Saturday, February 25, 2006
Friday, February 24, 2006
Visa Update AGAIN
I rang the embassy this morning at 10.30am to check if they received my letter and guess what?
The lady I spoke to reverted back to her previous statement the day before, telling me that the institution I've applied for is private, so they cannot grant me my visa.
I am so irritated at the moment, I just wish I didn't apply for a visa in the first place - just go into the country with the intention of going on a holiday. If I don't tell the immigration office I'm studying, and no one finds out, I should be fine - but then the other guy said yesterday that if I am going to Korea for the purpose of study, then I should or it's best to get a visa!! WHAT CONTRADICTIONS!!
Right now, all I can do is leave it in God's hands. Only He has the solution to my problem. I should try not to be so angry and wanting to solve it myself, and leave it up to God.
The lady I spoke to reverted back to her previous statement the day before, telling me that the institution I've applied for is private, so they cannot grant me my visa.
I am so irritated at the moment, I just wish I didn't apply for a visa in the first place - just go into the country with the intention of going on a holiday. If I don't tell the immigration office I'm studying, and no one finds out, I should be fine - but then the other guy said yesterday that if I am going to Korea for the purpose of study, then I should or it's best to get a visa!! WHAT CONTRADICTIONS!!
Right now, all I can do is leave it in God's hands. Only He has the solution to my problem. I should try not to be so angry and wanting to solve it myself, and leave it up to God.
Visa Update
I'm getting closer. This time, they accepted my passport and documents. All that's left is a letter of admission from my Korean language institution. I've emailed my Korean program advisor on the spot and asked them to fax a letter directly to the embassy, so the ball is in their court now!!
All I have to do is sit and wait. Tomorrow, I'll know the verdict.
The jury contemplates...
All I have to do is sit and wait. Tomorrow, I'll know the verdict.
The jury contemplates...
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Life's a contradiction
...one day, it can be awesome, the next day may just be plain sucky! Today's story tells of an in-between and on-holiday young adult called Raine and her journey as she discovers this truth.
Raine's Monday was spent tidying her new bedroom, making it habitable - it wasn't anything special. The day took a better turn when she accompanied her grandparents to Carrefour, a big departmental store in Suntec City. Actually, I should have said it the other way around. Raine's grandparents were the ones accompanying her to buy a shelf she had seen in a newspaper advertisement.
Not only was it a fruitful evening for Raine, her grandparents didn't return home empty handed as well. They bought even more than her. Eating out with her grandparents was also a refreshing change. Raine was being a good girl by spending time with her grandparents.
At night, Raine's best friend, Pear, came to stayover. They had a nice girl bonding time - chatting, looking at photos and crazy videos of Raine jumping out of planes, blogging and doing some things you wouldn't expect two girls to do at 2am in the morning, i.e. fixing up a shelf.
After finding the tool box, work started as Pear screwed while Raine held the pieces together.
But the end product was a rewarding new clothes shelf for Raine - by the 2 proud builders!!
The next morning, after a painstaking struggle to pull themselves out of bed and out of the nice comfortable air-conditioned room, Pear and Raine finally managed to overcome the lack of sleep. After breakfast, they got ready and went down for a late morning swim, doing laps.
After laps and lunch, round two of activities started for the two girls as they went to the karaoke room. Little did they know they had to bring their own karaoke vcds. It was a hilarious 15 minutes as the girls wondered why they couldn't find the channel with the karaoke system and an even more hilarious moment when they read the terms on the wall and discovered they required their own songs. They returned home and chilled there, surfing the net for songs and taking photos.
Pear didn't stay for long after as she had tuition in the evening. After she left, Raine occupied herself with the internet, and more organising and that was her eventful day of fun.
However, the next day took a turn for the worst, with a lot of wasted trips and information that wasn't what Raine wanted to hear.
At 8.30am, the day began for Raine as she dragged her tired self out of bed. She had to go down to the Korean Embassy that morning to apply for her Korean visa. However, before she could apply, she needed to hunt down an instant photo booth as well.
Thankfully, with the help of some msn friends, she managed to track down a possible lead - just beside Sakae Sushi ouside Heartland Mall, and made it to the Korean Embassy early. Of course, her grandpa did her a big favour by driving her around as well.
Her luck changed at the embassy. At first, the lady at the counter said her Language Academy was a private institution and they only grant visas to students at government schools like universities. After a strong refusal from Raine, who said she had already paid her fees and had been told by the academy to apply for visa, the lady went to check and returned with an answer.
She required to see Raine's bank statement/bank book which Raine so conveniently left at home to approve a 90 day visa. Raine wasn't prepared to show any bank statement. She thought all she needed was her approved application form, air ticket, passport and photo. Apparently that wasn't enough.
The second problem soon followed. They couldn't only issue a 90 day visa. Raine would be in Korea for 92 days, but they said no, they couldn't extend. Their advise to Raine: the only way is to fly out of the country and fly back in to extend your stay another 90 days. That just pissed Raine off. Why couldn't she get a 2 day exemption??!! It was a wasted trip and Raine had to return again the next day with her bank statement.
After the embassy, Raine and her grandpa went to pick her grandma from church before heading to Thomson Plaza to have lunch and purchase a new luggage for her. Just her luck, they didn't have the design she liked and purchased 2 years ago from that same shop. All they have are the heavy, semi-hard-case, pull-along bags which Raine doesn't like. Raine wanted the soft-case luggage that didn't weigh a quarter of the allowed baggage weight.
That was another wasted trip to Thomson. This called for a change of plans so to Mustafa Centre they went. As her dad had mentioned, Mustafa did have the bag she wanted and a purchase was made then and there. Finally something good came out of this trip.
But her luck didn't last too long. When she got home, Raine grabbed her bank book and went to the bank to update it. It's strange how she managed to waste another trip as no transactions was made within the past few weeks and her book didn't need to be updated at all.
Lady Luck wasn't on her side today. We could only wish for her presence with Raine tomorrow.
Raine's Monday was spent tidying her new bedroom, making it habitable - it wasn't anything special. The day took a better turn when she accompanied her grandparents to Carrefour, a big departmental store in Suntec City. Actually, I should have said it the other way around. Raine's grandparents were the ones accompanying her to buy a shelf she had seen in a newspaper advertisement.
Not only was it a fruitful evening for Raine, her grandparents didn't return home empty handed as well. They bought even more than her. Eating out with her grandparents was also a refreshing change. Raine was being a good girl by spending time with her grandparents.
At night, Raine's best friend, Pear, came to stayover. They had a nice girl bonding time - chatting, looking at photos and crazy videos of Raine jumping out of planes, blogging and doing some things you wouldn't expect two girls to do at 2am in the morning, i.e. fixing up a shelf.
After finding the tool box, work started as Pear screwed while Raine held the pieces together.
But the end product was a rewarding new clothes shelf for Raine - by the 2 proud builders!!
The next morning, after a painstaking struggle to pull themselves out of bed and out of the nice comfortable air-conditioned room, Pear and Raine finally managed to overcome the lack of sleep. After breakfast, they got ready and went down for a late morning swim, doing laps.
After laps and lunch, round two of activities started for the two girls as they went to the karaoke room. Little did they know they had to bring their own karaoke vcds. It was a hilarious 15 minutes as the girls wondered why they couldn't find the channel with the karaoke system and an even more hilarious moment when they read the terms on the wall and discovered they required their own songs. They returned home and chilled there, surfing the net for songs and taking photos.
Pear didn't stay for long after as she had tuition in the evening. After she left, Raine occupied herself with the internet, and more organising and that was her eventful day of fun.
However, the next day took a turn for the worst, with a lot of wasted trips and information that wasn't what Raine wanted to hear.
At 8.30am, the day began for Raine as she dragged her tired self out of bed. She had to go down to the Korean Embassy that morning to apply for her Korean visa. However, before she could apply, she needed to hunt down an instant photo booth as well.
Thankfully, with the help of some msn friends, she managed to track down a possible lead - just beside Sakae Sushi ouside Heartland Mall, and made it to the Korean Embassy early. Of course, her grandpa did her a big favour by driving her around as well.
Her luck changed at the embassy. At first, the lady at the counter said her Language Academy was a private institution and they only grant visas to students at government schools like universities. After a strong refusal from Raine, who said she had already paid her fees and had been told by the academy to apply for visa, the lady went to check and returned with an answer.
She required to see Raine's bank statement/bank book which Raine so conveniently left at home to approve a 90 day visa. Raine wasn't prepared to show any bank statement. She thought all she needed was her approved application form, air ticket, passport and photo. Apparently that wasn't enough.
The second problem soon followed. They couldn't only issue a 90 day visa. Raine would be in Korea for 92 days, but they said no, they couldn't extend. Their advise to Raine: the only way is to fly out of the country and fly back in to extend your stay another 90 days. That just pissed Raine off. Why couldn't she get a 2 day exemption??!! It was a wasted trip and Raine had to return again the next day with her bank statement.
After the embassy, Raine and her grandpa went to pick her grandma from church before heading to Thomson Plaza to have lunch and purchase a new luggage for her. Just her luck, they didn't have the design she liked and purchased 2 years ago from that same shop. All they have are the heavy, semi-hard-case, pull-along bags which Raine doesn't like. Raine wanted the soft-case luggage that didn't weigh a quarter of the allowed baggage weight.
That was another wasted trip to Thomson. This called for a change of plans so to Mustafa Centre they went. As her dad had mentioned, Mustafa did have the bag she wanted and a purchase was made then and there. Finally something good came out of this trip.
But her luck didn't last too long. When she got home, Raine grabbed her bank book and went to the bank to update it. It's strange how she managed to waste another trip as no transactions was made within the past few weeks and her book didn't need to be updated at all.
Lady Luck wasn't on her side today. We could only wish for her presence with Raine tomorrow.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Naughty Girl
AHHHHHHH.
My Grandpa thinks I'm a naughty girl.
Okay okay...he didn't directly say I was a naughty girl, but he implied it. I'm sure he was implying that - who knows the inner workings of an old Grandpa please tell me.
Here's what happened...
We were having dinner and he asked me if I was staying home tonight. I replied with a yes...and then he added...he added...added...(*breath Raine breath*), "Good, be a good girl and stay home tonight."
So you see, by saying I'm a good girl if I stay in, he's implying I was a bad girl for all the times I go out - but I don't like being cooped up at home - there's ABSOLUTELY nothing to do except thinking about my mummy (mummy meaning daddy and Laura - the whole family) and using the net. I'm sure there are plenty of negative consequences of using the computer all day - like a bent spine, wrist problems, and eye sight problems to name a few.
So I asked back (pretending to be joking), "So you mean I'm a bad girl when I go out?"
And know what his reply was?? A smile and a Grandpa giggle. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!?!
SOB, I'm paranoid. I don't want to be a BAD GIRL. And don't tell me he doesn't mean it Laura, coz this is not the first time I've heard it!! 2 years ago when I was back in Singapore, he said the same thing when I decided to stay home for the day.
SOB SOB SOB!!
My Grandpa thinks I'm a naughty girl.
Okay okay...he didn't directly say I was a naughty girl, but he implied it. I'm sure he was implying that - who knows the inner workings of an old Grandpa please tell me.
Here's what happened...
We were having dinner and he asked me if I was staying home tonight. I replied with a yes...and then he added...he added...added...(*breath Raine breath*), "Good, be a good girl and stay home tonight."
So you see, by saying I'm a good girl if I stay in, he's implying I was a bad girl for all the times I go out - but I don't like being cooped up at home - there's ABSOLUTELY nothing to do except thinking about my mummy (mummy meaning daddy and Laura - the whole family) and using the net. I'm sure there are plenty of negative consequences of using the computer all day - like a bent spine, wrist problems, and eye sight problems to name a few.
So I asked back (pretending to be joking), "So you mean I'm a bad girl when I go out?"
And know what his reply was?? A smile and a Grandpa giggle. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!?!
SOB, I'm paranoid. I don't want to be a BAD GIRL. And don't tell me he doesn't mean it Laura, coz this is not the first time I've heard it!! 2 years ago when I was back in Singapore, he said the same thing when I decided to stay home for the day.
SOB SOB SOB!!
A Full Full Girl in her Big Big Bed
I'm currently waiting for my hair to dry before I can go to bed, so I thought I'd report on today's "current affairs".
At 11am, my alarm clock went off and I got out of bed. The Novena people were coming to deliver my bed and mattress between 12 and 2.30pm, so I had given an hour for me to get washed and get my bedroom ready.
However, at 11.15am, the door bell rang. It was my mattress. They were early and the guard house didn't page us in regards to this delivery!! Just as well I was awake.
After the 'mattress people' left, I went online and chatted with mum for a bit. At around 12.30pm, my bed frame arrived!! As the men assembled my bed together, I saw how my new room was embellishing. It was quite cram with a narrow walkway between my new queen-size bed and my TV shelf, but the furniture looked awesome!!
After the assemblers left, we had lunch. The workout begun after lunch as I organised the furniture, rearranging my TV and wires, shifting the shelf to make more space for the walkway.
Mum rang in between the organising and I got to talk to the whole family, including Laura, Dad and Zac!!!
More organising occured until Mama's niece and family arrived. I didn't know we were expecting visitors. They had 2 little children, one boy and a younger girl. They were cute. The boy started asking me questions. I couldn't really understand what he was saying as he mumbled, but when I returned to my room to get ready to go over to Pear's place, he stopped at my room door and said something which I didn't catch again. I asked him to repeat but he ran off. Then I went to the next room to get something from the drawer and he appeared at the door again, mumbling something and running off again. I was getting a little weirded out then...but he's a little boy, perhaps just wanting to make friends.
However, just as I was about to leave the house, he grabbed on to my hand and asked me where I was going and he wanted to follow me!!! WEIRD!! So strange! I didn't know what to say until the parents saved me by telling him that they were going out after this so he can't come along but they'll come visit again. I'm a little freaked but maybe he just wants to be friends.
I went to Pear's place and even helped with the bee hoon that Pear was cooking by cutting the eggs!!! When we were all ready, I drove Pear's mum and her aunty and uncle to her other aunt's condo for the BBQ birthday party while Pear took Junren's car.
The BBQ was awesome!! Pear's family is so friendly and jolly, I felt absolutely comfortable around them. The food was FANTASTIC. I love the chicken wings best - babe, you've got to teach me how you marinated it!! Not only did we have chicken wings and her bee hoon, there was also pork slices, squid, mussels, stingray, satay, prawns, fish cake and fish balls, pineapple and grass jelly dessert, and not to forget the 2 birthday cakes coz we were celebrating both Pear's and her Grand Aunt's birthday.
I'm a full full girl. After the BBQ, we returned to Pear's house only to find out that neither Pear nor her bro Josh had keys so we waited patiently outside the house for her parents to return. That's us, being pathetic outside their own house.
We chatted till 1am before I left for home.
I think my hair is almost dry now so I shall get ready for bed - in my new BIG BIG BED with NEW NEW SHEETS!! So exciting!!
At 11am, my alarm clock went off and I got out of bed. The Novena people were coming to deliver my bed and mattress between 12 and 2.30pm, so I had given an hour for me to get washed and get my bedroom ready.
However, at 11.15am, the door bell rang. It was my mattress. They were early and the guard house didn't page us in regards to this delivery!! Just as well I was awake.
After the 'mattress people' left, I went online and chatted with mum for a bit. At around 12.30pm, my bed frame arrived!! As the men assembled my bed together, I saw how my new room was embellishing. It was quite cram with a narrow walkway between my new queen-size bed and my TV shelf, but the furniture looked awesome!!
After the assemblers left, we had lunch. The workout begun after lunch as I organised the furniture, rearranging my TV and wires, shifting the shelf to make more space for the walkway.
Mum rang in between the organising and I got to talk to the whole family, including Laura, Dad and Zac!!!
