sleepy838

The Spirit of CNY

2012-01-29T20:34:00.001+08:00

Chinese New Year this year has been great so far. The one thing my friend pointed out about our new year is that you can be at home and still get ang paos when guests visit. It's very much different from Raya, where you need to visit houses to get any. I don't really know why we do it differently but I guess that's just the way our culture is.

The saddest part is when we take advantage of ang paos and get it just for the sake of money. It has sadly become a burden to give and an expectation to receive, and this is where we lose the true meaning of the celebration.

But in the spirit of CNY, do appreciate the gifts you are given and not take it for granted. Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year Eve

2012-01-22T20:06:00.000+08:00

Today is the last day of the rabbit year as we come together to celebrate and welcome the year of the dragon. In this auspicious day, very much like any cultural tradition, we usually have dinner with our family. And much like the Dongzhi festival last year, the food was catered. Later on, we're gonna have a little firework to mark the new year so I'm just killing time waiting for the countdown!

Our family dinner this evening.

We want to wish you Happy Chinese New Year, have a nice weekend and enjoy this wondrous new year!

Days leading to CNY

2012-01-17T17:37:00.000+08:00

I used to play the guitar EVERY SINGLE DAY especially when I was staying at the hostel in UBD. In the UK, I played less. However, lately I've been playing considerably less. And when I do play, I realized I've forgotten many of the lyrics and chords. The learning curve is endless when it comes to musical instruments. Therefore, I want to make it a mission to play the guitar at least three times a week for the next quarter of the year. Luckily for me, I enjoy playing the guitar very much so I'm actually looking forward to playing it.

Pee-ka-BOO!

Yet another sushi night, this time with le family. People who loves sushi like us will know their favourites from the top of their head so that when the waitress come, they just shout the orders without a glance at the menu. I mean, where's the fun in scrolling across the menu and pointing at a dish and say, "I want this one...Ha..ru.....maki?" *glance nervously at the waitress* But nowadays, I'm hearing people say they are getting tired of eating sushi. It used to be a delicacy, now its merely a kopitiam that you go for lunch. True story.

Of course I have to mention about durian. It's because everyone is talking about this. You see it everywhere because it is THAT season. And what makes it more special is the fact that durian season clashes with Chinese New Year. All the more reason to celebrate? Anyone serving durian for CNY this year?

Karaoke

2012-01-11T21:14:00.000+08:00

I finally met Izzy and Judin the other day at Times Square where we had lunch and a little karaoke session. That one year living with them was good fun. What I miss the most is probably the TV commercial guessing games that these two play, and not to mention the singing, recording, dancing and strutting that...wait, what? And of course not forgetting the adventurous part as well: that concert at O2, Alton Towers, Venice, Ebom, collapsed ceiling, evacuated from our home due to the substation fire, and I miss shawarma so much! I also realised that Izzy never signed me up for How to Look Good Naked. Hmmm.

Half a Spenceley

Memes-in-the-making

It's always comforting to use a new-ish karaoke room, especially the mics.

Otherwise, I'll probably be a kiasu and bring my own mic!

Shely came with me too.

I think we did pretty well on the k box. If there were scores, we would probably get 101% each. LOL. Hopefully next time we'll get together with the rest of the gang. Spenceley reunite is definitely in my agenda.

Another Toy House

2012-01-07T22:21:00.000+08:00

Today I don't feel like writing much so I will let do with a stack of photos taken sometime last December when my brother got himself a LEGO set. He wanted to build a better-looking house than the one we did previously, which I wrote about here. This LEGO version took my brother quite a while to build because he was busy taking stop motion photos at the same time. Too much Mystery Guitar Man!

A disassembled head in a mass of puzzle pieces.

Putting together the main door.

And the result...

It's quite impressive, I must say. It makes me want to go all Godzilla on it! Next time, I want to build an island.

2012

2012-01-02T00:17:00.002+08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!

(source)

WOO HOO!

How was your New Year celebration? Mine was actually quite uneventful although we did countdown to new year while watching various fireworks went off at midnight around the neighbourhood from our balcony. Free view so can't complain. 2011 was a great year. Lots of good stuff came my way so I hope that will carry on this year. And hopefully, it comes sooner than later. Waiting is not a fun game because it can be exhilarating. I just hope the phrase "good things come to those who wait" is true and not merely a form of excuse to procrastinate.

On a lighter note, I love our cats so much so here I'm gonna share with you some lovely pictures of Wikkie and Twinkle.

We like giving Twinkle a ride in the toy wheelbarrow, which he absolutely enjoys.

He likes to snuggle too!

Wikkie and Twinkle bromanc-ing. Adorable!

Christmas

2011-12-27T00:15:00.003+08:00

Having spent my Christmas walking around a quiet London last year, I'm so grateful to be with my family this year. I decided that we should do something more than just casual dinner so about a month ago, we made plans to do a secret santa this Christmas. Shopping for the perfect gift under such a low $10 budget was not easy! It was challenging yet fun. But I'm glad everyone got something awesome! I know I did :)

You must be wondering why the heck are we celebrating Christmas when it's clearly not our culture. Well, I don't really know exactly. We're greatly influenced maybe. I remember my first Christmas when I was young and we had this big Christmas tree propped in a corner in our old living room. I guess we celebrate it for a different reason.

We headed out shopping the day before Christmas and I honestly can't recall what we did, but here's us dining at Ideal.

Definition of a third wheel:

HEE HEE

Alright, until then, you can see loads of Christmas pics Shely uploaded on FB if you want to. I'm off to watch some YouTube videos before calling it a night. New Year is around the corner!

Happy Dongzhi Festival!

2011-12-22T22:08:00.001+08:00

Today marks the winter solstice festival and I was lucky to have two meals that include tang yuan in both! Dad decided to go on with the tang yuan rolling without us this year and by the time I stepped into the kitchen, the smell of sweet tang yuan soup filled the air. Our lunch was the usual fried kueh tiaw tapao from the usual coffee shop near our place. It's a weird combination eating tang yuan with kueh tiaw, I know. But most importantly, I woke up late so I didn't have time to prepare lunch!

Fortunately for us, mom decided to order food for dinner so it was nice to come home from Seria to find readily prepared food. It's such a nice change from all the cooking and cleaning, you know.

Heavenly duck to mark this special occasion.

Mom is always ready for the camera!

We're really looking forward to Christmas this year because unlike previous years, we actually got a little something special planned so I can't wait for it. In the meantime, we've been cleaning the house a lot lately, clearing out unwanted stuff. We've actually got a scanner in good condition that we don't need so if anyone wants a fully functioning scanner, please let me know.

Cheers from all of us. Hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Bowling

2011-12-19T01:12:00.002+08:00

Strike or no strike?

Hello people of the world. How's the holiday so far? We've past the halfway mark so you better cherish every bits and pieces of this holiday before everything comes striking. No pun intended. On one of those forgotten days, I drove my sister and brother to the newly opened complex at Seria, much to their delight. We ended up playing two games of bowling and watched two 3D movies. I was quite dizzy after that as I've not gotten used to the 3D glasses on top of my actual glasses. Wouldn't it be nice if we can integrate 3D glasses with our regular glasses? That way we don't have to wear both at the same time.

Shely having a go at it.

How well did we bowl? Let's just say we hung our head in shame after the two games, and especially after being sandwiched between two pro teams. On our left, we had two young people who got strikes so often we lost count. On our right was a family who used their own bowling balls complete with wipes and gloves. We didn't even wear socks!

Up Top

2011-12-11T10:17:00.002+08:00

I haven't gone up the hill in over a year so I decided to do so one fine day. From what I've heard, the road leading to the army training spot has been cut off to make way for the road construction project. It does indeed look different now as a result of the construction work. I wonder if the hill, or what's left of it, is still worthy of the name Bukit Lumut. But it does seem to be the only hill we have in this village and the only spot for moon sighting in Belait. That has to count for something.

I believe I can fly~

The dual way carriage road construction is under way!

Deforestation is inevitable in this case.

I've got the best view of the sunset in Lumut from the Lumut Hill.

The Wooden Toy House

2011-12-07T12:43:00.007+08:00

I've always wanted to build my own house. The other day, I finally got the chance to. Well, it's not exactly one that I can even put my foot in but it's closer than I'll ever get. Here's how my brother and I created a house - from scratch!

Step 1. We gathered a few planks of wood. By that, I mean a $2.90 pre-cut pieces ready to be assembled from the low priced gift shop in Seria. After much effort in making sure the edges are smooth, we carefully put the pieces together.

Step 2. Then, it's time for some color! We collected all our painting equipment, including that bar of chocolate and diet coke, in case we get thirsty.

Step 3. Next, we tore the pieces apart to paint each piece individually. We started with the floor. We picked green, of course, because we love the nature.

Step 4. I wanted a red roof because it's such a cliché color for a roof.

Step 5. The walls are obviously white in color because this is Brunei after all.

Step 6. Finally, we placed all the pieces back together to admire our new home that we cannot live in. Isn't it a nice unstable house?

Alright, now that we're done, we don't really know what to do with it because let's face it, it's quite an eyesore and, not to mention, a waste of space!

Goodbye November

2011-11-30T20:04:00.002+08:00

Before I begin my chatter, let me enlighten you with a very soothing photo of a hibiscus flower.

It's simply lush!

Now, where has time gone? A blink of an eye and gone are the months of October and November. Normally, I would be looking forward to my December holiday but it doesn't really apply now because I'm having this uncertainly long vacation where I try not to think too much about what's ahead and just enjoy it while it last. I'm not complaining, you know. I do enjoy waking up near lunch time and not dealing with deadlines but sometimes I do wish I'm doing something productive. Anything! (e.g. watering the plants or even scrubbing the floor! I kid.) But oh well, life is bigger, it's bigger than you and you are not me (quoting R.E.M's song).

I love it when my siblings hunt for games at the game store. For the record, I suck at playing games. So much so that I asked my brother to invite his friend over just so he could help me with the first part of Medal of Honor. But I still gave up very quickly so don't bother evaluating my noob level.

We dropped by the mall the other day to check out Skin79's 1st Anniversary. It's pretty cool. There were lots of enthusiastic people roaming the store so I bet purchases were aplenty.

I went to get me the prize I won via a lucky draw. And I got their gel product which I gave to Shely because I know she appreciates it more than me. But I still want to thank the organiser of the contest for the prize.

And one last thing, here's me driving around with a pillow on my head. Killing it! LOL

Spongebob Frenzy!

2011-11-26T16:36:00.004+08:00

Warning: The following pictures are very bright, equivalent to looking directly at the sun.

I don't know how long I will keep talking about Spongebob before somebody starts complaining. But I'm going to make my own initiative by killing down the topic a little. To do so, I will have to compile possibly my last "Spongebob Hunt" items I found while I was out and about. Mind you, any new trend in this country spreads like wildfire. Since it's the Angry Birds era, nearly every toy shops/stores/booths you visit will have Angry Birds merchandise. Spongebob is no exception. You see him everywhere! But here I'd like to show you some of the better Spongebob stuff I found around town.

These are items found in ToysRUs. They have a cool collection of playing cards and puzzles, all at a very posh price, I might add.

Here is a more complete 5 selections all in one box. I am yet to find me a Squidward beanie bag.

This lenticular puzzle looks fun.

Here's one of the more common items: the Spongebob doll, of course. There are basically two versions, the flat printed nose and the 3D nose, both at the same price which is just ridiculous.

