Woke up at 5.15am this morning to catch a train at 6.55am from Bath Spa to Cardiff Central today. Why wake up so early? Cos have to walk for 40 minutes (fortunately, down the hill) from the house to the train station. It was a nice morning walk tho although the sun has not really risen above the horizon but the sky was already navy blue. As the dawn fades away.... whooooosh......
Oh yeah, anyway the train took about slightly more than an hour to reach Cardiff Central. It was drizzly when we reached there. Sook Meng arrived not too long after that to pick us up. Thereafter we went to the Central Market to shop for some buns for breakfast. Then Sook Meng brought us to her home and ate something there. Along the way the wind was so strong. You know sometimes over here in Europe it isn't the temperature itself which is the problem - it is the wind chill. Just imagine when a gust of cold air just smack right at your face. At one point in time I just feel like going expressionless and give a "dont talk to me" kind of look. Hahaha...
Anyway, Cardiff is the capitol city of Wales, another state which is part of the United Kingdom. It is quite different from England in that the people in Wales speak a completely different language - Welsh which is part of the Celtic language family. So it looks completely different from English or any other Indo-European language that you can think of. Check out the pictures I have uploaded on facebook.com and you would understand exactly what I am talking about. Its so cool la. haha... for example, if you know anyone whose name is allan tan, it means Fire Exit in Welsh. And their sentences start with a verb!
So before we took a bus to visit the Open Air Museum of Welsh Life in St Fagans, somewhere relatively far away from the city, we actually walked through the Bute Park to the Cardiff Castle but did not get in coz the admission fee was too ex. Somewhat around 3.95 pounds. So we went straight to the museum. Unfortunately the weather was not that good in that there was heavy rain. So we did not stay for long (fortunately the admission is FREE... hha)and left the place when it was still drizzling.
One thing about the weather in UK: It has been raining almost every single day since my arrival at London! Initially it was alright in that the rains are not as heavy as back at home BUT over time it gets irritating. Plus the wind chill - you just feel frozen. And when ur shoes and clothes get wet, you will just get frostbite. Ok la it is exagerrated. But overall for someone who has been living under a tropical climate for most of his life, this kind of temperature is just so comfortable.
Anyway, no one expects the bad weather so nothing to blame about. Feel a bit bad as SM later purposely cooked dinner for us. It was very delicious! And her housemates happily joined in. they are all just so awesome and friendly that we feel so bu hao yi si. Even her landlord was so friendly he talked to us to entertain us for a while while SM was preparing the dinner. Good for her that she has a good landlord!!!
Then we made our way to the train after dinner and we would have missed it if we walked all the way. Yes, ran until like mad. Luckily in time but it was crazy. More than 20 minutes of walk man. Anyway really glad to see SM around. And Cardiff is a nice place to visit :) For those planning for a holiday in the UK, you can consider Wales. :)
Did not start the day as early today - someone was snoring until 10 am so only left TW's house at around 11 plus. Managed to catch the train at 12.31pm from Bath Spa to Bristol Templemeads station. Actually the journey only takes 10 plus minutes so the 2 cities are actually very nearby each other and they are served by the same River Avon. And Bristol is at the western coast of England - just opposite to it on the other side of the Severns Channel is Wales! Will head to Cardiff and meet Sook Meng tomorrow. Can't wait! hehehe...
Although in my last trip to Germany I did not really see much of Hamburg, but Bristol gives me an impression that it bears a certain extent of resemblance to Hamburg in that it has a harbour I think. Maybe they all look similar to me. And churches and cathedrals are just everywhere in the city. It's another city on a somewhat slopy and hilly kind of landscape so yup, had some walking and climbing up the slope to do while exploring around in the city.
Managed to sneak into the University of Bristol to take a peek there too. Not bad eh the facilities there! CC went to take a look at his beloved department while I got to take a glimpse at mine too. Was at the doorsteps but didnt actually wanted to get in there. haha... if not I would regret more of my earlier decision to study at you-know-where now. Sighx.
Anyway, Bristol is another vibrant city with excellent and panoramic view, especially if you look at the whole city from the Brandon Hill. It was just....awesome! Took loads of pics there too. So if you are interested in seeing the pics you can check out my account at facebook.com in the next few days to come. (If I have sufficient time, haha)
Took a bus today from London to Bath. The whole journey took about 4 hours with a bit of delay due to unexpected congestions, but overall it was ok. The scenery along the 3 1/2 hour bus ride was very nice, you can see the vast landscape of meadows and stuffs, the only thing lacking is only that the temperature now is too low for flowers to bloom -_-" , although for a few plants their flower have premature blooming? Haha.... maybe it's global warming. But most importantly I missed the snow by 1 or 2 weeks! Arghox.
