RUN

I am so proud to announce that in the midst of my really dry and boring day of growing fungi at home, I had managed to drag my half mouldy body to the gym to RUN. Yes not slow jog but run.

After the really indulging ice cream binging session at island creamery last night with Liz and Kenneth, I felt ever more compelled to RUN. And so driven by guilt, i hit the threadmill n started running for a full 35 mins! GOSH. i have never ever run for so long. And i managed to cover 5.2 km! ok lah no big deal for u runners out there, but it is quite a record for me. Since i usually run like those cement mixer vehicle. Now can upgrade lah.. maybe to a Proton car? DON'T laugh k! one day i will be a Lamborghini. haha

Oh well as i was running, i was stunned by the news that i saw. An 8-year-old girl in China had covered 300km, running from her hometown to Beijing Tian An Men Square to celebrate the Olympics 2008. MY GOSH. 8 yr old running 300 km! And reachin in the wee hours of the morning! MY GOSH. N his dad followed her throughout her entire journey on a BIKE. This gal started training at a really young age and by the age of 3 she could easily run 3km. Poor girl though... must have been quite damaging for the body according to the doctors and scientists. But she looks happy running.

Day 4- Liverpool

Tuesday 24/7 10:23am

Been on the train since 9.17am. Taking the British Rail to Liverpool now. Nothing to do and just staring out of the window and thinking of 'stuff'.

7.28pm
Dinner soon at a cheap and good bar at the city centre of liverpool. Reached liverpool at a quarter to 12pm and walked an ardous journey with our exceedingly (or rather mine) heavy luggages to our hostel- YHA liverpool. Funny how everytime we stopped along the way to ask 'where is albert dock?', the reply is also 'just a lil while more straight down.' AHH

The hostel was far more appealing and welcoming than piccadilly backpacker's! There alot MORE room and the bed was decent. Not just decent. It was GOOD. Wooden framed doubles, a stark contrast to the metal frames wired bottom ones at picca. The room is also carpetted, nice and clean. The window overlook the tidy neighbourhood and has a nice curtain that matches the comforter on the bed. Comforter!! Gosh not those prison blankets! There is even an attached toilet. I am so looking foward to tonight! :)

Our first stop for today was The Beatles Museum. Really funky to just know more about the rise of the Beatles Mania. After that was shopping at the city centre as majority won't keen on visiting Anfield Stadium and also there wasn't time to the last admission for the stadium as well as for the Walker Art Gallery. So the beautiful afternoon frm 3 plus till now was spent in a shopping frenzy!!! There's sales everywhere!! Those brands that would cost a bomb back in Singapore!

My buys:
- Black Tube dress from (Ms selfridge) 7pounds
- White lacey patterned tank top (Ms Selfridge) 8pounds
- Jeans (H&M) 7pounds
- Satin black hat (H&M) 99 pence
- Flip Flops (Accessorise) 5 pounds
- Cloth Hair band (Acessorise) 6 pounds
- Chain Necklace (Acessorise) 3 pounds

all mine

muahaha, the shopping queen and her fellow shopping queen had once again given in to their innate desire and insatiable appetite for all things pretty!

Went shopping with Liz after church today and bought tada! as shown below:

I think i should just terminate all my cards, either that maybe i should just chop my hands off to stop my greed. gosh.

Anyway, these are not the only pretty things that I have added on to my list of possessions. My dad came back from his lil holiday in China and Hong Kong just 2 days ago feeling really generous i guess. And he bought me really nice and funky stuff- Ralph Lauren Rocks perfume, Christian Dior traveller's make-up kit, and a box of really CUTE candies.

Suddenly, I feel like a lil princess being pampered haha.

Anway i have no idea why but i am really tired tonight. Feel sooo sleepy right now even as i blog. And i am supposed to read my notes. Whatever. Popped by Nic's birthday party just now to wish him happy birthday and pass him his present (really lame present for a lame royal highness), and escaped soon after. It was really a BIG crowd and i am still not good with crowd.

Oh as i was shopping for Nic's present, I came across this:

SO CUTE!

