it is just about 48 hours since i touch down on uk soil and longer than that since i saw you guys. so many have happened since i last saw everyone through tears in my eyes (shireen, you got your wish, did you get it on camera?) and shaken my tear drenched hand (its a saltly handshake). thanks to everyone who came all the way down to changi to see me and ron off. for the record, i think this is like the biggest farewell entourage i have ever seen. i think in total there was around 40 odd people just sending ron off already. plus another 4 who just came for me.

i would like to just give special thanks to the rat and the shrink, as well as my two loving bitches for coming all the way down. although i dont like big send offs, i think i appreciate you guys being there in the end. since i know you came all the way to the end of singapore just for solely me. i dont have the photos yet since all photos were taken from my mom's camera. so if you have photos of my airport farewell please upload to facebook so i can get to see myself too. then i can post up for everyone else to see.

journey thru the skies is done on the A380! first time sitting the biggest plane i have ever sat on (if that makes sense) and even economy class has a nice and wide seat. but to top it all, for the whole 11 hours flight from singapore to london, me and ron got 3 whole seats to ourselves so i practically was horizontally able to sleep for most of the flight. in fact the flight dint seems that long. and for once there was nothing to watch on an sia flight. and until jill just reminded me, i totally forgot to ask for ben and jerry on the plane. plane fare not maximized. and i also din whip out my camera to bother to take photos because i was too sleep to bother, so yeah people, no photos this post.

reaching heathrow was just alot of waiting and waiting for everything. we got our first toasted sandwich costing (lets just say) loads. have to get used to buying stuff in pounds. for your info the exchange rate is 1 to 2.6 so lets just say that from now on when i talk about money it is in pounds so you people can go do the math yourselves. anyway. i only reached loughborough by the free coach service at around 3pm. during the 2 hour bus ride over i managed to get a glimpse of the country. well. it is just like new zealand but without the sheeps and cows.

and guess what? i am flatting with 3 prcs. seriously. i felt damn sian diao when i realised that the other 3 rooms in the flat are occupied with prcs and two of them cant speak english well. at least the other is angmohsified. and they dont really clean up after themselves fully after they eat. leaving crumps on table and noodle bits on the counter. i was like 'i must have treated prcs with such cruelty they are all coming back to haunt me now' and it is for 1 whole damn year. i was even housing thoughts of moving out to private accommodations so that me and ron can share a kitchen and so i can get away from these people. life is a bitch. it cost too much to move out now.

i think my chinese will improve from living in uk - ironic, in know

ron and i are staying 50m away from each other in totally different blocks. that means that i have to walk over for most of the nights for dinner. now night temperature are about 8-10*C and in another 2months it is probably dropping to 0*C. but at least i have the biggest room in the flat and have the biggest windows. i even have my own phone line so that means i can call ron's room for free.

the security here is troublesome. i only have access to my block and another one to my flat and room. that means my keys cant open's ron's block main door and ill have to wait out in the cold for him to come out to open. just lucky for me that ron is staying on the 1st floor so i can always knock the windows.

at least the down town is nice. much better than dunedin. and potentially good shopping. there are tonnes of thrift shops around so i will be able to do some damage to my wallet if it is not already done on a normal daily basis.

but school is pretty far from accommodation. and campus is huge. just walking from here to my department will be a good 15 minutes. and walking from one end of campus to the other would be another 15. think ill come back nice and slim. but it is a very nice place with tree lined roads and small streets. will think of getting a bike.

shall not write too much now so i can write more later
bare with the lack of photos for awhile.
coz ill need to settle down first.

instant morning almost last minute field trip to our little local singapore flyer. how many singaporeans will pay 30 bucks to see construction sites and misty morning air on a monday morning? the little capsule that goes round and round can carry 28 people and me and ron got the whole thing to ourself because there is not much people sitting that. 30 minutes to ourselves and our camera.

the capsule was pretty nice inside. all round glass windows that allow you to see pass nice and clear. although there were slight head oil looking stains (like the ones you see one the bus when some one sleeps against the window) but just stay clear from the headoil stain and everything is perfect. i wonder how those oily stuff got on the window. dont tell me people stick their faces to the glass to take a photo?

it is a pity that ron and i will be leaving before the F1 races this weekend. but at least we get to see the grandstand upclose and from overhead before we say bye bye. from the singapore flyer we can see up to 80 percent (according to the brochure) of the whole race track. imagine if you got a ride at the flyer and watch the race at the same time. i wonder if the flyer is even in operation then. i would love to watch the race from up there. instead of sitting at the stands and only hearing the cars go past. why not rent a capsule to watch the headlights zoom through the route?

apparently, ron says that the race cars will be changing their wheels in those little white tents down there.

