reading week is history

November 7, 2009 by caro1229


I'm feeling very fluky today so here you go. A random post on very random things. Easiest way of blogging XD

Did you notice something? =) *hint: IN is missing*

Meet Henry the cheery vacuum cleaner. Though he smells when he goes into work mode, he's still a cannot-do-without friend!

Hands-up if you agree that the bone seem to be protruding out a bit near my right foot big toe. Darn worried about it =(

The goodness of chocolate, biscuits and muffin. yum yum.

***

Friday and Saturday nights seem to be the big dinner nights lately. Last night was no exception. We went to Matthew's flat for a grand feast. 10 of us in total - me, Ying, Chiakhuan, Matthew, Jake, Lionel, Justin, Tian Ji, Shaun and Yit Lin.

*wheee..here comes the 3rd line in my phone camera! fret not, people, lifesaver would be coming soon =) i hope~* And please don't criticize my photos anymoree? Unless you want me to go on a words-only blogstyle until lifesaver comes to me! =)

DUCK! They're camera shy =.=

Basically girls do not dominate the kitchen anymore these days. All the cooking were done by the boys :P Ying and I just washed and sliced apples. Don't worry, Chiakhuan, you supplied some cutleries XD Ohh, the 3 of us washed up the dishes too! Lols.

Green vege with minced meat (haven't eaten this for so long! :DD)

Rendang! Supposedly the main dish of the night!

But along came Indian style curry!

Dumplings that were sort of a disappointment. Don't buy frozen dumplings ever! XD

Fried noodles :)

Roasted chicken! That took a bus here. rofl.

Broccoli not pictured, since it is consumed toooo frequently XD Chocolate milk and strawberry milk and exotic fruit juice not pictured, cause I was too busy tasting them all. Bleh. After stuffing as much as we can into our tummies - through which I realize these guys eat so little! - we had M&S biscuits and Thornton's chocolates. Seriously, fattening fattening fattening.

Then came the ultimately getting-to-nowhere discussion about what game to play. I'm amazed at how that went on for ages before they settled on this Ring of Fire game suggested by Ying. Chiakhuan and I backed out though, since it was a drinking game. Not like we have a lot of cups anyway, someone threw the plastic cups away. T.T

So while they played and drank the Irish cream bailey that smells like chocolate milk and this 40% (omg) alcohol content whisky that I suppose, tastes awful....

...Chiakhuan and I attacked the neopolitan ice cream I bought!

It was hilarious watching the guys plus Ying playing the game. You get to see demonstrations of slow/dumb reactions ; how the multiplications of 3 can become 6, 9, BURP; how cacat our BM is; how proper English should be spoke etc.

But I got bored eventually and wasn't too amused when chatting and planning of a next game came up, reason being there was still some whisky left. =.=" So yeah, I bid goodbye and scurried back to my dear room 5 mins before the clock strikes twelve and my horse carriage turns back into a pumpkin carriage.

Great dinner though, gracias to all the cooks :)

***

I miss them loads :( and they miss me too, so much they tried to barge into the webcam to get to me :P

Santa oh santa, what gift are you bringing for me this Christmas??...

...by the way Santa, I wouldn't have any Christmas stocking this year cause they cost too much but I still want a prezzie! There's no chimney and fireplace for you to come down through either, I'll wait for you at the weston hall entrance to open the door for you!

Let it snow let it snow let it snow~ I'm dreaming of a white christmas! ^^

53 days and counting left till Christmas! I can't wait for the joyous season!

Weather's getting colder recently, average temperature has dropped to around 7 degrees celsius throughout the day, with plenty of drizzles. Remember to bring your umbrellas out, friends! Enough rantings for now..teehee..

P/S : Where should I go for Christmas???? @.@

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To the Robin Hood Land

November 4, 2009 by caro1229

I actually slept for a mere 3 hours before the Nottingham trip…*breaks record for year 2009*. Woke up at 3.15a.m to get ready and met YiLing, Jake, Matthew and Joshua at our Weston reception area. Someone almost overslept, cough matthew cough.