Day 3- London

Monday 23/7/07 8.46 am

Grabbed a big fat chocolatey moist muffin from Tesco. Cheap and YUMMY. Love Tesco. And walked to Ritz Hotel to take a shuttle to victoria coach station. Just boarded the coach and about to begin my trip for today - Windsor, Stonehenge and bath. Realised that the pasteries (muffins, donuts and croissant) and chips are real yummy here. Tried their brand of chips- Walker chips. Not bad.

Cant wait to get to a place with free wi-fi so i can check my emails. Need to upload my photos too but i am too shagged to do it.

12.45pm
Visited Windsor castle. It's much more majestic than Warwick castle, in the sense that it's physically bigger than warwick castle. The gorthic architecture exudes a different feel from Warwick which reminds people of the medieval times. It's a pity that since it is still the residence of the Queen, almost all the parts of the castle are not open to the public. Only the state hall, Queen's Doll house and the St. George's Cathedral were open. A pity pictures are not allowed inside these places. The state toom was WAY more grand than Warwick. It has so much more rooms and chambers that's adorned with chandeliers, paintings, wieved carpet, gold ornaments and frames and lots of portraits of the nobles. The doll house was intricate down to the finest detail in its deco and design.



2.40pm
Out of stonehenge. Mystifying place indeed. The way the people back in those days had to transport stone of such massive size with their primitive tools was unthinking. The way they are lain with exact precision and Too bad the rain drove the temperature down all the way to 16 degrees. And 16 degrees with thin summer wear is freezing cold!!

Around the area was a village of fake houses. Not realy near but quite there. For military purposes. Fake cos no one lives there haha.


5.10pm
Left bath. The ruin of what was left of the roman bath and temple of sulius. The georgian architecture was charming and alluring. Shall leave it to the photos to say the words.

The roman bath was pretty much in a bad state, kind of hard to picture what it would have looked like. The audio guide and models constructed helped a little though. Amazing testimony of a great history left by the Romans when they invaded UK. The hot spring was regarded as Holy by the romans and attributed to the pagan goddess.




12.40am
Dinner was at Aberdeen Steak House. Finally a decent meal! The steak was really awesome. haha. As I returned to my dorm after bathing and changed into Saints' Scout polo, i made an amazing discovery. Our room mate Pat from Hong Kong is a scout!! We got so excited that we called David over, pulled out our scarves and camera, and took a picture! So cool to meet a fellow scout in UK from a different country in your own dorm! What are the chances?! Gosh it's just so amazing. The past 2 days we've also met groups of scouts from different places (Netherland and Ecuador) during our day trips. Seem like scouts from all over have gathered here much earlier for the world Jamboree and Pat is one of them! How cool! :)

Mambo once again

wed 22/8/07

Yes, it's back to the dance floor after quite a while. haha. nah nah i am not a choingster. it's just to satisfy abit of my craving for mambo haha.

went with liz, nic (my 2 fellow royal highnesses) and justin (our royal butler haha). The night was short but fun, filled with once again near hysterical laughters from the royal princesses and crazy borat act from the royal prince and the butler. GOSH. but borat act is really contagious. Liz and i are catching it too :S. keep gg wa wa wee wa these days. IT GEEZ VERY NIICEE. HIGH FAIIVE. aRGH HELP. Any way we left at 1am. haha yes crazy i know, leaving when the crowd is just slowly filling the little pockets on the dance floor and the music gettin better and the crowd mroe warmed-up. but oh well, school next day is more impt! :)

now let the picture do the talking.

hilarious traumatic moment

Spent the day doing fruitful muggin at the library before i went for the complementary visit to the gym at meritus mandarin today. And after a hard work out (ok not really that hard but due to the fact that i had not worked out for like i cant even recall how long, my heart n body is really not conditioned for anything faster than a brisk walk.. argh) i went to take my shower.

As I enter the female changing room for my shower, i saw a gigantic saggy buttock right in my face. Just as i was thinking to myself, 'ai yoh.. why this auntie so modern one, never close door when she showers', the 'auntie' turned to face me. To my great trauma, the 'auntie' turned out to be an uncle!! Gosh, i just ran out of the toilet for my dear life. haha. N waited till he was out, wrapped in his towel and asked in a slightly embarrassed fashion where the gents was. MY GOODNESS. the uncle went to the wrong changing room!

