. I went to a Japanese festival organized by Teikyo University in Durham. It seems like Japanese students would go there for 5-10 months for some lessons in English, so as to improve their command of English and then to return to Japanese to complete their degrees. The festival wasn’t a very large one, it was actually not really exciting or interesting. I had some Japanese food, but the Yakisoba that I had wasn’t nice. The food was prepared by the students so you can’t really expect much. Luckily it was cheap! I think I only enjoyed the banana with chocolate fondue, which isn’t considered Japanese food. However, my Japanese friend told me that they usually have that during occasions. Oh yes, I tried the Japanese rice cake which I went for seconds. It’s similar to the “muachee” (or something like that) that we have in Singapore, though the rice cake was much smoother and the peanut coating wasn’t too thick. There was also a cultural dance which I thought was the most interesting event of the day since it’s something you don’t see often, unless you’re in Japan.

In the evening, I attended my first concert in the UK. It was the world premiere of the Durham Concerto which was aptly held at the Durham Cathedral. The orchestra performing was the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and boy were they awesome. The pieces they played not only resonated within the old stone walls of the Cathedral but the music resounded within my heart as well. It tuck at the chords of my heart, making me feel melancholic and nostalgic at certain points during the concert when the melody set a somber ambience. The concert was segmented into 3 parts which were “morning, afternoon and night”. The pieces echoed the feelings of the composer when he witnessed Durham in the morning, afternoon and night. He was trying to recreate the feeling that this castle city of Durham gave every visitor during the different parts of the day. I personally liked Durham in the afternoon because it was imaginary and the tune was mellow and thought provoking. The pieces played were trying to depict the pilgrimage of St Cuthbert and his followers. For some background information, he is the saint which led to the birth of Durham City as his followers decided to lay him to rest here. The cathedral in where he was put to rest was voted one of the best cathedrals in the world, if I’m not mistaken, and is also a world heritage site. Looks like I’m in a historically rich city!

After the concert, it was freezing and I was so tempted to take a taxi but my friends wanted to walk. The weather in Durham has been rather erratic. It can be so cold (6 degrees Celsius and below) on several consecutive days, including the mornings and afternoons and yet the very next day can be warm only to be freezing at night again. Thankfully, I bought a nice thick hoodie to keep me warm. Haha, I think I asked several of my friends for their opinions on it before buying it since I’m pretty indecisive about it. You guys should know who you are, so thanks a lot! Anyway at night, my college converted our bar into a club. I didn’t feel like going but my friends wanted to since it’s the opening of this “club” at our college. I think this event would occur once a month or fortnight. Anyway it was pretty boring and dumb because you have to pay an entrance fee to enter our very own bar. Not to mention, the crowd’s the same, it was the Butler crowd and there were few outsiders. I thought it was a waste of time, not going to go for it again… This concluded my eventful Saturday.

It’s nearly 1am now and I still want to do some work before I sleep, so I’m going to try to end off on a funny note. I have this friend from the Philippines who’s doing his masters in law. He’s not only smart but rich, think he has a masters in public affairs from Japan as well as two bachelors in law and political science. For you girls thinking that he might be a good catch, too bad I can’t introduce you to him because he’s married to his doctor wife who’s currently working as a specialist in America. Anyway, he told me something funny. He was telling me that some people who left the Philippines for several years go back there saying that they forgotten how to speak in their native language because they were abroad for a couple of years. He asked me “Denis, do you know how to test if they truly forgotten how to speak?” Of course I didn’t have a clue and so he told me, you just set the dogs on them and suddenly they will be able to curse and swear in their native language while being chased hot on their heels. Haha, he also told me something else which is funny, but I think it might be offensive to post it here. It’s regarding Philippinos anyway, and I always tell him jokingly that he discriminates against his own countrymen. So for those of you who want to know what it is, just drop me a message ya?

This weekend has been pleasant for me except for an isolated incident. I prayed about it in Church since I’m quite at a lost now. All I know is that God blesses us with gifts for a purpose and likewise, these gifts may be taken away for a purpose…

11th Oct 2007 - Fairy Tale Morning

2007-10-12T00:23:00.000+01:00

My morning began rather nicely like a fairy tale… reckon most people would have come across tales of frogs turning into charming princes after being kissed by a princesses. This morning, I was lucky to experience such an encounter. However, I wasn’t the frog who was kissed. Instead, the “princess” took the role of the frog and I, the prince. No, I didn’t kiss the frog, just in case you’re curious. All I had was a frog for company on my way to school. To be honest, I feel that not many people look good in green, but the frog did look pleasant in green, after all, since it’s a frog right?