30 minute ride sounds like a long time, but the moment you get right to the top half your time is gone and the decent down is only construction site and the marina bay area. this side would be nice at night.

the grandstand area for national day was converted into a soccer field and the green looked not too bad.

basically the singapore flyer is the private company's method of ripping tourist of their money and boosting their spending power. i will not pay 30 to sit the thing. that is one buck per minute for the entire ride. expensive. lucky ron got some pretty decent discounted one year valid ticket that we manage to use in the end.



had a haircut and a movie while waiting for the dinner appointment with hall people. haircut is normal and i got my hairdresser to thin it and layer it as much as his scissors can cut. although to me it looks normal like a cut but it is not as wispy and girly as my previous cut. i just hope that the hair grows out fine without being triangular or coconut. you can actually see the difference in my cut between my morning photos and during dinner time.

watch mamma mia. apparently the songs are pretty nice. there are even songs i have never heard before. and as always and as usual i watch movie myself again. the two females can sing and to hear colin firth and perice brosnan sing was something. can you imagine james bond break out in song? imagine him holding a automatic shot gun and suddenly singing some abba song and dancing around the beach and lights. and my all favourite abba song 'our last summer' and 'slipping through my finger' were done so nicely i wanted to cry when i heard it.

i love the movie version of one last summer. in fact when they sing it it sounded nothing like abba. something so soft and melancholic.

dinner was at soup restaurant to eat my good samsui chicken and that gorgeous garlic ginger thingy. and finally got to see my two S-es . i miss the two S-es. i miss all my hall peeps. we were supposed to have this thing at janelles house but that bitch is too vain to come out of hiding so i shall be a forgiving person and forgive her vanity. but thanks to her i got to eat some chicken!

well. happy that for once you no need to dress up. dressing up can be a pain even for me. no more body paint, sewing machines and masking tape in all colors. when you are old i think you are old. even guoyong is too sick of dressing up he join the alumni table even though he is still staying in hall.

they sabo me to go play game again. '2 alumni couple' and i was thinking to myself alumni couple that night i think only got like 5. and being the girlfriend of one of the most popular guy in hall. sway. kena sabo. where got so sway one lor. got like junli and yz, christel and mingjun and even sebby and yw is sitting at the alumni table so they can count too. i think there are more couples from the other table just that i dont know who was sitting at the other tables other than my own

stupid game.


our table 11 people share 10 people food. then got van. that means ill really have much less to eat. all the waitress all damn forgetful. i asked for coke, it never came. i ask for tea, it never came. i ask for a whole bloody teapot, twice, and it was taken from me within 20 mins.

it was mid autumn festival just two nights ago and yes the moon was very round. what was equally round was my tummy after supper with the otago people at newton. my last meeting with them all except for eugene who is honeymooning somewhere in NZ right now.

johnson (being johnson) decided that he is not coming and us being nice people know why. bav was saying that johnson's girlfriend, IF he has one,probably never get to see him at all. so us being his unimportant friends can just pray hard we get to see him once every 10 get-togethers.

and this time round i was like the most chui-ly dressed. i havent bathed for the day and i was wearing fbt shorts like i own the place. my hair is just randomly clipped up and my face drowning in pimple and bumps.

newton as usual has very bad touting. i thought the government put a stop to this horrible phenomenon years ago. now they are back to snatching customers and finding people seats. the only difference is that they are WAY more polite about it now. funny. i hate the touting. newton is like a popular tourist place and all these crappy behavior is just going to ruin us.

at least the moon is like round. and too bad i think i am too old for lanterns and little neighborhood bonfires. all i can do is sit around and wait for the moon to come out from under the clouds. and my neighborhood looks pretty in the night.

went to find a second luggage in the afternoon. decided to try my best to carry all the 40 kg i was allocated and squeeze all i can into the two 28inch suitcases i have. but i am beginning to run out of things to put inside and i am even contemplating on squeezing my pillow in if i can. i already have a good 22 kg of clothes. and now i have to fit the other bag with stuff i am supposingly not able to afford in uk.

need to start shopping for foodstuff. i hope i can carry them in later. need some of my laksa paste, batkuteh mix and chicken rice seasoning. maybe a bottle or two of kaya. and ikan bilis for soup. some stirfry sauce. or something. if you people want to give me a farewell gift, please give me some food stuff. even better if you can just ship it there for me.

and the other things is

bloodyhell. the exchange rate went up again. i was waiting for it to drop and the weekend i forgot to check the rates it decided to go up. now it is like 2.6 like what the hell!!!! i still need to change some cash over!!!!!