And as i entered the changing room once again, i saw two caucasian ladies and they too were in shock and laughing at that japanese uncle. They smiled at me and we broke into laughter again.

Pride and Prejudice

Just yesterday night, I received an sms sent by relatives from my mom's side, from indonesia. Was actually quite pleased to receive messages from them showing their care and concern for me over here in Singapore. Really appreciate their thoughtfulness but the content of the message left me quite downcasted.

In essence, my aunts were congratulating my entry to the University as they heard from my mom in NUS studyin economics. I am truly disgusted with my mom. Why mommy do you have to lie? Same as my dad who lied that i was a havoc girl with no desire to study and now because of all these i have to lead such a dodgy life. Every time i stepped in school i have to pray hard that i won't be seen by people related to me. And straight after school i will scam right away. Why dad?

As i was shopping today, something just dawn on me. Singaporeans, like other asian countries i am sure, are so brand conscious. Just because this pair of shoes is from Aldo, it justifies the price that i have to pay for the pair of shoes. For the exact same design and pattern, I can probably get one from any normal shoe shop for perhaps a maximum of 30 bucks. But because it's from Aldo, people are willing to pay 65 for it. Why? because it's branded. It is a good brand, a high class brand so it's good and thus it is worth the price. But exactly what is it that makes us pay the extra 35 bucks? Are you sure it's cos it is of better quality? And the other shoes from an ordinary shoe shop are much inferior?

Sadly the idea of brands actually extend from not just merchandise but to schools and even to people. People from the more reputed and celebrated schools are smarter, more brilliant and more capable. But is it necessarily so? Why is there a constant notion that uni grads are more capable and are thinking individuals whereas a poly grad are usually seen as less abled? And within the uni grads, people are still further differentiated by their honours and which universities they graduate from. Are you sure that the piece of paper can tell u so much about a person and his/her capability and character, or does it tell me more of how book smart and exam smart the person is? And can scholarship be enough to justify why scholars get to breeze their way up the corporate laddder by skipping a few initial steps? Are these truly the so called creme of the crop? By paper or by true capability? Are we seeing people as fellow men of equal rights and chance or are they too being treated like goods? like aldo shoes versus the normal shoes?

Never judge a book by its cover, never judge a shoe by its brand, and never judge a person by label. our society loves to label. Everyone of us from the day we are borned are constantly being labelled. Which primary schools we are from, what stream we are in, what we get from PSLE, which sec sch we get into, which jc we come from, which uni we go to. Along the way, as long as anyone fall short of the society's standard, the person will be marginalised and outcasted. We fall out of the society's safety net. We're off tangent different and away from the norm and hence labelled as dubious or even inferior.

Don't get me wrong though. Education certainly has its value. And i believe in a good education because knowledge is the key to not just greater success in society but more of success as a human. It is about being able to understand each other better and respect each other's rights and being able to see the strength and flaws of our society and work on it. It is about carrying out actions when we see something that is against our principles and not just enduring it and closing an eye. Such is the purpose of a education. And it is to be available for all. Not only the priviledged few. Not to be differentiated. Not just for the 'elites'. it should be available for all who desire and value education. Shaping the future involves alot more, not just 'elites' or worse people who sit in their lil ivory towers.

Hedonistic lifestyle

my boring lil chao mugger loser life took a turn and was miraculously filled up with little activities. Though i have promised myself to lead a chao mugger life this year, oh well my social life still exist some how (for good and for bad).

Visited NUS arts fact canteen on tuesday. Wednesday was spent mugging. Thursday was lectures in school but still it was fun cos nic went to crash my lects and we went for laksa after that which caused my throat to be in such a sorry state now. This new friend of mine simply love to mimick Borat and tickles me sooo much that i kept finding myself looking like a ripe fresh RED tomato. ahhh. we just cant look at each other without laughing.