I found this at 1st Emporium. If you know what it is, please tell me because I'm still trying to figure out what it is.

You can bring Spongebob with you wherever you go with these assorted bags! Now wouldn't it be fun to bring this bag to work?

PvZ keychains

2011-11-21T18:59:00.004+08:00

I'm not a regular at Gadong's Nam Hong Restaurant. Heck I'm not even a regular at the KB one. What am I a regular of? KFC, Ayamku, Jollibee and the likes, you get my drift.

This is only the second time I've been here so seeing how rare I eat at this place, I decided to snap some photos to put in my drawer of memories, for future references.

I'm not a fan of this area because it is almost impossible to find a good parking space.

I wouldn't say this restaurant serves the best food because there are better eateries around but its not too bad because I'm not particularly picky when it comes to food.

However, the "Seria kolomee" as they claimed wasn't as good as I thought, since I'm a regular customer at the Seria mee stall so I give this an average rating.

My brother ordered Western as usual. Yes, in a Chinese coffee shop he ordered a western! By the looks of it, I give it a rating as...meh! But I want to point out that they ran out of baked beans that day.

I honestly can't remember who I was with when I came here the first time around a few years back. I have to ask Sharon, it might be her.

Oh, one thing before I end this. Look what I found at Hua Ho!

I want ALL of them!!!

The Art of Cheating

2011-11-17T12:05:00.003+08:00

I've mentioned before that I've been playing Plants Vs Zombies again. This time, I discovered a software called Cheat Engine and boy, the game has been a blast since then! Don't believe me? Here's how my Last Stand 5th flag level looks like.

I'm on fire!

Speaking of zombies, my sister has been very obsessed with a character from The Walking Dead. I, on the other hand, just find the series brilliant and can't wait for the next episode. I love how the series is full of twisted plots and surprises. It's always exciting to have something to look forward to in my otherwise dull life.

Cute

2011-11-05T20:32:00.002+08:00

How's it going? These days I've been preoccupied by all things entertainment. Well, almost. I'm currently attempting to read five books. Yes, I can be very greedy at times. I've got two of Dr. Dan Gottlieb's book, a book by Barbara and Allan Pease, Business Icons and Steve Jobs Biography, all of which have bookmarks placed not even near the halfway mark. But I'm sure to get it going once I find my motivation.

In the meantime, I've also just completed the Plants Vs Zombies game in adventure mode for the 3rd time, this time using the awesome cheat engine I just discovered. I love cheating. In this context, of course.

As for TV, no doubt I've got many lined up like an assembly factory ready for me to watch. It's senseless to ask me to list them all but among them, I've recently picked up Falling Skies, American Horror Story and The Walking Dead Season 2. Oh, have I mention that I catch X Factor UK and DWTS too? Johnny Robinson is great and I love Ricki and Derek!

Here's a random picture of our two cats napping. Cute!

And we've got a dog too in case you're wondering. This old dog we call him Boy boy. No idea why my brother is "shooting" at him though.

Right, that is all for today. According to my brother, chocolate that contains 70% dark chocolate tastes really bitter #totallyrandomtrivia

Ritual

2011-11-01T22:25:00.003+08:00

My journey continues with a trip to the mall with my siblings. It's sort of a tradition with us. We would just find a good weekend to go watch a movie and eat out. We even enter the same stores every time. Its almost an insult not to go in our usual stores when we're in the area. Although the stores here are considerably smaller-scaled compared to the ones in Leeds, you can still find almost everything you need here which is a nice touch to my local shopping experience.

The mall food court. Always a nice place to chill for us.

Shely picking nuts. I asked for the sweet one and I think she got the salted one.

Yup, still not happy with her selection.

My hunt for Spongebob items continue.. This one, in particular, looks cool but I have totally no idea what it does because it doesn't come in a language I can understand.

This was another day, another time and another place. My mum was getting her haircut so Stephen and I decided to tag along like little kids.

Free head massage. No guarantee the head will stay intact after the procedure.

Here's Stephen being extremely asian. I mean look at him! He got the whole package: glasses, shorts, palm resting on knee and an Old Master Q comic in hand. Classic apek posture if you ask me!

Guess what these are?

Portable cooling fans! Oh, I so love Asians' creative minds! ><

Reptiles

2011-10-27T00:25:00.003+08:00

I'm quite fascinated by reptiles although I never thought I would actually hold one for no reason. I mean, living in this country, there is no excuse. Like it or not, you will encounter snakes and whatnots. I've had a snake suddenly dropped in front of my face while I was collecting the laundry outside my house. I've had a snake hissed at me when I nearly stepped on its tail while walking along the side of a building. You watch those guys at Animal Planet handling snakes like it's a piece of cake. Well, it's a piece of poisonous cake that kills.

But of course, reptile exhibitions portray a completely different story. Not only are the snakes well-fed, they are tamed and they don't bite. Hence, no excuse. You've got to hold them and feel their weight on your arm and stroke their shiny skin. I love how real and heavy they are.

I think at this point I was getting too comfortable with the snake that I was man-handling the snake too roughly, much to the displeasure of the owner. Sorry!

Have I told you I hate lizards, to a very personal level? Well, this chameleon certainly felt like a lizard so I did not enjoy holding it and feeling its soft body on my palm. Yes, that was my fake smile.

But I do love this black snake!

Outings

2011-10-24T15:08:00.004+08:00

Met a few friends since I got back. It's really nice catching up with them.

Met up with Nina in Seria for lunch :) I just remembered I met up with Kelly first but forgot to take a pic with her so that's one missing piece right there. Bummer.

Met Mijah for dinner last week. Thanks for bringing me to that new KFC!

Bumped into Li Wen at the Mall the other day.

Technically not a meet-up but I really miss talking to Izzy so a FT will do for now.

Bumped into Haniff at FOS!

Lunch with Mimi's gang :D

One Morning at the Park

2011-10-17T16:54:00.006+08:00

On a Sunday morning, I drove Sharon's car to Seria and drove dad's car back. Needless to say, with my driving skills, I find driving auto and manual equally daunting. The road constructions at various places felt like they were adding insult to injury. Of course, I say this with slight exaggeration as always but I stand true to the fact that I don't drive as well as I wish.

This is Sharon and I after our breakfast marathon. Her birthday is coming up so I'm very excited. Why am I excited? Because I haven't tasted birthday cakes for a long time so that's something that I can tick off my must-have food list. After this, I should probably put this in my must-not-have food list.

My brother kept nagging me to bring him to OGDC that morning so I, being the awesome C-C-C sister that I am, brought him there under the hot morning sun. He's not exactly a kid anymore to be frank. I mean, just look at him giving a go at the slide.

You know you're too old for a slide if the length of your body takes up half the slide. But hey, what's important is that you have fun, right? Right! So I gave the slide a go too.

But I struggled getting up. Man, I need to do more exercise!

We were like giants among those play structures!

And of course those famous mini buildings at OGDC are not to be missed. Here's Stephen stomping the ground of the HQ. PAKAT!

And here's me sitting on SMSA. I went to two schools with the same exact structure many years ago so moving to that second school was kinda weird because it felt like I've been there before. And this model is a replica of my old schools so it's kinda nice that they make mini versions of them here.

My posts are actually way behind because pictures are piling up. I don't know. Should I post all of them or skip them all? The thing is, I don't know what's my purpose of posting stuff. Sometimes it feels like a routine that I've been doing for 5 years. Other times, I just enjoy posting pictures and writing. Whatever it is, I do hope readers enjoy reading my blog as I do writing them!

The Park That Once Was

2011-10-14T10:41:00.002+08:00

Growing up, this place used to be my favourite destination, and all kids for that matter. God knows how this place can turn from the ultimate theme park to one where no one even care to take a glance. It's just such a shame. Well, Mimi and I decided to revisit this place. For old times sake, I guess you can say that.

The last time I stood here, triceratops used to rule the world.

Mimi's self portrait!

Hey, the fountain still works! Okay, its not as run down as I thought. Still...it's like a ghost theme park here. I recommend you come to JP just for the tongkeng. Seriously.

The camels are still alive! And Mimi managed to get on one.

I still have that photo of our family posing with this camel. Need to fish that out for comparison! Of course, seeing Mimi climbed on that thing, I also wanna try myself. Obviously, I failed.

This is the best I could do.

We would've gone further had it not been the rain. It never fails to rain everytime I visit this place! After all these years you would've thought the curse is lifted but nah, rain persisted. So our adventure was put on hold. But as Arnold says, "I'll be back!"

What's in my bag?

2011-10-06T07:30:00.002+08:00

It's probably a good time to do this tag because I have nothing to update. I got "unofficially" tagged by Shely the other day and if you wanna see the content of her bag, click here. After seeing her stuff, I realised how little I own. I don't have one single makeup in my bag and I have no keys! Such a shame. But here's what I do have in my bag for stalkers and whatnots.

This is my very simple targus bag that is conveniently big enough to put in all my purchases without having to hold them in a separate bag.

And these are literally all I have in my bag at the moment.

Top left: umbrella (something I can't live without), tissue, tic tac and a hand sanitiser I just bought yesterday at Guardian.

Top right: my phones

Bottom left: my passport (cos I just travelled), a rail card and a bus pass (which I don't need anymore but haven't got anywhere else to leave it)

Bottom right: the basic essential, a wallet. And of course I also have in my bag this digital camera which I used to take these photos but have no other camera to take a photo of this camera.

Sigh. I'm bored writing this up already. I must be the owner of the most uninteresting bag in the whole world. But then, I don't like messy bags so I guess I shouldn't complain about this one. At least I don't have rubbish in my bag cos I've seen people with bags that have old receipts and used tissues and I don't know how they can go about their lives not caring about rubbish in their bags. I simply can't!

I'm Back

2011-10-04T10:18:00.002+08:00

I'm finally home now after being away for a year. What's my initial thought on that? I told my friend there is a mixed feeling. Wherever you are, there is always something that you can take away from that place and no doubt I've had the best experience of my life studying in the UK. The things I've done in that one year are more than I ever did in my whole life and I'm glad I got persuaded into studying abroad in the first place. It's funny how it felt like just yesterday when I embarked into the foreign land. A blink of an eye and here I am back again. It feels almost like a dream.

Here are some photos I've been meaning to share with you but never got the chance. But since its been quiet at home nowadays, I thought it'd be nice to share these with you now.

This is the street where my friend and I busked that August while we were still in the midst of writing up our dissertation. It will be one of those places on earth where I will never forget. Busking may not sound like a big deal for people in the UK or anywhere around the world but for people from this corner of the earth like me, busking on the street is quite the adventure.

This is my regular route to the computer cluster when I needed to do work on the school's computer. I love how scary it can get especially when I need to walk this route at 3am in the morning. It kept me awake all the way through.

This is mixed grill with cheesy fries at Tinseltown in London. It's extremely meaty and very high in calories I presume, therefore not recommended if you're on a diet. On the upside, it's delicious. I had this when I was in London with Mimi a couple of weeks ago. The food adventure in the UK was quite fun because they do have quite a number of dishes that you can't find here. My favourite is a tie between shawarma and chicken tikka.

Mimi loves Costa so whenever you see me posting a picture of Costa drink, you know I'm out with Mimi. Likewise, if I'm seen with a Starbucks cup, you know I'm out with Izzy. I'm generally not a coffee person so you'd never catch me going inside a cafe by myself. I'm more of a fast food junkie.