There was a herd of Malaysians gathered at Students Union already by the time we reached. But hey, we are Malaysians, the late culture cannot be ignored. So the coaches came late by 40 minutes due to "unforeseen circumstances", quote from MSSM committee. Then came the not enough seats problem and thus, we only managed to leave Manchester by around 5.50a.m. Once again I apologize for my "high quality" photos taken with my phone. On the way to Notts..cutting through Peak district part of the time.








After ages, I finally caught sight of the M1 Motorway...

...everyone seemed to be sleeping peacefully...

...but I was still munching biscuits/cereal bar and snapping pics with my lovely phone camera.

Soon after the 40 miles M1 stretch, we arrived at the University of Nottingham where we were greeted by plenty of trees and greens!



Malaysians everywhere! Felt good to hear our special rojak accent from all around us :D Found bully at entrance of Sports Centre after a hard search - the place was swarming with Malaysians and packed like a can of sardine. She was pouring on me the meeting XXX incident XD bwahahaha...Should I email to aunty about it?? We should tell aunty how much we miss eating mee kolok with her in OK stall or open market, haha!


Entrance to the Food Court where the Malaysian Food Festival was held, in Portland Building.

I have cravings for that little green balls coated with coconut shreds! =(

Nasi Lemak was practically dominating the whole food festival.

Everyone at every table were eating nasi lemak and the entire dining hall was just nasi lemak smell XD Sigh..Now I miss it so much. Why does nasi lemak has to be a friggin' 7 pounds in Manchester?!!

After lunch I bumped into bully again but she just bought her food so I didn't join her :P Then I met mamaling too! Yet she had not even bought her food thus I still tagged along with the Manchester peeps in the end. The initial plan was to go to the football field for some spectating, it's a Sports Games day after all!

But then the view our eyes took in started to manipulate our legs and tell them where to go.

Portland Building - Student Union place as well.




And we ended up in the middle of The Downs where it's supposed to be a beautiful meadow but since it's late autumn, there's just grass and trees but that itself makes a stunning scenery still! I totally felt like lying down on the grass that somehow looked soft and comfy wth.





The whisper of the falling leaves, the elegance of the solid tree. Makes me gape at the marvels of creations our God gifted us with.


Weston is so thumbs-down compared to this Cripps Hall! Basically all the accomodation here are just too lovely, esp. the settings and surroundings. I would be more than happy to walk or cycle to school there!


Natural lavender scent at the hall..how nice! I won't need to spend $ on getting air fresheners that way =.= But hey, this has got to be the best picture my camera phone captured that day.



Due to our dumbness we went in circles walking back to the Sports Centre and riding a bus back to where we were in the beginning.

Our pursue of football field ended us up here in Highfields cause we messed up the name. It should be Power League but we (well, maybe just me) were asking the bus driver about "Towerling". I think I saw that name in some Critical Thinking question before though, haha.

After that I finally departed from the Manchester peeps and went to find Dor who was playing netball at Highfields. Dumbness struck me again as I went to the wrong netball court at Sports Centre area. I had no idea I was at Highfields already when I started looking for her..

Path buried by autumn leaves.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Dor, Mamaling, Pollux and sis at Highfields, watching dor play. Pity how they lost by 1 point to the 3rd place winner. It was a blissful moment, to just sit and talk without any worries, enjoying the occassional breezes. Thanks to Pollux for the ayam rendang from the food festival! Yummy it was. Since Mamaling's uni van was leaving at 5p.m, we flew back to Sports Centre to catch a minute with Dianying who I had not seen yet.

***

AND here comes the highlight of my day.