More organising occured until Mama's niece and family arrived. I didn't know we were expecting visitors. They had 2 little children, one boy and a younger girl. They were cute. The boy started asking me questions. I couldn't really understand what he was saying as he mumbled, but when I returned to my room to get ready to go over to Pear's place, he stopped at my room door and said something which I didn't catch again. I asked him to repeat but he ran off. Then I went to the next room to get something from the drawer and he appeared at the door again, mumbling something and running off again. I was getting a little weirded out then...but he's a little boy, perhaps just wanting to make friends.
However, just as I was about to leave the house, he grabbed on to my hand and asked me where I was going and he wanted to follow me!!! WEIRD!! So strange! I didn't know what to say until the parents saved me by telling him that they were going out after this so he can't come along but they'll come visit again. I'm a little freaked but maybe he just wants to be friends.
I went to Pear's place and even helped with the bee hoon that Pear was cooking by cutting the eggs!!! When we were all ready, I drove Pear's mum and her aunty and uncle to her other aunt's condo for the BBQ birthday party while Pear took Junren's car.
The BBQ was awesome!! Pear's family is so friendly and jolly, I felt absolutely comfortable around them. The food was FANTASTIC. I love the chicken wings best - babe, you've got to teach me how you marinated it!! Not only did we have chicken wings and her bee hoon, there was also pork slices, squid, mussels, stingray, satay, prawns, fish cake and fish balls, pineapple and grass jelly dessert, and not to forget the 2 birthday cakes coz we were celebrating both Pear's and her Grand Aunt's birthday.
I'm a full full girl. After the BBQ, we returned to Pear's house only to find out that neither Pear nor her bro Josh had keys so we waited patiently outside the house for her parents to return. That's us, being pathetic outside their own house.
We chatted till 1am before I left for home.
I think my hair is almost dry now so I shall get ready for bed - in my new BIG BIG BED with NEW NEW SHEETS!! So exciting!!
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Chronological Order of Events
*These times are rough but close estimates
@ 1130 :: My day begins
@ 1135 :: Breakfast - leftover hor fan
@ 1200 :: Go online to check mails and chat
@ 1230 :: Lunch
@ 1245 :: Get ready to go out
@ 1315 :: Leave the house for Orchard
@ 1400 :: Pick up M1 Giro form at Paragon
@ 1420 :: Meet Pear at Heerens and the shopping begun
@ 1530 :: Wanted to leave Heerens but it was pouring so we remained indoors
@ 1545 :: Bought a pair of purple earrings shaped like a cocktail glass
@ 1615 :: Rain finally stopped and we stopped by Old Chang Kee for snacks
@ 1630 :: Went to Cineleisure to shop around
@ 1730 :: Went Taka to shop, tried on several skirts at Zara
@ 1815 :: Went Ding Tai Feng at Wisma to satisfy our hunger with Xiao Long Bao and Ja Jiang Mian
@ 1915 :: Went back to Zara to buy the cute pink skirt
@ 1940 :: Went Paragon M1 shop with Pear to look at phones
@ 1950 :: Stopped at a roadside shop to look at Nikon cameras as a salesman convinced us about the Coolpix S3 digicam (quite a good sales pitch)
@ 2010 :: Went back to Cineleisure to buy Pear her birthday prezzie - the bag she likes
@ 2040 :: Returned to Heerens to rest our tired legs for a while and contemplate about the camera (I'm a little wary now when buying cameras - don't want to make the wrong decision again)
@ 2045 :: Returned to the store and continued asking questions about the camera
@ 2100 :: Made my camera purchase after a good bargain before heading back to Pear's Place
@ 2135 :: Return to Pear's Place
@ 2200 :: Pear and I played with my new camera
@ 2230 :: Junren arrives and we continue taking pictures
@ 2300 :: Played 3 rounds of Spinergy - AND I WON!! Hee hee.
@ 2345 :: Decided to go for supper with Pear's parents, Junren and Pear
@ 0020 :: Ate YUMMY Tim Sum at Geylang, near Lor 17 - SO FULL!!!
@ 0115 :: Went to this cheap grocery and bought stuff for Pear's party tomorrow
@ 0140 :: Left Geylang for home
@ 0220 :: Reached home and washed up
@ 0234 :: Blogged about my awesome day - a fruitful shopping trip and glorious good food - and I couldn't possibly sleep on a bloated stomach so had to let it rest!!
@ 1130 :: My day begins
@ 1135 :: Breakfast - leftover hor fan
@ 1200 :: Go online to check mails and chat
@ 1230 :: Lunch
@ 1245 :: Get ready to go out
@ 1315 :: Leave the house for Orchard
@ 1400 :: Pick up M1 Giro form at Paragon
@ 1420 :: Meet Pear at Heerens and the shopping begun
@ 1530 :: Wanted to leave Heerens but it was pouring so we remained indoors
@ 1545 :: Bought a pair of purple earrings shaped like a cocktail glass
@ 1615 :: Rain finally stopped and we stopped by Old Chang Kee for snacks
@ 1630 :: Went to Cineleisure to shop around
@ 1730 :: Went Taka to shop, tried on several skirts at Zara
@ 1815 :: Went Ding Tai Feng at Wisma to satisfy our hunger with Xiao Long Bao and Ja Jiang Mian
@ 1915 :: Went back to Zara to buy the cute pink skirt
@ 1940 :: Went Paragon M1 shop with Pear to look at phones
@ 1950 :: Stopped at a roadside shop to look at Nikon cameras as a salesman convinced us about the Coolpix S3 digicam (quite a good sales pitch)
@ 2010 :: Went back to Cineleisure to buy Pear her birthday prezzie - the bag she likes
@ 2040 :: Returned to Heerens to rest our tired legs for a while and contemplate about the camera (I'm a little wary now when buying cameras - don't want to make the wrong decision again)
@ 2045 :: Returned to the store and continued asking questions about the camera
@ 2100 :: Made my camera purchase after a good bargain before heading back to Pear's Place
@ 2135 :: Return to Pear's Place
@ 2200 :: Pear and I played with my new camera
@ 2230 :: Junren arrives and we continue taking pictures
@ 2300 :: Played 3 rounds of Spinergy - AND I WON!! Hee hee.
@ 2345 :: Decided to go for supper with Pear's parents, Junren and Pear
@ 0020 :: Ate YUMMY Tim Sum at Geylang, near Lor 17 - SO FULL!!!
@ 0115 :: Went to this cheap grocery and bought stuff for Pear's party tomorrow
@ 0140 :: Left Geylang for home
@ 0220 :: Reached home and washed up
@ 0234 :: Blogged about my awesome day - a fruitful shopping trip and glorious good food - and I couldn't possibly sleep on a bloated stomach so had to let it rest!!
Thursday, February 16, 2006
I'M BORED!!!
That's why I dread the nights...I'm bored and it's only 7.20pm.
That's why I'm blog spamming tonight...I'm bored and it's only 7.21pm.
That's why I'm losing weight...I'm bored and I keep pacing around the house!!
That's why I'm blog spamming tonight...I'm bored and it's only 7.21pm.
That's why I'm losing weight...I'm bored and I keep pacing around the house!!
Shedding Calories
I just had a good swim today - haven't swam in months - and it feels GREAT!! I love feeling good about myself. You just feel healthier, more awake, and definitely very much slimmer (even if it isn't true in the mirror). It's just the feeling of treating your body to something nice - not that a good chocolate cake won't accomplish this as well - but a healthier and less remorseful option.
This wasn't the only workout I had today!! When the clock struck 12am this morning, I was dancing my arse off with Jo and Rach at the Ministry Of Sound (aka MOS) - Singapore's hottest club! Okay...technically, I was just bopping and trying to keep up with the beat. I don't like dancing. It's one of the 2 things I never feel confident in.
A feeling of self-consciousness consumes my mind and body, making me feel like...
1) a tone-deaf idiot
2) shaking and bouncing out of beat
3) bare and naked
4) every pair of eyes on the dance floor are directed at me
5) the subject of all giggles and laughter
Yep...it's not a nice feeling at all.
But, I would have looked even more like an idiot if I just stood still on the dance floor beside the dancing Jo and Rach. On the positive note...at least I liked what I was wearing and I must have lost quite a bit of calories - a result of perspiring in the over-crowded dance floor and from all that bopping around, plus, we've got awesome pics!!
This wasn't the only workout I had today!! When the clock struck 12am this morning, I was dancing my arse off with Jo and Rach at the Ministry Of Sound (aka MOS) - Singapore's hottest club! Okay...technically, I was just bopping and trying to keep up with the beat. I don't like dancing. It's one of the 2 things I never feel confident in.
A feeling of self-consciousness consumes my mind and body, making me feel like...
1) a tone-deaf idiot
2) shaking and bouncing out of beat
3) bare and naked
4) every pair of eyes on the dance floor are directed at me
5) the subject of all giggles and laughter
Yep...it's not a nice feeling at all.
But, I would have looked even more like an idiot if I just stood still on the dance floor beside the dancing Jo and Rach. On the positive note...at least I liked what I was wearing and I must have lost quite a bit of calories - a result of perspiring in the over-crowded dance floor and from all that bopping around, plus, we've got awesome pics!!
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
THIS IS A CONSPIRACY!!
I think my grandparents are on a secret mission to feed me fat!!! They are just stuffing me with food - HELP! They think that because I'm not home so I don't eat. I need to get out of this house more often.
Better?
As a perfectionist, I didn't give anyone anytime to absorb my previous blog entry before making the changes...don't know if it's any better, but at least this fits neatly on our desktop with a smaller screen resolution of 1024x768. Perhaps it'll fit better for you too!!
I miss you...
I'm looking out the window
Where we sat to watch the stars
There's a chill within the air
It makes my heart long for your touch
You may be miles away
But as I kneel to pray
I see the same side of the moon
That we'll be looking on when the world turns blue
And know that time and space
can't come between me and you
We share the same side of the moon
And though you'll never see all my tears shine through
I know I can't be that far from you
If we're both looking on the same side of the moon.
I picture you across the oceans
In your corner of the world
I pray the wind will blow my voice
And gently whisper in your ear
Your night may be my day
And though the seasons change
It's still the same side of the moon
That we'll be looking on when the world turns blue
And know that time and space
can't come between me and you
We share the same side of the moon
And though you'll never see all my tears shine through
I know I can't be that far from you
If we're both looking on the same side of the moon
I know I can't be that far from you
If we're both looking on the same side of the moon
::Written and Sung By Corrinne May::
Where we sat to watch the stars
There's a chill within the air
It makes my heart long for your touch
You may be miles away
But as I kneel to pray
I see the same side of the moon
That we'll be looking on when the world turns blue
And know that time and space
can't come between me and you
We share the same side of the moon
And though you'll never see all my tears shine through
I know I can't be that far from you
If we're both looking on the same side of the moon.
I picture you across the oceans
In your corner of the world
I pray the wind will blow my voice
And gently whisper in your ear
Your night may be my day
And though the seasons change
It's still the same side of the moon
That we'll be looking on when the world turns blue
And know that time and space
can't come between me and you
We share the same side of the moon
And though you'll never see all my tears shine through
I know I can't be that far from you
If we're both looking on the same side of the moon
I know I can't be that far from you
If we're both looking on the same side of the moon
::Written and Sung By Corrinne May::
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
1st Anniversary!!
One year ago today, I started up this blog. I can't believe it's been 1 year...
So today, I decided to spend some time pampering my blog and giving it a new skin for the new year!!
A year ago today, I wrote "Am I pathetic or AM I pathetic? This is yet another Valentine's Day that I'm spending all by myself, the 21st one in a row."
This year, I'm not going to harp about it - not because I've got someone, but because time won't stop for me to sulk. I've got to keep up as the seconds tick away and keep adapting to whatever comes my way.
Well...that's my wise words today...out and over!!
So today, I decided to spend some time pampering my blog and giving it a new skin for the new year!!
A year ago today, I wrote "Am I pathetic or AM I pathetic? This is yet another Valentine's Day that I'm spending all by myself, the 21st one in a row."
This year, I'm not going to harp about it - not because I've got someone, but because time won't stop for me to sulk. I've got to keep up as the seconds tick away and keep adapting to whatever comes my way.
Well...that's my wise words today...out and over!!
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Every coin has two sides...
The Changi Airport Control Tower has always been a welcoming landmark for me up until today. I know I'm home and it brings a smile across my face whenever I see the welcoming tower standing proudly as the plane lands - our loyal welcoming party.Today, I saw it in a different light. Driving towards Terminal 1, I turned to look to my right and saw the foreboding architecture growing bigger and bigger. Playing the role of the last landmark of Singapore to those leaving the country, it saluted "Goodbye and Farewell".
Just like some signs as you cross state borders, on one side it says "Welcome to blah blah" and on the other it bids farewell to you.
Just like how I saw today as "my family is leaving me alone in Singapore", while mum saw it as "you are leaving us to stay in Singapore."
Just like how I was afraid of being alone and away (long term) from my family for the very first time while dad introduces it as a challange and experience for me to grow and become independent.
Just like one door shuts and the other door opens...I'm currently stuck inbetween the front door and the metal gates, where everything behind the front door is familar and comforting, while everything beyond the gates is unknown. At presence I'm only able to peek through the gaps in the gates and see what's in my close proximity, but anything beyond is a mystery - a scary and unexplored territory.
Friday, February 10, 2006
The New Pink: GREEN
Yesterday, my professional painter helped me paint my wall Lime Fizz. His helpers were incompetent, making a mess of the wall with uneven shades of green and he had to salvage it after, slogging longer than estimated. Nevertheless, the first coat was completed before dinner.
After dinner when we returned and the paint had settled, I realised that it was a little to bright to my liking. The colour was very strong and in my face (but I liked it too and that's why I chose it) however I made a decision that it was far too bright to live in. I contacted my painter and seeked his advise.
Early next morning (at 10am), the painter came knocking on our door and I was kicked out of bed to help around. The painter mixed the previous half can of Lime Fizz with his newly purchased white paint. Then the first coat was up and I panicked. It was too light!! But the professional reassured me that it'll blend with the brighter background, so I put my trust in him.
The final product was a brillant success!!! I LOVE IT!! I LOVE MY GREEN WALL!! It's so fresh yet sweetish.
Just after lunch, Ikea delivered my TV shelves and I contacted my builder. He immediately came and work started. Piece by piece and nail by nail, the shelves came up.
Finally it was done...I love the shelves...but it's not complete without the flatscreen TV so I won't be taking any pics right now till the very very end.
But wait...before I end this entry, I've got another green surprise for you!
Like it? Say yes or DIE!!!
After dinner when we returned and the paint had settled, I realised that it was a little to bright to my liking. The colour was very strong and in my face (but I liked it too and that's why I chose it) however I made a decision that it was far too bright to live in. I contacted my painter and seeked his advise.
Early next morning (at 10am), the painter came knocking on our door and I was kicked out of bed to help around. The painter mixed the previous half can of Lime Fizz with his newly purchased white paint. Then the first coat was up and I panicked. It was too light!! But the professional reassured me that it'll blend with the brighter background, so I put my trust in him.
The final product was a brillant success!!! I LOVE IT!! I LOVE MY GREEN WALL!! It's so fresh yet sweetish.
Just after lunch, Ikea delivered my TV shelves and I contacted my builder. He immediately came and work started. Piece by piece and nail by nail, the shelves came up.
Finally it was done...I love the shelves...but it's not complete without the flatscreen TV so I won't be taking any pics right now till the very very end.
But wait...before I end this entry, I've got another green surprise for you!
Like it? Say yes or DIE!!!
An insight to my dialect!!
