=Journey of Self Discovery=

XMAS & New Yr Celebration
Monday, January 29, 2007 10:23 AM

After such a long period of absence, im finally back again! ahaha... just to recap what happened in the past 12 weeks... I will be going to Spain in 4hrs time.. i hope i can finish as much as possible... ok here it is...

Steph, Wenying, Me, JL in steph's room during xmas...

This is an entry regarding the first xmas and new yr celebration that I experienced in London.. hahah it's entirely different compared to those I had in previous yrs.. When I came back from France, I spent the next 10 days doing project.. What really kept me going at that time was the show @One Litre of Tears@.. It has become a rountine to watch at least two episodes a day.. i woke up at 9.30 am everyday and I would bring my breakfast to my room so that I could eat and watch simultaneously in a bid to save some time... and I would sleep at 2am... usually i will treat myself to one more episode as a form of reward for a day's hard work.. This was the kind of life I was leading for the second wk of my holidays in dec...

What a twist!! good workout! hahah... sweating like mad!

It can get a bit depressing to stay in ur small confined area(room) for the whole day working on the project... staring at the lappy 's screen for long hrs was qutie sianz too.. whenever I feel like giving up, one litre of tears never failed to lift my spirits up.. it made me realise life is just more than a rat race.. the female lead was determined to strive on despite her illness and she inspired so many others around her.. including me.. ok, i did drop some tears from the 6th episode onwards.. the story plot together with the background music provided the perfect ingredients for watery eyes.. ahha but im sure i manage to influence MANY others to watch the show too!

hhaha the dog is so so cute!

During XMAS, LONDON was so DEAD!!! hahah.. everyone stayed at home.. and refused to come out.. well, there was no tube services... and very few bus services too.. it was terrible.. now i believe what wenying said... she warned me that londoners spend xmas at home with their families... and no restaurant will be opened on that day.. in fact even on 26th dec, not all the shops were opened yet.. true enough.. sigh.. on 25th... i was so hungry.. so i decided to order pizza.. i searched through the entire net for a list of pizza delivery companies.. i called them one by one.. nobody answered!!! went to the nearby restaurants.... none was opened too! so in the end i had to settle for milo and discuits.. how pathetic!! BUT xmas was fun in the hall.. haha we had gift exchange and i got a manchester keychain and mug from wenying.. a mug from steph... so now, i have a lot of mugs in my room.. haha.. i bought darts for steph.. so that she can vent her anger on it whenever her mood swings are in activation.. haha.. we played twister and articulate.... ya lah.. in the end, my body almost got twisted.. haha getting old.. what a test of flexibility after the army days.. for articulate, we had to describe to our team member what was the word/phrase that we were trying to convey.. quite hilarious.. with all the funny expressions and ways of describing those words..

Having XMAS hats add spice to the celebration!

London had incredible sales after xmas.. esp on boxing day.. 26th dec.. hahah the streets were so packed with shoppers!! and ya... the girls were so enthu about it... hahah i managed to buy xmas presents for each of my family memeber and yingyan.. i hope all of them like the presents.. erm.. i bought chocolates for my dad.. a handbag for my mum.. oh this is damn funny.. i went to the handbag section, and this old lady came to me to tell me that it doesn't suit me when i was choosing a handbag *faint*... haha.. i bought nike shorts for my sister... and a cute tiger soft toy from Hamleys.. haha it's a famous toy shop in London.. when i bought it, the salesgirl at the counter was stroking it and said it was so cute.. hahah.. and for dearie, i bought a pair of table tennis bats.. with special additions inside..

I was in HAMLEYS!!

Counting down to year 2007 was a traumatizing experience.. Jien Loong, Steph and I went to London Eye to countdown with the rest of the londoners... it was so packed...to the extent where pushing and shoving become part of the skill that we had to acquire.. everyone was so HIGH when the clock struck 0000hrs.. the fireworks were awesome.. but i must stress again that the crowd size was horrible.. lots of pushing here and there.. and i think steph was molested several times.. but Jl didn't seem to mind being touched all over.. haha.. i hope all our new yr resolution will come true.. well, ppl were shouting on the streets.. the police were merely there to remind the crowd that rules and regulation still prevail.. and they were just blocking out certain roads and lanes.. other than that, the crowd was allowed to do whatever they want.. some even climbed up the lamp post, with the rest surrounding him.. some climbed onto the bus stops.. dunno for what.. but i guess when ppl are feeling high, they dun even know what they are doing.. haha of course, we were still sober.. had a hard time squeezing ... and i treated the two of them to ice-cream and chips after we managed to find some breathing space.. haha.. well.. it's just like rioting.. i think if the crowd turn wild, the police won't be able to handle all of them.. i dun think i will join a new yr countdown/celebration in London again... it's just so.. erm.. TERRIBLE.. HAHAH ....