2 mins after meeting Dianying, I realized my phone was missing. Not in my jacket pocket, not in my jeans pocket, not in my bag, not with my friends. I got totally freaked out. Fortunately, sis was clever enough to call up my phone using hers – strictly speaking, that didn’t even crossed my mind, call me idiot. Low and behold, someone picked up on the other end and told us to go to the Sports Centre entrance to get it back. I felt more relieved but then when sis and dor called back for the 2nd, 3rd times, no one answered anymore and it just entered operator mode in the end.

Panic shot through me once more and I started to scramble through the crowd, scanning frantically for my phone. And then praise to be God, I found a guy holding it!! I almost squealed with joy. He explained that my phone battery went flat so that’s why he couldn’t answer anymore calls! Come to think of it, I was so darn lucky there was still that 0.??% left when sis made the 1st call! I shall always charge my batt fully next time.

Thank you sis! Thank you guy from Sunderland who found my phone on the grass somewhere and returned it to me as it was! And of course, biggest thanks to God…this has been the 3rd time I almost lost my phone. I seriously hope I can ‘reduce’ my carelessness!!!

***

ANyways, on the ride back to Manchester, I finally dozed off comfortably like everyone else. It had been a tiring day after all, but I'm just happy and contented that I managed to see my friends and eat my nasi lemak :)

P/S : I sort of forgot to add in photos of me with others :P so if you please, just check them out here!

P/S : Why on Earth are Semenanjung peeps still linking Sarawak with rumah panjang at first thought?? =_=


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: ) home food :( lab report

October 30, 2009 by caro1229


"I've been on a diet for two weeks and all I've lost is two weeks. "
Totie Fields

Indeed. For one and a half month, I have not eaten any of my dear Malaysian dishes or mum's cooking. This is so depressing. Yet, someone had to add salt to the wound by sharing photos of the food with me...

Wantan mee kolok. :(

Half-eaten nasi lemak from Nagaliar! My fav place for nasi lemak!!

Petronas ABC, special, yam and prawn biscuits and sweet potato and taufu, kueh chap.

Luckily she didn't send me this or I'll go crazy. Hoh winy?? Who oh who is the culprit who came up with the 1st Sarawak laksa recipe!

Is there any laksa paste in Chinatown??!! I seriously need to try to cook laksa to stop torturing myself. Or would the time accelerate to summer 2010 for me to enjoy some home food and rewind back to the present again? x.x

***

Have to get back to reality and do my LAB report. And the demonstrator somehow didn't save my data table into the CD. blow it.

P/S : Looking forward to TOMORROW!!! :D *gleeful*

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this morning :)

October 24, 2009 by caro1229

The clock showed 6.56a.m. Someone was being emo by the window, staring out blankly at the starry sky.

Culprit goes to...the r-a-i-n! I was so gleeful about going jogging at the break of dawn, okay well maybe it wasn't that early, but still..such a disappointment! x.x

So there goes the perfect jogging plan for burning calories and fat. But the breakfast plan remained unwaivered...a good breakfast is a good start to a good day! lols. I must have looked funny standing and waiting in the corridor with a loaf of bread in hand though, thought we were eating at lionel's flat! But only one person passed by --> Rob, who was going to some tournament..his accent is so hard to catch sometimes. =.=

Tada! My French toast that is not coated with enough eggs mixture, esp. the corners. I'll know better next time and make perfect french toasts!

lionel's scrambled eggs. i love the chives!! yummy yummy.

Grand breakfast. Toasts, butter, kaya, french toast, nutella, scrambled eggs. We used up 8 eggs in total. For 4 persons. Point is, my bread is all eaten up! poof! no more! need to buy bread again...T.T

P/S : yay we're going jogging in the afternoon! wheehee~~shoo fat shoo! :P

P/S : sorry i couldn't come up with a lamer blog post title.

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invasion of yellow stickies

October 23, 2009 by caro1229


I thought my eyes were having serious sight problems when I plopped down in lecture hall yesterday morning to see my lecturer - Dr. Grant Campbell blowing bubbles happily on the stage. True, he was grinning and looking very cheery. So yeah, we have the best lecturer who brings a colourful toy-wheel thingy, sparkling water, balloons, pop-gun, whiteboard spray in place of party squirter, party blower and of course the bubble blower for a lecture on pressure.