Hokkien is easy. Just remember:
Children is gina kia
Bird is chiao kia
Korean Car is Kia
Give birth is seh kia
Furniture is Ikea
Police is mata kia
Small house is chu kia
Country name is Czechoslovakia
Puppy is kao kia
Kitten is ngiao kia
Chicken is kuey kia
Pig is tu kia
Handphone is nokia
I'm Hokkien kia
Malay is huan na kia
Hindu is ke leng na kia
Kuai lou is ang mo kia
Chinese is t'ng lang kia
Japanese is jit pun kia
Bad Guy is phai kia
& Good Guy is ho kia
Person who reads this message is Gong Kia
If you laugh, you are Siow Kia
(to those who do not understand...I apologise, it's kind of an inside joke...only hokkiens and most Singaporeans would understand)
Children is gina kia
Bird is chiao kia
Korean Car is Kia
Give birth is seh kia
Furniture is Ikea
Police is mata kia
Small house is chu kia
Country name is Czechoslovakia
Puppy is kao kia
Kitten is ngiao kia
Chicken is kuey kia
Pig is tu kia
Handphone is nokia
I'm Hokkien kia
Malay is huan na kia
Hindu is ke leng na kia
Kuai lou is ang mo kia
Chinese is t'ng lang kia
Japanese is jit pun kia
Bad Guy is phai kia
& Good Guy is ho kia
Person who reads this message is Gong Kia
If you laugh, you are Siow Kia
(to those who do not understand...I apologise, it's kind of an inside joke...only hokkiens and most Singaporeans would understand)
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Some Kim Sam Soon Mini Bites
I don't want to give away the entire storyline for this awesome Korean drama serial 'My Lovely Sam Soon', so here's just some snippets from the show:
Snippet 1:
Snippet 1:
The reason why we can't find ourselves a decent guy...Snippet 2:
First, nice men are ugly.
Second, good looking men are not nice.
Third, good looking and nice men are already married.
Fourth, good looking, nice and single men are incompetent.
Fifth, good looking, nice, single and rich men are not interested in us.
Sixth, good looking, nice, single, rich men that are interested in us will most probably cheat on us.
Seventh, good looking, nice, single, rich men that are interested in us that are not likely to cheat on us are gay!
...Then tenth! Good looking, nice, single and rich men that are interested in us, who do not cheat and are not gay and are still interested even if we approach them first are...
...There's definitely something wrong with them. They're abnormal!!
Jin Heon: But...I have a favour to as you.
Sam Soon: What favour's there to ask at the toilet?
J: Could you pass me the toilet paper?
S (lying): Gosh, I'm so sorry, but I'm out of toilet paper too. Who's in charge of cleaning the bathroom anyways?!!Do you know that different blood type respond differently in this situation?
The strong willed and patient blood type A waits until the janitor comes along.Blood type B that has strong love for oneself will use two of those. Two of those...being your fingers.
The rational blood type AB uses the tissue in the bin that someone has thrown away after using.
Blood type O that doesn't bother itself over trival things just walks out. Why? Because he can always wipe himself later.
Which type are you?
Next in turn: Daddy
Once upon a time (yesterday evening), Daddy went shopping with his two daughters. He followed them into a VCD shop, browsing though the many drama serials on sale.
At the same time, Girl was also looking around the shop with Boy, her boyfriend. She sipped at her drink while studying the many VCDs on sale. She decided to share her drink with Boy, holding out her drink to the figure of a person standing on her right, assuming it was Boy standing right beside her.
Daddy stared strangely at the drink that was trusted in front of him, then he turned to look at Girl, who was still looking intently at the VCDs on the table.
After a whlie, Girl realised that who she assumed was Boy wasn't taking the drink from her and she finally looked up. Blushing in embarrassment, she hurriedly apologised to Daddy and went over to Boy where she shared her embarrassment while Boy laughed. Daddy did likewise as his daughters giggled at the cute incident.
At the same time, Girl was also looking around the shop with Boy, her boyfriend. She sipped at her drink while studying the many VCDs on sale. She decided to share her drink with Boy, holding out her drink to the figure of a person standing on her right, assuming it was Boy standing right beside her.
Daddy stared strangely at the drink that was trusted in front of him, then he turned to look at Girl, who was still looking intently at the VCDs on the table.
After a whlie, Girl realised that who she assumed was Boy wasn't taking the drink from her and she finally looked up. Blushing in embarrassment, she hurriedly apologised to Daddy and went over to Boy where she shared her embarrassment while Boy laughed. Daddy did likewise as his daughters giggled at the cute incident.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Countdown to the moments
Five.
Fifth on my list is the wonderful and intriging Singapore English.
How would you say 'Farrer'? We (Singaporeans) pronounce it was 'fairer'.
I DON'T GET IT!!
Sorry, that's what happens when you've got nothing to do while travelling on the train. You end up studying the train route too closely.
But honestly...
How do you pronounce 'Fa'?
How do you pronounce 'Far'?
How do you pronounce 'Farr'?
So...How do you pronounce 'Farrer'?
A Singaporean in the background shouts out, "Fairer!!"
The second moment occured when we went out for dinner. I wanted to order a drink so I stood in front of the stall but there wasn't a list of drinks available. I pointed to a familar can of Crysanthum tea and went back to my table.
But that's not the point. Another group of customers order Kopi-O Sui Dai Tei Bieng Tei and it wasn't on the list - THERE WAS NO LIST!! Anyway, dad said it's understood that every drink stall will sell those basic drinks, you don't need a menu. Moreover, there's too many options for coffee and tea which led us to our next conversation about what options there are.
Kopi - Flat white with sugar
Kopi Si - Flat white with carnation milk (Si is carnation milk)
Kopi-O - Long black with sugar
Kopi-O Sui Dai - Long black with less sugar ('Sui' means less and 'Dai' means sweet)
So from the above, I announced my favourite coffee drink: Kopi-O Bo Dai!!!
*bish*poing*bong* (my family faints)
My explanation: Bo means no, so therefore, Kopi-O Bo Dai refers to long black not sweet.
But I was enlightened. The correct way of asking for a long black without sugar is...Kopi-O Kosong!! (Kosong meaning 'nothing' or 'plain')
Four.
Having fun with some Spinergy, Risk, Barcadi and the company of great friends is third on this list. On Friday evening, I met Pear and Junren for dinner, stuffing our faces with seafood at Fish & Co. Then, we adjourned to Junren's place for a game of Risk (I came in second out of the three, which I reckon is an accomplishment for a beginner), some mahjong 102 for beginners and some Barcadi with cola.
Yesterday, Pear, Junren and I were supposed to play tennis at my place but it was raining so they came over and hanged instead, playing this new board game I bought called Spinergy. We all enjoyed ourselves as we formed silly sentences with randomly chosen words (there's more to this game but I'm too lazy to explain) so much so that we continued round two with Junren and friends over at Pear's place.
Three.
I drove...on my own (of course by following behind Junren's car and with Pear as my navigator but when I say 'on my own' I mean without daddy's supervision)...to Pear's place!!! And then I drove back home by myself - and I didn't get lost!! I miss driving. I miss my baby snow princess. I DROVE ON SINGAPORE'S CRAZY STREETS (but in the 2am morning traffic).
Two.
The theme of this moment is 13 going on 51!! We went over to Aunty Lay Hong's place this evening for YUMMY food!! The best part was seeing 4 mums laughing over old secondary one class photos, while the group of us children were laughing at them in the photos. It's amazing how they are still so close after almost 30 years.
One.
The winner of today's moments goes to Laura and her 'boyfriend' - A classic 'Just for Laughs' moment.
We had just alighted from the bus and was walking towards Ikea when this guy walked up to Laura and took her by the elbow. While I was witnessing this guy take Laura's arm, it took me a while to register in my head that this was a complete stranger. Laura took a while too.
Only when mum asked in an accusing and protective tone, "EXCUSE ME?" did Laura realise and pull her arm away while the guy literally jumped in embarrassment and started apologising profusely for this mix up. That was such a kodak moment - his shocked, stunned and embarrassed expression. He quickly disappeared.
While entering Ikea, we noticed the guy in front of us as he caught up with his girlfriend and took her by the arm like he did with Laura and then moved to hold her hand. I almost cracked up laughing as a flashback of his expression appeared in my mind.
NUMBER ONE MOMENT OF THE DAY!!
Fifth on my list is the wonderful and intriging Singapore English.
How would you say 'Farrer'? We (Singaporeans) pronounce it was 'fairer'.
I DON'T GET IT!!
Sorry, that's what happens when you've got nothing to do while travelling on the train. You end up studying the train route too closely.
But honestly...
How do you pronounce 'Fa'?
How do you pronounce 'Far'?
How do you pronounce 'Farr'?
So...How do you pronounce 'Farrer'?
A Singaporean in the background shouts out, "Fairer!!"
The second moment occured when we went out for dinner. I wanted to order a drink so I stood in front of the stall but there wasn't a list of drinks available. I pointed to a familar can of Crysanthum tea and went back to my table.
But that's not the point. Another group of customers order Kopi-O Sui Dai Tei Bieng Tei and it wasn't on the list - THERE WAS NO LIST!! Anyway, dad said it's understood that every drink stall will sell those basic drinks, you don't need a menu. Moreover, there's too many options for coffee and tea which led us to our next conversation about what options there are.
Kopi - Flat white with sugar
Kopi Si - Flat white with carnation milk (Si is carnation milk)
Kopi-O - Long black with sugar
Kopi-O Sui Dai - Long black with less sugar ('Sui' means less and 'Dai' means sweet)
So from the above, I announced my favourite coffee drink: Kopi-O Bo Dai!!!
*bish*poing*bong* (my family faints)
My explanation: Bo means no, so therefore, Kopi-O Bo Dai refers to long black not sweet.
But I was enlightened. The correct way of asking for a long black without sugar is...Kopi-O Kosong!! (Kosong meaning 'nothing' or 'plain')
Four.
Having fun with some Spinergy, Risk, Barcadi and the company of great friends is third on this list. On Friday evening, I met Pear and Junren for dinner, stuffing our faces with seafood at Fish & Co. Then, we adjourned to Junren's place for a game of Risk (I came in second out of the three, which I reckon is an accomplishment for a beginner), some mahjong 102 for beginners and some Barcadi with cola.
Yesterday, Pear, Junren and I were supposed to play tennis at my place but it was raining so they came over and hanged instead, playing this new board game I bought called Spinergy. We all enjoyed ourselves as we formed silly sentences with randomly chosen words (there's more to this game but I'm too lazy to explain) so much so that we continued round two with Junren and friends over at Pear's place.
Three.
I drove...on my own (of course by following behind Junren's car and with Pear as my navigator but when I say 'on my own' I mean without daddy's supervision)...to Pear's place!!! And then I drove back home by myself - and I didn't get lost!! I miss driving. I miss my baby snow princess. I DROVE ON SINGAPORE'S CRAZY STREETS (but in the 2am morning traffic).
Two.
The theme of this moment is 13 going on 51!! We went over to Aunty Lay Hong's place this evening for YUMMY food!! The best part was seeing 4 mums laughing over old secondary one class photos, while the group of us children were laughing at them in the photos. It's amazing how they are still so close after almost 30 years.
One.
The winner of today's moments goes to Laura and her 'boyfriend' - A classic 'Just for Laughs' moment.
We had just alighted from the bus and was walking towards Ikea when this guy walked up to Laura and took her by the elbow. While I was witnessing this guy take Laura's arm, it took me a while to register in my head that this was a complete stranger. Laura took a while too.
Only when mum asked in an accusing and protective tone, "EXCUSE ME?" did Laura realise and pull her arm away while the guy literally jumped in embarrassment and started apologising profusely for this mix up. That was such a kodak moment - his shocked, stunned and embarrassed expression. He quickly disappeared.
While entering Ikea, we noticed the guy in front of us as he caught up with his girlfriend and took her by the arm like he did with Laura and then moved to hold her hand. I almost cracked up laughing as a flashback of his expression appeared in my mind.
NUMBER ONE MOMENT OF THE DAY!!
Friday, February 03, 2006
Endeavour to never...
Have you ever
...tried on an expensive item many times and return it to the shelves?
...only to discover it's sold out when you finally decide to purchase it?
Have you ever
...used an expensive item and have it lost or stolen?
...knowing that you've only used it for a short period of time?
Have you ever
...bought an expensive item and kept it at the back of your cupboard?
...only to dig it out after 10 years and find mould on it?
...tried on an expensive item many times and return it to the shelves?
...only to discover it's sold out when you finally decide to purchase it?
Have you ever
...used an expensive item and have it lost or stolen?
...knowing that you've only used it for a short period of time?
Have you ever
...bought an expensive item and kept it at the back of your cupboard?
...only to dig it out after 10 years and find mould on it?
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
At 2.26 a.m.
insomnia / in`som"ni`a
zombie / zom`bi
obsession / ob`ses"sion
furnish / fur"nish
bedroom / bed"room
shop / shop
late / late
sleep / sleep
attempt / at`tempt"
n : an inability to sleep; chronic sleeplessness (ant: hypersomnia)That's me right now.
zombie / zom`bi
n : a dead body that has been brought back to life by a supernatural forceThat'll be me when I have to wake in 5 hours time.
obsession / ob`ses"sion
n : an excessive preoccupation of the thoughts or feelings; the persistent haunting or domination of the mind by a particular desire, idea, or image.The reason why I'm not asleep.
furnish / fur"nish
v : provide or equip with furnitureThat's what's occupying my mind.
bedroom / bed"room
n : a room used primarily for sleepingThe subject in which I am furnishing.
shop / shop
n : to visit shops for the purpose of purchasing goods.The urge I have at the moment to fulfil my purpose of furnish.
late / late
adj : after the expected or usual time; delayedMy bedtime.
sleep / sleep
n : a natural and healthy, but temporary and periodical, suspension of the functions of the organs of sense, as well as of those of the voluntary and rational soulI need!!
attempt / at`tempt"
n : earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish somethingGood night!
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Third Time's The Charm
This is the third time I'm writing this entry. Hope I finally manage to post it. The first time, there was a power trip and my computer went out, the second time, I somehow managed to hang the entire computer so all was lost and now, this is my third time - don't really feel like writing much so this is probably going to be short. After repeating myself twice, the urge to repeat once again is - well, non-existant.
So here's a wrap up to UK:
On Jan 26th, the first stop was the Tower of London - same old castle touring and a lot of photos. My right knee started to ache then, not sure if it was too much walking or perhaps Rhuematism coz the pain has kind of disappeared when I got back to Singapore. Oh yes, I'M HOME! FINALLY!! It's great to be back. Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!
For lunch, I met up with James who was stopping over in London for a day. And then we did some serious shopping - the best shopping I've done so far. It feels great when you don't have an audience (a.k.a. family) waiting and pressuring you to make that purchase decision. James can wait - haha. We walked the entire Oxford Street, visiting FCUK (twice at 2 separate outlets), Zara, Miss Selfridges, Top Shop, Nike Town and the lot!! It was awesome.
We shopped till 5.30pm and then met up with a mutual friend I've known from Nanyang. I haven't had a decent conversation with her since 7 years ago so it was awesome catching up. For dinner, we also met up with more Singaporeans, one of them being a softball team mate I haven't seen in 5 years so it was an awesome night. To top it off, Korean food in London!! YUM!!
I only got back at 11pm and packed all the way till 2am before hitting the pillows only to wake up again at 7am to shower, have breakfast and do more last minute packing before leaving for the Airport.
We said goodbye to Harrods on our way to Heathrow. I'm going to miss the great winter sales - that was the highlight of my trip!
Heathrow was another experience altogether. We waited a whole hour before take off. This is my first time seeing traffic jams on the runway! It was insane. When we took off, I looked out the window and there were more than 15 aeroplanes in queue to take off! CRAZY!!
We arrived in Singapore at 2pm yesterday afternoon and the unpacking started. It was put on hold when we went out for the traditional reunion dinner and also celebrated Laura's 19th birthday. After, the packing resumed till 11pm but the efforts were worth it! Now I can proudly own my room - I'm no longer living off luggages!!!
I only managed to get to bed by 3am though - jet lag is what they call it. And this morning, I woke up at 7.15am for early morning church service. It was tough getting up, but I'm proud to say that I was the first in my family to wake up - I even had to wake mummy and daddy up.
Right now, I'm back at home, just waiting. It's the first day of Chinese New Year and everyone is going about on their visitation. However, because we are staying with grandpa, the younger generation (meaning all my uncles and family) will have to come to our place to visit so we are just sitting around waiting.
