Nottingham Games

Its a fulfilling trip. Im glad that I made up my mind to head down to nottingham early in the morning.Its my first time standing in the cold and waiting for the sun to rise because everyone else is late.

Then we had a jam due to an accident where some lorry crashed into some other cars and blocked up all 3 lanes so they had to close the expressway and divert all other vehicles out of the expressway. We were almost late and the driver had to take another route. By the way after we came back from the games, the driver told us that the news reported four were killed in that accident. Gosh.

University of Nottingham is huge and there is a lake where there are ducks! Basically, I only see Singaporeans and Malaysians around the campus today since it is a Singapore game held in Nottingham. This is also the very first time im seeing so many Singaporeans overseas because each uni in UK had sent a few representatives to participate in the sports and games. Leeds is too small to form a team so we ended up playing mahjong and poker.

Anyway, we went around the campus (only the areas near west entrance) to take pictures!

This is only about 1/3 of the Singaporeans there.

The mahjong, poker, bridge and chess room.

The multipurpose sports hall where practically all sports are held here.

The Singsoc people.

Ian came in 2nd for his Poker competition.

And I was very surprised to meet 2 JJCians there! Henry (my fellow shadow mate who is holding MOH scholarship to study for 3 years in Southampton) and Khew Fai  (Bingren’s friend from S29 who is holding SAF scholarship to study 4 years in Imperial London). They dont look like them right? They approached me and said I dont look like the JC Collen so they wanted to double confirm. LOL. Do I really change a lot? And Henry is going to travel around 5 countries in Europe including Germany in Dec so we might be able to travel together since he had some SMU friends too (SMU = exchange students?)! Finally found some friends to travel together! Khew Fai is actually going skiing trip with Ian. OMG. Singapore is so small.

I also saw Kelly Ang look alike! Gosh. The picture dont really look very alike but the real person is from the way she walk, dress, talk, behave and the flower on her hair! oh my, I look damn shag cos I practically had not enough sleep in order to catch the early morning coach.

We headed to a Thai Restaurant in Beston! Finally after so long, we had some asian food and its quite reasonable! 5pounds! I thought it would cost more actually. I randomly took a picture of the figurine because the elephant kept staring at me beside my seat and I dont dare to move it in case there is some spell or curse cast. I know im thinking too much but its better to play safe.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4023261&id=701849017#/album.php?aid=344100&id=517605626&ref=mf

Bored.

Im so bored. Woke up after 11 hours of sleep because i have practically nothing to do and at the rate and amount im sleeping here, I doubt i can adjust quickly back in Singapore.

The weather is turning cold though it haven started snowing but it is always raining! This makes everything worse. I dont feel like leaving my room anymore. I even dragged myself to dance on a raining night. The wind is just too strong that my umbrella does not want to obey, just like the image below. I had to walk in the rain then. But i simply love to dance- partly to sweat and keep my limbs and muscles ‘active’ so that I dont forget how to.

It is the Nottingham games tml. I had mahjong competition but the thought of meeting early in the morning at 715am just makes me feel like dropping out of the game. I dont even think i have the energy to keep myself alert so early in the morning. Maybe I will lose and drop out at the very first round. Then thats so waste of time and money. But again, I haven been playing mahjong for so long so its time to recap. Well, recapping everything during a competition. Doubt anyone will help.

I am super active in Facebook ever since I came here for exchange. Sometimes, I really want to agree with Nah that Facebook hurts relationships. It is addictive but at the same time, harmful. It can be something that one put on the status all the way to the link posted and comment given to others. One can even try to protray that he/she is happy when the person is not. That is so fake. I just cant stand it. Recently, the new outlook of facebook updates everyone with basically everything and whatever posted can actually be seen on the news feed. Rumors and suspicions all started. I hate it.

Lincoln Day Trip

I basically slacked the whole of today despite the need to study for one more test, one more mcq and one more tutorial for this week. Anyway, i had finally uploaded some pictures to my Dublin post because i was lazy the previous time.