***

Things never go right for me in PASS. T.T For instance, when I see that yellow stickies on the table. Again.

This time round, we had to write the name of an actor/actress on the sticky and stick it on the forehead of the person on your left. Man, my mind was blank as I frantically tried to think of one, omg...Anyways, luckily I watched "Friends" at sis' room some weeks ago. I remember Jennifer Aniston from it. BUT, I heard wrongly and thought we need to write one actor and one actress each. So I was cracking my head over the actor bit...and the only name that came up was Brad Pitt, and I asked nurul next to me the stupidest question, "Is Brad Pitt an actor?"

She gave a look of disbelief and answered, "Yeeahh~he IS!" Wth. Somehow I was wondering if he might be a singer or plain model or footballercozitendtomixhimupwithdavidbeckham.

So I was still busy writing down Brad Pitt when andy stuck that darn sticky note on my forehead, blocking a quarter of my view =.= And the game started! It goes like this : You get to ask a Yes/No question when it's your turn, about the actor/actress stuck on your forehead...whom you have to guess! All I could thought of was kill me...

Here are the hints given to me based on the questions I asked :

- A male
- Wears specs in his most famous movie
- Not single
- A bit old, around 40

Like me, many people still couldn't figure out theirs after 4 rounds of Q&A. Thus the question provider provided one film/drama the actor/actress has starred in to the guesser.

Sticky no.2 for me read Mission Impossible. Which I never watched! @.@ The others managed to guess their answer eventually..and slowly, I was the only one left with that dreadful yellow sticky note on my forehead!! My group has around 15 ppl, who began to bombard me with movies of this mysterious guy to help me out..to no avail.

Getting the hint from my dazed face, andy told me to just take off the sticky and have a look --> Tom Cruise! My only impression of him is the dad who spoils his daughter way too over. *indifferent face*

That's how I probably created the nerdy image for myself. sigh. why oh why do andy and stephen have to come up with these sticky games when other PASS group leaders like sis' are getting the chem textbook for them? envy envy T.T

***

PBL workings.
My phone camera's condition is worsening :( 2 lines now! Would the screen be totally covered up in a mass of black lines before summer next year??

Upcoming tests...save me!!! More worried about Maths cause I don't know what questions would Paul Grassia come up with.

.. which leaves Christmas as my greatest motivation! Looking forward to it lots...christmas mass, christmas carolling, christmas concerts, christmas gatherings, christmas cards sendings..and the entire christmassy atmosphere and feeling! :)

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whimsical autumn

October 18, 2009 by caro1229

I often speculate which season is my favourite out of the four - spring, summer, autumn or winter. All of them seems to be really picturesque and scenic. Spring and summer with dainty sweet-smelling flowers whereby spring is cool and breezy but a vanilla or cheesecake ice cream under a blazing sun sounds tempting as well! Winter does not need much explaining - snowflakes and snowman and White Christmas! *gleaming eyes*

As for autumn, it's the first time I experience the autumn season. All my life I have been sweating in our tropical hot and humid all year round country, except for those 2 times I travelled to China during winter time. Just like I expected, autumn is totally beautiful and quaint...when it's sunny and not raining.

Thus I couldn't resist taking pics before autumn slips away silently to make way for winter. First off are pics taken in the North campus.

Ferranti building where we have our PBL and PASS sessions.


love the treeeees!

That's the Renold's building behind the trees where we have our lectures :D

The Mill - where I have my lab sessions and tutorials.

sorry I'm too obsessed with trees XD

and here comes fat little birdie hopping about!

In front of Renold's.

yup that is sis and that orangey brown building is weston hall where we live!