After reaching Bath we took a walk around the City then was brought by TW around his Uni - The University of Bath. It's so much larger by size, and more beautiful than our beloved you-know-where. Somehow at this point in time I wished I am studying overseas. Well what to do, I made the decision I have to be responsible for it. A bit too late liao also la 3 years down the road then only regret. Actually no regrets la dun worry. I made many great friends in you-know-where, I am very proud of that and of course appreciate a lot too! Haha... Sook Meng called from Cardiff during dinner and can't wait to meet her soon. Also called Wendy when was in the University. Sigh. If only I am studying here how nice it would be.
Met TW who came all the way from Bath at 9 plus after taking some shots at the nearby KensingtonPark. Walked briefly around the areas of Bayswater and then went to Chinatown and tried out the Chinese buffet at £7.90 per person. Of course I ate back the fair share of prawns and cha-siew. Hahaha.... was quite full until about 9pm tho. Thereafter we went to Piccadilly and as we were wondering why there were road blocks at the Piccadilly Circus, thousands of people marched down from the direction of Buckingham Palace demonstrating against the Trident Replacement and the possible attack of Iran! Thought it was so cool that I actually took down a video of part of the demonstration. muahaha... then went over to Lillywhite and bought a nice hoody there (Lonsdale) at a discounted price of £7.99 (original price is £34.99)so it was a pretty good buy.
So from there we went over to BuckinghamPalace and along the way we actually took pictures of some of the landmarks that you might find very familiar if you have played a game called Monopoly! Places like Regent Street, Piccadilly, Whitehall, King's Cross station, Oxford Street, Trafalgar Square etc.etc., all are taken down for fun. Man, these places actually exist! Haha ok then we went to BuckinghamPalace and along the way the demonstration actually was still going on! Unfortunately there wasnt any shift changing ceremony that day! Arghox. From there we went over to Trafalgar Square and guess what, the demonstrators actually gathered there for a rally! Went there to join in the fun without knowing what was going on actually.... haha... so we went back to hostel so that TW could check in to the hostel and then we went out again to Covent Garden. Was fairly well entertained by the busker performances. Hehe..
Couldnt sleep as well albeit lethargy so woke up at around 6 plus (okay, that was a long sleep either coz we fell asleep around 10 plus. haha) After nua-ing for a few more hours we left our place at around 9.30am so I could get to the nearest bank and change for new £ notes. Actually the £50 notes are still in use, it was just the lower denominations that has changed. Didnt know mar. Anyway so we proceeded to our first destination - London bridge. Had a big -_-" when I reached there. It wasnt the London bridge I had imagined. You'll know when I post the pictures up. And shortly later only I realized the one more famous for tourist and the one I wanted to see was actually the Tower bridge. Spent a huge part of the day walking along ThamesRiver (Thames Walk) and also passed by the DesignMuseum. After that we spent £3.40 (consession price for students) to visit the Tower Bridge Exhibition and learnt a bit about the history of TowerBridge. How was it build, why and etc. etc.
So spent the rest of the afternoon there. Then we proceeded to a more eastern part of the city, CanaryWharf. It is the new commercial zone in London and the Underground station was superbly built! Shortly before the sunset we were then at Westminster and walked over to see the London Eye. Did not go up coz the entrance ticket costs £11.00!
Then we took a bus to Victoria station, and then went to BuckinghamPalace to catch a glimpse of how it looked like at night. In the middle of our crazy photo taking sessions it rained heavily! So we were forced to walk back to Victoria and from there proceeded back to Hostel.
From Heathrow airport we sent SM off to catch her bus, thereafter we proceed to find Malaysian Hall. Checked out from the customs and immigrations pretty fast, by around 2.15pm after touching down at 1.45pm. The officer just asked a few questions then happily chopped the passport, and our baggages are not checked at all. Kind of surprising, but Nevermind. Anyway it was pretty smooth. It costed £6.70 per person for the Underground Day ticket from HeathrowAirport to Bayswater station! (Which spans across all 6 zones of London, and Bayswater is the nearest station from Malaysian Hall.) We reached Malaysian Hall at 5 something pm, dead tired (if you have made the calculation, yes it was more than 24 hours of travelling). But due to the amount of the ticket paid (because a single trip for Underground is a standard price of £4.00, we decided that might as well pay a bit more for unlimited travel for the rest of the day), so yup, must make full use of the ticket and we came out again from the hostel after sunset (around 6 plus) and decided to head to Chinatown.