Its another weekend so last Saturday we went Lincoln, a day trip organised by the student union, with Daisy from Hong Kong Mainland joining us. Weather is turning cold so i finally took out my winter jacket! Every other town or city in UK is small so we only had 2 attractions to visit- the Lincoln castle and the Cathedral where the ‘Da Vinci Code’ was filmed. And, we ended up shopping! This is how bad we can be! Shopping again! At least i bought krystal’s present already. Yeah! Now hunting presents for other girls~

Inside the Lincoln castle. Doing Jump shot alone. =.=’

Doesnt it look a bit like Great Wall though it is obviously not long enough?

Nice weather for the trip!

The Cathedral where ‘Da Vinci Code’ is filmed.

Inside the cathedral. I love this picture because i edited it a bit and it turned out to be pretty!

On another note, ive bought 6 tubs of Ben & Jerry and im consuming the 5th tub already! Gosh. Favourite- Half baked! (with everything you want inside! Choco chips, brownie, cookie dough, chocolate..yum!)

http://www.facebook.com/siahlaypeng?ref=profile#/album.php?aid=340847&id=517605626

Material Lab – Freestyle – Bonfire!

I made my own stirrup using a mild steel rod during material lab! Im still gladly happy even though we are not allowed to bring it back. But its so practical and hands-on. At least i see how each steel, anchors, spacers, wedges, aggregates, etc look like. And at least i mixed my own concrete! There are a lot of interesting stuffs you can mix with concrete too! Im just so amazed since i dont even do it in SDE. Everything back there is done by the technician and we use eye power. Here, everything is taught and everyone is supposed to fiddle with it. So we got to wear the coat, gloves, safety boots, goggles and ear plugs. Im scared initially because it requires quite some strength and im so unfamiliar with all the procedures but I have friendly and nice group mates to help me. I just do not like the fact that the coat is so freaking long and the technician even ‘mocked’ at me but helped me with the folding up of my sleeves. haha so nice.

Then as usual, i went for street dance class. The last part of the session ended with freestyle workshop where everyone is expected to take turn to dance in the center. And well said, we have to put in our own choreography and we went 3 rounds.

And the night ended with BONFIRE! It is Guy Fawkes Night, an annual celebration on the evening of 5 November. It marks the downfall of the Gunpowder plot of 5 November 1605, in which a number of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to destroy the Houses of Parliament in London, UK.

When we reached Hyde park, there were already many people crowding around. We decided to leave the accommodation only when we heard many fireworks. [One can actually buy the fireworks to light them if you want.] We waited with the crowd for the fire to light up and people started counting in unison for the firework display which lasted for HALF AN HOUR! I held my camera till my hands were numb due to the cold. The whole UK is light up and current weather situation checked from Google turned out to be ‘SMOKE‘. haha.

Pictures credit to Cheryl because her DSLR can take truer pictures unlike mine, which all came out dark and black. I had videos too but they dont seem to be able to be played through my laptop! That explains why I dont have Bonfire pictures loaded to facebook.

Kate Spade

OMG. I need help. Tell me which is nice. I cant find the clear bag with black lining and black kate spade words on the website anymore. *fumes* so i assumed its no longer in stock. Anyway, these are pictures taken from Kate Spade website:

I like this backpack but i dont know whether is it worth getting it because i already have a similar bag at home.

I laid my eyes on this bag the very first time i saw this. I wanted to get a bag to go school and this size seems to be just right. But the size looks just like the river island bag i always bring to school. I like the gold words with black glossy background though.

I think this is feminine and pretty. Kate spade plate is at the side of the bag.

I like the size and color but maybe not the handle. At another thought, this looks nice too.

This color combination for a wallet is so nice. But im afraid theres not enough pockets for my cards!

HOW?!?! I cant decide. I cant be greedy to get all. I will go broke. But i really want to get ‘a’ bag.

Dublin (Ireland)

Im too tired to blog about this trip. But this trip is really fun with the accompany of London people, Leeds people and Dublin people. It is no doubt an adventure and challenge to us because we actually climbed the muddy+ rocky+ poky mountain on the 1st day and braved through the super strong wind to the Lighthouse on the 2nd day.