I'm actually getting tired, I feel like catching 40 winks. Got to get rid of all the bags that accumulated under my eyes due to the lack of sleep (or perhaps too much of it in the car) while we were in UK.
P.S. I forgot to mention we found a street called 'Raine Street' near our place in London!! How awesome is that!!
So here's a wrap up to UK:
On Jan 26th, the first stop was the Tower of London - same old castle touring and a lot of photos. My right knee started to ache then, not sure if it was too much walking or perhaps Rhuematism coz the pain has kind of disappeared when I got back to Singapore. Oh yes, I'M HOME! FINALLY!! It's great to be back. Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!
For lunch, I met up with James who was stopping over in London for a day. And then we did some serious shopping - the best shopping I've done so far. It feels great when you don't have an audience (a.k.a. family) waiting and pressuring you to make that purchase decision. James can wait - haha. We walked the entire Oxford Street, visiting FCUK (twice at 2 separate outlets), Zara, Miss Selfridges, Top Shop, Nike Town and the lot!! It was awesome.
We shopped till 5.30pm and then met up with a mutual friend I've known from Nanyang. I haven't had a decent conversation with her since 7 years ago so it was awesome catching up. For dinner, we also met up with more Singaporeans, one of them being a softball team mate I haven't seen in 5 years so it was an awesome night. To top it off, Korean food in London!! YUM!!
I only got back at 11pm and packed all the way till 2am before hitting the pillows only to wake up again at 7am to shower, have breakfast and do more last minute packing before leaving for the Airport.
We said goodbye to Harrods on our way to Heathrow. I'm going to miss the great winter sales - that was the highlight of my trip!
Heathrow was another experience altogether. We waited a whole hour before take off. This is my first time seeing traffic jams on the runway! It was insane. When we took off, I looked out the window and there were more than 15 aeroplanes in queue to take off! CRAZY!!
We arrived in Singapore at 2pm yesterday afternoon and the unpacking started. It was put on hold when we went out for the traditional reunion dinner and also celebrated Laura's 19th birthday. After, the packing resumed till 11pm but the efforts were worth it! Now I can proudly own my room - I'm no longer living off luggages!!!
I only managed to get to bed by 3am though - jet lag is what they call it. And this morning, I woke up at 7.15am for early morning church service. It was tough getting up, but I'm proud to say that I was the first in my family to wake up - I even had to wake mummy and daddy up.
Right now, I'm back at home, just waiting. It's the first day of Chinese New Year and everyone is going about on their visitation. However, because we are staying with grandpa, the younger generation (meaning all my uncles and family) will have to come to our place to visit so we are just sitting around waiting.
I'm actually getting tired, I feel like catching 40 winks. Got to get rid of all the bags that accumulated under my eyes due to the lack of sleep (or perhaps too much of it in the car) while we were in UK.
P.S. I forgot to mention we found a street called 'Raine Street' near our place in London!! How awesome is that!!
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
i-mag'i-na'tion: a different perspective
The day's events were rather dull. We drove out to visit Oxford, touring around the city in a sight seeing bus. Oxford was buzzing with students - DUH. I guess it's rather glam to say you've graduated from Oxford, alongside many famous people around the world like writers J R R Tolkien and T S Eliot, politicians Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, actor Rowan Atkinson and even royalties Prince Naruhito!!
However, the real highlight was when night came. We had tickets to view the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. Apparently tickets are free but you have to write in 2 months before to request for a permit to view the ceremony.
The entire ceremony only lasts about 15 to 20 minutes...and it's a very serious nightly affair that has been going on for more than 700 years!
At exactly 9.53pm every night, Cheif Yeoman Warden is escorted by 4 foot guards as he locks up the 2 gates of the tower. Then he approaches the Bloody Tower - makes you wonder how many killings took place at this tower many yonks ago - and a sentry (guard with 'Marge Simpsons' hair') asks the famous words, "Halt! Who comes there?" In unison, all 6 of them (including the chief) comes to a stop in perfect unison. The cheif replies, "The Keys" and is further questioned to whose keys they belong. He replies that it's "Queen Elizabeth's Keys" and he is allowed to enter through the Bloody Tower.
At this moment, we follow silently - we were not allowed to speak at all throughout this serious event and no cameras as well - through the archway of the tower and stop a few feet away from the guards. Here, the last post is sounded by a trumpeter and the ceremony is concluded at 10pm sharp as the clock chimed in the background and the guards are dismissed for the night.
It was a spectacular ceremony, strict and solomn. I'm still shocked that they have been carrying out this ceremony every night - with or without fail - for 700 years and in the same fashion as it was back then, except the lighting would have been poorer, older walls and mist would have been present as a result of waters from the surround moat, giving it a rather errie presence.
We found out from one of the more important escorts that they actually live in the Tower with their families. He assure us he lives comfortably with television and all. That would be both awesome and also rather restrictive I reckon. I wonder how I would like growing up with the Tower of London as my address and the royal guards as my friends. It would definitely be a very different growing up experence and immediately my imagination and flare for writing stories kicked in.
Imagine growing up within the compound, and everynight seeing tourists from the little window of your room as your daddy carries out the same old routine night after night after night. And you wonder to yourself, "what do these crazy tourists find interesting about standing in the cold witnessing this mundane event?"
Or better yet, growing up as a princess - the Tower used to be residence for many past Kings and Queens - and sneaking out into your backyard (i.e. the courtyard) after the doors have been locked, playing hide and seek with the night shift guards on duty, experimenting how long you could be outside before being spotted and escorted back to your room, only to have mummy and daddy regurgitate the dangers of wandering out at night - again.
I wonder what that would be like...
However, the real highlight was when night came. We had tickets to view the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. Apparently tickets are free but you have to write in 2 months before to request for a permit to view the ceremony.
The entire ceremony only lasts about 15 to 20 minutes...and it's a very serious nightly affair that has been going on for more than 700 years!
At exactly 9.53pm every night, Cheif Yeoman Warden is escorted by 4 foot guards as he locks up the 2 gates of the tower. Then he approaches the Bloody Tower - makes you wonder how many killings took place at this tower many yonks ago - and a sentry (guard with 'Marge Simpsons' hair') asks the famous words, "Halt! Who comes there?" In unison, all 6 of them (including the chief) comes to a stop in perfect unison. The cheif replies, "The Keys" and is further questioned to whose keys they belong. He replies that it's "Queen Elizabeth's Keys" and he is allowed to enter through the Bloody Tower.
At this moment, we follow silently - we were not allowed to speak at all throughout this serious event and no cameras as well - through the archway of the tower and stop a few feet away from the guards. Here, the last post is sounded by a trumpeter and the ceremony is concluded at 10pm sharp as the clock chimed in the background and the guards are dismissed for the night.
It was a spectacular ceremony, strict and solomn. I'm still shocked that they have been carrying out this ceremony every night - with or without fail - for 700 years and in the same fashion as it was back then, except the lighting would have been poorer, older walls and mist would have been present as a result of waters from the surround moat, giving it a rather errie presence.
We found out from one of the more important escorts that they actually live in the Tower with their families. He assure us he lives comfortably with television and all. That would be both awesome and also rather restrictive I reckon. I wonder how I would like growing up with the Tower of London as my address and the royal guards as my friends. It would definitely be a very different growing up experence and immediately my imagination and flare for writing stories kicked in.
Imagine growing up within the compound, and everynight seeing tourists from the little window of your room as your daddy carries out the same old routine night after night after night. And you wonder to yourself, "what do these crazy tourists find interesting about standing in the cold witnessing this mundane event?"
Or better yet, growing up as a princess - the Tower used to be residence for many past Kings and Queens - and sneaking out into your backyard (i.e. the courtyard) after the doors have been locked, playing hide and seek with the night shift guards on duty, experimenting how long you could be outside before being spotted and escorted back to your room, only to have mummy and daddy regurgitate the dangers of wandering out at night - again.
I wonder what that would be like...
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
I'll 'try' to keep this short and sweet
I'm dead tired but I haven't updated in a couple of days. If I don't blog about my past few days now, one, I probably won't be able to recall it soon, and two, laziness will get the better of me.
I had a great time yesterday. The morning started off with taking the tube to Arsenal Station to visit Arsenal's home ground - they even have a station named after them! Dad's an Arsenal DIE HARD, but for me, Arsenal is my second fav team, following close behind New Castle. However, dad and I were both very disappointed with Highbury Stadium. It looked run down and gloomy - even New Castle who's not even ranked within the top ten have a much more impressive stadium and not to mention shop! Arsenal's shop was pathetic! It was only the size of my living room.
I'm so glad Arsenal is finally moving to their brand new stadium called Emirates Stadium at the end of this year - it's due time! Did you know, to commenmorate the end to Highbury, there is an electric signboard above the shop that is counting down the days to the move, giving Highbury their final salute. There is even an Arsenal Farewell to Highbury Monopoly set and lots more memorabilia!!
Okay, I shall shut up and speed up!
After Arsenal, we proceeded on to Harrods! HARRODS IS DA BOMB!! I love shopping in Harrods - not that I could afford much of the designer stuff, but the embiance and the general posh feeling when you walk through the mall, it's the entire experience I love. I would love Harrods even more if I had money to spend, but nevertheless, now I totally understand why the Queen used to shop there!! We had lunch there and lunch in Harrods is like eating silk served on a plate. A normal main meal at a Cafe - note, just a cafe, not a posh restaurant - would cost around 10 to 13 pounds (translation - multiple by three to get Singapore currency)!!! OUCH. After twirling around among the unaffordable designer clothes, we decided it was depressing enough and was about to leave when we spotted the affordable section - Harrods gift shop!! Haha...we bought handbags with Harrods printed on and mum got gifts for her friends and ex-colleagues. FINALLY, something we could afford. And we left Harrods satisfied.
Next stop was Convent Gardens - apparently where My Fair Lady was filmed for the starting scene of the movie. Obviously it would have changed over so many years, I didn't recognise anything.
We didn't have time to finish walking the shops at Convent Gardens because we had to leave to catch our 4.30pm flight on British Airways' London Eye. We wanted to catch London at sunset and when dark, planning our time perfectly.
The London Eye flight was a fantastic experience - just like being on top of the world. We could see sights that were so distant and also obtain a bird's eye view of the things nearby, like the Big Ben.
Just as planned, it was dark when we left the London Eye, catching a breath-taking snapshot of the amazing lights that illuminates the majestic ferris wheel.
We went to Soho for dinner once again before heading home.
Today was also an eventful day, starting out with Buckingham Palace 'Changing of the Guards' at 11am. It was an awesome parade with smart guards in 'Marge Simpsom Hair', two marching bands - one's the Scotish bag pippers and the other the orchestra-type band, and even horse guards. I can't describe what I saw today because I wouldn't know where to start. It's something you have to experience for yourself.
After Buckingham Palace, we lunched before heading back to Convent Garden again to finish what we haven't seen. More shopping took place as we returned to Selfriges in search of this dress Laura laid eyes on. At Selfridges, I spilt with them and spent the entire time in FCUK, trying on tops after tops after tops. I love FCUK tees!! They are gorgeous, but I curbed myself from buying another tee. I have too many of them. I need to shop for proper work clothes. But if I had loads of money and free time, I would be trying on every single garment in FCUK and purchasing everything, especially now when the winter sales are on and things are going at bargains. Of course not all the clothes I like are on sale. Original priced items aren't cheap! That's why I added above 'if I had loads of money'.
We rushed back and had instant mee and roast chicken for dinner before rushing out again for our STOMP concert. STOMP was awesome!! They are this 8 member band who makes music out of junk materials and odd-and-ends like empty tin cans, frying pans, rubbish bins and lids, match stick boxes, and even old sinks!! It was awesome to hear them live. I've caught them on telly before, but it's a whole different experience seeing it live - a whole LOUDER experience. At the end of the concert, Grandpa joked that I should go back to Singapore and start a band like this. If only it was so easy. You need rythem and a lot of muscles, plus I'm sure tap-dancing was on their criteria as well!
And that brings you up to date with my travels. It's just 10 past midnight and I should get some beauty sleep. Nights (according to UK time)!
I had a great time yesterday. The morning started off with taking the tube to Arsenal Station to visit Arsenal's home ground - they even have a station named after them! Dad's an Arsenal DIE HARD, but for me, Arsenal is my second fav team, following close behind New Castle. However, dad and I were both very disappointed with Highbury Stadium. It looked run down and gloomy - even New Castle who's not even ranked within the top ten have a much more impressive stadium and not to mention shop! Arsenal's shop was pathetic! It was only the size of my living room.
I'm so glad Arsenal is finally moving to their brand new stadium called Emirates Stadium at the end of this year - it's due time! Did you know, to commenmorate the end to Highbury, there is an electric signboard above the shop that is counting down the days to the move, giving Highbury their final salute. There is even an Arsenal Farewell to Highbury Monopoly set and lots more memorabilia!!
Okay, I shall shut up and speed up!
After Arsenal, we proceeded on to Harrods! HARRODS IS DA BOMB!! I love shopping in Harrods - not that I could afford much of the designer stuff, but the embiance and the general posh feeling when you walk through the mall, it's the entire experience I love. I would love Harrods even more if I had money to spend, but nevertheless, now I totally understand why the Queen used to shop there!! We had lunch there and lunch in Harrods is like eating silk served on a plate. A normal main meal at a Cafe - note, just a cafe, not a posh restaurant - would cost around 10 to 13 pounds (translation - multiple by three to get Singapore currency)!!! OUCH. After twirling around among the unaffordable designer clothes, we decided it was depressing enough and was about to leave when we spotted the affordable section - Harrods gift shop!! Haha...we bought handbags with Harrods printed on and mum got gifts for her friends and ex-colleagues. FINALLY, something we could afford. And we left Harrods satisfied.
Next stop was Convent Gardens - apparently where My Fair Lady was filmed for the starting scene of the movie. Obviously it would have changed over so many years, I didn't recognise anything.
We didn't have time to finish walking the shops at Convent Gardens because we had to leave to catch our 4.30pm flight on British Airways' London Eye. We wanted to catch London at sunset and when dark, planning our time perfectly.
The London Eye flight was a fantastic experience - just like being on top of the world. We could see sights that were so distant and also obtain a bird's eye view of the things nearby, like the Big Ben.
Just as planned, it was dark when we left the London Eye, catching a breath-taking snapshot of the amazing lights that illuminates the majestic ferris wheel.
We went to Soho for dinner once again before heading home.
Today was also an eventful day, starting out with Buckingham Palace 'Changing of the Guards' at 11am. It was an awesome parade with smart guards in 'Marge Simpsom Hair', two marching bands - one's the Scotish bag pippers and the other the orchestra-type band, and even horse guards. I can't describe what I saw today because I wouldn't know where to start. It's something you have to experience for yourself.
After Buckingham Palace, we lunched before heading back to Convent Garden again to finish what we haven't seen. More shopping took place as we returned to Selfriges in search of this dress Laura laid eyes on. At Selfridges, I spilt with them and spent the entire time in FCUK, trying on tops after tops after tops. I love FCUK tees!! They are gorgeous, but I curbed myself from buying another tee. I have too many of them. I need to shop for proper work clothes. But if I had loads of money and free time, I would be trying on every single garment in FCUK and purchasing everything, especially now when the winter sales are on and things are going at bargains. Of course not all the clothes I like are on sale. Original priced items aren't cheap! That's why I added above 'if I had loads of money'.
We rushed back and had instant mee and roast chicken for dinner before rushing out again for our STOMP concert. STOMP was awesome!! They are this 8 member band who makes music out of junk materials and odd-and-ends like empty tin cans, frying pans, rubbish bins and lids, match stick boxes, and even old sinks!! It was awesome to hear them live. I've caught them on telly before, but it's a whole different experience seeing it live - a whole LOUDER experience. At the end of the concert, Grandpa joked that I should go back to Singapore and start a band like this. If only it was so easy. You need rythem and a lot of muscles, plus I'm sure tap-dancing was on their criteria as well!