So we alighted at Leicester Square station and what I could not believe was I realized I actually had a deja vu there before! I dreamt of that place sometime ago! Haha ok a bit of digression. So we proceeded to Chinatown, but when we reached there there was a slight drizzle. Nevertheless we eagerly took pictures, then by chance we reached Piccadilly Circus, where there were lots of theatres around there showing great musicals! But after walking for about 2 hours we were dead tired by 9 plus. And there is a curfew at Malaysian Hall which is about 11pm. So we decided not to be so ambitious and went back to have an early rest.
Finally, the long awaited trip that I have planned for 2 1/2 freaking years came true. Not that this particular trip is planned since then, the more important point is, I am finally in Europe again! Have been taking loads of pictures since Day 0, hopefully Sofia would have enough capacity to sustain them (an average of about 150 pictures and above per day. Highest is at more than 220. But some are taken as duplicates and the selection for better taken photos have not been done. Have quite a fair bit of touch ups to do, but due to the precious time we had resulting in reduced hours of sleep and consumption of water (no link actually, haha.), so trying to put up some photos now hehe..
Haha so the following are the brief accounts of my trip from the departure with Emirates to where I am with my friend TW in Bath.
The Departure
Did not finish packing up until around 5pm shortly after CC and his family reached my home. Muahaha. Strangely this CNY (up to the fourth day) was particularly wet and not as hot as in the past, and so CC arrived my home in a somewhat cloudy and drizzly weather. So we went out for dinner then back home and waited until about 10.45pm before we proceeded to the airport. Arrived there and checked in by around 12am. So waited until about 12.35am then we moved on to board the plane while our tired parents could go home earlier to rest. Oh by the way, the plane was scheduled to fly at 2.10am. Hehe... After about 6 hours we finally reached Dubai. Did not have a good rest in plane tho. Well what to expect when you can only afford an Economy seat. haha. Maybe I did something wrong too by choosing the Oriental Meal. So its like a kind of specially requested meal and the air stewards and stewardesses actually served us first before everyone else. Hehe... but of course, the food is like hmm..... Dont wanna comment la. haha.The Families of the Departing Group
The Arrival
Right so waited for a few hours at Dubai Airport doing nothing, other than loitering around the airport whilst trying to find out more about Dubai (so that we could do something in the city when we stopover there for 24 hours in our return trip. Finally wasted time until the next flight and after another 7 hours we finally reached London Heathrow airport. The Underground: Interchange at some station I forgot which one already
To increase the reader-friendliness of the previous post I have decided to split up the different travelogs by days, each incorporated with some pics. Doing it now since have a bit of time and the internet connection here is excellent. hahaha alternatively if you wanna see more of the pics i took while in the UK, you can register at facebook.com, if my email address is part of your whatever email account you can find me there and add me directly. If not can just search for my full name.
The clock is ticking and the time is still running as per normal, but it seems to me that the night is getting ever longer. Just wonder how come I don't feel the same this time round as compared to my last trip to Germany. Maybe its the difference in duration. One thing I know, I do really miss the Schmid family in Ebringen, and I am definitely going back and meet them this time round. Will miss home again once I leave. This time a few thousands kilometres (about 6000km i think) away from home.
It's so going to be fun!!!!!!!
Anyway, let's hope for a better year la this year. Haha.... lost RM 60 in mahjong and stuffs on the eve and the first day of CNY. gosh.... really have no luck ler... Felt like joining in when one of my buddy actually got kaki for mahjong tonight! Ah nevermind.
So fast counting down to departure already. Muahaha... remember that I used to say I dont really feel excited, but now suddenly the excitement is here. Maybe it's past the eve and first day of CNY? well, thinking about it, I will be on the plane about 30 hours from now. Cant really describe the feeling now. It's a mixture of excitement and yet at the same time a bit of uneasiness. Heavy hearted? It's normal I guess.
Haha actually there's something interesting to note about my departure. A few days before my departure to Germany some 2 years ago something bad happened. And the same thing happened again this time round. Not going to mention it, but maybe must experience it to ensure a safe and sound trip? not that its something worth celebrating about lar. Hope everything will be fine.
Just in case (which is actually most likely to be the case) I won't get the chance online for the next 2 days, just wanna wish all the readers of my boring blog a Happy Chinese New Year!
Want to know when would certain issues not get addressed by the government or group of governments, so to speak?
The answer, of course, is right above - When the issues enter into political discussion and hence, politicized.
Not convinced?
For citizens of Malaysia: Look at one very important pillar crucial to the development of a country - Education.