We also experienced two extreme weather where the first day is bright and sunny and the second day is terrible- rain and strong wind and the temperature dropped to 4deg. On the first day, i complained bringing the heavy knitted jacket and on the second day, i complained about not bringing enough long sleeves, winter jacket, jeans and gloves!

Anyway, the Abraham hostel we stayed its horrible. Review down to zero! Long story which i do not wish to elaborate. But still, we have the luxury of a big group to protect ourselves.We did not go for Halloween btw because we were simply too tired to do so.

Guinness storehouse which is near the city (about 30mins walk) is a must to visit when you are in Dublin so we went and bought the student ticket. The ticket comes with a complimentary drink which can be claimed on the top floor at the bar. While I secretly koped the glass and put in my bag, other people actually openly hold the glass and walked out. wow. But the glass is really nice. Its a Guinness glass that i consumed Guinness with it!

Also, since Dublin (Ireland) is near to uk, there is sea and many natural sights! I have not seen the sea for very long so we spent the whole day trying to explore Bray and climbed the mountain. The view up there is really nice and beautiful. It is an accomplishment to reach the top since you have to explore the way up yourselves. There is no concrete path paved for people. Coming down is tougher since we have to go through the spikey plants that cut our hands, legs, butt and face. Nicole and i had quite a few cuts. The running from tree to tree down the steep slope is another obstacle because once missed, you might end up rolling down the slope. And back to the muddy slope, Cheryl actually slipped and fall on her butt and there goes her shirt and shoes.

The next challenge is to walk against the strong wind to reach the lighthouse. People were staring at us girls since we were wearing leggings, stockings and shorts while they were in their winter jackets, beanie and gloves. This time round, Christine fell backwards because of the wind pushing. I almost gave up too as I kept landing on my butt. My pictures are horrible and i gave up taking pictures a few times since im too cold to hold the camera and the wind simply blew my camera ‘away’ from my hand. But eventually, we managed to reach and I walked back ‘tearing’ with salt around my eyes.

When we reached the mountain top! The accomplishment!

Yeah! I did a successful one!

Hiding behind the wall from the wind. Too cold to move on.

This is how windy it is. I cant even take a proper picture!

My Guinness!

The 8 of us who meet up. (Leeds people + London people + Dublin people)

The yummy chocolates going back home to my family! As usual i dint buy more cos i always bring limited cash with me when i travel.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=338262&id=517605626&ref=mf

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=338381&id=517605626&ref=mf

Singsoc Halloween Party

Chilli White is where we went for the party. Even though we went around 10plus and came back at around 2plus, we are freaking tired. Yesh because of the crazy dancing, banging, pushing and finally, walking back to our room. Can you imagine walking up slope back when you are already so tired?

Anyway, the theme for Singsoc is super mario and ah hem! How come i dont see them dressed up as one? Luckily we decided not to spend so much money and make do with what we have. We simply removed them because other societies are dressed up so much more prettier. We then started drawing our faces! I see mummy, ghost, doctors, nurses, police, devils, angels, witch, and some gothic costumes. Theres also girls who came here solely to club as seen from their clubing dresses. I assumed that they are the undergraduates here and they really went ahead to buy the costumes and heels. I dont even bother bringing my heels to a cold weather country here. But this club is booked by the asian society for the night so i see a lot of asian faces. This is the first time im seeing so many YANDAOS and CHIOBUS in a club LARH.OMG.

Now, the most important matter. DJ SUCKS! HELLO, IF YOU HAPPEN TO READ THIS, PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR SKILLS REALLY CANNOT MAKE IT! Trying to run through the playlist you have and put some beats into it? I can also do it! Please please do not play the whole song, its damn freaking annoying and please please do not play slow music consecutively for 3-4 songs. We are in a club hello? Are you just playing your favourite music? And because you played the whole freaking song, its very obvious that you are repeating songs!

Well, enough of that. We will have another party ourselves in Dublin then. Heard that it is a halloween place so we shall see. Dont disappoint me!

