=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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Turbulent week + ski trip
Monday, January 22, 2007 2:16 AM

I had had so much disappointment in this week... Things took a change since last sunday and from there onwards, I just found myself falling non-stop and now I need to pick myself up again.. Im glad there is a dip because i know it will provide the impetus for me to bounce back and I will CERTAINLY come back STRONGER.. Though Im still at negative gradient region, I will strive to change the tangent into a positive one.. hahah.. ok since i can afford a smile here, it means that im still alright.. yeah, i will stay strong.. dun worry... i think i will start to be complacent and take things for granted if life is too smooth sailing.. so all that happened this week proves to be a wake up call for me..

Ziyang, Terrence, Lipen ,Ben, Me!
My DSTA buddies during e ski trip!

The ski lift(chair)... look at the clouds!

It all started on sunday... when i had some relationship problems... and then i received a threatening email from the technical communication tutor who claimed that 10% of the students were guilty of plagiarism in the 1200 words essay that we had written in the previous term.. obviously everyone was taken aback and i went to read my essay several times and did cross reference to all the sources.. she gave an amnesty since this was the 1st essay... those who were caught and didn't own up would suffer from maximum penalty together with a bad record.. this issue kept ringing in my mind for the rest of the week.. until thursday when we were told to collect the essay from the undergraduate office.. i managed to find mine but i did really badly.. I wasn't expecting that kind of score at all.. and after looking through the marking scheme, i was certain that the marker was too strict... yes, i went to look for the tutor to ask for marks... haha.. my sister couldn't believe that i actually did that.. i succeeded in pushing the grade up one level after 40 mins of wartime with her... but still i was disappointed with myself and i know it's time that i am more careful with my words before submission of any piece of work..

Taking a picture against the backdrop; My first time wearing a beanie!

First session of skiing... tired.. taking a rest.. hahah the snow was quite hard!

Ever since the start of this yr, the weather has been blowing hot and cold.. and on one of the weekdays, london's transport came to a standstill.. the wind was so strong that several trees fell and there was damage to public facilities... as a result, the road was severely congested and the tube lines experienced severe delalys.. i almost couldn't get back to hall in time for dinner.. and i was almost blown off the pavement when i was walking on the street!!... and today, it's so cold that the weather station forecast snow rain in the next few days... haha.. my bad luck didn't help in the poker game session with Jien Loong... losing an average of 8 games out of 10...

My ski boards and boots... waiting for the bus to come to send us to the skiing area..

I kept seeing things at night.. in my room to be exact.. yesterday, i saw someone crawling out from the window panel and i felt paralysed.. i couldn't move so i tried to shut my eyes hoping for the best... the next moment when i tried to struggle free, everythin went back to normal... these few days, i couldn't sleep... my usual sleeping pattern is disrupted severely.. i would feel very awake at 2am then in the end i had to read e notes as a form of lullaby... only managed to sleep at 4am... this is so detrimental to my health... and the worse thing is i have been dreaming everyday... there seems to be a dream bug going around...

On the first day, upon arrival... walking around waiting for the resort to be ready..

Yesterday, I watched the heart wrenching man u match against arsenal.. i was so excited prior to the match.. and i was looking forward to it.. when rooney scored, only a few of us celebrated in the bar.. at that very moment, i knew there were a lot of arsenal fans.. but deep down, i was extremely delighted at the goal.. because it would mean that man u can widen the gap from chelsea by 9 pts... when arsenal equalised, the arsenal fans were jumping up and down.. nvm, a draw would suffice... and i think it's quite a fair result.. towards the last 2 minutes, inspirational arsenal captain, henry scored a fine goal with a header.. the guess what? the whole bar ERUPTED!!! the arsenal fans were cheering while ppl like me were shaking our heads in disbelief... yes, that sums up my luck for this week.. and i really believe that im a jinx of man u.. up till now, whenever i watch man u, either they draw or they lose.. and the record stands at 100%.. im going to old trafford in manchester to watch a live match between Man u and Portsmouth this saturday in the showdown for FA cup.. i will be there to ask players like christiano ronaldo to wake up his idea!!

Lap Hang and I at the top of the mountain

Spent the last morning shopping at Zara.. i guessed i was one of the last few to do post-xmas sales shopping.. hahha managed to buy two zara shirts that cost 12 pounds each.. all of us bought sth each and it was quite a fruitful shopping trip.. haha.. somehow i felt happier after the trip.. retail therapy i guess... hmm... Once the inertia is overcome, u will just keep flashing ur debit card.. and the shopping decisions become somewhat irrational.. u just keep buying and buying..

Poor trees....

Beautiful!