'the only thing that can come between two sisters is a kingdom.' i love this quote

i have always wanted to watch this show in the theaters when it was still in cinema. just that i never got to due to timing and also no one else who appreciates a movie about anything that occurs before history. funny how no one actually even give a damn about shows like these. and the funny thing is that i love it. i love all kings and scheming wives and women plotting for power and the court and nice square neck gowns and head gears with nice jewelery. and of course there is always a potentially nice show about medieval england when there is much female power play and treachery and betrayal. stuff like these make good drama.

i wish they produced more show like these. fictional shows that follow the real historical events are great to watch. although it is probably not really what happened in the 15 century but to think that the characters of the movie are actually pretty much based on the real King Henry the VIII and anne and mary bolyen actually exists. i was wikepedia-ing the actual history and i tell you it is so damn cool. i think i should start raiding the history textbooks in Loughborough library when i get there.

and wow. kings can be such idiots in love and all love affairs. that is why is love historical romances. better start scouting for the Elizabeth dvd. that is another one i have always wanted to watch but never really gotten to doing it.

straight after the movie i loaded another dvd. this time old chinese history. i forgot to set the subtitles and i ended up watching this half chinese half irish guy trying to speak chinese. practically i could not really understand much of what was spoken.

beautiful but at the same time boring. but at least also following real life events in history. dont ask me why i picked two historical movie to watch on the same afternoon. well for starters - i am bored to my toes. so any movie would be a perk me up.dont know why real life stories tend to make me feel like i appreciate the movie more.

like a good friend i am. and like every concert there was. i pick up my ticket and travel all the way to school to watch lynette and 30 other people who look exactly like her on stage. and with all the make up and similar clothes it is hard to catch lynette dancing when 30 other people who look practically the same flock in and out of stage.

i was in school in the morning playing tennis. i miss being able to play singles even though i very much hate it some times. but it was fun to give this old woman a run for her balls. it is always fun to play with the tennis people. not only do i get to catch up on gossips from hall, basically i simply love these people.

i only have another like 16 days left in the country so better make use of it. i really need to play abit more before i leave. i need to improve myself so that i will not seem like a rookie in uk. must look pro abit even if i suck shit in playing.

i actually went home and back to school again in the evening for lynette's concert. i wore my little white dress which i bought for 5 bucks at suntec 'ah mah' sale. actually i have never wore it although i bought it for more than a year because i always thought it was too small and tight. in fact when i bought it i couldnt try it at all. and when i went home i thought it was too small. but when i finally decided to try it one more time i decided that it actually wasnt that bad.

the concert was as of every year - basically i still cannot understand the aesthetics of dance, but there were two pieces i actually liked. need to ask lynette for the song they used in that one dance of hers. i actually only appreciated the dances more coz i liked the songs.

and some of the dances i just was laughing to myself. with guys in nothing but underwear climbing metal bars. just like some bugis strip club (no offence) but it really was quite funny.

i know everything i am going to be doing for the next year is going to be more english than what i have already been doing. i guess ill be drinking more tea in the next year. and better still i might just get the more interesting and exotic teas in england. ill get caffine overload. not a coffee person in the last 2 years, and in fact i have taken a liking for tea. teh si or breakfast tea or plain old lipton. but there is always time for some teapots and teacups and a round of gossip.

did you know the average english drinks 4 cups of tea a day.

so why not pay 6.50 for a pot of tea in nice teapots and drink pinky up from nice teacups. in fact me and jillian ordered the hot tea just for the 'matching' tea set. we have been so excited to be drinking from a tea set for so long. with buttered scones and mushrooms sandwiches.

too bad the tea set wasnt as fancy as the ones we had at shangrila high tea the other time. i always thought that royal copenhagen's tea set would be top china with gold rimmed top. but it is just simple white and blue cobalt china set. and what was disappointing was that the plates dint match the tea set. i really thought that everything will have come from a single matching china set.

i think i should buy myself a teapot set when i am in the uk so that i can webcam my friends and have high tea with them. we can make our own tea and drink them infront of the computer whenever we like it. i have always wanted a nice tea pot set. doesnt have to be fancy or expensive. maybe like the white ones i had at indochine a few days ago would be fine. maybe i can bring my soon-to-be teapot set out on the lawn in spring or summer for a nice cup of tea and some books.