:p

I have the habit of reading my blog post over and over again even after i had posted them up. With regard to the previous post that im pissed off with, i actually find it quite silly. I felt that im picking on stuffs and things to rant and whine on. But my emotions overwhelmed me when im not in a good mood. Reading posts blogged few years back makes me think that im more matured now even though im still petty and pick on really minor issues. Somehow, my thinking and opinions of certain matters changes over the years. Is that one of the reasons why human beings are always trying to seek for the better? Some people who are merely a few years older than me can even comment that im still young and i will realise it only when im out in the society to work. People are saying 21 is still a young age for me as I have no experience in many issues. But yet, i felt that my life is so filled with past that many does not have.

Somehow, a change in environment always changes how i think and view things. In Leeds living alone, im doing so many things that I have always felt lazy to do. Everyday routine is the same and im getting bored here. I always complain about how much i do not like my own home country because its always so busy and the weather is so hot and humid. There are no places for me to go because it is so small and etc. Here, im complaining too and im starting to appreciate Singapore more. Different people may view it differently from me but this is just so ironic!

Lifestyle here is super slow paced thus i do not have to rush for everything. My everyday routine basically revolves going for one hour lesson (almost everyday early in the morning) and back in my room till the next day. And i can leave my room around 10-15mins before lesson starts since everyone actually arrive ON TIME (not earlier than that). I cant seem to travel and skip lessons because Leeds is so small that there is nothing to explore. The only time we went out to travel is over the weekends. But the traveling time is so long! It will make me feel worse when my motion sickness kicks in. Thus, you see how bored am i here during weekdays? So, i study. im actually doing more studying and readings than in NUS. Gosh. im on exchange, i should play! Thats what people always say but here, we dont find any NTU or SMU exchange students so its always the 3 of us! Im always facebook-ing and watching movies from my funshion program back in my room though with once a week dance practice.

Laundry is another troublesome matter i hate. The laundry room is so damn bloody far away at Block H (unlike the washing machine back at home which is merely a few steps to kitchen) and i have to go up and down the stairs at least 5 times to check and restart dryers. So we incorporated cooking dinner with laundry to save time. But again, we have to constantly take turns to go down to check on the laundry and our dinner has to be consumed quickly to avoid people from taking out our clothes and dumping it aside since there are limited machines. That will then be wasting of money washing the clothes as they will be dirtied again!

Cooking requires ingredients and i dredged going to the supermarket which is about 15 minutes walk (about the same distance from my house to jurong point). But the toughest thing is walking back up slope with the heavy groceries! We are also experimenting our own cooked food. By the time we are back home, i supposed we will have a lot of our own recipes! We think of our recipes, buy and throw everything in. Its either boiling, frying or baking them. We are very proud of ourselves because we are REAL NOOB who DOESNT know how to cook! Im actually quite glad that we are able to whip up dishes from our IMAGINATION. Why? Consider the scenario of cooking curry:

• “Boil the potatoes and chicken first. I want the potatoes to be soft so i must boil it longer.” (at the expense that water is already included in the accommodation fee, so we are basically boiling everything)
• “Throw in the curry and add the milk. No milk how?”
• “My mother says can add fresh milk!”

Then trying to whip up some dishes from scratch:

• “Cooked what first?”
• “Garlic and chili, minced meat since it is frozen then vegetables? Mushrooms last since it takes damn fast to be cooked.”
• After adding everything, “why isnt the mushroom shrinking? I think must add water because i THINK i saw my maid adding water every time she cooked vegetables.” (this ‘think’ is actually recalled from the dont know how many years back when my maid was cooking in the kitchen.)
• “Sure a not?”
• “Just add!”
• Well, im right. Mushroom and vegetables shrunk and the dish is cooked after adding some soya sauce.

Cooking baked chicken:

• “How to marinate the chicken and what to put?”
• “You know how to barbeque? Just do the same to the chicken!”

Cooking Macaroni:

• “Why the chicken stock made the soup taste like magee mee?” The soup from the boiling of chicken (which will be shred after chicken is cooked) taste sweeter and nicer.
• So for second try, soup for boiling chicken is used as macaroni soup with one or two cubes of chicken stock added.
• “How to shred chicken then?”
• “Use your fork and knife or hands and start tearing!”