Well, the past few days or week since school began were mentally draining for me. The need to get into the studying cycle once again, the need to be disciplined, the need to even get out of bed early, all these needs took a toll on me. I felt I’ve become more moody and less friendly, maybe it’s true? I haven’t really met up with my international friends, except bumping into them occasionally after lectures or classes. Guess everyone has started to get busy, but as our Vice-Chancellor said “do not let your studies get in the way of your education.” I seriously wonder how many would adhere to his words. I do agree with him to some extent. Many people think that university is all about academic results, but in my opinion, it’s rather untrue. A complete university education isn’t only about studying but comprises of one’s personal development i.e. time management, learning to prioritize issues, facing challenges etc. Now I’m wondering why did I even type the previous line, am I getting older or more mature?

Though I feel that I’m being drained of my life essence due to school, I was motivated to study and do more work today. I don’t know what had gotten into me, perhaps it’s due to having a good start to my day or maybe having a short day in school today left me with more free time to do my work. Anyway, I felt quite satisfied that I actually did more work than usual today, so much so that I ended up doing something funnily stupid. I wanted to have fried rice for dinner tonight, and I’m aware that overnight rice is better for fried rice. So I decided to cook my rice in the afternoon, and chill it in the fridge till dinner time. Alas, I was so engrossed in my work that I left the rice cooking in the pot for around an hour! When I realized that I left the rice cooking in the kitchen, it was too late by then. The whole kitchen smelt of something being burnt. Even up till now, which is roughly around midnight, the kitchen still has the burnt odour. My rice was totally charcoal black (my rice became rice crisp!), as though someone deliberately set fire onto it. To my utter dismay, my nonstick pot was also spoilt by the burnt rice. I really felt dumb, because I just spoilt my nonstick saucepan a couple of days again, and now something similar happened. Thankfully I have another 2 pots to use and not have to waste money purchasing another pot. So much for wanting to cook fried rice for dinner…

Well, it’s finally Friday. I’m sincerely glad for Friday to arrive as I feel I’m being overworked. It’s not that I have been mugging like crazy over the past 2 weeks, but I reckon my Singaporean mugging genes are setting in. Possibly only a matter of time, I hope or hope not, before I become a full-fledge NUS mugger in Durham. Well, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I have to bear in mind the words of my Vice-Chancellor as well!

6th Oct 2007 - Emotions

2007-10-06T19:40:00.000+01:00

Over the past few days since I last wrote an entry in my blog, I tried cooking various meals. Gosh, my fried rice experiment was horrendous, the rice was bland despite the generous garnishing of prawns, sausages, shallots, garlic, onions, chilli, eggs etc. I even had problem cooking rice, I had to keep adding water to it and making sure it doesn’t dry up. It was quite embarrassing when my flat mate who’s half American/British told me he found it surprising that I couldn’t cook rice. Well, basically its underlying meaning is that Asians tend to eat much rice and for an Asian not to cook rice is kind of like a joke. I tried cooking Aglio Olio pasta as well. It was much better than my fried rice, but still not as nice as my cream pasta.

Speaking of food, I had a formal dinner last night. The attire’s the same as matriculation, a gown worn over a suit. It was a 3 course meal which I thought the appetizer tasted the nicest. I’m not sure what it is exactly as it’s the first time I tried it. The main course was chicken with some mushroom sauce, plus side veggies and potatoes. I seriously cannot comprehend how these Caucasians can stomach so much carbohydrate! Don’t they get tired of it? Guess not… The chicken wasn’t that good, but can’t really complain since it’s “free”. We didn’t have to pay for it, but it should be included into our hostel fees. Nothing is ever free in UK, maybe toilet paper? Haha, dessert was not too bad but was a tat too sweet for my liking. It was chocolate mousse cake I reckon. The setting for the dinner was quite nicely laid out. It was like in a restaurant and there was a “high” table in which all the important members of the college were being seated at. When they entered, we had to stand and when they left, the same applied. It’s really Harry Potter-ish except for the venue, if only it was in the castle! After the meal, there was entertainment in our bar/lounge. Think it was some Scottish dance and music and they were gathering people to dance along to the tune of it. Quite interesting I must say.

After hanging about the bar for a while, I went for a walk with a friend. Durham’s really safe at night. The number of policemen and vehicles in town were overwhelming. I think it’s because the only night entertainment is going to a restaurant/pub/club so you’re bound to drink. Though I’ve been out at night before with my friends, but it’s usually to chill out, I don’t really pay much attention to the surroundings. However, last night, I brought my friend to look at some marvelous scenery. Durham’s really pretty and majestic at night, and though I appeared to know the place inside out to my friend, I was pretty awed by the sight of the Cathedral and Castle at night. I was pleasantly surprised myself. On the way back, my crazy friend felt cold and wanted to run. Imagine running with our coats, it’s so unglamorous, so I told her we would only run when there’s no one around! Whenever I see people walking in our direction, I would tell her “remember we have to maintain our image!” When we got back, it was already midnight, didn’t realize that we were walking for an hour and half.