Friday was muggin at the library with justin. sadly it was not really productive cause i was distracted by these two really seriously overly-metro-and- hovering-at-the-border-of-being-gays guys. They were talking so loudly, i don't even need to eavesdrop. It was like listening to some hilarious low class radio talk show with their range of topics ranging frm the type of gals they like to being hit on by gays to how much pain they took into styling their hair (they blow, curl n straighten plus wax.. ahh even i dun do THAT much to my hair). After that was dinner with marilyn, joyce and yu ning. Sadly yu ning could only joined us for a short while. It was really great to catch up with the girls and I am really glad to say that our friendship had stood through the years since sec school! It's real cool that the whole bunch of them all landed in NTU some how and gosh how i envy them! Staying in hall and bunkin in in each others' room. really cool n really envious of them. but yupz i truly believe i will get my share some day too!! yes i will!

Sat night was gathering with wei shan, yi zhin, Liz and Steph. It was liz's and steph's bbelated birthday celebration. Had dinner at ding tai fung before moving to TCC for our second round! Goodness we are such gluttons! haha. At tcc, after pretending to need to use the loo (such an old strategy), zhin and i went off to the counter to order a cake for the 2 birthday gals and handed over their present to the waiter, to be served with the cake later on. I am glad that the gals were still pleasantly surprised though they did suspect something on all thanks to our lousy acting. haha







And lastly, today was also another eventful day. met up for lunch with wei shan yi zhin justin and mark. Vera supposed to come too but too bad that gal was caught up last minute. ah sad. nonetheless it's great to catch up with mark. haven't seen him for sooo long. shopped around with yi zhin and justin. and the day is gone in a flash.

argh... i know know. i'll mug hard tomorrow!! going to the library to read up tmr!! yay!!!

zhng my blog again

new lyrics box! n 2 some more! haha my blog is really getting more n more ah lian. damn. lack class. AHH but i like e songs. haha

YMCA- no it's not such a corny song if u look carefully at e words! so encouraging!! young men there's no need to feel down!!!! i said young men pick yourself off the ground!!!

Together forever ahhh.. causes mambo withdrawal symptoms. haha.

let sing!

together forever and never to part
together forever we two.
and don't you know i would move heaven and earth
to be together forever with you...

school

ok as school starts, my battle has also officially started. it's time for everything else to be put aside. nothing else but my books haha. A new chapter has started and i am already hoping to end it fast. Let it be quick and swift.

okie for others who want more of my london stories, sorry may have to let you guys wait for a lil while more. Gotta wait for david to consolidate all the pictures. then i can start bloggin abt it again. pai seh.

meanwhile, i am already overloaded with my notes. so let me mug hard and mug well.

let me remember this very thought. this very drive. this very feeling. for a long long time. let me use this well. let this be the strength to bring myself up again.

Day 2- London

Sun 22/7/07 12:21pm

Today is our evan evans 1 day tour day to Warwick, Stratford and Oxford.

Visited our first destination of the day- War wick castle, after much of an action pack morning. We were running from exits to exits for our dear life after discovering that we got the coach pick up point wrong and we won't sure which exit of victoria station the coach was waiting at. Not to forget we were running with our donut breakfast at hand. look so stupid and unglam. haha.

donut shop near our hostel.

War wick castle was simply breath-taking. Went up to the 2 towers- Guy's and Caesar's tower, followed by the king maker's wax exhibit and the state room. A pity we couldn't visit the dungeon and the ghost tower due to time constraint.



Along the way, the scenary was just so green and beautiful. Even the clouds have unique and special patterns. Animals can be spotted grazing every now and then. The buildings also maintain their medieval look. It's just so awesome.

Next stop is shakespeare's birthplace- Stratford. Looking forward to my 10 pound roast beef lunch which is included in our tour package for today!!

1.54 pm
Leaving stratford for lunch. Visited the exhibition/museum on shakespeare's life and the house that he was borned and grew up in. The garden was really pretty and the house was really cosy (the rooms) and the house was big on the whole. A little white washed house of a glove maker. A pity we can't take any pictures. Felt a little left out of the atmosphere. It's so artsy of which i seriously lack. The whole town seem like a picture freezed in medieval times. Little cottages. Really gorgeous. Now for the roast beef!!


3.47pm
Lunch was a dismay. 3 thin film of beef was what was claimed as roast beef. Was picturing a mouth watering thick piece of succulent meat. Driving to oxford now. Fell asleep on the coach. Drove through Cotswold which is just like stratford.A beautiful town of medieval houses. Brick houses ranging from khaki yellow to bright red. Came across a house with unique 'straw' thatched roof. Certainly the very very few that is left.