Frying fries:

• “How to make my fries taste like french fries with limited time?” (even though we know we have to soak the potatoes with salt and sugar the previous night into the fridge but ingredients for dinner are always prepared on the spot.)
• “Boil the potatoes, slice, cut then fry!”
• “Sure?”
• “Maybe. It works sometimes.”

There are many other scenarios where we bought the food and started experimenting and its so damn funny everytime we tried something new. But we have to squeeze our brain juice everytime we are at the market to think of what we can cook. I wonder how housewifes manage to cook different dishes everyday! We still do resort to eating only pasta, sides and salads sometimes when we ran out of ideas. So far, our imagination gave us Aglio Oglio, Beef bolognese pasta, carbona mushroom pasta, tortellini, wraps like popiah, macaroni, curry chicken, baked chicken, omelette, egg mayo,  banana and choc crepes, turkey/bacon ham with cheese sandwich, baked potatoes, Mojito and many more. And know what? I am still surviving with the same old ingredients we can find from the supermarket. Aww… im missing chinese food.

pissed!

At least i know that my blood is boiling!

How can people be so inconsiderate and rude?!

The least you can do is please ASK!

I would have agreed to allow you to have it if you even bother asking!

This is not the first time drinking and taking my things already can?

If you want to do it secretly, dont let me find out or sense it!

The most you can do is DONT FINISH my food and DONT OPEN if i haven open them!

How would you feel when the food you bought to keep for the week is obviously opened and consumed by others?!

How would you feel when you know that your milk is gone when you wanted them for your cereals?

How would you feel when you are thirsty and realised that theres only a few drops left?

Should I even start putting all my food and drinks in my room?

I have already resorted to buying cereal bars instead.

Should I even stop buying drinkable stuff into the fridge?

Are you a Manchester United fan?

Old Trafford Stadium is really a WOW though we did not catch a match. Apparently since this is a museum and stadium tour, visitors cannot enter when there is a match going on. The tour is actually great and the ticket is very worth it! We had free badge, free postcards, free lanyard and free certificate! We also visited the players’ changing room, the players’ lounge and had a feel of how is it like to walk out to the soccer field (because they lined us up and played the recorded announcement). The stadium is obviously bigger and nicer than Leeds. Practically it is all RED. The ultraviolet light shining on the grass patches apparently serves a purpose for the grass but i cant remember what is it.

Anyway, we toured the whole stadium from the audience seats to the managers area to the technical area and to the disabled section. The merchandise that they sold also comes in many different types. They even prepared Man-U Christmas merchandise! Can you imagine how much they earn from all these?

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=333153&id=517605626&ref=mf

This day trip to Manchester is actually organized by the Singaporean Society and we paid a membership for that. They brought us to the Trafford Centre thereafter. Im quite disappointed because this is another shopping mall (looks somehow like Birmingham) which we dont really feel like buying ever since we see the cheap bargains at Cheshire Oaks. We always thought that they would bring us to the Chinatown in Manchester which is the city area where we can stock up our chinese food and eat dim sum buffet! Nevertheless, I still spent some money buying clothes from Topshop because it is having crazy sale! OMG. I bought a hotpink top for just 3.60pounds (around SGD$9)! Thats crazy because students have additional 10% off on top of the sale! Singapore dont do such thing. And I was damn lucky this time because I always have difficulty finding my sizes during sales. I was considering another black top but Im glad (though kinda regret) that I put it back.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=333181&id=517605626&ref=mf

And we agreed to go for the Halloween party cum clubbing session next Wednesday. We had the tickets already but we have no costume. Graveyard Creatures is the theme. It is so elaborate like what Ian said! What can we be? I have no intention to buy any weird costumes. Maybe I will turn up in normal looking human. hehs.

Picture koped from GGG during Blast Anniversary. Cute bunnies! So lovely right? Got prepare my set a not? haha. Okie. I know the answer.