To think of it, although Durham’s one of UK’s top 10 university, I think, during matriculation, the vice-Chancellor kept bringing up Cambridge and Oxford as though there’s some rivalry. Well, I supposed there is, but pardon me for this, the whole world knows the above mentioned but not Durham University. I was amused that he had to speak of Durham University’s heritage and history, how it used to tower over Oxford and Cambridge. He also included the fact that Durham University was better in sports etc. Maybe he mentioned it to make the students feel proud of being in Durham, but I felt there wasn’t a need to talk about the past as it’s the present and future that matters.

My lectures began this week, and it wasn’t too good. I have to revise as I forgotten some 1st and 2nd year stuff. I had a Chinese (PRC) lecturer for a management module and it’s was quite hard to keep up with her as her spoken English wasn’t too good. Besides that, she wasn’t the least interesting and to make us pay attention, she omitted certain powerpoint slides in our notes so that we have to copy them while she’s flashing them on screen. The ridiculous thing was, she left out 2 pie charts and we actually had to draw them out. It doesn’t really make sense, does it? On my way back from lecture, it got me thinking, do I join the rest of the students in ridiculing her because of her English just so to fit in with the crowd or do I try to be empathetic towards her since I know what it feels like to be alone in a foreign country. It’s like a moral dilemma in a certain sense…

Today, I had a wonderful day. I spent my morning and early afternoon with a friend shopping in town in addition to buying groceries. I tasted my 1st good dose of chocolate here in Durham as well as in the UK. It was nice, after not pampering myself for such a long time. Haha, a month isn’t exactly a very long time, but when you’re abroad, you seem to lose notion of time. A point to note for girls, do NOT wear boots when you intend to do grocery shopping! Haha, you will end up whining that your feet are hurting because the pavements overseas aren’t always flat. Furthermore, you’re going to be carrying lots of stuff, so it’s not advisable to do so. You can try if you want to, but don’t say I didn’t warn you =P I went for my 1st hockey training today which turned out to be rather good. I thought that I would be embarrassed since I haven’t played hockey actively for 5 years since I entered the Army. Thankfully, I didn’t have to suffer the ordeal of being made a laughing stock. Time to count my lucky stars…

I have been feeling emotional over the past few days. Much of what I’ve experienced as a person has been bottled up within the depths of my heart. Coming over to UK did not in the slightest sense stir the emotions that lay deep within. For the past 3 weeks or so, I was merely living life on a daily basis, for the feelings that I experienced since arriving in the UK were those of loneliness and solitude. It’s hard to describe it all in words, but life was fine after I gotten used to living in UK and learnt cooking. My food doesn’t taste fantastic but it’s still edible. I remembered when I was young, I used to say eat-able. Funny isn’t it, how time flies without one realizing it. Someone actually managed to evoke all the feelings that were concealed in my heart, feelings of disappointment, betrayal and of being taken advantage of. It’s not that she did anything towards me, but somehow, through her questions and replies, these feelings started to diffuse slowly towards the surface and it made me felt very emotional. I started to think, “why am I feeling all these now”, to which I have no answer to, as of now. Perhaps, subconsciously, it’s because I don’t want to be bothered by my past so I rather appear as a jovial/easy-going/happy-go-lucky person to others as well as to concoct an outer-shell portraying me as a person who isn’t serious and just talks crap, as well as being sarcastic (Haha, I added being sarcastic for someone), without a worry in the world. While I’m typing this, time just ticks away silently, without waiting for anyone and myself still being unable to conceive my feelings. Would time give me an answer in time to come, perchance?

2nd Oct 2007 - My 1st encounter with cooking

2007-10-03T19:06:00.000+01:00

I had a really busy day today, scurrying from place to place while carrying loads of stuff. Though I slept at 5am the night before, I was woken up at 8+ am by the college representatives to go for breakfast. It seems like during the orientation week, there’s some sort of breakfast being provided. Please don’t go all “wow”, because today’s breakfast is only toast plus some spread! Yesterday’s breakfast was much better, we had grill sausages and bacons to go with toast, which is lovely on a cold English morning. Anyway, I had to woke up early because I was supposed to meet a certain someone, of THAI origin (haha hope she reads this!), during breakfast. Apparently, I found out much later in the night that she didn’t go for breakfast. Guessed I got punked yet again… Haha, actually I had to wake up early anyway to go to town to get my tie as well as cooking utensils plus groceries. After starving last night with no dinner, I had to call a delivery which cost 5 pounds. It was then that I told myself that I’m not going to get caught in such a situation ever again. Thus began my journey into the aromatic world of cooking.