I saw this at Sainsbury's the other day and I almost wanted to get it but its too big and I don't think I can finish eating this but still...it's Spongebob! This is going to be my next birthday wish.

These are the UK versions of AirAsia. Cheap flights, FTW! We used both Jet2 and Ryanair when we went to Italy.

In Birmingham, we met up with the twins. I haven't seen them for ages so it was nice to catch up with them.

This is the transit at the airport in Dubai. Not much to do here but walked around like everybody else.

So that's all I have for now. I've gotten my project feedback and I'm very happy that I passed. The classification is not out yet though but at least I know its gonna be a pass. So what's next? You wait and see :)

Can't go wrong with colorful chocolates

2011-09-28T06:36:00.005+08:00

Who's up for some M&M's treats? Well, you're in luck. My friend and I happened to have some pictures to share with you today (If you're expecting actual treats, sorry to burst your bubble because we didn't even get any for ourselves!)

A bottle of this will surely get you drunk!

It's like Willy Wonka's factory in here.

Me and Miss Green (or whatever she's called) sporting the same shade of pink! But you gotta hand it to her for flaunting that sexy-ass leg. #wtfmoment

Mimi stepped on to the machine to determine her color. And she's a....

ELECTRIC GREEN! I love this color! I didn't step on the machine so I don't know mine but I'm secretly hoping that I'm a red.

And here's the blue corner.

M&M's mugs in their trademark shades. I love how colorful this place is. My eyeballs just won't stop popping out of their sockets!

They're quite big on football as well. That's quite a cheerful team, isn't it?

How many goals were made? Oh no, Mr. Orange!

The orange corner really caught my eye. Look how bright and lovely they are.

And I got a nice big hug from this red mascot. I'm not kidding. He literally walked towards me with arms wide open! I like how the staff here let us take photos and even offered to take photos for us and WITH us! How fun is that?

Oh, this is just me and the four Beatles lookalike crossing...I'm guessing a replica of Abbey Road? We made it safely through to the checkout (a very subtle design, eh?)

If you're still wondering, this was in London the same day we visited the wax figures. It's a new store at Leicester Square that just opened for business in June so if you happened to be in London, do visit this colorful place because its characters and colors will almost certainly bring a smile to your face!

The All-Star Frenzy

2011-09-27T03:07:00.005+08:00

On the day of the "reporting", we took the opportunity to explore London a little bit more. What better way to do so than to visit Madame Tussauds? I'll be a little silly with my post so let me begin my story.

We started off by arriving fashionably late with our dates. It wasn't us who were late. It was the guys. They just had to get their hair done to perfection.

Once we arrived, I was seated next to Clooney. We had a great chat about Ellen stalking him and of course, the weather. Mimi was nowhere to be found so I went looking for her. After a while, I found her chilling at the backstage with Spielberg and Barrymore.

Okay, this story telling is tiring so I'm changing my tactic to just put random captions for the rest of the post. #FAIL

(left) Me looking extremely odd and awkward next to the Beckhams. (right) Mimi and Nicole on the red carpet.

One of my favourite bands!

Errr, emm. Lost for words. Basically, Mimi was the decent one.

What? You didn't know I was the torch bearer at last season's Olympics? Watch the tape again.

Cute and clever!

Go, GB!

Me with that evil guy and that genius.

Yay to Marvel comics! I really enjoyed the Marvel 4D show at the theater there. It was ironically my first 3D experience ever so not surprisingly I was jumping off my seat like a freaking noob.

So that's about it. I hope you like the pictures as much as I enjoy taking them. This may be my last "adventurous" post. Anything after this will just have pictures of me staring at my laptop because I will be back home by then. But hopefully I can squeeze in one last post before my flight. We'll see. Until then, chao!

At the Uni

2011-09-25T23:00:00.008+08:00

I'm quite distracted by my sister calling me on Facetime right now so I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

(Edited)

Alright, after two hours on the phone with my sister, I've finally hung up and have a good look at this post. I realise that this post deserves more than a line. So here goes.

A couple of days ago, Mimi brought me to her school for a visit. The first thing that sprang to mind when I saw the compound was that this campus is so much bigger than the one in Leeds. They even have a separate building for computer science, whereas ours is a shared building. Going from one corner to another takes a pretty long time and the routes are quite confusing for a first-time visitor like me. I love how the uni is very student-centred. Walking around, I feel like a new student all over again. Unfortunately though, I'm not. This uni even has its own rail station. I can't begin to say how much I enjoy my visit here.

A very funny looking statue somewhere in the school. Sorry I still can't describe the location in detail but this is right in front of the public health building.

Little did I realise I'm now in the computer science field having taken my masters in computing but I'm probably only still vaguely connected to Maths.

A very excited me, after sitting on a bench eating an apple and a banana while savouring the serene environment that forms the heart of the campus.

The landmark tower at the heart of the campus. You can even see this tower from Mimi's place.

Mimi posing with the backdrop of the great hall. Apparently, this is where the graduation ceremonies are held twice a year. Yes, so much bigger than the hall in Leeds. I should probably ease up on the comparisons!

What could have been.

Mimi's good old Chemistry department, although she's not studying under this faculty this year. I will be back home in Brunei sooner than you think. There will be tons of things I'll miss about life here, from being a student itself to the environment and the people. The student life, as I know it, is over. Welcome to the cold and cruel world (according to the half-empty hypothesis).

Still in the city

2011-09-21T06:49:00.003+08:00

This is sort of like a continuation of the last post. If you haven't read the last post, go on and scroll down and have a read before you continue. Anyhoo, I noticed my blog these days are just filled with photos with little or no words. Oh, well. This one is no different.

Apparently, the fiddler is a common man on the street of B'ham as he busks almost daily in the same area.

Spongebob soft toys machine! Of course, this is one of those machines where you have to hook the item successfully into the chute and chances are pretty slim so I don't even bother to try.

This is one of the arcades at Star City that we entered. I like the one at the bowling alley downstairs though.

I haven't watch a movie in a cinema for quite sometime now so I hope I can watch one soon. So what was I doing on this wall? Just sesiapun nia.

There are quite a few hand prints along the floor leading to the cinema but I have no idea who they belong to.

Guess what? I found another Spongebob playing machine. I just love this place filled with Spongebob merchandise!

The toilet at Star City also deserves a picture for its nice blend of colour so here's Mimi and the mighty hand dryer. Along the corridor, I found a row of those vending machines with toy bubbles and I can't resist buying some toy bubbles for myself. Yes, I'm a full grown adult. Naturally, I picked the Spongebob vending machine!

Ready?! Coin in...

Rotate...

And voila!

Whew, that was a long post. Oh, it wasn't? It took me forever to finish this post because I got distracted midway through because I heard that Instagram has new update with new features so Mimi and I were racing to see who update their Instagram first (for the record, I won) Alright, now my post is just getting senseless so until next time! There will be more updates from Birmingham so watch out for more adventures here!

B'ham Day

2011-09-17T21:07:00.005+08:00

I'm in Birmingham! I've left Leeds a couple of days ago so I'll be in this bull city for the rest of the month, thanks to Mimi for having me! You are not in this city if you've not taken a picture with the bull so the first picture is a standard compulsory photo of me and Mr. Bull.

For most of the afternoon, Mimi and I walked around the city which is quite big! And here's a random guy shooting bubbles at Mimi. Welcome to B'ham!

We even played a game which is an event as part of the Olympics sponsor's games and as predicted, I lost both games to Mimi. hmmph. At least I got a Cadbury chocolate in the shape of the Olympic mascot :)

Here's us in a Blue Dragon mobile. I don't know how we ended up there but we brought back home free sweet chilli sauce!

Mimi and I decided to hop in a water bus for a half-hour tour around the canal in B'ham with a bunch of Japanese tourists. One of them even spoke Japanese to us, if only I knew how to reply them...wakarimasen!

I don't know what is this weird thing in the middle of nowhere, with hands and legs stretched out and smiling stupidly at the camera.

Since we have bus passes, we decided to go on random bus rides that late afternoon. We hopped on the first bus that stopped at one of the stands in the city centre and found ourselves arriving at a small town area.

Turns out this town is quite close to the university so we decided to navigate our way back home on foot. But after a while, we came to realise it is actually quite far but thanks to a certain someone who likes to walk, we walked anyway. Somewhere along the road, we passed by this hospital that I just need to show you.

Isn't it awesome? It's so modern and has very nice architectural structure unlike the ones we see at most places. Basically throughout the day, I find myself saying "I love B'ham" so often that I feel guilty 0:)

Bite-size

2011-09-15T08:31:00.004+08:00

Sushi dinner at YO! Sushi: a collection of sushi photos.

A Dance

2011-09-11T06:21:00.004+08:00

I decided to watch a ballet show because I'm bored and have nothing much to do this weekend. So today I watched Hamlet by Northern Ballet. Honest to God, I don't know the plot behind Hamlet. I still don't so I'll have to look it up after this. Well, that's part of the reason why I was lost at some parts of the show. I can't really describe much about the dance because I know little about ballet but all I can say is it was a very beautiful performance. I love the outfits and the stage design and of course, the dance was magnificent.

The promotional poster.

Hamlet advertisement on a phone booth. Yes, of all the places I could take a picture with the Hamlet poster, I chose this phone booth.

Cameras weren't allowed but here's a picture before the start of the show when the curtain's still drawn. What's interesting (and rather unfortunate) is during the break, an old lady sitting in front of me got very ill and collapsed. They had to call the paramedics but eventually, she got up with the help of the theatre assistants and was led out of the theater, probably to an ambulance. That was quite a drama there in front of me besides the actual drama unfolding on the stage. I hope she is well now.

Oh, and on to another story, today after a rainy evening, Farah caught a rainbow that sat very nicely between the buildings in the city centre. It's a good opportunity to take a picture! And make a wish, perhaps?

A Night of Good Music

2011-09-08T06:45:00.004+08:00

Zanna invited us to a gig last night because she's a big fan of a singer who's featured that night. It was great fun, the music was good and the singer Hannah was really nice.

Bruno Merz performed that night. I love one of their songs, For You Now. It's now on repeat in my playlist :)

Zanna getting anxious as her favourite singer was about to go on stage.

Farah and Angela posing for a photo with Hannah on stage and the very talented Kieran on the violin.

We got to meet Hannah after her performance. Zanna was very ecstatic! Hannah and her manager are very nice and really down to earth. We took some pictures with them and even got her to sign autographs for us.

Me and Hannah Trigwell

An autographed EP!

Check out Hannah's latest music video.

Lab Rat

2011-09-05T21:50:00.004+08:00

My friend Nhung left for good a couple of days ago. That night we went about the uni to take pics, which is something she'd never do on a normal day so that was pretty nice for a change. It was mostly reminiscence of the days gone by. Ok, I sound like an old woman.

But before that, she was over at my place playing with the guinea pig, much to the delight of Ebom? I think Ebom has grown fat. I think I overfed her because she's never without food. That's unhealthy, isn't it?

Here piggy piggy~ (hope that's not in any way offensive for Ebom)

When we head to the lab, it was empty which is quite rare. So this is how the lab looks like after the deadline. It was quite a mess actually!

I found this guitar lying around so. I. jam.

I'm gonna miss Nhung very much! She's been such a great friend and has always been there for me. Hope to see her again someday. That also applies to my other coursemates too. It's been a pleasure knowing all of them!