As I promised to God, I set off to church really early this morning, like, 35 mins before the mass. Partly because I wanted to enjoy a nice relaxing walk and take pictures :P But it was quite cold at 7 degrees and I only wore 2 layers..nose got a bit numb lols.

Manchester Museum again. I forgot I wanted to take pic of John Rylands Library.

Squirrel scampering around and nibbling at plastic bags :( don't litter people!

Pity the hydrangeas' colour is somewhat dull. I wish there are more flowers planted around here! I would love to see bluebells and baby's breathe and primrose and dandelions! I think I'll go buy some flowers I can plant by my window sill from Tesco :)

After Sunday mass at the Holy Chaplaincy, sarah and I followed alan to the King's Church, which is just opposite Sugden Sports Centre. The church lobby looks sort of classy and business-like..with sofas and pictures etc. Plus smartly dressed helpers standing here and there. The service there was still going on when we arrived. Things are kinda different from our Catholic mass of course, as it is a non-denominational church (a church which has not formally aligned itself with an established denomination, or remain otherwise officially autonomous - according to wikipedia XD). But I enjoyed the worshipping there, especially the saxophones! We don't get to sing and worship at the student mass at Holy Chaplaincy where there's no piano or musical instruments, sadly.

After the service ended, we met Careena who apparently attends this church! She must have told me the name before but it has slipped from my pea-sized memory. heh. Tea, coffee and biscuits were provided so we grabbed some as we mix around a bit. There's Charlotte doing something related to business (3rd year) and Karen who has graduated. And also the cutest, most adorable 17 months old little girl Isabel! Sarah and I developed instant affection towards her and waved at/sweet-talked/tried to play with her but she seemed to have more interest in the biscuit I was munching on. T.T Anyway, Isabel's parents are amiable people - Felix and Karen. Sweet family :) Little boy in pram who keeps picking his nose, glaring at us and eating his Cheerios is another lovable kid..weell alright, all the children are such darlings!!

I must have looked dumb taking pics of the grass x.x But ain't the scattered leaves on the greens so pretty too?? By the time I reached my room it was already 12 something lols. A very blithe Sunday morning :)

P/S : I still don't know which season is my fav. Love them all perhaps.

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out of grasp

October 16, 2009 by caro1229


Finally I went aboard a transportation again in Manchester, the rarity of it - thanks to my hall which is inches away from the North Campus, and also thanks to my legs that somehow have an affection for bus no.11.

It was Wednesday afternoon, after 4 hours of EngineeringChemistry lecture plus PBL session in which I stumbled. Yesterday was so much better thank God, at least I went home all smiles. Loohlooh came to Weston for lunch with sis and I..and ended up being forced to eat raw tomatoes XD nobody is gonna eat with us anymore if we continue our all-vege treatment, sis~hahaaa..

After lunch we set off to Chinatown and Tesco cause loohlooh needed(wanted) to buy curry instant noodles, bread and peanut butter..pity her mayo sandwich spread, probably isolated in a dark corner in her room, weeping alone, waiting to be given off :P We walked to Chinatown and later got on the free city metroshuttle which sis loves.

Typical street in Greater Manchester.

Lloyds Bank, I think.

This was the company that distributed free chocolates on the street! :D Err, chocolates along with their travel pamphlets. So I'm kind enough to do this teeny bit of advertisement for them here as a sign of gratitude wth.

***

Basically, life's pretty alright here..skypeing with my parents almost everyday. Mummy has to ask me whether I eat my spirulina, bought milk+eggs+bread, washed my clothes; whether I can cope with my studies etc..and she brings my iwoofu puppy and squeaky rabbit to the webcam :P Dad just sends emails on everything and asks if there's any problems with my course. Thus, basically I'm looking at my parents and also my home's living room everyday haha..wait for me for 9 months! I'll be back in a jiffy :D

Besides that, there are things I'm missing very dearly too.. :(

the crazy gang.