And that brings you up to date with my travels. It's just 10 past midnight and I should get some beauty sleep. Nights (according to UK time)!
Monday, January 23, 2006
Working HARD...
...to the point that I'm afraid of myself.
Today was a awesome day...lots of exercising. Exercising the feet with all the walking, exercising the tummies with good food, and the best work-out of all?? Exercising the wallets.
Yes, today, I did lots of hard yakka (Auzzie slang for 'work') to the extent of scaring myself over my 'workaholicism'.
Today's activities were all done on foot. First thing in the morning, we walked to the nearest train station (a good 15-20 mins walk) and caught the tube to Westminster where we visited the famous Abbey and also attende 11am church service at the grand and big Methodist Central Hall.
The interior of the church was gorgeous, grand, and yet modern. It's not like any of the antique cathedrals we've visited so far. There wasn't a massive congregation this Sunday morning, only filling up the ground floor - the circle seats were unoccupied. However, we had a good worship service, singing wonderful songs of praise and hearing the sermon about 'The Healing Journey'.
I grew to like one of the hymms we sang this morning. I found the lyrics touching. It goes...
One part especially got to me:
This is one I'm struggling with. I'm rather careless, and some would agree I'm mad. Greed? Definitely - who isn't? And to be content? My afternoon of shopping would prove otherwise. Lord, end our madness.
After church and a generous portion of lunch at the church cafe, we walked towards the Big Ben, then headed past the many guards outside 10 Downing Lane (where Tony Blair resides), walked on to Trafalgar Square and posed in front of the camera like Japanese tourists - but we blended well with the other tourists and their flashing cameras. There was even a mini queue at each of the lion statues.
We continued walking towards Buckingham Palace, only to be disappointed to be greeted by guards dressed in their dull grey winter uniform - not the usual picture perfect image of the Queen's guards clad smartly in red with a bushy 'Marge Simpsons' wig but in black.
Then, we hit Picadilly Street, admiring the mass produced framed arts for sale along the street before catching the tube to the Marble Arch - a mini version and definitely less impressive version of the Arch de Triomphe.
From the Marble Arch, we walked down Oxford Street to Selfridges & Co - the highlight of my day. That's when I exercised the hardest, trying on clothes at FCUK, digging through the heap of sale clothes at Top Shop, and hunting down Louis Vuitton among Prada, Gucci, Burberrys, Channel and the list goes on!! Of course serious damage was done and I shall not disclose any items bought for confidential purposes - best friend only zone (show you when I get back babe!).
If you are thinking enough damage was done at Selfridges, think again. A true shoppa-FCUK-aholic cannot resist the temptation of entering an only French Connection outlet, even if it was just beside Selfridges and she had already shopped in the mini FCUK department of Selfridges. The fact that her wallet was already sore didn't stop her. She pressed on till it was their closing time and bought another lot of clothes.
Only when she got out did she discover that one of the tops she had invested in cost 30 pounds (equivalent to S$90 ), and the material wasn't all that impressive and neither was the design. She was disappointed with herself. No matter how much a shoppaholic she is, there is a reasonable amount of expenditure that matches the quality and design of the goods. This standard varies between brands or the type of item purchased. However, in this particular instance, she purchased a measly sleeveless top of cotton material and mediocca design for way too much it's worth. A terrible judgement and a disgrace to her principles.
With all the shopping, a different sort of workout was necessary - and that's exercising the tummy which was carried out perfectly in Soho, Chinatown. It's amazing to eat noodle soup in cold freezing weather. Absolutely divine.
And that brings us to the end of today's adventures - a tiring but shoppalicious workout!!
Today was a awesome day...lots of exercising. Exercising the feet with all the walking, exercising the tummies with good food, and the best work-out of all?? Exercising the wallets.
Yes, today, I did lots of hard yakka (Auzzie slang for 'work') to the extent of scaring myself over my 'workaholicism'.
Today's activities were all done on foot. First thing in the morning, we walked to the nearest train station (a good 15-20 mins walk) and caught the tube to Westminster where we visited the famous Abbey and also attende 11am church service at the grand and big Methodist Central Hall.
The interior of the church was gorgeous, grand, and yet modern. It's not like any of the antique cathedrals we've visited so far. There wasn't a massive congregation this Sunday morning, only filling up the ground floor - the circle seats were unoccupied. However, we had a good worship service, singing wonderful songs of praise and hearing the sermon about 'The Healing Journey'.
I grew to like one of the hymms we sang this morning. I found the lyrics touching. It goes...
Beauty for brokenness
Hope for despair
Lord, in Your suffering world
This is our prayer
Bread for the children
Justice, joy, peace
Sunrise to sunset
Your kingdom increase!
Shelter for fragile lives
Cures for their ills
Work for the craftsman
Trade for their skills
Land for the dispossessed
Rights for the weak
Voices to plead the cause
Of those who can't speak
God of the poor
Friend of the weak
Give us compassion we pray
Melt our cold hearts
Let tears fall like rain
Come, change our love
From a spark to a flame
Refuge from cruel wars
Havens from fear
Cities for sanctuary
Freedoms to share
Peace to the killing-fields
Scorched earth to green
Christ for the bitterness
His cross for the pain
Rest for the ravaged earth
Oceans and streams
Plundered and poisoned
Our future, our dreams
Lord, end our madness
Carelessness, greed
Make us content with
The things that we need
Lighten our darkness
Breathe on this flame
Until your justice
Burns brightly again
Until the nations
Learn of your ways
Seek your salvation
And bring you their praise
Graham Kendrick
Copyright (c) 1993 Make Way Music
One part especially got to me:
Lord, end our madness
Carelessness, greed
Make us content with
The things that we need
This is one I'm struggling with. I'm rather careless, and some would agree I'm mad. Greed? Definitely - who isn't? And to be content? My afternoon of shopping would prove otherwise. Lord, end our madness.
After church and a generous portion of lunch at the church cafe, we walked towards the Big Ben, then headed past the many guards outside 10 Downing Lane (where Tony Blair resides), walked on to Trafalgar Square and posed in front of the camera like Japanese tourists - but we blended well with the other tourists and their flashing cameras. There was even a mini queue at each of the lion statues.
We continued walking towards Buckingham Palace, only to be disappointed to be greeted by guards dressed in their dull grey winter uniform - not the usual picture perfect image of the Queen's guards clad smartly in red with a bushy 'Marge Simpsons' wig but in black.
Then, we hit Picadilly Street, admiring the mass produced framed arts for sale along the street before catching the tube to the Marble Arch - a mini version and definitely less impressive version of the Arch de Triomphe.
From the Marble Arch, we walked down Oxford Street to Selfridges & Co - the highlight of my day. That's when I exercised the hardest, trying on clothes at FCUK, digging through the heap of sale clothes at Top Shop, and hunting down Louis Vuitton among Prada, Gucci, Burberrys, Channel and the list goes on!! Of course serious damage was done and I shall not disclose any items bought for confidential purposes - best friend only zone (show you when I get back babe!).
If you are thinking enough damage was done at Selfridges, think again. A true shoppa-FCUK-aholic cannot resist the temptation of entering an only French Connection outlet, even if it was just beside Selfridges and she had already shopped in the mini FCUK department of Selfridges. The fact that her wallet was already sore didn't stop her. She pressed on till it was their closing time and bought another lot of clothes.
Only when she got out did she discover that one of the tops she had invested in cost 30 pounds (equivalent to S$90 ), and the material wasn't all that impressive and neither was the design. She was disappointed with herself. No matter how much a shoppaholic she is, there is a reasonable amount of expenditure that matches the quality and design of the goods. This standard varies between brands or the type of item purchased. However, in this particular instance, she purchased a measly sleeveless top of cotton material and mediocca design for way too much it's worth. A terrible judgement and a disgrace to her principles.
With all the shopping, a different sort of workout was necessary - and that's exercising the tummy which was carried out perfectly in Soho, Chinatown. It's amazing to eat noodle soup in cold freezing weather. Absolutely divine.
And that brings us to the end of today's adventures - a tiring but shoppalicious workout!!
Saturday, January 21, 2006
London...Great or Sucky?
Once again, I'm stuck in a dilemma. I can't decide my feelings towards London. Let me explain.
Last night, dad and I decided to go online to book the London Eye and Madame Tussauds tickets. Free internet at our hotel in Reading, you see. We had to do the bookings several times coz mysteriously when it came to payment, all the items in our shopping cart disappeared and we had to book it all over again. On the third go, I was whizzing though the booking process as if I knew every step at the back of my hand.
The outcome of two very tired pair of eyes and a whizz though? I messed up the bookings. I ended up booking the London Eye for 1430pm when we wanted 1630pm - to see the evening sights of London. And then with Madame Tussauds, the email confirmation noted a viewing time of 5pm for the exhibition when we wanted to go during the day and the website said nothing about a viewing time. I was angry - with my carelessness and with the booking process. The website said nothing about a time for Madame Tussauds.
Anyhow, I felt bad about being so careless and apologised profusely but dad just waved it off, saying he'll solve it in the morning.
At that, I was feeling like this was a horrid start to London and I was disappointed with myself for ruining London - the city I was looking forward to. I prayed hard for God's help in this matter, to right my carelessness so that we all can enjoy a great holiday in London.
This morning, Dad rang up London Eye and cleared it with them. They said changing the time for our London Eye Flight was no problem at all. With Madame Tussauds, there is no allocated viewing time. We just needed to collect our tickets from the London Eye ticket booth and head over to Madame Tussauds anytime of the day. WHAT A RELIEF. Once again, God the superhero saved the day.
My opinion of London was saved.
We drove into London and it was amazing. We drove through the city and I loved one street especially. Harrods on our right, FCUK on my left, Burburrys, GAP, you name it, they were there. OOOH. I just wanted to say to dad "let me off here and you guys go ahead touring and come back to pick me up later" - OR DON'T!!
Anyway, we picked up our tickets and headed over to Madame Tussauds. It was awesome. Laura and I were just posing and posing and posing with all the famous stars, like Julia Roberts, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Prince Will, Hugh Grant, Tom Cruise, Beckham and Posh, J-Lo, Arnie, and the list goes on!!
Check out our pictures below!! (click for a larger image)
But my favourite pic of all...Everyone, please meet my late mother-in-law!!
Kiddz. I don't have an interest in Will. If it was Harry, I would consider. Not that I don't want to be The Queen, but being The Queen sounds so OLD. I'd rather remain a PRINCESS FOREVER. Sounds more spoilt, don't you think? Plus, there's always something appealing about a rich and handsome rebel prince.
There was one section of the museum that both Laura and I were dreading, and that was 'The Chamber - Live' with the theme as serial killers. It's a small part of the museum with live actors hidden in every corner. They were the serial killers and would pounce on you and scare you to bits.
"IT'S VERRRYY SCARY BUT PLEASE NOTE - DO NOT TOUCH THE ACTORS AND THEY WOULD NOT TOUCH YOU." The staff member informed just before they let us in.
Dad took the lead while I followed close behind with my arms wrapped tightly around dad and my face pasted close to his back - to hide if I ever do freak. Laura held on to my pullover from the back and mum protected us from behind.
The 'serial killers' did scare us around dark corners, coming right up beside our ears to whisper. It freaked us girls out and Laura screamed "SHUT UP". Then another 'serial killer' behind bars asked "WHO SAID SHUT UP?" We were so freaked we remained silent. The 'serial killer' continued to follow us, asking "WHO SAID SHUT UP?" Laura shouted back just as we left that section, "JACK ASS". I cracked up but was silence by another scary dark corner.
The conclusion: People said it was scary and it freaked the hell out of them. It would have been scarier if I was on my own, it would have been scarier if I didn't have daddy as my shield from much of the horrors, and I kind of regret not looking at some bits. I kind of regret not enjoying it to the fullest by hiding like a timid mouse behind daddy. So it's partly my fault for not being scared out of my skin. But it was quite short too coz I could count the number of actors with both my hands. It wasn't a very long maze and there weren't many many scary bits, but nevertheless, it did scare me so their jobs were done.
After Madame Tussauds, we went in search for our rented apartment. Along the way, I decide to take out Laura's camera from my handbag and take a few in-the-car shots. My luck turned sour as I turned the camera on. The lens got stuck in the similar fashion as my late camera when I dropped it at Vasailles Castle in Paris. Recalling...I remembered accidently dropping my handbag on the floor at Madame Tussauds. Cause found.
Pronouced time of death: 3.30pm
Actual time of death: between 2.15pm to 3pm
I couldn't believe my luck. I manage to destroy 2 cameras in the same fashion within the span of 3 weeks. Am I brillant or what? I was utterly devastated and apologetic to Laura who didn't blame me at all. She blames Ricoh. I partly blame Ricoh as well. I've dropped cameras before, Laura dropped daddy's Fuji digicam on hard concrete pavement in Falkirk but all it suffered was a tiny crack on the side, no real damage. I dropped the Ricoh on a carpeted floor, protected by a handbag and its own leather casing and it flipped out on me. I don't know but I would really like to shift some blame onto the camera itself. I should have gone for a branded one as I intended to in the first place. I think the chances of them dieing is less.
I'll never buy a Ricoh again, but I don't know if I should buy a replacement. I do need a camera when I go Korea and all, but what's my fate with cameras? So far at my rate, my estimated annual camera murders is 24!! I'm a serial killer myself. Our first crappy digicam - still alive - with pathetic megapixels and no optical zoom is looking in better health and much more appealing now!!
The though of $1000+ just flying away in the span of 3 weeks is a torture in itself. And another $1000 when Laura and I buy new replacements? OUCH.
And London sucked again. This time, I really wanted to go home. This holiday hasn't been fantastic for me so far and I felt dispaired and in no mood to continue.
However, things picked up. Our new home for the next 6 days is awesome. It's a 3 storey rented apartment with 3 bedrooms. It's modern, almost new, it's clean and gorgeous!! It's in a pleasant neighbourhood with a supermarket and some tiny shops within walking distance. Plus, there's internet connection - shhhh, we are secretly tapping into someone else's wireless. Thanks dude! Everything is provided from towels and clean sheets to cooking utensils and a dvd player. It's within walking distance to the London Tower - gorgeous sight at night. Did I mention it's awesome? I love it and it's kind of making up for today's unhappy memories.
London in conclusion?
TBA
Last night, dad and I decided to go online to book the London Eye and Madame Tussauds tickets. Free internet at our hotel in Reading, you see. We had to do the bookings several times coz mysteriously when it came to payment, all the items in our shopping cart disappeared and we had to book it all over again. On the third go, I was whizzing though the booking process as if I knew every step at the back of my hand.
The outcome of two very tired pair of eyes and a whizz though? I messed up the bookings. I ended up booking the London Eye for 1430pm when we wanted 1630pm - to see the evening sights of London. And then with Madame Tussauds, the email confirmation noted a viewing time of 5pm for the exhibition when we wanted to go during the day and the website said nothing about a viewing time. I was angry - with my carelessness and with the booking process. The website said nothing about a time for Madame Tussauds.
Anyhow, I felt bad about being so careless and apologised profusely but dad just waved it off, saying he'll solve it in the morning.
At that, I was feeling like this was a horrid start to London and I was disappointed with myself for ruining London - the city I was looking forward to. I prayed hard for God's help in this matter, to right my carelessness so that we all can enjoy a great holiday in London.
This morning, Dad rang up London Eye and cleared it with them. They said changing the time for our London Eye Flight was no problem at all. With Madame Tussauds, there is no allocated viewing time. We just needed to collect our tickets from the London Eye ticket booth and head over to Madame Tussauds anytime of the day. WHAT A RELIEF. Once again, God the superhero saved the day.
My opinion of London was saved.
We drove into London and it was amazing. We drove through the city and I loved one street especially. Harrods on our right, FCUK on my left, Burburrys, GAP, you name it, they were there. OOOH. I just wanted to say to dad "let me off here and you guys go ahead touring and come back to pick me up later" - OR DON'T!!