Out, about and bored as hell

2011-09-05T04:57:00.004+08:00

I've been out to the city centre non-stop these past few days. Everytime I go there, I keep telling myself that I should walk so that I can exercise while shopping but alas, laziness got the best of me so whenever I'm near a bus stop and a bus is approaching I can't help but hop on it. I'm such a lazy person. Alright, I'll walk tomorrow. Challenge accepted!

We made it to the BT today! Here's a nice little screenshot of us on our first day of raya. Thanks to Farah for submitting this photo!

The BT 03/09/2011

So, is anyone up for cold Japanese dish? We've got a good restaurant here called Lush. You've got to try the food here. Unfortunately, the 'wasabi' I bought has expired so I have to throw it away. Oh well, I'll try to finish the tub next time.

Next time? There won't be no next time! Sorry, impromptu rapping.

Do you know how strong is the smell of Lush products? Well, I can smell it as I turn the corner of Lands Lane into Commercial Street. If you don't know where that is, let's just say the smell is pretty strong. But the funny thing is, Lush products have a tendency to lose its smell if you leave it there for a while. It doesn't linger on your skin very long at all. Surprisingly, my Dove stays longer. That makes me wonder if its because Lush products are natural products therefore the smell fades naturally?

Soaps, bombs and whatnots.

I still have the lip scrub which I have no use for, honestly. It's now packed away in one of my boxes and I've checked that the expiry date is still far away so that's fine.

I watched this film last week (or the week before) with Izzy. It's quite a good flick so you guys should check it out. Of course, I only watched it for Justin Timberlake :)

Lady Gaga on the display for Mac products. This was taken just a few days ago and yesterday, this ad has already been replaced by a new one. You can never keep up with these kind of new ranges of cosmetic products because cosmetic companies are always in a rush to market new lines. It's just too tiring to even think about it. One of the reasons why I don't bother.

I found this pistol somewhere in Leeds. It's not for sale though but it looks so cool.

Beginning of the End

2011-09-02T23:59:00.003+08:00

Hey people, how has life been treating you? I've finally completed my dissertation and submitted it a day before the deadline. Way to go! However, it remains to be seen whether my report meets the expectation of my supervisor and my assessor. On a personal level, I am not that happy with the quality of my report because I know there are so much room for improvement. But that aside, I'm now what you call living the life. You know, its this timeline where you are not studying and you are not working. Just like my situation a year ago, oh yeah I'm back there.

Dissertation - check!

I'm now stressing over whether to cook for dinner or order takeout. #livingthelife

And I'm debating whether to watch a movie tonight or karaoke. #livingthelife

I can go on but I can see people are picking up stones to throw it in my direction so I better stop.

The first day of raya was quite fun because despite the small group of people who are left in Leeds, we still find our entertainment, not to mention great local food that I really love!

We were literally sitting in the same dining table while this group chat was on. I love the iPhones. Why do you have to quit, Steve Jobs?

Another reason to love the iPhone: the apps! Farah told us about this app for jobless people so now I'm settling for a new avatar. Like it? Please comment, like and subscribe! (sorry, YouTube overload)

Another Day in York

2011-08-29T05:31:00.004+08:00

Today, I brought Mimi to York for the sole purpose of taking pictures. It was quite a windy and cold day despite what the weatherman says. Also, I think somewhere in my previous post, I've mentioned that I've crossed off travelling in my list for the year. Well, apparently not. It wasn't really planned. I still have my writing to do actually so I'm still as busy as ever. I just thought it would be nice to go somewhere since Mimi is staying over here for a few days. Sometimes you just gotta put work aside and gather guilt so that you can get your ass back to your work. Don't know about you but it works for me.

Me catching the train at the rail museum.

Mimi and her sweeeet ride, which is temporarily on display in the museum.

Ahead are random photos taken around York. It's such a beautiful city and all I can tell you is you have to come over and see for yourself!

Busking

2011-08-21T09:00:00.002+08:00

This is one of those things you can't do back home. So my friend decided to do it while we're still here. So on Saturday afternoon we joined the other buskers for a little busking experience at the fringe festival in Leeds. In case you don't know what busking is, it simply means street performance. So for one afternoon, I was a street performer.

We were quite nervous at first but when we got comfortable it was better. It is definitely a great experience and if given the chance I would do it again no doubt. Don't ask how much we got that day...because it wasn't much! Nevertheless, all proceeds go to charity, well, except for the few pounds we scrapped off for the taxi fare to get home.

I have one more week to write up my report so I'll be extremely busy from now on. Brain on!

Another Ebom Post

2011-08-11T23:36:00.003+08:00

I'm gonna miss this little bugger when I leave.

Sigh. Life of a guinea pig...

Trip to Scotland

2011-08-05T16:33:00.005+08:00

Scotland is probably the most beautiful place I've visited so far. From the city of Edinburgh that divides the old and the new to the beautiful Highlands that house a sizeable number of lochs, glens and mountains, they have it all. There is also a very rich history and strong heritage here. You get to hear about the Loch Ness monster, the ghosts of Edinburgh, witchery, the public hangings in Grassmarket and many more myths and gruesome stories of the past. I'm quite fascinated by them and I would love to make another trip here again some day.

This is the New Town area facing the sea, which is also our apartment's view.

Listening to the commentary while riding the tour bus. Ooops, wrong channel.

The highland bulls.

A beautiful glen in the Highland.

We took a cruise around the famous Loch Ness. The view was spectacular but unfortunately, no creature was spotted in the lake. Maybe Nessie was taking a break.

At East Princes Street Gardens.

As we walk along The Mount, we came across a guy playing the bagpipes so here is a picture opportunity with him ;)

The Edinburgh festival in August is in full swing now. This includes the Assembly festival, I think. Not sure what it is though.

The Royal Mile! We actually arrived in Edinburgh on the day of the royal wedding so this street was closed for the wedding and we couldn't get in so we came here on Monday instead.

The Edinburgh castle is a place you can't miss wherever you are in Edinburgh because its up the hill and is very much conspicuous.

Another one of those "street performers" and as usual, this one moves as soon as I donated a few pennies. I also stopped for another street performance that lasted a good one hour which involves balloons, whips and chains. Don't ask.

This is children in the Victorian times, taken in the Museum of Childhood.

Arguably the most haunted close in Edinburgh. I wanted to take a tour but I was by myself as our group has separated that day so decided against it. Yes, I chickened out! hmmph.

Unnecessary picture of me as I was about to walk up (not down) the hill on my way to the castle.

This is one of the many museums I visited. It was recommended by my favourite Scottish author Ian Rankin. But once I entered, I realised I don't know any of those writers whose works are on display. Fail.

A view of Edinburgh from Mound Place.

Finally, I made it through to the last picture. I'm really not a fan of posting many pictures because it is a very tiring job to do but for the sake of people who still visit my blog, I have to make an exception. I have exactly one month left to submit my work so there will be no more trips like this so from now on, my updates will not be as adventurous. Just a heads up. Chao for now.

What I've Been Up To

2011-07-30T06:57:00.004+08:00

I can't even begin to tell you how quiet this past week has been. Most people has left for the summer and the ones who have to stay are left behind stuck here until our work gets done. It's been nearly a year I've been away from home and there are a lot of things I miss about home so I can't wait to get this done and go back. But at the same time, I'll really miss this place. It's a great place to study and meet lots of new people. Here are some random pictures of what I've been up to lately (some of them are not so new).

Zuddin graduated last week so congratulations to him. And here's what's left of the Spenceleys.

Parathas for dinner, back at the old Spenceley.

I've always wanted one of these cos it's not your typical cliche barbie dolls.

This was when we had to carry Rini's stuff to the new place. I don't know why we look so clueless here. LOL

Our last pose with the old place after we moved everything out.

This was taken when I had a lunch date with Izzy at Patisserie Valerie.

It is really difficult to write a good post these days because I think I've lost my blog-writing vibe, therefore all those one-picture posts previously. I'd like to think that I'm saving my writing time for my academic report. But I'm obligated to write a proper post this time so might as well talk about how I can't write a proper post these days. Ok...

Rant aside, I'm seriously getting really busy. I guess I still haven't seen the whole picture but I have a good idea about the length of work I need to be doing now. Let's just say I've not exceeded my own expectations so I have to tear myself away from all those unnecessary social networking sites and focus on getting the implementation done. That includes blogging, right?

Summer in York

2011-07-25T05:26:00.000+08:00

The Tree Pose

2011-07-23T05:35:00.001+08:00

Sorry for the one-picture-per-post. I'm just experimenting.

In an Ice Cream Parlour

2011-07-21T06:55:00.000+08:00

Trip to Venice

2011-07-16T08:38:00.007+08:00

The trip to Venice a couple of days ago was quite exhausting yet exciting although we needed cold drinks and ice cream ever couple of hours to recharge because the weather was unbearably hot. But nevertheless, we had a fine time exploring the city on foot, in a gondola, on a waterbus, you name it we had it. In one day itself, we had the opportunity to travel on land, on water and on air so we can't possibly top that.

This is St. Mark's square, the most famous landmark in Venice. Definitely not one to miss. In the evening, tourists trong this place because it's just beautiful and romantic especially if you dine in one of the restaurants here because they have live music to sooth your dining experience.

Izzy, Raizul, his mum and I posing in front of St. Mark's Basillica, another fine landmark in the square.

The main canal that runs through the heart of the city.

It was too hot for us to handle, I gave up and took out my trusty umbrella who has travelled with me for miles all the way from my UBD days.

A yacht sailing through Di Fusina canal.

One of the many canals in Venice. Bridges and boats are aplenty in this city.

It had been a great weekend for me and I had a wonderful time here in this city. Hopefully, I get to visit many other places in the future although I'm not much of a travel person.

Moving

2011-07-06T08:04:00.006+08:00

The end of June came which means moving houses for many of us as term contracts come to an end. I don't want to bore you with all the gory details of our experiences cleaning our flat but I've got some quick pictures that will run you through the course of our excruciating glory.

A couple of days before the move, we had to clear out the food in the refrigerator so we had a small party with whatever food we have left. It was a weird dinner experience as we had salty fish with parathas and extremely spicy curry with mixed meat (sausages, burger meat, fish balls and crab meat).

AJ came around to help us out. Here's half of the Spenceleys and AJ.

We had to move the broken TV to the side to make way for the dinner. You see, we don't have a dining table. True story.

Ebom was at the party as well, but she only had carrots because she's on a diet. A guinea pig diet, that is.

The night wouldn't be complete without us camwhoring so there you go.

Mizan dropped in as well. And I think he made a truck out of the Lego set we have.

After the party's over, it was time to get down to business. That, in Spenceley term, means messing up the living room. We only had one box so it was pretty hard deciding what to put in that box considering that most items are fragile.

Here's Zudin clearing out the kitchen. We had so many stuff that we had to throw out most of them. We had more than 20 trash bags by the time we finish.

We couldn't resist having some fun while packing too. Here's me holding a football mug (which we threw away) while Izzy sat in her packing box while holding a teapot (I think we threw that away too)

And after a while, Izzy became the teapot.

We barely slept for three nights, but the satisfaction of clearing out stuff made up for that, albeit feeling a little guilty for throwing away lots of good stuff. We simply can't carry them all with us.

We also Skyped with Raizul that one night. I haven't seen him in months! He'll be coming over in the next couple of days and we're all excited for that.