My first thought when doing this collage was geez! Aren't there anymore pics of us? And half of the them are taken at the beach - our favourite hangout place :P I figured that the rest of the pics we took before were like, during primary school, if you guys remember - in front of the tiger mascot, at the graduation dinner etc; or at MGC, I tried hunting for photos on the website but couldn't find any..too long ago XD So sigh, that's the best I could come up with.

They are my besties since young, mind you. Being in the same class in kindergarten, except jane - get to you later hehe, I think I only communicated with yc the bully at that time. Yeah, communicate as in arguing and verbal fighting, all the way through to primary 3. Her house is just a stone's throw away from mine so I have probably been to her house for a zillion times.

I remembered belinda as the "slow motion girl" in kindergarten. Like with vh, I never talked to her then. my, were we that stuck up?? Only till primary 5 did I started to make friends with them, after sitting next to jane, who shook my hand so violently. That was a turning point in my life I guess. Before that I couldn't cope well with my studies (it's only upsr i'm such a dumbo!) and always failed to pass up homework on time. Somehow, God pulled me up out of the dark gloomy days of my life by sending me these people to be my friends. In one way or another, my results took a change for the better. Life became much more enjoyable. Thank you guys, for bringing a difference to it and most importantly, for bringing me to church. I still remember the earlier days I attended the youth fellowship, getting to know others on the van 8835, being too meek to say prayers in a small group of 4 or 5 people etc hahaa. Anyhow, the memories we share over all the years are too much to be listed out - be it schooldays, camps, sleepovers, outings/travels, carpools..whatever!

I believe we'll gather together again one day! Yes, you're the hard part, jane! Our holidays don't meet at all~ T.T take care, guys, and commit everything you do to the Lord! :)

the big family of ALS Jan 08.

Obviously I have not spent an extremely long period of time with most of you up till now, but the past 1.5+ yrs with all of you were quality time! From the very first day of college, introducing ourselves in Thinking Skills class to bbq/sleepover at mamaling's place to AS exams to sushi at brunei to A2 exams to graduation ceremony to farewells at airport..not to mention all those food scavenge and birthday celebrations etc. And of course, the ngong-ngongs' KL trip XD I truly cherish them all!

But as fate has it, we have to be separated - apart from the lucky bunch in Nottingham! I'll be waiting for you guys here okay..we can still eat Nagaliar nasi lemak and Madam Wee's mee kolok and laksa and Petronas ABC special and Kok Chee's nyonya taufu and Grand Palace dim sum and Escapade sushi together summer '10 and wth why am I making myself hungry like that. At least dodoreen and mamaling are in UK as well..and sis is with me bwahaha..getting a bit influenced by my eating habits.

So wherever you guys are, do study hard, stay healthy and be happy! Look forward to meeting you all sooooon in 9 months time.

Food!!

miss all the malaysian food and mum's cooking tremendously. T.T I hope the Malaysian Food Festival thing at the Nottingham Games has my dearest dishes at reasonable prices.

Violin and orchestra!

You really won't realize how much you like something until you depart from it :( Although I have always abandoned my violin in its case for some days during peak exam periods or when I go travelling, it's the 1st time I'm leaving it for so long! Kind of regretting for not bringing it along, should have brought since AirAsia didn't really checked on the cabin luggage weight. But all the same, my flatmate told me it's not allowed to play musical instruments in our rooms - there was someone playing trumpet that time omg. But then weston hall has no music room either. Maybe they expected us to play our instruments outside in the middle of the road. Anyhow, I'm bidding goodbye to weston next year so I shall certainly get my violin here then! wheehee~

Watching Nodame Cantabile totally made me go nuts missing violin lessons and orchestra sessions. But chiaki was such a scary conductor in the beginning lols, BIG difference to our never-ever-raised-his-voice conductor - my notably patient teacher :D Playing pieces in an orchestra is totally fun and an effective way of improving sight-reading too..the feeling you get when everyone really played whole-heartedly, sometimes that little shiver within yourself.


Lesson of the day : treasure what you have around you :)

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