After Shen Onn came back from Singapore, we decided to tour London before the start of spring term .. haha this time round, we went to London Bridge(again!) and from there onwards, we walked and visited several places of interest before walking all the way back to hall.. actually, london isn't that big lah.. hahah everything seems to be within walkable distance after our tiring day trip... well, i think it's a great outing! haha we seldom have the chance to go out together.. we visited Tate Modern.. ok, i must admit i dunno how to appreciate arts.. coz i think any junk can also be put inside for exhibition.. maybe my torn converse shoes can do the job too.. haha.. i think we had the most fun inside... playing with the tunnel.. i also went to the BIG BEN and the parliament house.. and this is when i realise that i have put on weight! i look so chubby in the photos.. can't imagine that happening.. i looked fat lah.. wah piangz... how can that be right? and somehow wenying's weighing machine showed that i was indeed erm.. xx kg... i put on a whopping 5 kg!!! what the BEEP... hahha... oh ya.. i also managed to find the statue of Faraday.. sigh.. During college days, i used to be writing "According to FARADAY's law.. " blah blah blah.. why do u wan to make our lives so miserablE with all ur laws.. haha..

The "tunnel" at the back was our playground in Tate Modern

My future household mate!

Bang!!!!!

Bear all these in mind!

UNCLE FARADAY.... hahaha.. presenting to u!!

Collage of our London outing

Yeah.. only the four of us went!

Look at me!!! SO CHUBBY!!! OH MY GOD!

hmm.. i suddenly cannot rem what happend after that... hmm.. let's not talk about sch stuff here.. but a lot of ppl turned up with dyed hair.. different hairstyles.. blah blah.. ahha oh ya.. a lot of Singaporeans got attached after 1st Jan... haha.. somehow they went to countdown together.. and as they were counting down.. knots were tied.. and they were together!! hahah.. for one period of time, we were simply in love with Haagen-Dazs.. we bought several tubs.. so cheap.. 2 for 5 pounds.. haha just buy loh.. but i rem we fell sick after eating the ice cream.. sore throat.. and JL was the first one to get it.. i think we really had a lot of fun back then.. playing lame beer games.. testing the knee jerk reaction... and slapping each other's hands.. hahah.. so violent.. but.. it's really great to have such a great bunch of hall mates around.. Through them, i get to know a lot of more ppl too.. like sanny... rebecca.. eddie... blah blah...

Whose hands were the most red? hahah none other than JL's... mine is the one with the veins protruding.. hahah

Sanny.. I know her through Wenying.. She is from Warwick UNi..

Let's our powers combine!! we are captain planet!! hahah..

On Valentine's day, i bought a necklace from Swarvoski for Yingyan.. i think i managed to catch her totally off guarded... hahah luckily u like it a lot! ok lah, no date for V day in London this year.. hahah... i rem having dinner in hall that night with my hall mates.. and not a lot of ppl were present then.. those who were around were probably the lonely souls for that night! haha.. i think the following equation V Day=Friendship Day originates from Singapore and Malaysia.. nobody here seems to agree with me on the equation.. but it's really how we celebrated it back in VJC leh!!! ... JL, u better read this!!! ahhaha actually shopping for a v day present is quite fun.. initially i wanted to buy a pair of watches from SWATCH.. but somehow their design for V day was so SCREWED and WEIRD! i managed to buy two Zara shirts along the way.. at 12 pounds per piece.. hahah what a good bargain...

Necklace for Yingyan!

Ticket to FA CUP match

I think the next most impt even is the trip to MANCHESTER... u know, i have never thought that i would be able to stand in front of Old Trafford and be in the stadium to see how my favourite team play.. and of course along with the rest of the stars such as rooney, ronaldo, neville, rio, scholes and most importantly giggs!! .... i went with ben and terrence.. it was such a pleasant trip to Manchester.. along the way, we heard that ronaldo would not be featuring as he was given an extended break by fergi.. we were so disappointed.. couldn't see him in action.. with the dazzling dribbles... it was a 5hrs bus ride there.. haha actually we were quite silly.. paying for the coach ride there.. watch a match and come back to London... but still, it was a worthwhile trip.. to see MAN U live!! everytime when u read match report.. the words "old trafford" always appears and u will somehow start to dream about sitting in the stadium, cheering and shouting with the rest of the supporters... yes, it's a dream that come true for me...Manchester was much colder than london.. aiyar, dunno why london is protected with a firewall.. it doesn't snow as frequent as the other cities... taking a tram ride in manchester is erm... a brand new kind of experience... why? because u dun really have to pay for the ride.. commuters are reminded to buy tickets... BUT nobody is checking after u alight.. so basically it works mainly on a trust system with the manchester citizens..