I do not have to elaborate much on this, if you have read well about the education system the recent developments. Don't want to write too much also, later get jailed. Muahaha... not much privacy afterall although this is supposed to be a private blog but accessible to practically anyone else who has internet access.
For citizens of the rest of the world: Look at one very phenomenon that is clearly and evidently showing its signs of arrival, and yet some self-acclaimed the most powerful leaders on Earth at this very moment still choose to face them with blatant ignorance - Global Warming.
If their optical nerve cells are still functioning properly, and they read enough newspaper everyday, no one else in the world dare to say they do not know anything about more frequent heat waves and hurricanes and abnormal weather striking all parts of the world. Are all these evidences not good enough? What more do you ask for? When the icebergs north of the Arctic and Antarctic Circle melt and raise the sea level?
Just to quote from what I once learnt from General Paper in A Level:
The first casualty in war is Truth.
And if one sees Politics as a battlefield, the Truth are the very issues which are being brought up for discussions, awaiting solutions.
I hate it when people take things for granted. And worst of all - taking me for granted. Just because I had been doing the same stuffs all the while does not mean that it is my obligation. And things would just go uglier when there isn't even any room available for discussion leaving me with no other choice. There is not even a slight tinge of sincerity that I could sense when it is actually a passed-on message and not discussing it directly with me. My temper isn't as good as how you might have imagined.
Actually, to what extent of happiness does this day deserve anyway? P is right, it is too commercialized already. People just trying to make it big to sell their stuffs and trying to sell love for money. And thinking about it, people actually DO spend money to buy love. In a way lar.
I wonder who on Earth created Valentine's Day... could it be the French? Since they claim to be among the most romantic bunch of people on Earth, maybe this has something to do with them. Anyway what was i trying to say.. hmm... Do i sound anti-Valentines? Nah not really. Maybe just sour grape. But well, actually nothing to be sour about la. After all, have been a bachelor for 22 years. And if everything else goes smoothly I should be getting an official recognition by June 2008, as a Bachelor of Science (hurhurhur no pun intended!). Isn't it an insult? You need to study for 13 freaking years to obtain this title called Bachelor, without which you cannot find a job based on it. Calling it a Degree? Well, why not Radian or Gradient?
Haha obviously I don't really know what I am talking about now. But who cares man. Muahaha.
Hmmm... after a conversation over notebooks with a friend overnight I realized that I did make a wrong move in this coming trip. Should have made used of the scheme I am entitled to but still unutilized.
Time to get things packed (yah, again!) and if you really do a countdown actually its only 10 days left. But somehow the excitement is marred slightly by the Chinese New Year atmosphere I guess. Yup so don't really have much time left. Pack pack pack!
Oh yeah, and I forgot to say how HOT it is back here! It's a fridging oven here I tell you! But typical of Februaries I guess. Always this hot esp during Chinese New Year! Have to sit down a lot coz can't really stand!
Well I guess that wraps up my stay in Singapore until coming August. A part of me wishes that the clock will tick slower, but at the same time another part of me wishes it to come sooner. I guess, I will miss all my wonderful friends there. I truly appreciate the fate and all the friendship we have developed over this period of time albeit the short departure. Don't worry, half a year passes fast (well, a more exact calculation showed that this is already my 8th year in Singapore). And its now time to take a short break from the hustle and bustle in NUS and embark on a new adventure.
So now I am sitting in front of another computer at home blogging this entry. Too bad Sofia can't be connected to the Internet temporarily at home as the modem has only 1 port. Unless switch here switch there now and then?
But then again, really thanks P for your willingness to exchange the comp. Feel very bad actually as my Elizabeth is not as capable and I hope it wont affect his final year project. I truly will cherish Sofia and bring it back in one piece :)
Thanks also to TN and TL for your generosity in lending me space to keep my stuffs till August. Danke schoen!
During the last few days before my departure from Singapore, I actually was thinking, why the hell am I going for SEP. There's so much fun around if I stay anyway. With all the activities that I could go for, and all the friends around me. Life is just as great even if the things might not actually go that well in school. But who cares anyway, rite? Afterall, this is a decision made by myself 2 1/2 years ago and nothing else can make me change my decision now. Almost all of the formalities are done and the only thing left now is Packing. Muahahaha.... the most headache of all for travelling yeah. Doesnt matter. It's gonna worth it.
To all my friends, goodbye for now. All the best in what you all have been doing and may this sem be an even more exciting time for you (non-academically of course).
The Fellowship of Durian
KE VII Choir and A Cappella comrades
Fellow Resonance batchmates and seniors
Hall mates
Aihs... I think I have already started missing you guys even when I am only 350km away now.