I had to travel from shop to shop so as to compare prices between the utensils i.e. saucepans and pots etc. It really isn’t cheap to buy your cooking utensils here, but it’s not like I’ve any other viable options. Buying groceries are expensive too, especially meat and veggies! 3 stupid garlic cost 90p, 4 onions cost 70p, 6 eggs cost 1 pound and so forth. Do the maths, and you realized that these veggies, that we take for granted in Singapore, are not cheap over in UK. I was in a mad rush shopping for my utensils, groceries and my neck tie because I had another appointment in the afternoon.

I was supposed to attend my college fair with my friends followed by the university fair in town. The college fair was really simple which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, the varsity fair was chaotic. The place was crammed and there were all sorts of peculiar societies such as paintball, varsity (this is misleading because it’s a bar, so I reckon this society is to promote drinking?) and many other societies which you wouldn’t find in Singapore because of the difference in our lifestyle and culture. Anyway, I feel that our matriculation fair back in Singapore is much better organized.

Though my day was jam-packed with activities, it was a satisfying day for me because I cooked for the 1st time in 23+ yrs of my entire existence! I whipped up a serving of cream based pasta, which I thought tasted pretty good. Hehe, I didn’t use the cream sauce from those ready made bottles, but I cooked it from scratch. Many thanks to my cooking teacher who showed me the art of making cream based pasta. I’m now looking forward to preparing my next meal as I’m going to experiment with another type of pasta which I never been taught. If only my engineering experiments are as interesting as cooking! Time to go for another round of grocery shopping tomorrow…

1st Oct 2007 - unInteresting

2007-10-01T18:52:00.000+01:00

I haven’t blogged for several days now because I was caught up with college and varsity activities. The days seem to be rather preoccupied though at some point in time, it is quite boring, such as now for instant. Well, I thought there is going to be some dinner activity but apparently I’m mistaken. This kind of sucks as I didn’t get dinner from town earlier on when I was there. And I’m now just waiting for my Indian delivery to arrive in ½ hr’s time. It isn’t cheap, costing me 5 pounds but I don’t really have a choice now. Think I should invest in utensils and learn to cook some something simple. But I realized that even buying utensils isn’t cheap…

Quite a number of things have happened over these few days. I don’t really know where to begin from or what to write, guess I’m just crapping? I made several more friends, both international and locals, but we international students tend to bunch up together. Perhaps it’s because we known each other a few days earlier before the freshers arrived or maybe it’s a psychological thing? As we all are aliens in a foreign land, I suppose each of us seek solace and comfort in one another subconsciously be it that you’re from Asia or other parts of Europe. One French girl pointed out to me that it could be due to our age difference as most of the locals would be 18 or 19.

The English people are quite crazy when they’re high and drunk. My friends witnessed some Englishmen stripping off everything outside a pub, I mean literally everything, think their female companions were cheesed off by them till they left the table they were sitting with their male counterparts. Some bars/pubs close at 11 as well. It’s quite “cute” because they would ring a bell to inform everyone that they’re closing. But 11 pm is really kind of early.

The orientation over here isn’t as long as in Singapore, but I think KR’s orientation package is better? The highlight of each day is just drinking as there isn’t anything to do at night. I’m looking forward to Wednesday though because it’s matriculation. It’s going to be held at the cathedral which is really grand inside and all of us would don on a gown over our suits. It’s very Harry Potter-ish and damn cool! Would take some pictures when the time comes, time to charge my camera.

I met my exchange coordinator today and he was telling me that the local students who went to NUS for exchange were complaining to him that they really have to study very hard in Singapore when they were there. He told me that I shouldn’t have a problem and the number of school hours would be fewer than that of NUS or at most equivalent. I was relieved to find out that most of the lectures would be using notes instead of textbooks and that most lecturers would print out the notes for us. Hee, this saves me a lot of money on textbooks especially and printing notes in school. Sigh, I think this entry is so boring because I have nothing really interesting to talk about. Neither did I think much about life now since I’m quite preoccupied. Haha, no time to be emo as Pamela puts it! Well, at least tomorrow should be better with all the college and varsity fairs. Kind of looking forward to it actually as it’s a good avenue to meet more people. Pray my Indian food arrives soon, am famished! this is my 1st post for October and it's so uninteresting, sigh...

27th Sept 2007 - Random Thoughts

2007-09-28T14:24:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-24T00:41:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-21T23:33:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-19T21:37:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-19T13:17:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-17T21:19:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-17T11:27:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-17T11:25:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-15T11:26:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-14T15:16:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-14T15:10:00.000+01:00

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...