About the SKI trip in Les Arcs, France... hahah.. I went skiing in mid December for 8 days.. I actually took a 22hrs coach from London to the southern part of France... my backside and neck was damn painful after the long ride!! haha.. I rem spending the last 45 minutes packing and I left my hall in a hurry, forgetting to chain my laptop.. because i was busy with the project then.. it was the least prepared trip ever.. and not surprisingly, i forgot to bring shampoo there.. haha.. we had to cross the English Channel to get to France and it was really cool.. the entire coach got into the ferry and we could go onboard for a drink/arcade session... We got a bit sea sick after that.. so we went to the top deck..FANTASTIC!!.. . the wind was so strong... but at least it made us feel much better and the dizzy spell dsiappeared... Somehow we didn't need to alight at France's customs.. maybe because we were holding the Singapore passport... hahah it was pretty tiring.. spent the time in the coach sleeping, watching movie, playing cards, eating chips and sleep and sleep...

Look at the clouds! below eye level! It was snowing at night! look at the white spots

Most ppl in France can't speak English.. so it's like a chicken talking to a duck.. it was my first time seeing snow... and the moment we reached the resort, we were snow fighting.. hahah... quite fun actually... but it was extremely cold.. -6 degree celsius.. gloves are an essential item.. since i do not have any roller blading or ice skating experience, i took quite some time to grasp the basic moves and turns... hahah but overall, it was a very positive experience... Since i have acrophobia, getting down a slope esp thsoe steep ones, is a daunting task for e.. haha.. but there is no way else to get down.. so i just had to pluck up my courage and ski down... if not, i would freeze at the top of the mountain!! .. the fun lies in picking and planning our routes and navigating through the various mountains.. great sense of satisfaction when u succeeded in conquering a particular slope...

My group instructors.. having a cup of hot wine!

The life in those 8 days is one of the best moments so far.. we had ski lesson for half a day and then we would go skiing on our own for the other half.. so essentially, we skied the whole day and we would go back to the resort at 5+pm for high tea... played cards... chilled in common room... we had a feast every dinner.. with red wine.. blah blah.. after that , we would drink beer or any hard liquor that we bought... there was no ice available so we had to chill the drinks with the snow.. hahh... and it's not surprising that after all these, i put on 5kg when i came back to London....what a break after one busy term in electrical faculty...

A video of how i skiied...

Our daily drinking session in the room.. CHEERS!!

I fell several times at the initial stage.. it was like learning how to cycle.. hahah.. but it was really fun coming down the slope at fast pace.. and of course the rest were more pro, they dared to take the intermediate slopes towards the last few days.. i think it's better to play safe and do what is within my capability.. so in the end i stick with the beginners slopes.. hahah.. we have heard of sand storm.. how about snow storm? it happened on the last day.. the wind was so strong that the snow started hitting my face.. i had to wear googles then... our instructors brought us to a small restaurant located at one of the chairlift stations to enjoy hot wine.. it was my first time trying hot wine.. not too bad.. hahah apparently, they added oranges too! amazing... and my instructor taught me a few words in french.. which of course were meant to woo girls.. but i cant really rem how to pronounce them now..

Zhonghan, me, zhengyuan, caroline... hahah well.. the last two are a couple now... hahah love sparks were seen during the ski trip!!

We scaled the highest mountain on the 5th day.. the view was breathtaking! at that time, i was a bit scared.. coz i knew i had to ski about 1km in altitude down to our resort... it was really beautiful... with the sun shinning brightly on u... the clouds were underneath our feet... basically we were above the clouds!! We shared the same slopes with those who were ski boarding... their stunts looked more cool though.. haha.. but there were two occasions when they whacked me from behind which ended up in a serious collision... quite painful though.. hahah... the feeling was just like learning how to walk when we were young... walk walk.. fall fall.. learn learn... hahah..never in my life have i felt down so many times before...

hehehehe.. scuba diving??

Somehow when u go to an overseas country, u are more willing to spend and there ia a greater tendency to splurge..for the first time, we shook off the student identity and took on the tourists role.. i bought food at every stopover in France... hahah.. and on the ferry back to London, i spent a lot on breakfast too.. hahah since we were on a holiday, i thought it would be a better idea not to be so frugal... just spend... spend.. when i was taking the ski chair up to the mountain, i wanted to take photos of the scenery.. but... it was so cold that i couldn't even take off my gloves... and at the peak of the mountain, my jaw muscles were quite numb... we had difficult pronouncing our words clearly.. especially with words like 'probably'.. it went like 'pro...bbaaa.... be...".... hahah

Happy Family!! My hair was frozen!!! Snow can be a form of natural gel!!

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