How's my new room, you ask? Besides the traffic noise and the fact that we have flatmates who sleep at normal times unlike us so we have to keep quite at night, I think I'll survive. It's not so bad actually. The toilet is much better, the shower works perfectly and the kitchen's well-equipped. I'm just finding it hard to do my work because there is just something about this room that makes me feel lazy. On the bright side, I've been catching up with lots of TV series. But this month is supposed to be the busiest month so at one point I would have to kick myself back to reality. In the meantime, have a nice summer holiday!

The New Tennis Superstar

2011-07-03T07:16:00.003+08:00

Regardless if Novak wins or not tomorrow at The Championships final, he will be the new world number 1 come 4th of July. It's not surprising given that his performance this year is near perfect, having only lost once to Roger Federer this season. Federer and Nadal have hold the number one spot since 2004 so this is quite a refreshing change. I know I'm a bit bias, me being a big fan of Novak and all, but if someone else has taken the spot it would be just as refreshing. Where does the Nadal-Federer rivalry go from here? The way we see it, it's more of a fab four rather than a two men show now, with Murray not far behind the three.

Source: AP, Getty Images, Reuters

Tomorrow I will be sticking to the laptop watching live stream of the final at 2pm so I don't expect myself to do something productive for the whole afternoon. This has become my life for the past two weeks. Yes, I'm a tennis junkie and I need a life.

Falling Apart

2011-06-26T01:55:00.004+08:00

When I say our house is falling apart, it certainly seems that way. We're moving out in five days time so I hope the next flat is better. What happened was one of the toilet's ceiling collapsed yesterday while we were inside our rooms. I heard a crash and suspected the ceiling must have collapsed since a couple of days earlier the decorative moulding holding the lamp was starting to give way. Here is a photographic proof of the sorry state our toilet is in now. It's not a very pretty picture to show but we don't get this kind of crazy stuff happening that often.

Izzy wasn't very keen on what happened...

The mess it made really looks like an earthquake just hit the place. No doubt the toilet is clogged up and we're probably stuck with cleaning the mess up. Apparently upon inspection, the collapse was caused by a leak from upstairs. That is one point to note on the disadvantage of living on the ground floor.

To add insult to injury, I shattered the shattered mirror just a tiny bit more by kicking a football towards it. There were tiny shards of glasses on the carpet so I had to use the vacuum to get rid of the evidence. I was home alone, what do you expect me to do? Of course I kick a football around the house and it is completely normal.

Ebom

2011-06-20T03:13:00.005+08:00

Have I told you that I've recently adopted a pet? My friend will be away for several months so I volunteered to look after her guinea pig. It's a nice change to have a pet at home. His name is Ebom and I've learned a lot about this animal in the past week. It's timid yet it squeaked loudly when I shuffled the bag of pet food to refill his empty bowl.

"Whatcha lookin' at?"

Here's Ebom when he met Mickey for the first time. His reaction? If he's frightened, he's not showing it. Basically, they are both transfixed in that position and didn't move for a good two minutes before I decided I got bored of watching.

This is Ebom jamming a guitar. Sorry, I can't resist it. But it looks so cute in that position! And that's not even my guitar so oops! I hope the owner of that guitar doesn't read my blog.

So basically, all it does is eat, poo, eat, pee, eat, sleep and eat some more. It's not difficult to take care of one. It just felt the same as taking care of my fish the last time. Dogs and cats need more attention so I would recommend this animal if you are considering getting one for yourself.

One Monday

2011-06-14T02:05:00.003+08:00

The house certainly has a different atmosphere these days. Our Indian friend has moved out and a Pakistani couple just took over that room, the one that used to belong to Raizul. But it doesn't matter who stays where now because we all have to move out by the end of the month anyway. Personally, I don't have a preference as to where I stay because I've stayed in a small room the size of a jail cell for four years so any room here can't be worse than that. I'm happy to stay in a tiny room as long as it's reasonably well-kept.

This post is not planned actually. I just plugged my camera into my laptop and found a bunch of pictures I've not transferred so I thought I might as well share it here for any reader who still visit regularly. The thing about blogs like this is I don't know who reads them, if any. It would be nice to put a face on every visitor landing on my page but I'm sure you won't like that. Don't worry, I'm happy enough if you take time to read my blog. So, back to the reason I'm here today.

The Spenceleys (this means me and my housemates) went out for Sushi on a "Blue Monday" a couple of weeks back. At the time, Rini was still around (she's back home now) so it was another opportunity for us to spend time together like the many outings and movie nights we have. We're really like a second family so I feel lucky to have these guys around.

Rini and me. If not for her, I wouldn't have found a nice home like this so I can't thank her enough.

You guys have the same smirk!

The Spenceley girls

I don't remember the name but this dish is really good

Wat dis?

Ok, this is just creepy Izzy (the doppelganger behind you)

Weekend Blues

2011-06-11T00:23:00.004+08:00

I've been reading a lot of Stephen Leather's book lately. I just love crime novels. Sure I've read the Shopaholic series and Twilight but nothing beats a good crime novel. My favourite authors are Ian Rankin and Ed McBain, and of course lately Stephen Leather. The only problem with reading books like these is it takes up a whole lot of my time when I'm supposed to be doing other things. I'd say this is a constructive procrastination, though.

I just love this picture taken by Mr Zuddin. I saw it in my album and thought I'd share it here. It was taken quite long ago when Raizul drove us to Castleford for a day trip. The lighting is perfect. The concentration is intense. The blue washed backdrop is just right. The champagne glasses reflect the spotlight perfectly. I just love pictures that can capture the moment because moments cannot easily be replicated.

Weekend blues? Why, you ask? Well, I'll be spending the weekend all alone in the house because two of my housemates have moved out, another two will be out of town for three nights and another one will be staying at his friend's house at least for tonight. Sigh, I never thought this house can be this...hollow. (I use this word alot!)

And I can't believe I completed my interim report one week before the deadline. Kiasu much.

Farewell dinner, singing and all

2011-06-05T01:35:00.002+08:00

This is the part of my life where I no longer have to sit through lectures and study for exams. I don't mean it as a bad thing. In fact, I thoroughly enjoy attending all the lectures here which is quite a surprise because a few years back, I was ready to complain about how lectures put me to sleep but for the past few months, I actually felt excited attending them. How times have changed.

A couple of days ago, the society organised a farewell dinner for those graduating (I wasn't aware that it includes us postgrads as well). We had Indian food and I learned of a new dish called baji which is made of deep fried onions. There was one game where each one of us has a piece of paper with our names on it and we pass it around and along the way jot down a line of message about our memory with whoever's paper we are holding. By the time our own piece came back to us, it's filled with shared memories with each and everyone on the table.

Sharing a table with Nisa, Izzy and Dzar.

Some of the memories are lovely, some plain funny and I got one with a line from a song and also a sketch of me with my guitar. We all had a great night and I have to give it to the committee for organising such a wonderful event.

Me and Bai outside the restaurant after the dinner.

The day after, a friend of ours who were leaving for Brunei wanted to go for karaoke before her departure, so I joined her and her friends at one of the Chinese karaoke bar in the city centre.

That's me at the far end, Raby, Aleef, Izzy and Pak

We're from a country where singing is our entertainment so I dare say that most homes in my country have karaoke sets. I'm no exception. My family has two sets at home. We sing on those machines at least once a week, sometimes more. So being inside this room for me felt like home. It felt like being inside my own living room (minus the very nice pink sound insulators and colourful ceiling)

All I want to say about that night is my friends can really sing!

Rini and Aleef performing one of their many killer songs!

Izzy and I prefer a song with a lower key so Viva La Vida it was.

Raby, the girl who's, in her own words, "leaving on a jet plane".

We all went to the coach station to send Raby off but it was a bit odd. We didn't get a chance to say goodbye to her properly because the coach door closed before she even got on. We all panicked and she ran up to the coach door and waved her ticket at the driver before he decided to open the door to let her in. Once she jumped in, the coach reversed and sped off just like that! It all happened so fast it just felt odd to me. But nevertheless, I hope she has a safe flight home and enjoy the holiday as much as she should.

Natural Products

2011-05-30T06:37:00.003+08:00

A friend is going back to her country for the summer so I accompanied her to the city centre to do a bit of souvenir shopping for her relatives back home. When I say souvenir, I'm not talking magnets with little British flags printed on them. I'm talking huge hauls from Lush and Body Shop and a walk inside those high street stores like Debenhams, H&M and GAP.

A walk through Commercial Street

I've never purchased items in bulk so I truly enjoy the experience of grabbing a handful of lip balms from Body Shop and filling up the basket like there's no tomorrow. It was great fun to be shopping without the window!

At Lush, we were unexpectedly baited by a saleslady who indulged us in their various facial care products which we both took into. Their products are known to be fresh, made from food products so whatever you can eat, you're sure to find the inedible versions at Lush.

To prove my point, I got myself a tub of 'wasabi'. I've tried this product and I really love it. It's actually a cleanser and you use it like any facial cleanser. Take a small chunk and add water, lather and apply to your face. It does feel like slabbing wasabi on my face though, but fortunately, it doesn't sting like wasabi!

The next one is a bit weird for me. It's a mint flavoured lip scrub. It's not so much the mint that's weird. It's the point of scrubbing the lips that got me scratching my head. But since I've got dry lips, I figure it wouldn't hurt to try this product. Honestly, I still don't get the point. After scrubbing, my lips became extremely pale, like I scrub off the colour of my lips. Would recommend this, though, if you've got peeling skins because it can scrub them right off.

The honey trap lip balm. Although it smells lovely, I don't like how solid it is. I can barely get any of it on my finger let alone apply it on my lips. It's great for hot weather so I might enjoy using this more when I get back.

Like I said, my friend was the one doing the haul, not me. So I've only got myself a few items. I might go to the city centre again in the next few days because I miss eating tang yuan and they have it in the Chinese supermarket.

I have a feeling that my next post will be about Djokovic. Hope it's about him winning the French Open! Otherwise you will see a post full of curses. I hope it won't come to that. In the meantime, it's a temporary holiday for me now. Yippie!

The Tripod

2011-05-24T00:14:00.006+08:00

My tripod just arrived. This tripod is a little bit special as it comes with a holder for phones. So, I can use it for both my camera and my iPhone. I can't wait to shoot something. Well, after the exam. Or after the deadline for my interim report. Or after the other deadline. Oh well, I'll find time for it!

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

FRENCH OPEN 2011

The clay season finale is here. Will Novak Djokovic continue his winning streak and break John McEnroe's record of 42 straight wins to start a season? Can Rafael Nadal defend his title? Can Robin Soderling reach the final for the third consecutive year? What about Brits only hope Andy Murray and 16-time grand slam record holder Roger Federer? These are the questions going through everyone's head, or at least people who catch Roland Garros. I always love this tournament, this and Wimbledon, because of the surface. It makes the sport so much more exciting.

I still have two papers this week so I will try to balance between that and taking peeks at the live scores. One last words of wisdom: Idemo, Nole!

Happy Birthday, Shely!

2011-05-17T00:06:00.005+08:00

Poster girl of the day.

I just want to say that I'm still chatting with this b*tch, I mean girl, as we speak. She just turned 20 there. Technically, she's still 19 here. If she was here she would've been 8 hours younger!

This is just me counting down to 12 midnight. I managed to print screen when it struck exactly 12. Cool awat?

Shely, if you are reading this (of course you are), remember what I said about that thing that I said a few minutes earlier. To boil it down, be a good girl for me, will you? (trying to sound like mother) Shely also requested pictures that I deem inappropriate for my blog so I will just leave her with this instead.

Ah, who am I kidding. Of course she wants to see more!