jillian was saying that she doesnt want decorative items for wedding gift. then i was agreeing with her that i dont want figurines or crystal vases. but i dont think ill mind a set of expensive gold rimmed china set.

bought myself some books. hopefully they can last my till my flight to the uk. need some reading material on the plane. still thinking to myself which one i should leave till the actual flight to read.

i have been wanting to read the wednesday letters for a long time. just that i saw it on the 3 for 2 shelf yesterday at borders. then i thought i might as well just get another two books and the other two looked pretty interesting.

time is the only thing i have no my hand now. not money. and when you have time you give yourself cheap thrill and the cheapest thrills are going for the free stuff. and running important errands for future self.

i went to do my visa for the final time yesterday morning and once again i was pissed at the whole visa system. they, as usual, insisted on my mom's 3 month bank statement. i went all the way to the bank at raffles place and got a letter of reference of finance, walked all the way from raffles place to tanjong pagar, waited 1 hour. i was so annoyed that i just insisted of submitting and going on ahead with my application. if the application is rejected im going to be so damn pissed off with the whole uk visa system im going to write to the british high commissioner.

at least i tried to go as early as i could while getting lost in raffles place finding the bank. lucky i was smart enough to bring along my bus guide and i was obviously bright enough to navigate myself through the horrible uniformity of the cbd while standing in the rain at the corner of the road. i was lost, it was raining and i was waiting for the traffic lights to turn green. all i did was whip out my bus guide, flip to the right page, realize i was at two road meeting, and decide the direction of path. all within 2 minutes.

a geog student like me should know how to read maps.

i was early enough to meet zizi at the visa office as well. he is still boyishly cute after not seeing him for a year. apparently he and lele are going to uk on the 18 coz lele is on exchange in Manchester. so that means that ill have one more person to find when i am bored.

highlight of the day is my impromptu trip to the Singapore asian civilisation museum. in fact i only decided to go half way waiting for my turn at the visa office. and since it was just near by, might as well pop by and utilize my expired NUS card for a free entry. and besides there is a new exhibition in place right now - 'Vietnam - from myth to modernity'. i overheard the counter lady telling the guy in front of me that there is a tour at 1 and another one at 2. so the moment i got my entry sticker, i started combing the museum for the tour guide and her gang. and by the time i found them through the maze of artifacts and glass casing, i have already missed 15 mins of the tour.

i have never been in here before. at least since they moved over to the old empress building. and from the outside i already feel that it is going to be an exciting trip. it looks pretty from the outside and i love the darkness and lightly lighted artifact they have around.

apparently the vietnam collection was interesting with explanation from the guide. i love all these myth and legends that civilizations have. and vietnam is a country that also has its share of the weirdest myths. i dont know why i simply love listening and learning about different myths. old stories about hindu gods and buddhist monks who set themselves on fire are like the coolest things. it is like being in another world their own and me being transported to a time where man is nothing and the gods are those who lived.

i love comparing the similarities of myths across cultures. myths often bring out a dreamy sensation for me. i love it when i get to be in a world were the reality i know doesnt exist. i adore when these stories come back to haunt me when i am daydreaming.

and this piece of art is like my favourite from the whole collection. if you look closely, it is made up all of stamps. to think that such a detailed portrait can be created from parts of stamps. even the winkles on mr ho chi min are part of stamps.

i joined the second tour at 2 by hunting for them through the place again. this time i learnt more about south east asia and our culture and religion. can be quite cool i think.

i love museums.

i came out from the museum with nothing to do for the rest of the afternoon so i just decided to sit around with a pot of tea at indochine while reading my book and enjoying the people watching session. with the weather being cool and slightly windy due to the rain everything was set in place for an hour or two of relaxation. i miss having to sit around and do nothing but read a book along the river side while listening to carribean music ringing from the cafe's speakers.

but suddenly there was loud and distint hindi music coming from this guy sitting on one of the benches. then i was still thinking to myself that this indian guy is crazy to blast his music so loud. but it was still pretty pleasing music with the singapore river in the background. making the whole atmosphere more authentic to the senses.

and then out of the blue. one indian guy and one indian girl same from the side and started dancing around the lamp post for all to see. and then i realised that they are doing a filming for a new movie. bollywood. it is nice to see how they film it. with them doing a few takes along the same stretch and then adding the additional dancing crew to it when they got to the bridge. how many times in your life you get to see people dancing around the lamp post along the singapore river.

modern bollywood do not dance around coconut trees anymore. they prefer lampposts

i tried catching them on video. at least as best as i can from where i was seated. and this video was like the best one i managed to get.