Security was so tight.. hahah imagine 75000 ppl rushing to watch the match.. the roads nearby Old Trafford were closed.. police patrolling on horses were seen everywhere.. so u could expect to see horse faeces all over the place too... we were so excited when we were outside the stadium.. haha... the match was between MAN U and PORTSMOUTH for FA CUP.. didn't manage to see Fergi in real person... but as for the other players, i managed to catch a glimpse of them.. and to see them in action, wow!!! esp carrick.. i like the way he run.. haha.. and vidic.. i think he is the most handsome in the team... we were quite noobs initially coz we didn't know what to cheer.. there was a special cheer for solksjaer. rooney was on the bench... until the 70th min when everyone was chanting for his name, he came on... and scored two sensational goals.. incredible!! haha the whole stadium ERUPTED!! .... of course i shouted too... but i knew ben was a bit stunned when rooney scored the 2nd goal by chipping over david james... awesome!! what a night to rem.. we had dinner at the KFC opposite the stadium hoping for the team to appear.. hahah but i was just being naive lah.. they earned so much every week.. why would they settle for KFC... after e match, i had the urge to buy the whole set of jersey from the megastore but it was certainly overpriced.. but i wonder why so many ppl were still willing to pay for it.. hahah... consumers' irrationality..

Towards the end of the term, I received news that my maths teacher in DHS had passed away...I was shell shocked.. Ms Chan was merely in her early 40s... and i rem 6 yrs ago, when i was still in DHS, she was such a dedicated teacher... she came to work even when she felt sick.. she was always so concerned with 4F and although we (4J) was her better class, she didn't really show favourtisim.. if not for her, probably i won't be who i am today too... even though she wasn't our form teacher, she treated us like her form class... yes, she was the Maths HOD... i couldn't really accept that news when I heard from Yingyan... why must this happen to her? Her fighting spirit was evident even when she was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer.. she continued to go to work... the doc said she only had 6 mths left.. BUT she went on to live for the next 18 mths... Ms Chan, u have my utmost respect! *SALUTE*.... and in the end, she didn't lose the battle to cancer... but pneumonia instead.. what a great loss to Singapore education system...none of us was aware of her illness and it was indeed saddening... if only we oculd see her for the last time.. i suddenly feel that life is indeed very fragile.. actually i think the cliche "live life to the fullest" is not really true and complete... "live with no regrets" shld be a more comprehensive version... yes, there is a fine line between these two.. as we grow older, i think this kind of news will become more common and it's impt to be able to take it in our strides.. life and death are predestined.. we won't know what is going to happen next ... so.. treasure everything that we have now.. esp the loved ones around us... i promise myself that i will make a trip to DHS and VJC.... to thank all my teachers once again.. really, without them, we won't be what we are today.. we owe a lot a lot to our teachers.. even if he/she is not a good one, no matter what, they are still worthy of our respect... because i know we will definitely learn sth from each and every one of them in one way or another... Ms Chan, you will always be fondly remembered by all of us!

Immediately after this news, i went for a victorian gathering in UNiversity college london... it was then that i broke the news to several ex dunmanians... everyone was upset about it... ya... anyway the gathering was a great initiative by the VINE (Victorians in Europe) committee.. i think it was a great afternoon and it was very very nostalgic looking at video clips of vjc... brings all of us back to our college days.. my batch started with 02Sxx... now it's alr 07sxx... it's really nice to see victorians in UK coming together for a short afternoon session... we had a lot of fun... had a quiz.. hahah with the MAYO uncle story... and we realised that those batches after the 1985 batch created many video clips... that were both hilarious and ridiculous.. i was pleasantly surprised to see how the PE teachers were bring conned and tricked... and Mrs Chan even appeared in one of the clips as a secret agent.. hahah.. so funny... the food was good too.. haha fantastic lah.. coz it was sponsored by KIASU restaurant... had mass dances after that... wah lau.. cannot dance anymore lah... Max and the rest of the councillors could still rem the dance steps.. *applause*... after the event, the guys came to my hall to drink and chill out... great evening!

Oh ya... winter should have ended.. but somehow london snowed twice recently.. so screwed! the weather is so weird... and when it snows in London, be prepared for a lot of problems in transportation... the tube services will suffer from severe delay.. actually it's still ok coz i can choose to pon sch... BUT ... it is so cold... what the BEEP>... hahah...

i shall stop here for now.. stay tuned for how we celebrate chinese new year and birthday updates.. it is the best birthday ever in my life!...

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