I just don't get what you see in this guy, though.

So isn't this way better?

I'm just saying.

Once again, Happy Birthday, Shely. Have a blast!

The Week Before That Week

2011-05-14T07:42:00.004+08:00

The week before the exam is always one full of joy and happiness. I can't even pull off a sarcastic remark anymore.

If you remember me way back in my old uni, the revision week usually mean beating my own high score playing games from my laptop computer. Not this year. I've changed. I've moved on to aimlessly browsing the internet, watching Friends while having my lunch and dinner, and staring up at the ceiling wishing I am somewhere else. I've also spent an entire day reading a crime novel by Stephen Leather. I bought that from the iBooks store because it has got great reviews and it's cheaper than the other books. It was a great read so I highly recommend that one - Hard Landing.

Thanks to my cute housemate Izzy, I am totally addicted to playing with fire a.k.a burning candles. I'm off to the city tomorrow to get me more scented candles. It's like an addiction, the smell, ah, adrenaline rush.

As random as this post could get, here's my two lovely housemates and I totally forgot where they were heading that evening. Was it the movie?

If you know me even better, you know I can't pass up the opportunity to bore you with more of my tennis talk. Tomorrow Djokovic will be up against Murray and I really hope he will beat Murray and either Nadal or Gasquet in the final to win the Rome title. I've been waiting for this moment for almost three years because I know eventually he will be able to go this far. Don't you just love catching the sports that you love the most? Be it football, basketball or tennis, despite you not being physically involve in the game, you still feel like you're a part of it. You, the spectator. You make it happen. (change "You" to "I")

And the outro for this post would be me trying to push my notes into my brain.

FYI, it didn't work. All I got is a messed up hair.

Tennis: The Surging Champion

2011-05-09T04:14:00.005+08:00

(source: guardian.co.uk)

It was an impressive win today for Novak Djokovic as he dethrones the clay king to win the final of Mutua Madrid Open and continue his winning streak in this season of the ATP world tour. Having won this match, Djokovic now stand at 32-0 wins this season. Most would've predicted that Nadal would end Djokovic's winning streak in the match today but it turned out to be the other way around as Djokovic ended Nadal's 37th consecutive win on clay.

The straight win today at 7-5 6-4 in Djokovic's favour came not without a fight from Nadal. Both were equally solid in their performance. It will be interesting to see how the ranking will change in the months to come if Djokovic continue with this new-found glory.

The next major tournament is the clay court Roland Garros which will begin on 22nd June. The good news is everyone will be anticipating the championship match, and hoping to see Federer against Nadal, or this time, Djokovic against either one of them perhaps. Either way, I will be following that tournament closely. But the bad news for me is it will be in the middle of my exam week so I may not be able to catch all top matches.

Here's how I caught the live streaming earlier today. Yes, I needed two screens just in case if one is buffering and also now that I think about it, I feel like I'm obsessed with it!

Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T21:31:00.004+08:00

Today is a historic day for Britain as the royal wedding between Prince William and Kate took place at Westminster, and it is the day the world tuned in to news channels to watch history in the making live.

My plan was to wake up at 8:30am in time to watch the attendees arrive at Westminster but alas, I slept really late the night before and couldn't even open my eyes when the alarm went off. As a result, I missed the vow and only managed to watch from the point where they were about to enter a private room for the signing. But thank god for the internet as I was able to click on highlight videos and catch the key part of the event. I just want to add that David Beckham looks dashing!

Vlog

2011-04-24T02:17:00.005+08:00

This is one of those spontaneous things we did for the birthday week. Izzy decided it would be fun to make a vlog of us answering tag questions. Special thanks to Vance for recording and editing the video, and of course for "interviewing" us too :)

Falooda

2011-04-20T19:36:00.003+08:00

If you haven't had one, it's like ABC but not exactly. One of the reasons why I love it is because it's pink! And of course it tastes great! To get one, we have to travel from Leeds to Bradford to an ice cream parlour called Moonlight which is quite far from the city centre.

Not unlike ABC, to get a cup, our family have to travel to Seria to the mien tang to get one too. But by the end of the day, it's always satisfaction guaranteed and before you know it, you're craving for another cup again.

Movie Nights

2011-04-19T01:40:00.004+08:00

I love movie nights, especially if they are not planned. We've had a few of those nights this month. Last night, the Spenceleys watched Paranormal Activity 2: Tokyo Night in our living room. I hate how they let us watch one scene that seems like nothing was gonna happen that lasted nearly one minute before something suddenly move. I wouldn't watch it alone actually and NOT because I'm afraid (I swear!) but I simply don't normally watch thriller movies that contain paranormal events. You would agree that they don't usually make much sense especially the ending part.

Watching it with people brings a different kind of flavor to the whole thriller type of movies, you know.

One of those days during the Easter break, we watched The Roommate with some of the group...The movie was okay and I only say that because I just watched Source Code the day before watching this movie. Source Code was awesome!

photo credits to Izzy

This is random but I love this picture below, taken during a picnic day sometime in March.

photo credits to Ken

Alton Towers

2011-04-17T20:52:00.001+08:00

Yes, one of those days during the Easter break this was what I did!

And before I forget, I want to wish my very best friend Mijah a very Happy Birthday! Thanks for being a very dear friend and I'm really glad I get to know you!

Spring

2011-04-09T21:52:00.003+08:00

It's April and this could only mean...spring!

My cousin is spending his spring break over here in Leeds and so far it's been good. I've honestly never eaten this healthily in a long time. And what do you know, I cook on a daily basis! I never thought I would do that because I thought I've hung my apron for the year.

True to my word, I have also been exploring the neighborhood. It's good to be out there taking fresh air and getting the sun on my face. One thing I miss is jogging. I've been up so late every night that I find waking up before midday a really tough task to do. And so I feel like my day is shorter and hence it's precious.

And to end this rather short post (as always), here are some pictures my cousin took with his camera which is so much cooler than mine.

And a random person sitting amongst those lovely flowers. LOL

iNightOwl

2011-03-31T08:10:00.005+08:00

The semester is already coming to an end and I can't explain why time goes so fast when you least expected it to. If you follow my blog from two years back, I talked about this feeling of leaving a chapter of my life behind, closing the book or something in that line? (I can't recall the exact words) Well, it's happening all over again. Damn it, I hate change.

Perhaps I'm overreacting because in theory, I still have half a year to go. But it's not gonna be the same without lectures and seminars. Those are things that a student looks forward to (or not?) so after the exam, I'll have nothing to look forward to but my project. Not that I don't enjoy torturing myself with Java but it's nice to have a variety of subject areas to study than only focusing on one. Maybe I should find a hobby so that I can switch between options and my new hobby.

List of possible hobbies (I sound like a retired woman)

1) Disassemble my old laptop

2) Explore Leeds, like literally walk every streets if my legs allow me to

3) Record a cover of the Friday song, you have to admit it's quite catchy

4) Disassemble my guitar (jk)

So yesterday, I've got my sushi sauce, wasabi and sushi-gari. What comes next?

SUSHI, of course!

Honestly, it's not the best tasting sushi around but it beats dipping nuggets in wasabi sushi sauce. I did that once - bad idea.

Tomorrow I will have one last lab session before the Easter break. And oh no, I should be in bed by now. Why does it have to be a morning session?

One Fine Wednesday

2011-03-26T12:20:00.004+08:00

I am tempted to talk about food now even though this post has nothing to do with it. I was just thinking about Ayamku Special. And probably because it's 4.24am now and I'm still wide awake. Who knows what triggers my cravings.

So anyways, this week has been a very good week for me, for all of us actually. Our presentation on Monday went well, the late afternoon class that day turned out to be fun because we created two 'prototypes' for a 'product' and presented our idea in front of the class, another lecturer was unusually enthusiastic for his Tuesday class, we had another presentation on Wednesday which we were all ill-prepared for but still got a prize for that, and for the whole Thursday and most of Friday, I simply procrastinated and possibly stalked people on the internet. Admit it, everyone does that. The only people who don't do that are people who don't use the internet. So the theory is: internet user = internet stalker. And I'm going off topic here.

Back to my Wednesday story. There is no story actually, just pictures. Bottom line is, we had time to kill...so we killed it.

A nice scenery

James and Philipp

Nhung

Me and my cookie

Fin.

Moving Mountain

2011-03-22T09:08:00.002+08:00

When I saw this photo, I just had to steal it from Shely and share with you here. It may not seem meaningful to you but it is very much to me.

You see, this scene has had its fair share of changes. Back then, it was so peaceful I just loved standing up this hill that overlooks the sea (Not from this angle though). Now, after much disturbance from the construction project, it looks sad if not appalling. A few years from now it will be gone and what's left of it won't even be recognisable. Oh well, something is going to change somewhere someday so all we can do is reminisce and eventually move on.

Fortune cookies tell no lie - I hope

2011-03-13T08:17:00.003+08:00

My latest fortune cookie message says:

Oh, I sure hope they will, especially after spending about 5 quids on sweet and sour chicken.

Tonight on my way home from the carnival, I decided to stop by Shawarma because I was craving for the lamb meal. My first unfavorable moment of the night was the sight of an unfamiliar guy behind the counter. I was questioning his ability to make the perfect shawarma meal that the previous guy was able to make each time. My question was answered when I got my meal. I noticed something different with my meal - parsley! You know how I always tell people I eat practically anything? Well, I was lying. If there is one thing I hate the most, it's the smell of parsley in my food. You can imagine how my meal went after that. I had to handpick each piece and put it to one corner. I was so preoccupied with this little activity that I hardly notice what was happening on the show I was supposedly watching. Before long, I had a pile of parsley at one corner of the container. Needless to say, I won't have any takeout from Shawarma for a while.

Jellyfishing

2011-03-04T08:33:00.004+08:00

My friend and I had a map vs app game going on during the trip to Hull the other day. She got hers off a vending machine for one quid. I got mine from a well known store for a whole lot more. Unfortunately, technology can be very unreliable sometimes and at this time when we needed it the most, my app decided not to work properly. Twice we navigated wrongly with it so my friend had to rely on her map to find our way around the city. But at least we found a nice Chinese restaurant that serves buffet so the trip wasn't so bad after all.

Oh, and we did waste 10 pounds each by visiting a big aquarium that has fishes in it and all. Honestly, I found the jelly fish tank more attractive than the actual big tank.

I almost expected to see Sponge bob appearing in the tank with his net

This strange bright coral thing is where many 'Nemos' reside

The two divers also became the attraction for tourists. They waved at the crowd and somehow, I felt like they are the exhibition.

Until I find inspiration to write a better post, good day people.

Our Voice

2011-03-02T03:07:00.003+08:00

Our society celebrated our country's national day a couple of days ago with a buffet lunch at one restaurant in the city (notice no keywords? haha)

We were randomly divided into four groups and played a good number of games that include quizzes and charades. The most memorable one for me was the challenge of composing our own patriotic song. I mean, make a song in 15 mins and it has to relate to our national day's theme? That is not one easy assignment. Our group was so focused that we skipped dessert to complete the song. I'm proud of the outcome because the lyrics are simple yet clever and grasp the concept of the love for our country and our nation.

The team in action

Unsurprisingly, we won. Well deserved guys!

Honestly, this is the first time I actually do something patriotic on the national day. I never celebrated this day before until I am away from my country. What an irony. But I'm glad I did because it's never too late to express the love for your own country and being here, I see myself as a flag barrier everywhere I go.