Anyway, we picked up our tickets and headed over to Madame Tussauds. It was awesome. Laura and I were just posing and posing and posing with all the famous stars, like Julia Roberts, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Prince Will, Hugh Grant, Tom Cruise, Beckham and Posh, J-Lo, Arnie, and the list goes on!!
Check out our pictures below!! (click for a larger image)
But my favourite pic of all...Everyone, please meet my late mother-in-law!!
Kiddz. I don't have an interest in Will. If it was Harry, I would consider. Not that I don't want to be The Queen, but being The Queen sounds so OLD. I'd rather remain a PRINCESS FOREVER. Sounds more spoilt, don't you think? Plus, there's always something appealing about a rich and handsome rebel prince.
There was one section of the museum that both Laura and I were dreading, and that was 'The Chamber - Live' with the theme as serial killers. It's a small part of the museum with live actors hidden in every corner. They were the serial killers and would pounce on you and scare you to bits.
"IT'S VERRRYY SCARY BUT PLEASE NOTE - DO NOT TOUCH THE ACTORS AND THEY WOULD NOT TOUCH YOU." The staff member informed just before they let us in.
Dad took the lead while I followed close behind with my arms wrapped tightly around dad and my face pasted close to his back - to hide if I ever do freak. Laura held on to my pullover from the back and mum protected us from behind.
The 'serial killers' did scare us around dark corners, coming right up beside our ears to whisper. It freaked us girls out and Laura screamed "SHUT UP". Then another 'serial killer' behind bars asked "WHO SAID SHUT UP?" We were so freaked we remained silent. The 'serial killer' continued to follow us, asking "WHO SAID SHUT UP?" Laura shouted back just as we left that section, "JACK ASS". I cracked up but was silence by another scary dark corner.
The conclusion: People said it was scary and it freaked the hell out of them. It would have been scarier if I was on my own, it would have been scarier if I didn't have daddy as my shield from much of the horrors, and I kind of regret not looking at some bits. I kind of regret not enjoying it to the fullest by hiding like a timid mouse behind daddy. So it's partly my fault for not being scared out of my skin. But it was quite short too coz I could count the number of actors with both my hands. It wasn't a very long maze and there weren't many many scary bits, but nevertheless, it did scare me so their jobs were done.
After Madame Tussauds, we went in search for our rented apartment. Along the way, I decide to take out Laura's camera from my handbag and take a few in-the-car shots. My luck turned sour as I turned the camera on. The lens got stuck in the similar fashion as my late camera when I dropped it at Vasailles Castle in Paris. Recalling...I remembered accidently dropping my handbag on the floor at Madame Tussauds. Cause found.
Pronouced time of death: 3.30pm
Actual time of death: between 2.15pm to 3pm
I couldn't believe my luck. I manage to destroy 2 cameras in the same fashion within the span of 3 weeks. Am I brillant or what? I was utterly devastated and apologetic to Laura who didn't blame me at all. She blames Ricoh. I partly blame Ricoh as well. I've dropped cameras before, Laura dropped daddy's Fuji digicam on hard concrete pavement in Falkirk but all it suffered was a tiny crack on the side, no real damage. I dropped the Ricoh on a carpeted floor, protected by a handbag and its own leather casing and it flipped out on me. I don't know but I would really like to shift some blame onto the camera itself. I should have gone for a branded one as I intended to in the first place. I think the chances of them dieing is less.
I'll never buy a Ricoh again, but I don't know if I should buy a replacement. I do need a camera when I go Korea and all, but what's my fate with cameras? So far at my rate, my estimated annual camera murders is 24!! I'm a serial killer myself. Our first crappy digicam - still alive - with pathetic megapixels and no optical zoom is looking in better health and much more appealing now!!
The though of $1000+ just flying away in the span of 3 weeks is a torture in itself. And another $1000 when Laura and I buy new replacements? OUCH.
And London sucked again. This time, I really wanted to go home. This holiday hasn't been fantastic for me so far and I felt dispaired and in no mood to continue.
However, things picked up. Our new home for the next 6 days is awesome. It's a 3 storey rented apartment with 3 bedrooms. It's modern, almost new, it's clean and gorgeous!! It's in a pleasant neighbourhood with a supermarket and some tiny shops within walking distance. Plus, there's internet connection - shhhh, we are secretly tapping into someone else's wireless. Thanks dude! Everything is provided from towels and clean sheets to cooking utensils and a dvd player. It's within walking distance to the London Tower - gorgeous sight at night. Did I mention it's awesome? I love it and it's kind of making up for today's unhappy memories.
London in conclusion?
TBA
Prince Harry Stood Here!!
They hotel we are staying in has FREE wireless internet connection - CHOICE!! Unfortunately, I'm not the only one queuing up for it so IOU all emails. I'll definitely reply soon, meanwhile, check out my UK travels below...
8.15pm @ Sleep Inn Cambridge, 18th Jan 2006
I was more stressed with techonology at my side, than I was without.
After a good sleep on it, and of course a good prayer, I feel much calmer now to blog about last night's technological distress.
We finally managed to get hold of internet connection but at a rather costly price. We reasoned that a little bit of money in exchange for the vital internet connection was worth it. Little did we expect that the ability to access the net and get connected to the 'real' world would bring on such immense pressure and worry.
The initial techical problem with accessing the net after we had paid for - nothing shutting down the laptop and starting up again couldn't fix - was the least of our concerns.
At least I managed to get a good first hour of blogging and posting pictures before the real horror began - I got connected to the real world. I.e. I checked my Es. I haven't checked my Es in ages, ever since we came on this UK holiday at the start of Jan. I've been disconnected from friends and other life matters.
There were many Es vying for my attention but only one crucial E that I was waiting for - the acceptance to the Korean language programme. The E dated on the 10th of Jan confirmed that I have been accepted and a slot would be reserved for me. I had to reply with payment of the full fees by the 20th of Jan to confirm my enrolment - news flash, that's tomorrow. That was the problem. It is a hefty sum and we need to be in Singapore to carry out the bank transfer. I also needed to know the programme details and who to make payment to, which would be stated on the letter that is probably sitting in our mailbox in Singapore.
As you can see, with technological advencements that connects me to the real world, i.e. the internet and email facilities, came higher stress levels. Initially, I was psyched that we could finally access the net and get updated, but getting updated brought on more stress as I panicked about my application. It seemed like I was so close and yet so far, like this Korea opportunity could crumble at my feet at any time.
Having said this, there is always another side to the coin. I replied the E - technological advancements of efficient emailing systems - requesting for an extension of payment deadline, explaining my predicament. And with a good prayer, the morning brought great news as Pear notified me that the payment deadline has been extended till the 3rd of Feb.
The internet has it's advantages, but it's not all that great. It brings the real world closer to you, but carries both great and bad news. It sorts out life's messes, but brings on new ones. It helps in organising, but also causes more complications.
That's why I'm glad I have someone above this technology-reliant universe, who is always a constant in this everchanging world. Someone I can depend upon whenever and wherever - God.
Yesterday, mum said in all that stress and panic, "If you're not meant to go, this is God's way of telling you. If you are meant to go, God will create a path."
This is honestly what I believe to be true, and I believe sincerely that God's calling me to Korea. Several things just fell into place to reconfirm God's calling.
One, the fact that we chose last night to connect to the net. So far, we've been to several hotels that have wireless connections at a price, but we turned them all down. Last night however, we didn't, even though the rates were similar compared to the rest.
Two, it was Laura's turn to use the net after I blogged but I decided to interrupt her to check my mail and tadah...I came upon that E.
Three, I prayed last night. I asked God that if it was meant to be, show me a path.
Four, just like mum said, God answered, and he answered in a brillant way. I believe that I am meant to go. I don't know what I have in store for me in Korea and I don't know if I'll be able to cope - but I've got my constant, and that's all that matters.
Now let me give you a quick recap of today's 'adventures'. We left Coventry, making a first stop at Anne Hattaway's cottage. It was a cute cottage, but I am no fan of literature and the arts. However, one thing puzzled me. Shakespear is famous for his works...why is Anne so famous? Why is her house so famous and costly to visit? Who is she apart from being Shakespear's wife? But I guess I'm slowly figuring it out. Dad said it's coz she was Shakespear's inspiration for most of his writings. Anything or anyone related to Shakespear is a crucial part of his history. Well...it's like Prince Charles and Princess Diana (in a way).
Then we got quite lost for about half an hour in search of Shakespear's birthplace. Apparently, it was quite near to Anne's cottage if we knew how to find our way around Stratford-upon-Avon. To me, that was also "ku-chor-koo-re-yo" (so-so - brushing up on my korean). But at least now I can say I've stood on the floor Shakespear has set foot on - WOOOOOWWWWW!!
The following stop was Bourton-on-the-water where we visited the famous model village. It was a model village of Bourton itself. Within this model village of Bourton was another model village of Bourton. However, perhaps it was the winter season with bare trees and colourless gardens, but the model village failed to impress us at all. Anyhow, we still took photos to document our travels.
And that brings me here...to Cambridge, in this nice hotel room typing away. This is one of the nicer hotel rooms coz it's spacious and clean. And for once, breakfast is not provided - WHOO HOO. You don't know how happy we all are. we definitely need a break from all that English breakfasts!! I'm definitely looking forward to a new change tomorrow!
4.50pm @ Comfort Inn Reading, 20th Jan 2006
I forgot to blog about what we did yesterday, except that we didn't do much. We left Cambridge for Clacton-On-Sea, stopping over at Colchester to visit my dad's OLD uni - The University of Essex. When I say 'OLD', not only do I mean it's his old school, I mean it literally as well. It's due for a wash-over and a new coat of paint!! He enjoyed himself thoroughly though, enthusiastically showing us around. We, to be honest, we the least bit interested.
That was pretty much our Yesterday, plus a little bit of shopping but nothing significant except for the most adorable pair of bedroom slippers. I have a crazy facination over such bedroom slippers - first it was a pair of big foots' feet, next it was a couple of pink piggies, and now, a 2 pink minis. They won't be very practical now that I'll be living in warm Singapore, but what can I say? I love it!!
Today was a good day though we only toured one castle. We left Clacton and stopped by Winsor and visited the Queen's Palace. She only lives there during the month of April and a week in June, but nevertheless, I can proudly say I've stepped on the grounds Prince Harry has walked on!! Hahaha. We had a ball, taking photos with the royal guards, and dreaming of a life as a princess in a castle like this. But the best part was visiting the Queen's Doll House!! It's amazing!! I want one! I WANT ONE!! Haha...too bad cameras weren't allowed because it's so gorgeous that I won't be doing it justice by describing it in my words!!
I bought several things from the Winsor Castle though, a couple of Winsor Castle Finest Milk Chocolates - let's see how FINE it is - and a pink t-shirt with silver words that reads 'Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, Where have you been?' on the front and the back reads 'I've been to London to see the Queen'. Apparently it's a part of a traditional English Nursery Rhyme that my parents have read to us over and over when we were kids. My brillant memory doesn't have a clue! Anyway, it goes,
After Winsor, we drove a little further to visit the closed Legoland. It's closed over Winter till March. That was a major disappointment, but at least I knew prior that it would be closed so my expectations couldn't have been crushed any further, unlike the Falkirk Wheel experience. Nevertheless, we managed to get pictures of the Legoland sign board - pathetic but it's something to say we've 'been' there.
And here we are at Reading, where Chris lives except that Chris isn't here but in Europe touring with Jo. Ha.
8.15pm @ Sleep Inn Cambridge, 18th Jan 2006
I was more stressed with techonology at my side, than I was without.
After a good sleep on it, and of course a good prayer, I feel much calmer now to blog about last night's technological distress.
We finally managed to get hold of internet connection but at a rather costly price. We reasoned that a little bit of money in exchange for the vital internet connection was worth it. Little did we expect that the ability to access the net and get connected to the 'real' world would bring on such immense pressure and worry.
The initial techical problem with accessing the net after we had paid for - nothing shutting down the laptop and starting up again couldn't fix - was the least of our concerns.
At least I managed to get a good first hour of blogging and posting pictures before the real horror began - I got connected to the real world. I.e. I checked my Es. I haven't checked my Es in ages, ever since we came on this UK holiday at the start of Jan. I've been disconnected from friends and other life matters.
There were many Es vying for my attention but only one crucial E that I was waiting for - the acceptance to the Korean language programme. The E dated on the 10th of Jan confirmed that I have been accepted and a slot would be reserved for me. I had to reply with payment of the full fees by the 20th of Jan to confirm my enrolment - news flash, that's tomorrow. That was the problem. It is a hefty sum and we need to be in Singapore to carry out the bank transfer. I also needed to know the programme details and who to make payment to, which would be stated on the letter that is probably sitting in our mailbox in Singapore.
As you can see, with technological advencements that connects me to the real world, i.e. the internet and email facilities, came higher stress levels. Initially, I was psyched that we could finally access the net and get updated, but getting updated brought on more stress as I panicked about my application. It seemed like I was so close and yet so far, like this Korea opportunity could crumble at my feet at any time.
Having said this, there is always another side to the coin. I replied the E - technological advancements of efficient emailing systems - requesting for an extension of payment deadline, explaining my predicament. And with a good prayer, the morning brought great news as Pear notified me that the payment deadline has been extended till the 3rd of Feb.
The internet has it's advantages, but it's not all that great. It brings the real world closer to you, but carries both great and bad news. It sorts out life's messes, but brings on new ones. It helps in organising, but also causes more complications.
That's why I'm glad I have someone above this technology-reliant universe, who is always a constant in this everchanging world. Someone I can depend upon whenever and wherever - God.
Yesterday, mum said in all that stress and panic, "If you're not meant to go, this is God's way of telling you. If you are meant to go, God will create a path."
This is honestly what I believe to be true, and I believe sincerely that God's calling me to Korea. Several things just fell into place to reconfirm God's calling.
One, the fact that we chose last night to connect to the net. So far, we've been to several hotels that have wireless connections at a price, but we turned them all down. Last night however, we didn't, even though the rates were similar compared to the rest.
Two, it was Laura's turn to use the net after I blogged but I decided to interrupt her to check my mail and tadah...I came upon that E.
Three, I prayed last night. I asked God that if it was meant to be, show me a path.
Four, just like mum said, God answered, and he answered in a brillant way. I believe that I am meant to go. I don't know what I have in store for me in Korea and I don't know if I'll be able to cope - but I've got my constant, and that's all that matters.
Now let me give you a quick recap of today's 'adventures'. We left Coventry, making a first stop at Anne Hattaway's cottage. It was a cute cottage, but I am no fan of literature and the arts. However, one thing puzzled me. Shakespear is famous for his works...why is Anne so famous? Why is her house so famous and costly to visit? Who is she apart from being Shakespear's wife? But I guess I'm slowly figuring it out. Dad said it's coz she was Shakespear's inspiration for most of his writings. Anything or anyone related to Shakespear is a crucial part of his history. Well...it's like Prince Charles and Princess Diana (in a way).
Then we got quite lost for about half an hour in search of Shakespear's birthplace. Apparently, it was quite near to Anne's cottage if we knew how to find our way around Stratford-upon-Avon. To me, that was also "ku-chor-koo-re-yo" (so-so - brushing up on my korean). But at least now I can say I've stood on the floor Shakespear has set foot on - WOOOOOWWWWW!!
The following stop was Bourton-on-the-water where we visited the famous model village. It was a model village of Bourton itself. Within this model village of Bourton was another model village of Bourton. However, perhaps it was the winter season with bare trees and colourless gardens, but the model village failed to impress us at all. Anyhow, we still took photos to document our travels.
And that brings me here...to Cambridge, in this nice hotel room typing away. This is one of the nicer hotel rooms coz it's spacious and clean. And for once, breakfast is not provided - WHOO HOO. You don't know how happy we all are. we definitely need a break from all that English breakfasts!! I'm definitely looking forward to a new change tomorrow!
