Clutch of Inspirations.

October 24, 2009

this morning :) @ 2:37 PM

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.

0 muffins for me

October 23, 2009

invasion of yellow stickies @ 5:25 PM

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! :)

0 muffins for me

October 18, 2009

whimsical autumn @ 10:06 PM

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.

0 muffins for me

October 16, 2009

out of grasp @ 7:17 PM

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 :)

0 muffins for me

October 12, 2009

moving on. @ 7:46 PM

Expenditure had been an issue for me, still is. I whimper about a price difference of RM0.50 in Malaysia. Needless to say, I have been a noisy grumpy nuisance here in UK - sorry to those who are unfortunate enough to listen to my moanings about spending every now and then. AND, it pissed me off to listen to bully brag about how cheap things are in London. We were comparing prices - 6 eggs, 8 drumsticks, loaf of wholemeal bread, vegetables etc. Of course, the gap isn't too big...but it certainly don't make me happy.

This shop, for instance, has blacklisted itself in my brain. Didn't like it at first sight, cause of its name - Wasabi. Eww. Wasabi is one of the few things my taste buds cannot accept. Loohlooh (hiahia..see! i mentioned you! unless you don't wanna admit to this lovely name!), sarah, wailam, sis and I walked there on Friday morning after tutorials/handing lab reports.

But hey, I'm not such an unreasonable person. There is of course, something else that made me dislike this Wasabi restaurant...As usual, sis and I chose a meal to share together. The waitress who treated us ice cold but smiled widely to the local guys told us that one person has to take at least 3 £1 dishes off the belt if he/she isn't ordering anything from the menu. Sis and I almost said byebye and walked out. In the end, we just piled up most of the sushi plates in front of sis and told the waiter recording our bill those are sis'. XD

Sushis on the move!

Seafood sushi.

Curry katsu-don. I always end up with katsu-don in Japanese restaurants, reminds me of Daiki in Voice XD

Unagi!! I'll have it when I go back =(

Soft-shell crab sushi. *drools*

I can't recall what it's called.

Anyhow, thought that Wasabi is sorta bad to trick us innocent customers. Lols. Kidding, just that it should be better to state that rule for customers outside or on the menu. The food is yummylicious so if you don't mind about $, no harm giving it a try. It's located in Chinatown.

***

I have been growing a sweet tooth after arriving in UK. x.x I hope I don't get toothaches or a rotten tooth..haven't even find myself an orthodontist here yet, to monitor my braces.

bread topped with bananas and some chocolatey sauce. gooey goodness!

50p toffee cheesecake with biscuits base! good deal from Tesco Metro.

***

3rd failure to arrive on time for Sunday Mass. =( I'm such a procrastinator. Or maybe I should have taken the shorter route through the tunnel-like path. Was a bit scared about walking there alone when there's no other people in sight, after hearing lionel's story about a girl that almost got raped by a drunk there, the next part of the story is #$%^&*. Thus I used the longer route passing BBC...and miscalculated the time, ending up being a latecomer. So sad. I'll be early early next week, God!

Loving how the autumn leaves swirl and dance in the wind as they fall.

Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him, and he said, ‘There is one thing you lack. Go and sell everything you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’

- Mark 10:21 -

And I arrived back at Weston Hall safely =) No pajamas westoners out in the cold cause of fire alarm this time! There was one again last night though T.T - the frigging loud alarm that almost damaged my eardrum.

***

My new obsession! Go check out some of her songs on youtube :) Emiri Miyamoto - daughter of Fumiaki Miyamoto, a famous oboe player. Hope she releases more solos!!

Missing you... :(

0 muffins for me