5 bucks if you can find me in this pic. I kid ;)

Photo credits to the society

The Art of Deceit

2011-02-26T04:45:00.002+08:00

I define an art to be a piece of work that one produce from his or her imagination or from what their eyes see. I take little credit for my work because I hardly see my work as sketching. My little trick, inspired by the great works of tattoo artists especially Kat Von D, is to trace the outline of the figure from the original picture onto my canvas. My laptop, therefore, is a handy tool for this work.

Then I select the pencils depending on the depth I want to achieve on my work.

And I do a little something I'd like to call 'fill in the blanks' or in the art world - shading. It's simple. It does not require tacit knowledge. You just copy as you see. I like to think of it as a form of image analysis where my eyes see contours on the flat image and so I place more pressure on areas with shadows and so on. And the result looks like this.

It's not perfect because I am still practicing my strokes. I still lack a crucial detail which is the subtle expression the picture protrude. I admit I can't put that down on paper yet but I hope someday I will get closer to that.

Ice Skating

2011-02-20T01:18:00.002+08:00

My third ice skating experience was in Leeds itself with my three housemates. The temperature that night was freezing, which I think is very suitable for this activity. In fact, the day after it actually snowed!

I fell once if you must know. It was simply ridiculous because I was heading towards the hand railing and I guess I was so excited to be near the railing that I slipped and fell just as I was about to grab it. Stoopid.

Just when I thought winter is over, the snow decides to fall again. I woke up this morning to an unfamiliar alarm sound, climbed out of bed, pull the curtain and BAM! Snow was all over the place! There goes my tennis session. But in actuality I was kinda glad it snowed because the thought of waking up early is just dreadful. And I happily climbed back to bed. I didn't go back to sleep though. I spent the next few hours playing games on my phone instead. Ah, I love the weekend!

Then after a quick breakfast, I went with my mates to watch the football and netball matches our society was having at the sports hall. After a few hours, we got tired of sitting on the floor for too long so we went back home and cooked a late lunch consisting of fried rice, nuggets and a slightly too salty vegetable dish that I whipped up. Sorry guys. I'll do better next time!

Tomorrow is another weekend so I hope to spend it wisely!

Ebom

2011-02-16T17:31:00.003+08:00

My friend's pet is a guinea pig! I think I know where the name pig came from. It must've been the noise it makes *oink oink*

That's me in absolute full concentration stroking Ebom. haha

Trip down south

2011-02-14T07:04:00.003+08:00

Feb 3, 2011 - Feb 6, 2011

With a much needed break, I found myself going on a trip with my friend to five different places down south. The first two nights I had the luxury of having a room all to myself thanks to my friend's friend, which I'm really grateful for and can't thank her enough.

Our first visit was Guildford, a town in Surrey.

The next day, on an extremely windy condition, we headed to the city by the beach, Brighton.

It was also in Brighton that we climbed two hills to reach the Seven Sisters. It was here that my friend lost her hat to the wind. It actually flew off the cliff so fast we did not manage to outrun it so we helplessly watched it go. It must've been sad for my friend.

Day three we traveled to the south west area and reached Bristol. Our sight-seeing focus of the day was the suspension bridge. This trip somehow seems shorter than the rest. It's probably because we spent more time in trains and buses than on the actual site. We had a wonderful lunch at another friend's house and I can't thank them enough for their hospitality.

Our supposedly final stop was Bath. We planned to visit the Stonehenge but the bus was fully booked so we hang around the city for a bit.

And since we had the whole afternoon free, we decided to visit another place and chose the village of Avoncliff. I actually like this place because it reminded me of the quiet serenity of my hometown. We had an outdoor late lunch and with this kind of environment, the food was quite enjoyable.

Finally, we catch the train from Avoncliff, pass Bath, through Bristol and all the way back to Leeds.

This trip has been exciting, exhausting and adventurous. I thought I lost my keys at one point. My friend found them in her flat back in Guildford and she had them posted to me. I really owe her one! Besides losing keys and hat, my other friend also accidentally left her pair of gloves in one of the trains. But all in all, this trip is definitely a much needed one.

The day after, I sprang back to my study mode, with plenty of meetings and discussions thrown in, like I never left.

My Mates

2011-02-08T06:04:00.002+08:00

Spenceley 2010/early 2011

I just feel the need to stamp this down in archive. We were everything, from sugar and spice to everything nice ;)

New is Good

2011-02-08T06:01:00.001+08:00

Image credit: mango&lime

03/02/2011

I want to wish everyone who celebrates this festive season a very Happy Chinese New Year. This festival is celebrated in so many ways for different regions and cultures, and even in my home country this celebration can be diverse depending on individual households.

My family is considered to be contemporary, not too traditional yet still keeping the culture alive in some form. On New Year’s Eve, we have a typical family dinner with plenty of Chinese food to savor, but we don’t serve dumplings like what the people in China do. We do, however, serve steamed chicken, much like the Vietnamese.

The days that follow usually include family and friends visit to our house, where my mum normally call for catering. Red packets changing hands are a common sight, and the same old joke about asking for a red packet never gets old. But the more I think about it the lamer it seems. From my observation, it has become more of a tradition to deliver that joke once in a while and you can’t really escape it. So we embrace it and take it in good nature.

Perhaps my favorite part of this festive season, or least favorite depending on how you see it, is having guests coming over to our house especially those friends we haven’t seen in ages. It is indirectly an opportunity to reunite again with people we once knew or are close with.

This festival is indeed a chance to start fresh and new, what with new clothes and new hats. It’s a time for all to re-evaluate their lives, to seek the positive factors and drain the negative ones. Having said that, this year is a totally different year for me. For the first time ever, I’m not home for New Year.

Dance Performance

2011-01-29T08:30:00.003+08:00

I went to a dance theater performance a few nights ago. It was the last thing I expected myself to be doing that night.

It started when I went to my friend's house for lunch. There I met her transit house mate, Nhan, who had an extra ticket to the performance, in which none of her friends wanted to attend. So she offered me and I accepted it. I can assure you that I'd never say no to a free ticket.

Once there we had to sit separately because of the different seating numbers on our tickets. The show started. Having never watched any performance of this sort, I was intrigued by what's happening on the stage. I can only describe it in one word: breathtaking. Contemporary dance is what it is. I'm no expert in dance styles but I know a kick-ass one when I see one.

My friend, Nhan, got into conversation with her neighbor on her right during the break and introduced me to her afterwards. That was how I met another friend, Pauline. Like Nhan, she is a regular at dance theater shows as well. They're both really passionate about the art of dancing, a fine art for that matter.

Personally, I prefer the faster pace performances like gigs and concerts but this is a breathe of fresh air and I'm glad I get to experience its beauty.

Me with Pauline and Nhan

Short Update

2011-01-27T01:40:00.002+08:00

I'm excited for the Australian Open final. First of all, Nadal is out so Ferrer is going to play Murray and the much anticipated one is the other match between Federer and Djokovic. Somehow I feel like Djokovic should win this one because he deserves it! I'm gonna be supporting him obviously!

Classes are more exciting (not that last semester was dull) but yeah, more intense, more work therefore more effort needed and hence higher stress level. I kinda like this feeling although I know this statement is going to come back and haunt me. But for now I'm optimistic.

And I'm gonna need more caffeine this year.

First Spider

2011-01-22T09:43:00.003+08:00

I have nothing better to write about but this.

Honestly, there is nothing much going on here that I can share but the story of how I met your...not-so-common spider here in the UK. I know of all the things I could talk about, I choose to talk about spiders. WTH. But hear me out!

I used to see spiders all the time back in my old uni. Ah hell, back in my country they are everywhere! And it really surprises me that none of these crawlies can be seen anywhere here. And finally one day I met one.

It was just crawling on the wall directly in front of me. Wow. I have to admit I miss seeing these creatures. They are beautiful and make annoying webs all over corners but still...they are such wonders!

This particular one was crawling funny though. I couldn't figure out why. It crawled around as if it's missing a leg. But it wasn't! So til now I am still wondering why is that, but I guess I'll never know...

If you are still reading up to this point you really must have nothing better to do.

Also, now that the exam's over and I have a few days before classes begin next week, I've really been putting off things I'm suppose to do. Today I made plans to do four things and by midnight, I did none of those. I'm such an excellent procrastinator! I'll try to really do them tomorrow and hope I actually get them done.

First of Three

2011-01-12T21:48:00.004+08:00

image credits: Zindy

I sat for my first ever paper here in Leeds. I wouldn't say the experience of sitting this paper is any different than those countless ones I've had back in my old uni. But we have seating numbers so the seats are not on the basis of first come first serve. My lucky number 80 brought me straight up the center front row seat. It's totally fine where I sit as long as I am not distracted. After three intense hours, it's over, at least for now. But the exam is far from over as I have two remaining papers to tackle next week.

First Post of the Year

2011-01-08T08:06:00.004+08:00

Sorry it took me so long to write a post these days. I've been working on things. Hah, as if. Nah, I just haven't got the inspiration to write up a good story. So here goes nothing.

As the girls were about to leave for an event, all dressed up with their coats on, I grabbed my camera and snap a photo of them.

Looking good girls..Wait a minute, what's that on your hand, Izzy?

Now, how can I forget the the most basic thing you can do with eggs? Half-boil them! I took the liberty to prepare breakfast for myself one fine afternoon. And I had this along with a bowl of maggie and another bowl of cereal. In my defense, I was so hungry I could eat a horse!

My last story of the day is my tennis racket came and I tried it out with my housemate yesterday. I miss playing tennis so much! It's so good to hold a racket again. Brings me back to those days back home. Unfortunately, it started snowing again today so there goes tennis playing. Maybe that's a sign so that I take this time to study for the upcoming exam.

One Last Post for This Year, I Promise!

2010-12-31T02:34:00.007+08:00

I just feel like I should do one more post before the end of the year, and what better time to do it than when I'm all comfy in this quiet cluster? Okay, you got me, I'm supposed to be typing my report now but gimme a break! I've been at it for days now!

Sooooo...

I really need to webcam with my family before the end of the year because I avoided them how many times now? Not on purpose so I'm really sorry! It just wasn't the right time. I still have one day to go so I'll hunt them down tomorrow.

And I'm pretty excited for tomorrow. End of the year. Gathering with the people. I bought my gift. It's a big ass one so it'll be embarassing to carry! But I hope that person like my gift.

And the most exciting thing is I'm gonna try out my new shoes! But having test walk it just now, I realise that this is a pair of trail shoes, not running shoes. I don't know how far I can jog in these. And yes I know how the weather looks like these days so I'll go out probably looking like a polar bear.

Is there such thing as a New Year's wish? I do have one...it's the same one I made at the wishing well in London...

Late Christmas Greetings

2010-12-29T02:50:00.002+08:00

It's already 28th December so I was thinking to myself why bother greeting a Merry Christmas? You know what, I'm just gonna say Happy New Year 2011! I hope this year has been good to you because it sure has been the highlight of my life.

New years resolution? I don't bother to do it for 2011 because I already know what's gonna happen to it if I do. Nothing. That's the problem. I'll just go one step at a time, absorb the good and drain the bad. That's how we should live our life, not based on some lists. I know I'm being a hypocrite but a phase change is what I'd call it.

Wish this coming year will be just as good as this current year. May you all be blessed with a wonderful New Year. Enjoy and see you in 2011!

Best wishes,

Shala

P.S. Just check my FB if you wanna see photos from Paris et al.