4.50pm @ Comfort Inn Reading, 20th Jan 2006
I forgot to blog about what we did yesterday, except that we didn't do much. We left Cambridge for Clacton-On-Sea, stopping over at Colchester to visit my dad's OLD uni - The University of Essex. When I say 'OLD', not only do I mean it's his old school, I mean it literally as well. It's due for a wash-over and a new coat of paint!! He enjoyed himself thoroughly though, enthusiastically showing us around. We, to be honest, we the least bit interested.
That was pretty much our Yesterday, plus a little bit of shopping but nothing significant except for the most adorable pair of bedroom slippers. I have a crazy facination over such bedroom slippers - first it was a pair of big foots' feet, next it was a couple of pink piggies, and now, a 2 pink minis. They won't be very practical now that I'll be living in warm Singapore, but what can I say? I love it!!
Today was a good day though we only toured one castle. We left Clacton and stopped by Winsor and visited the Queen's Palace. She only lives there during the month of April and a week in June, but nevertheless, I can proudly say I've stepped on the grounds Prince Harry has walked on!! Hahaha. We had a ball, taking photos with the royal guards, and dreaming of a life as a princess in a castle like this. But the best part was visiting the Queen's Doll House!! It's amazing!! I want one! I WANT ONE!! Haha...too bad cameras weren't allowed because it's so gorgeous that I won't be doing it justice by describing it in my words!!
I bought several things from the Winsor Castle though, a couple of Winsor Castle Finest Milk Chocolates - let's see how FINE it is - and a pink t-shirt with silver words that reads 'Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, Where have you been?' on the front and the back reads 'I've been to London to see the Queen'. Apparently it's a part of a traditional English Nursery Rhyme that my parents have read to us over and over when we were kids. My brillant memory doesn't have a clue! Anyway, it goes,
"Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, where have you been?Does this ring any of your childhood bells, or you're just as hopeless as I am?
I've been to London to see the Queen.
Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, what did you there?
I frightened a little mouse under her chair."
After Winsor, we drove a little further to visit the closed Legoland. It's closed over Winter till March. That was a major disappointment, but at least I knew prior that it would be closed so my expectations couldn't have been crushed any further, unlike the Falkirk Wheel experience. Nevertheless, we managed to get pictures of the Legoland sign board - pathetic but it's something to say we've 'been' there.
And here we are at Reading, where Chris lives except that Chris isn't here but in Europe touring with Jo. Ha.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
WE'VE GOT INTERNET!!
We finally got internet - of course at a price though, but a mermaid can't live without water. Here's the insanely long update of my past few days.
Scroll down for pics as well!! I've updated the last 3 blog posts with pics of my UK travels so go see!!
6.44pm @ Wales YHA, 10th Jan 2006
Today's an important day for me to remember. It's my first time staying in a YHA (aka Youth Hostel) and hopefully my last. I don't mean to sound like a princess (to those who know me, don't nod and grin as if you're tsking me) but I'm really not used to this. I feel weird in a YHA. The thought of sleeping in a bed that hasn't been washed...of course they gave us a clean sheet sleeping bag to put over the used mattress and pillows (makes me wonder how often they wash them), but it's just the thought of it not being washed and pressed just for me - I'm not use to it. I also feel kind of claustrophobic in a room shared by 6 people. It's just very - what's the word - un-private. But I do have to commend the toilet. It's so sanitised that it smells like the hospital. And because we were given the room meant for the disabled, the toilets actually look like a hospital toilet, with railings and all - quite intimidating to a certain extent if you know what I mean.
Ok, enough of this, some people don't even have a roof over their heads. I should be grateful. But I can't help comparing, coz just the other night, we stayed in this bed and breakfast hotel, we had 2 rooms with clean sheets, towels and showers in each room and the total cost for that one night was only a couple pounds more expensive than tonight's accommodation.
Moving on.
Yesterday, we left Bournemouth for Lands' End. That was an insanely long drive and I was most unhealthy. I had a massive english breakfast, got into the car and slept till our lunch stop, ate again till we were full and bloated, got back into the car and continued sleeping till we got to Lands' End. Lands' End is the southern most tip of UK, the sight was gorgeous. It was cute though, while driving in, we saw many places which used the 'First and Last of England' as marketing, for example the 'First and Last Inn in England', 'First and Last Garage', 'First and Last Hotel', 'First and Last Postbox' and of course, the most famous 'First and Last House of England'. We had a ball taking photos.
11pm @ YHA, 10th Jan 2006
Just finished watching another 3 vcd episodes of 'My Lovely Sam Soon', but I'll tell you about that later. Back to my travel journal.
After Lands' End, we headed towards Penzance for the night.
This morning, we made another detour to Lands' End coz Laura didn't manage to purchase her souvenir last evening so made a special trip this morning to Lands' End again before heading towards Wales on another very unhealthy car journey which comprised of sleeping and eating. My right eye was playing up again - hurting like crazy (sometimes I wonder if it's a warning sign telling me that I might be going blind soon) - so the only thing that made the pain go away was closing my eyes, which meant falling alseep. I mean, there's so much I could do with my eyes closed. I could dream, talk to God, and imagine more things, but that all led to sleep eventually, so you see, it was rather unhealthy.
We finally got to Wales, got a little lost for a while but eventually found the YHA. We had yummy but expensive Japanese food for dinner. Things here are so expensive. Converting the pounds back to Singapore currency is quite bad for the heart coz things are never cheap. Their cost of living is so high, but I guess they are used to it coz they earn in pounds too, but for us tourists, it's a pricy destination to visit.
Actually, I'm a little home sick. There really isn't much to see in UK except for castles, cathedrals and more of that. Here's another bonus point for Paris. Though we stayed in Paris for 4 days 3 nights, everyday was filled with things to do. However, here in UK, take for example today, the only sights we saw were of cars, cars and more cars as we travelled from state to state, and perhaps the occassional castle or cathedral. It's quite boring and that's why I'm looking forward to home, where things are always happening. The day doesn't end at 4pm and shops don't close at 5pm back home. Perhaps London would be better. We'll just have to wait and see.
But at least we've got 'Kim Sam Soon' to keep us company. Our boring nights are spent watching this korean drama series Rachel introduced me to. It's a romantic comedy about this girl called Kim Sam Soon (of course) and it's not like the usual slow and sobbish korean dramas. Its paced well, with light-hearted comedy and sweet love. And the fact that the all the guys (so far) are GORGEOUS adds an extra 'OOMPH' to it. We are halfway through it but at the speed we are going, it's only going to last us another 3 nights!! Perhaps I'll rewatch it again, since I have all the time in the world.
Well, I shall end here. It's a pity I can't post this entry just yet coz I don't have any internet connection. I can't even tap into someone else' wireless connection coz there's none around, unlike 2 nights ago - naughty me. Till next time.
5.15pm @ Quality Hotel Chester, 11th Jan 2006
No internet connection once again. Oh well. I'm used to this. I liked the Paris hotel much much better for this point. They had free internet connection. So far, the hotels in UK are charging around 2.50 pounds per half an hour. It's honestly daylight robbery. Anyhow...I'll just blog till I have internet connection to post it all.
Today isn't a very pleasant day for me. Waking up and finding myself in a YHA bunk room was the least of my troubles.
I had a masive breakfast, followed by a massive lunch, which made me feel all bloated and disgusted, especially when all I can do is sit in the car and sleep. I need to start eating salads salads and more salads - but they are always so expensive!! Don't mess with a girl when she's feeling FAT!
And of course, I didn't like the bathroom in the YHA, so I skipped my morning shower and for the entire journey in the car, I was feeling very disgusted and moody coz my hair reflects my mood. If my hair's horrid, I feel horrid. And I was irritated and worried because it's impossible to maintain my curls in tip top condition when I'm on a holiday, so the lingering thought of all that money spent on the digital perming washing down the drain was killing me.
And I felt claustrophobic. I guess I've got a boiling point. There's so much I could talk about to all the luggages beside me. Eventually (which happened to be today), our topics ran dry and I was sick of the company of the luggages. I reached my boiling point and I needed out! So mum swaped seats with me.
And of course, with all these irritation, I get stressed and I feel zits poking out and across my entire face - not pleasant at all, which leads to more stress which leads to more zits...yes, it's a vicious cycle.
The first thing I did when we got to our hotel room was a good shower and I pampered my hair with products so hopefully it'll be all right. I'm feeling heaps better now - my hair feels clean and at least resembling some sort of bounce. The curls have drastically lost it's zest but at least it's looking natural. We'll just have to check in on my mood tomorrow.
Anyway, today, we left Wales for Chester, stopping by at Caerphilly Castell (aka castle) for a quick tour. I guess all the castles are looking the same to me now...but I'm reserving all judgement till I see Buckingham Palace. Ahhhh, I can't wait for London.
Oooh...I'm hungry, my tummy's throwing a mood as well. SALADS!!!!
8.30am @ Quality Hotel, 12th Jan 2006
Here's something that intrigued me. It's found in the bathroom of our hotel room. It says...
"ECOLOGY
Everyday all over the world huge quantities of detergent are used unnecessarily.
In an effort to protect the environment in which we live, we would like to reduce the daily consumption of detergent.
If you would like us to change your towels, please leave them in the bath. Otherwise please hand them on the rail provided."
Some would be impressed, I reckon it's plain laziness. Haha.
11.30pm @ The Angle Inn Windermere, 12th Jan 2006
Today was a rather eventful day. We checked out of our hotel in the morning and headed in to Chester for a tour around the town. We visited a rather grand cathedral - I liked this cathedral, and took a walk around the town. I bought myself a new pair of earrings from the Chester Market as well.
Then we went on our way, heading towards Man United!! I'm not a big fan of Man U, but nevertheless, it was a moment to cherish, breathing in the glory and pride of all soccer fans. We also patronised the merchandise store. Grandpa is so cute!! He used to be a major fan of Man U and he bought the most things: 2 mini soccer balls, one windbreaker, and a pink towel - perhaps for grandma?? Haha.
After Man U, we made our way to Blackpool, with hopes that I could ride the crazy rollercoaster. But it's winter and most tourist attractions are closed in winter for maintanence. Just bad luck. So we continued on to Windermere where we are spending the night in this rather cosy inn.
The inn is gorgeous. I think it's run by a young adult couple. The place is called The Angel Inn, and the advertising on the broucher says "Be a devil, try The Angel." Quite a hip slogan ay?? That's why I reckon it's run by a young couple (don't think an elderly couple would want their customers to be devils), aside from the fact that they were the ones behind the front desk when we checked in. There is a cosy living area just as you enter the door, with a beautiful fireplace for warmth. Just around the front desk and to the back of the hotel is a nice chilling area with a pleasant bar and restaurant. It's got a welcoming atmosphere. The rooms are pretty as well - I just adore the curtains and sheets.
Yawn, talking about sheets is making me tired. Nights!!
P.S. One thing not so great - no wireless internet connection. Sigh. Till next time!
6pm @ The Normandy Hotel Glasgow, 13th Jan 2006
This morning after we checked out, we visited 'The World Of Beatrix Potter Attraction'. I loved it!! The figurines were so 'Kawaii'. It brought back some childhood memories. I was given a set of 4 Beatrix Potter books as a birthday prezzie and I really treasured them. I loved them so much, it's still with me and kept in tip top condition.
Then we headed towards Glasgow, stopping over at some wall - oopz, forgot the name. Apparently it separates some country from some country or some war thingy. Oh well. Here's history for you.
We're now in our hotel room and we've ordered room service for dinner - too lazy to drive out for food. After dinner, we'll continue our korean drama series. Yesterday, we watched another 3 episodes. Tonight, we'll finish the last 3! I can't wait to watch the ending. I'm dying to find out who she'll ended up with.
1am @ The Normandy, 14th Jan 2006
Just an hour ago, I was all psyched up about this hotel and it's FREE wireless internet connection. And now, I'm in a very bad mood. I don't know if it's my computer (BETTER NOT BE!!) or their wireless connection, but there seems to be some problem. I am able to pick up a strong wireless signal strength, but it seems like there's limited or no connectivity. And when I try to repair it, it says something about being unable ti renew my IP address or something like that.
I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIX THAT!!!
Sometimes, I wish I was a computer wizz so I know how to fix things when stuff occurs. It sucks sucks sucks. I have even prepared photos to be uploaded so everyone can enjoy my journeys through UK, but I guess not. I don't know when I'll find another hotel that has free internet connection. Moreover, I fear my computer could have been attacked. Maybe it's paranoia, but the last time when I posted my blog entry, I was actually tapping into someone else's private network...perhaps he's an expert hacker and managed to tap into my computer and mess things up and that's why I can't connect now...what are the odds? I ask myself this, but the truth is, you never know.
Maybe I should just give up on blogging. Who's going to read all this junk I've posted above anyway. Don't think my life's any interesting to command an audience. Plus, I don't think anyone would have the time to read it all so I might as well stop all my crapping here.
7.55pm @ Ellersly House Hotel Edinburgh, 15th Jan 2006
I have 5 minutes to blog about yesterday and today coz my tv show is starting soon, so I'll make this quick and easy on your eyes - afterall, you've read so far.
Yesterday morning, we visited the Falkirk Wheel - this massive rotating boat lift that lifts a boat from one river and transfers it to another. We were even prepared to experience it as tours were provided, but unfortunately, our luck ran out. It is closed from 9th to 19th Jan for winter maintanence. We were very disappointed. Laura and I were looking forward to it badly. we sulked all the way back. That's why I like shopping so much more. It's more reliable. It doesn't close in winter and THERE'S EVEN WINTER SALES!!
Saved by the bell - or show. I shall stop here and run off to watch 'Invasion' that's showing on TV now. Spare your ears from my complains.
9.40pm @ Hotel Room, 15th Jan 2006
After that major disappointment, we left for Edinburgh, with our first stop as the Edinburgh castle. Another castle - but I was impressed. It was a nice castle overall but I was glad to finally check in to our hotel. I needed a break from all that travelling so we stayed indoors, ordering chinese takeaways.
This morning after breakfast - I'm getting real sick of english breakfast. I can recite to you what's served in an english breakfast, it's always the same thing over and over:
3 choices of cereal - rice puffs, cornflakes or muesli
3 choices of juice - orange, apple or grapefruit (and the occassional grapefruit)
Tea or coffee
Croissant or toast (white or brown) and a selection of jams
Canned fruits
Sausages
Scrambled or fried eggs
Bacon
Baked tomatoes
Mushrooms
Baked beans
Hashbrowns
Black pudding (occassionally - I'm glad coz it's quite disgusting)
After eating it for consecutive days, I'm getting real sick of it!!
Sorry for the sideswipe. After breakfast, we drove around in search of a church to attend. We ended up at St Giles Cathedral. It was a rather grand cathedral with an impressive choir, but with these grand and massive ancient-looking cathedral comes terrible sound-proofing. The sounds echos throughout the entire building, making it quite hard to listen to anything the preacher says. But nevertheless, it felt good attending worship.
Then we went on a Scotch Whisky tour which included some tasting and an educational tour of it's history. I don't think I like whisky all that much and I found the tour rather dull. If you ask me questions now, I probably wouldn't be able to answer you about it - the info just went WHOOSH past my already full memory.
After the tour and lunch, we went on a long drive to see the famous St Andrews Golf Club - apparently, that's the birthplace of golf. Nothing special there. But it pleased the men - namely Dad and Grandpa - as they finally had their fair share of excitement, taking photos in front of the clubhouse and SHOPPING at the golf shop. Yes, they got their fair share of pleasure.
And now, we are back at our hotel room after dinner and all. It's quite boring coz we finished watching our Korean drama 2 nights ago. I love the show!! Everyone, go watch 'My Lovely Samsoon' (aka 'My Name is Kim Sam Soon')!!
I am too tired to blog about it right now though...shan't kill the story for you so I'll leave it at this and hit the sack. Nights at 10pm!!
