Falling Apart

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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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!

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!