Liverpool

2010-12-13T09:03:00.002+08:00

Liverpool...

Before I embarrass myself by describing football stuff that I know nothing of, I'm just gonna stop and say that I don't want to explain things I have little or no knowledge on. Everything around me that I saw today, I keep bringing tennis back in my mind; comparing how a typical tennis stadium would defer from a football stadium, how the locker room would be more personalized and how the court would be smaller. I don't understand why people are so crazy about football. Being crazy about tennis makes much more sense!

And yet here I am... touching the ground of Anfield.

The locker room in the stadium.

This is how the stadium looks like when it's empty. Love it. I can totally bring a story book and sit on one of the chairs and read for hours. Too bad that's not allowed :(

A little souvenir I got from the merchandise store.

A cute little official badge I got for my monkey. This little thing costs me £3. No shit.

I almost forgot that Liverpool is also the town of The Beatles! Luckily the guys drop by there or else I will surely regret not arriving here. LOL~

I got myself two plectrums! Love them!

And more badges! Lovely stuff. I wanna go back there and get more!

My Love for...

2010-12-12T08:14:00.004+08:00

I love food. Have I ever say that before?

And looking at this picture just make me love food more. This is mushroom chicken. Heaven tastes like this :)

It's officially the holiday and so far it's been great. There are, of course, worries about the exam somewhere at the back of my head. That's inevitable but I just want to get my mind off it now and enjoy my days here.

This picture below was one of the few pictures that I took while waiting for my friends in the street of Castleford. I like how this place is outdoorsy in contrast with those high street indoor shopping centers. And the nice thing about this town is it's less crowded than Leeds, which makes the shopping experience here much better.

The Beginning

2010-12-03T09:26:00.004+08:00

My mama swore that she would never let herself forget~

Oh, hi there. Sorry I was listening to music now as I type these words. And I can't focus when I listen to music because I'm still mouthing the song so I'll pause the song now...

Ah~ that's better.

Where was I?

In my last post, I was talking about how unlucky I was not seeing the snow fall. Well, I take back the whole paragraph down there. Now every time I go out, I am showered with white specks of snow and I'm beginning to think maybe it's not all that fun after all. Pretty, yes. Fun, depends on where I'm heading...If I'm going to class, I would love to be able to float all my way there. If out for some snow fight, yup that's the fun part!

And my little snow globe with Mr Rudolph looks extra pretty with the snowy background from my window sill. This is my first white Christmas after all!

Also, now that the semester is coming to an end, I fear for the worse to come because we will be having our exams in January, which gives me less than a month to study given the fact that I'll be on vacation in the middle of December. I keep harping about this but I want to do well in my exam and I don't want to flunk any papers!

And to date, I barely started my marketing report. Die la die.

Snow Flakes

2010-11-28T20:38:00.004+08:00

Is this the winter season? I can't really tell but there is already snow all across the UK. I still haven't get the chance to see snow fall and when I look out the window, there is already a blanket of snow and I missed it.

And this is just random but I love this cute little snow globe I got from the German market the other day!

I also love it when my housemates cook because it means I don't have to order takeout and I get to eat homecooked meal. I wish I can cook like them! I can't remember how I used to cook back at home. All I know is I don't get creative and I tend to just stick to the basic ingredients.

This is the view outside my window. It looks so pretty at night!

Oh yeah, I'm excited about the final today where we will see the two greats playing against each other at the O2 Arena in London.

Who I think would win? I want to say Federer but it's apparent who's more determine to win this. Federer has won this four times. Nadal none. So there you go!

Protest

2010-11-25T10:09:00.002+08:00

Nancy and I had the best view of the student's protest in Leeds Uni today. We had lunch at Charco's and it was like watching the news while eating! Lamb was slightly burnt though.

In case you are wondering, students were protesting over tuition fees and stuff like that which I'm not very clear of nor interested in. All I care is getting out of harm's way and watching from the sideline ;)

Do you use Groomers shampoo for your horses? LOL

Photos courtesy of Nancy

Walk the Dog

2010-11-22T06:21:00.006+08:00

I keep telling everyone that I'm very busy lately. That is partly true because there are lots of things going on around me, things that are there for me to experience. I never had this kind of fun before. Back in my old uni years, I was always just chilling in my room playing guitar loudly and trying my best to annoy the hell out of my neighbors. My friends would come by my room and we would sing and stuff. I still remember the songs we made and I really miss those days. Funny thing is I'm now still in uni, albeit a different one, and still playing guitar, but I get to do a bit more than that which is awesome.

My friend and I went to the Christmas Light Switch-on in Leeds last Friday. Unfortunately, we did not stay long enough to catch Shayne Ward and McFly perform. I've never been to a place more crowded than this though!

Here's me standing in the middle of the German market. Mad human traffic here too.

Santa on the big screen!

Friday was Harry Potter 7 for a bunch of us as we headed to The Light to catch the movie. I love how the movie is a carbon copy of the book. Let's just keep it that way and don't get creative like what they did in the past HP films.

Saturday we hopped on the train to Huddersfield for some laser tag fun. I didn't know how tiring it can get and that I wasn't prepared for!

Let me shoot somebody already!

Since my coursework involves pets, I can't help staring at dogs when the owners are walking them. I feel like I must do something. But what? Observe the owner-dog relationship? Approach the dog's owner and ask a few questions? Pat the dog? Help walk the dog?

Don't mind me. I'm just thinking out loud because after writing this post, I'm going to attempt to do my coursework.

Bath the dog?

Jimmy Eat World's Gig

2010-11-16T08:51:00.005+08:00

Best gig ever. By the end of the show, the crew threw Jim's pick to the crowd and I got it!

My friend's luckier cos she got Rick's pick handed over to her personally by him at the end!

It was a great show and I miss it already :'(

German Christmas Market

2010-11-14T23:09:00.004+08:00

Pictures from the German Christmas Market at Millennium Square in Leeds. Photos courtesy of Nhung.

Manchester Trip

2010-11-10T07:08:00.007+08:00

Last weekend we headed to Manchester for a trip to the Old Trafford stadium as well as Trafford Centre. I have to admit it was the first time I went on a train, ever! And I'm 23. That's something, right? And it was also the first bus travel I had since the trip from Heathrow to Paddington last month. I don't need to go on a bus in Leeds. Everywhere is within a walking distance!

So back to my story, we bought the day bus ride ticket for £3.50. They were about to have a match at the stadium that day so we weren't allowed inside. We hung around outside instead and snapped some photos. The place was crowded by supporters of the teams which 'til now I still don't know which teams played that day. Haha I don't deserve to be in that place, do I?

This is the sign from the side entrance.

And I assume this is the front? I'm confuse but I think it is :D

My friends, the next "United Trinity"

The team's logo inside the Megastore

At the Trafford Centre

Just outside Selfridges & Co.

A charity fountain inside Trafford Centre

Vending machines outside the toilets... and the girls :)

Amal chillin' outside ;)

This is one of the buses we took in the city

I don't exactly know when winter is but I know that the weather now is starting to be unbearable. It's like walking inside a freezer, except this freezer stretches for miles and miles and there is no exit door around. The best way to deal with this is to think "Summer". Or in my case, think "Brunei". Haha.

Bonfire

2010-11-07T20:06:00.002+08:00

Truth be told, I've never seen a bonfire before because there was no need for one where I came from, unless you count burning dried grass after lawn mowing as a bonfire, which I doubt. The first real one I saw is this and it was indeed a huge one. I don't know the significance of this bonfire though. I've read it somewhere but I couldn't recall at this moment but there is definitely a history behind it.

My friends from uni. Mini is missing in this photo!

The bonfire was followed by a fireworks display and there was a carnival as well. We didn't stay long though and were back by 9. Nevertheless, I had a great time hanging out with my newfound peers. I am also glad that this is where I chose to study because I couldn't have found a better place than this.

Lush and Garlic Bread

2010-11-01T21:45:00.002+08:00

This title is not random at all even though it sounds so. This is actually about the Lush soaps that I bought and the garlic bread I ate this morning! Here's the pics.

I decided to try these two Lush products because they smell promising. Honestly, a lot of the others smell horrible! I haven't actually used them yet so I hope they are like what they smell!

My uninteresting breakfast this morning consists of fillet and garlic bread. I still despise cooking. This was prepared by popping the whole plate into the microwave oven. Save lives.

Wraps

2010-10-29T07:05:00.003+08:00

I just want to share with you the food I enjoy eating here. This chicken wrap is damn good! I come to realize that I love wraps a lot! Shit, I'm craving for it already.

This is my typical food here. I don't bother with cooking much because I am that lazy. Don't judge me!

A Walk in the Park

2010-10-23T23:15:00.002+08:00

Rini and I went to the park near our place that day and you probably guess what I'm gonna say next. Less talk more pics now!

Munching on chips at the park, Rini hadn't had her lunch yet :)

I seriously suck a posing hahah

Lectures and 24

2010-10-16T05:51:00.003+08:00

Classes have been..how should I put it? Almost like my classes earlier this year, in terms of my concentration I mean. I don't know why but I always lose focus when I attend lecture classes. I've tried but I'm always drifting away. But I like to think that I never stop trying :)

Parkinson Building in the evening

Seminar classes are okay I guess. Well, maybe except half the time those management jargons don't sink in so easily for me. I don't have a background in management so these terms can be hard to digest.

Java is back and it ain't going nowhere until at least a few months and probably more. I seriously wish I can substitute Java with another language. Give me Mathematica or Octave! I think I can handle them more but of course I don't know what I'm saying because I'm not particularly a fan of programming languages in general.

And as usual I'm starting to get addicted to TV series again. Just as viewers wrapped up the finale of 24, I've just started watching the show and right now I'm up to Season 1. Hah!

Anyone rooting for Djokovic in Shanghai Rolex Masters semifinal against Federer? Well, I am.

More Pacing

2010-10-11T00:03:00.002+08:00

More pictures ahead.

Friends' house...They live in a really serene neighborhood. I like it!

sleepy838

The Spirit of CNY

Chinese New Year Eve

Days leading to CNY

Karaoke

Another Toy House

2012

Christmas

Happy Dongzhi Festival!

Bowling

Up Top

The Wooden Toy House

Goodbye November

Spongebob Frenzy!

PvZ keychains

The Art of Cheating

Cute

Ritual

Reptiles

Outings

One Morning at the Park

The Park That Once Was

More Forgotten Posts

What's in my bag?

I'm Back

Can't go wrong with colorful chocolates

The All-Star Frenzy

At the Uni

Still in the city

B'ham Day

Bite-size

A Dance

A Night of Good Music

Lab Rat

Out, about and bored as hell

Beginning of the End

Another Day in York

Busking

Another Ebom Post

Trip to Scotland

What I've Been Up To

Summer in York

The Tree Pose

In an Ice Cream Parlour

Trip to Venice

Moving

The New Tennis Superstar

Falling Apart

Ebom

One Monday

Weekend Blues

Farewell dinner, singing and all

Natural Products

The Tripod

Happy Birthday, Shely!

The Week Before That Week

Tennis: The Surging Champion

Royal Wedding

Vlog

Falooda

Movie Nights

Alton Towers

Spring

iNightOwl

One Fine Wednesday

Moving Mountain

Fortune cookies tell no lie - I hope

Jellyfishing

Our Voice

The Art of Deceit

Ice Skating

Ebom

Trip down south

My Mates

New is Good

Dance Performance

Short Update

First Spider

First of Three

First Post of the Year