9.30pm @ The Gateway To York Hotel, 16th Jan 2006
I love today!!! We left Edinburgh for York, stopping by at Edinburgh Crystal before proceeding on to our next stop - the highlight of my day. We visited St James Park in New Castle, home ground of my favourite soccer team New Castle United!!! I had a fantastic time touring the official store and returned 2 tops richer!! One of them was the home jersey - woman's style!!! It fitted perfectly - LOVE! And I got to take a picture with Shay Given as well - only the best goal keeper in the world - or should I say MY world!! I'm the luckiest kid (Kid? Grow up Raine!) alive!!
We arrived at our hotel for the night at 5.30pm this evening. Travelling in the evening during winters is totally warped - it gets darker at an exponential rate. At 3.30pm, it feels like 7pm in the evening with the sun is just setting. When 4pm comes, it's like 8pm at night - grey and getting late. By 4.30pm, it feels like 9 or 10pm. At 5pm, it's pitched black, so much so that you'd think it's way past your bedtime - i.e. midnight!! So travelling at 5.30pm in a foreign town? Let's just say we're lucky we found the place on our first go!!
7.40pm @ Campanile Hotel Coventry, 18th Jan 2006
Today's schedule was much of travelling - from York to Coventry. However, we made several purposeful stops, one being Sherwood Forest (birth of the legendary Robin Hood) and the next was in Nottingham to meet Jo. It was a short but nice catch up session over lunch.
And that's about it. Haha...short and sweet - now that's a first!!
Scroll down for pics as well!! I've updated the last 3 blog posts with pics of my UK travels so go see!!
6.44pm @ Wales YHA, 10th Jan 2006
Today's an important day for me to remember. It's my first time staying in a YHA (aka Youth Hostel) and hopefully my last. I don't mean to sound like a princess (to those who know me, don't nod and grin as if you're tsking me) but I'm really not used to this. I feel weird in a YHA. The thought of sleeping in a bed that hasn't been washed...of course they gave us a clean sheet sleeping bag to put over the used mattress and pillows (makes me wonder how often they wash them), but it's just the thought of it not being washed and pressed just for me - I'm not use to it. I also feel kind of claustrophobic in a room shared by 6 people. It's just very - what's the word - un-private. But I do have to commend the toilet. It's so sanitised that it smells like the hospital. And because we were given the room meant for the disabled, the toilets actually look like a hospital toilet, with railings and all - quite intimidating to a certain extent if you know what I mean.
Ok, enough of this, some people don't even have a roof over their heads. I should be grateful. But I can't help comparing, coz just the other night, we stayed in this bed and breakfast hotel, we had 2 rooms with clean sheets, towels and showers in each room and the total cost for that one night was only a couple pounds more expensive than tonight's accommodation.
Moving on.
Yesterday, we left Bournemouth for Lands' End. That was an insanely long drive and I was most unhealthy. I had a massive english breakfast, got into the car and slept till our lunch stop, ate again till we were full and bloated, got back into the car and continued sleeping till we got to Lands' End. Lands' End is the southern most tip of UK, the sight was gorgeous. It was cute though, while driving in, we saw many places which used the 'First and Last of England' as marketing, for example the 'First and Last Inn in England', 'First and Last Garage', 'First and Last Hotel', 'First and Last Postbox' and of course, the most famous 'First and Last House of England'. We had a ball taking photos.
11pm @ YHA, 10th Jan 2006
Just finished watching another 3 vcd episodes of 'My Lovely Sam Soon', but I'll tell you about that later. Back to my travel journal.
After Lands' End, we headed towards Penzance for the night.
This morning, we made another detour to Lands' End coz Laura didn't manage to purchase her souvenir last evening so made a special trip this morning to Lands' End again before heading towards Wales on another very unhealthy car journey which comprised of sleeping and eating. My right eye was playing up again - hurting like crazy (sometimes I wonder if it's a warning sign telling me that I might be going blind soon) - so the only thing that made the pain go away was closing my eyes, which meant falling alseep. I mean, there's so much I could do with my eyes closed. I could dream, talk to God, and imagine more things, but that all led to sleep eventually, so you see, it was rather unhealthy.
We finally got to Wales, got a little lost for a while but eventually found the YHA. We had yummy but expensive Japanese food for dinner. Things here are so expensive. Converting the pounds back to Singapore currency is quite bad for the heart coz things are never cheap. Their cost of living is so high, but I guess they are used to it coz they earn in pounds too, but for us tourists, it's a pricy destination to visit.
Actually, I'm a little home sick. There really isn't much to see in UK except for castles, cathedrals and more of that. Here's another bonus point for Paris. Though we stayed in Paris for 4 days 3 nights, everyday was filled with things to do. However, here in UK, take for example today, the only sights we saw were of cars, cars and more cars as we travelled from state to state, and perhaps the occassional castle or cathedral. It's quite boring and that's why I'm looking forward to home, where things are always happening. The day doesn't end at 4pm and shops don't close at 5pm back home. Perhaps London would be better. We'll just have to wait and see.
But at least we've got 'Kim Sam Soon' to keep us company. Our boring nights are spent watching this korean drama series Rachel introduced me to. It's a romantic comedy about this girl called Kim Sam Soon (of course) and it's not like the usual slow and sobbish korean dramas. Its paced well, with light-hearted comedy and sweet love. And the fact that the all the guys (so far) are GORGEOUS adds an extra 'OOMPH' to it. We are halfway through it but at the speed we are going, it's only going to last us another 3 nights!! Perhaps I'll rewatch it again, since I have all the time in the world.
Well, I shall end here. It's a pity I can't post this entry just yet coz I don't have any internet connection. I can't even tap into someone else' wireless connection coz there's none around, unlike 2 nights ago - naughty me. Till next time.
5.15pm @ Quality Hotel Chester, 11th Jan 2006
No internet connection once again. Oh well. I'm used to this. I liked the Paris hotel much much better for this point. They had free internet connection. So far, the hotels in UK are charging around 2.50 pounds per half an hour. It's honestly daylight robbery. Anyhow...I'll just blog till I have internet connection to post it all.
Today isn't a very pleasant day for me. Waking up and finding myself in a YHA bunk room was the least of my troubles.
I had a masive breakfast, followed by a massive lunch, which made me feel all bloated and disgusted, especially when all I can do is sit in the car and sleep. I need to start eating salads salads and more salads - but they are always so expensive!! Don't mess with a girl when she's feeling FAT!
And of course, I didn't like the bathroom in the YHA, so I skipped my morning shower and for the entire journey in the car, I was feeling very disgusted and moody coz my hair reflects my mood. If my hair's horrid, I feel horrid. And I was irritated and worried because it's impossible to maintain my curls in tip top condition when I'm on a holiday, so the lingering thought of all that money spent on the digital perming washing down the drain was killing me.
And I felt claustrophobic. I guess I've got a boiling point. There's so much I could talk about to all the luggages beside me. Eventually (which happened to be today), our topics ran dry and I was sick of the company of the luggages. I reached my boiling point and I needed out! So mum swaped seats with me.
And of course, with all these irritation, I get stressed and I feel zits poking out and across my entire face - not pleasant at all, which leads to more stress which leads to more zits...yes, it's a vicious cycle.
The first thing I did when we got to our hotel room was a good shower and I pampered my hair with products so hopefully it'll be all right. I'm feeling heaps better now - my hair feels clean and at least resembling some sort of bounce. The curls have drastically lost it's zest but at least it's looking natural. We'll just have to check in on my mood tomorrow.
Anyway, today, we left Wales for Chester, stopping by at Caerphilly Castell (aka castle) for a quick tour. I guess all the castles are looking the same to me now...but I'm reserving all judgement till I see Buckingham Palace. Ahhhh, I can't wait for London.
Oooh...I'm hungry, my tummy's throwing a mood as well. SALADS!!!!
8.30am @ Quality Hotel, 12th Jan 2006
Here's something that intrigued me. It's found in the bathroom of our hotel room. It says...
"ECOLOGY
Everyday all over the world huge quantities of detergent are used unnecessarily.
In an effort to protect the environment in which we live, we would like to reduce the daily consumption of detergent.
If you would like us to change your towels, please leave them in the bath. Otherwise please hand them on the rail provided."
Some would be impressed, I reckon it's plain laziness. Haha.
11.30pm @ The Angle Inn Windermere, 12th Jan 2006
Today was a rather eventful day. We checked out of our hotel in the morning and headed in to Chester for a tour around the town. We visited a rather grand cathedral - I liked this cathedral, and took a walk around the town. I bought myself a new pair of earrings from the Chester Market as well.
Then we went on our way, heading towards Man United!! I'm not a big fan of Man U, but nevertheless, it was a moment to cherish, breathing in the glory and pride of all soccer fans. We also patronised the merchandise store. Grandpa is so cute!! He used to be a major fan of Man U and he bought the most things: 2 mini soccer balls, one windbreaker, and a pink towel - perhaps for grandma?? Haha.
After Man U, we made our way to Blackpool, with hopes that I could ride the crazy rollercoaster. But it's winter and most tourist attractions are closed in winter for maintanence. Just bad luck. So we continued on to Windermere where we are spending the night in this rather cosy inn.
The inn is gorgeous. I think it's run by a young adult couple. The place is called The Angel Inn, and the advertising on the broucher says "Be a devil, try The Angel." Quite a hip slogan ay?? That's why I reckon it's run by a young couple (don't think an elderly couple would want their customers to be devils), aside from the fact that they were the ones behind the front desk when we checked in. There is a cosy living area just as you enter the door, with a beautiful fireplace for warmth. Just around the front desk and to the back of the hotel is a nice chilling area with a pleasant bar and restaurant. It's got a welcoming atmosphere. The rooms are pretty as well - I just adore the curtains and sheets.
Yawn, talking about sheets is making me tired. Nights!!
P.S. One thing not so great - no wireless internet connection. Sigh. Till next time!
6pm @ The Normandy Hotel Glasgow, 13th Jan 2006
This morning after we checked out, we visited 'The World Of Beatrix Potter Attraction'. I loved it!! The figurines were so 'Kawaii'. It brought back some childhood memories. I was given a set of 4 Beatrix Potter books as a birthday prezzie and I really treasured them. I loved them so much, it's still with me and kept in tip top condition.
Then we headed towards Glasgow, stopping over at some wall - oopz, forgot the name. Apparently it separates some country from some country or some war thingy. Oh well. Here's history for you.
We're now in our hotel room and we've ordered room service for dinner - too lazy to drive out for food. After dinner, we'll continue our korean drama series. Yesterday, we watched another 3 episodes. Tonight, we'll finish the last 3! I can't wait to watch the ending. I'm dying to find out who she'll ended up with.
1am @ The Normandy, 14th Jan 2006
Just an hour ago, I was all psyched up about this hotel and it's FREE wireless internet connection. And now, I'm in a very bad mood. I don't know if it's my computer (BETTER NOT BE!!) or their wireless connection, but there seems to be some problem. I am able to pick up a strong wireless signal strength, but it seems like there's limited or no connectivity. And when I try to repair it, it says something about being unable ti renew my IP address or something like that.
I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIX THAT!!!
Sometimes, I wish I was a computer wizz so I know how to fix things when stuff occurs. It sucks sucks sucks. I have even prepared photos to be uploaded so everyone can enjoy my journeys through UK, but I guess not. I don't know when I'll find another hotel that has free internet connection. Moreover, I fear my computer could have been attacked. Maybe it's paranoia, but the last time when I posted my blog entry, I was actually tapping into someone else's private network...perhaps he's an expert hacker and managed to tap into my computer and mess things up and that's why I can't connect now...what are the odds? I ask myself this, but the truth is, you never know.
Maybe I should just give up on blogging. Who's going to read all this junk I've posted above anyway. Don't think my life's any interesting to command an audience. Plus, I don't think anyone would have the time to read it all so I might as well stop all my crapping here.
7.55pm @ Ellersly House Hotel Edinburgh, 15th Jan 2006
I have 5 minutes to blog about yesterday and today coz my tv show is starting soon, so I'll make this quick and easy on your eyes - afterall, you've read so far.
Yesterday morning, we visited the Falkirk Wheel - this massive rotating boat lift that lifts a boat from one river and transfers it to another. We were even prepared to experience it as tours were provided, but unfortunately, our luck ran out. It is closed from 9th to 19th Jan for winter maintanence. We were very disappointed. Laura and I were looking forward to it badly. we sulked all the way back. That's why I like shopping so much more. It's more reliable. It doesn't close in winter and THERE'S EVEN WINTER SALES!!
Saved by the bell - or show. I shall stop here and run off to watch 'Invasion' that's showing on TV now. Spare your ears from my complains.
9.40pm @ Hotel Room, 15th Jan 2006
After that major disappointment, we left for Edinburgh, with our first stop as the Edinburgh castle. Another castle - but I was impressed. It was a nice castle overall but I was glad to finally check in to our hotel. I needed a break from all that travelling so we stayed indoors, ordering chinese takeaways.
This morning after breakfast - I'm getting real sick of english breakfast. I can recite to you what's served in an english breakfast, it's always the same thing over and over:
3 choices of cereal - rice puffs, cornflakes or muesli
3 choices of juice - orange, apple or grapefruit (and the occassional grapefruit)
Tea or coffee
Croissant or toast (white or brown) and a selection of jams
Canned fruits
Sausages
Scrambled or fried eggs
Bacon
Baked tomatoes
Mushrooms
Baked beans
Hashbrowns
Black pudding (occassionally - I'm glad coz it's quite disgusting)
After eating it for consecutive days, I'm getting real sick of it!!
Sorry for the sideswipe. After breakfast, we drove around in search of a church to attend. We ended up at St Giles Cathedral. It was a rather grand cathedral with an impressive choir, but with these grand and massive ancient-looking cathedral comes terrible sound-proofing. The sounds echos throughout the entire building, making it quite hard to listen to anything the preacher says. But nevertheless, it felt good attending worship.
Then we went on a Scotch Whisky tour which included some tasting and an educational tour of it's history. I don't think I like whisky all that much and I found the tour rather dull. If you ask me questions now, I probably wouldn't be able to answer you about it - the info just went WHOOSH past my already full memory.
After the tour and lunch, we went on a long drive to see the famous St Andrews Golf Club - apparently, that's the birthplace of golf. Nothing special there. But it pleased the men - namely Dad and Grandpa - as they finally had their fair share of excitement, taking photos in front of the clubhouse and SHOPPING at the golf shop. Yes, they got their fair share of pleasure.
And now, we are back at our hotel room after dinner and all. It's quite boring coz we finished watching our Korean drama 2 nights ago. I love the show!! Everyone, go watch 'My Lovely Samsoon' (aka 'My Name is Kim Sam Soon')!!
I am too tired to blog about it right now though...shan't kill the story for you so I'll leave it at this and hit the sack. Nights at 10pm!!
9.30pm @ The Gateway To York Hotel, 16th Jan 2006
I love today!!! We left Edinburgh for York, stopping by at Edinburgh Crystal before proceeding on to our next stop - the highlight of my day. We visited St James Park in New Castle, home ground of my favourite soccer team New Castle United!!! I had a fantastic time touring the official store and returned 2 tops richer!! One of them was the home jersey - woman's style!!! It fitted perfectly - LOVE! And I got to take a picture with Shay Given as well - only the best goal keeper in the world - or should I say MY world!! I'm the luckiest kid (Kid? Grow up Raine!) alive!!
We arrived at our hotel for the night at 5.30pm this evening. Travelling in the evening during winters is totally warped - it gets darker at an exponential rate. At 3.30pm, it feels like 7pm in the evening with the sun is just setting. When 4pm comes, it's like 8pm at night - grey and getting late. By 4.30pm, it feels like 9 or 10pm. At 5pm, it's pitched black, so much so that you'd think it's way past your bedtime - i.e. midnight!! So travelling at 5.30pm in a foreign town? Let's just say we're lucky we found the place on our first go!!
7.40pm @ Campanile Hotel Coventry, 18th Jan 2006
Today's schedule was much of travelling - from York to Coventry. However, we made several purposeful stops, one being Sherwood Forest (birth of the legendary Robin Hood) and the next was in Nottingham to meet Jo. It was a short but nice catch up session over lunch.
And that's about it. Haha...short and sweet - now that's a first!!
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