According to the guide cots mean sheaps and wold refers to lil hills. so yeah the place really explains the name. Along the way were rows after rows of green land with lil sheeps or even herds grazing. Buildings in town just burst into the picture of greenery every now and then as our coach sped past.

Passed by a monument that commerates the 3 martyrs that died (burned alive on a stake) at Oxford during Queen Mary's reign, in her attempt to restore cathocism in England. Sadly i couldnt get a picture of it due to the angle the bus was at. argh.

9.00 pm
Christchurch college in Oxford was awesome as expected. Georgian architecture and exuding a very scholarly air about it. Visted its main hall and cathedral. The cathedral was very much like SAC just even better. With more tainted glass windows depicting picture of the saints as well as bronze statues etc. It feels so rich and historical and serene.


The hall was another jaw-dropping sight. haha. It is very much like the one seen in harry potter. In fact it is where it is filmed. haha. Parts of Hogwarts was taken from christchurch. How I envy the people who have the brain capacity to study in such a place. I wanna be here studying in oxford too! haha oh well. Anyway that's all for our day trip today. Back in London at 7pm. Went to hard rock cafe as david wanna get himself a shot glass. Dinner was at this place called burger shack. Not too shabby but sadly the food wasn't that great. Today's weather is really super chilly.

Day one- London

Saturday 21/7 4:15 am (UK)

On the flight since 12 am last night in Singapore. Shamir and the gerls were really nice to see us off. Daddy was there too. Can tell he will really miss me tonnes. Slept most of my time away and just lazing around on board the plane. Not really excited yet. Just a tad bit building up. Been a REALLY LONG flight. Breakfast coming soon! :)



3.17 pm
Finally checked into piccadilly backpacker's inn. Was here by 9 plus this morning but couldn't check in as the check in time is 1 pm. So after dumping our luggages at the luggage deposit, we went around to explore the vicinity. Walked down to the British Visitor's Info Centre to check out for more details on places and to purchase our London Pass. After which we went round to look for cheap theatre tickets but didnt buy any in the end. Had a simple yet expensive lunch. Fries was 9 bucks and the milk shake worse at 12 bucks in sing dollar. Goodness! Bought a pair of shades at the Acessorise Sale for 7.80 GBP. Went grocery shopping at the nearby super mart (Tesco). Stuff there are all relatively cheap. And finally checked in.

The hostel was quite a disappointment. In fact it's pure crap. It is sooo much MORE shabby than we picture it to be. It is so unlike the picture shown on the website. So not true. It was like what my mom said 'a prison cell', except that it is a tad bit better. No air con but thankfully, summer in London is chilly. The room is awfully cramp. And the double decker bed shook and creeked threateningly whenever you climb it.


Piccadilly Circus- where we stay


our sucky room in the hostel

11.22 pm
I am dead beat and jet lagged. Went to visit the tate modern museum in the afternoon. It 's a contemporary art museum and I have to agree that to a large extent good artists are actually more of a good speaker than an artist. It is more of the wat that they crap about their art work and explain their thoughts and reasons that matter than the art work itself. Because some of the artwork really may seem to be just pure nonsense. But of course there's also plenty that struck me with its creativity and concept. Too bad photos of these art pieces are not allowed.


tate modern museum

After this, we went around to explore the area once again and decided to leave st. paul's cathedral and shakespeare theatre to another day to make good use of the London Pass. We passed by a cute lil ice cream van and got ourselves a soft whipped ice cream cone for like 6 bucks when back home you can get it at 50 cents. Gasp.


Walked over to St. George's chapel but a pity it was closed already by the time we got there.

Dinner was simply a slice of pizza at 2 GBP. Take away, where we have it at our 'cosy' lil shabby hostel. So sad there's no wifi here so i can't email at all. And it is so not worth it to pay 1 pound for only 20 mins of use when i will probly use it for perhaps 10 mins.

BACK HOME!

It's home sweet home after a fun-filled action packed 17 days in United Kingdom and Paris last evening. touched down at around 6pm. It's really weird cos i just had my breakfast on board the plane not too long before i touched down and when i touched down it's already dinner time in Singapore. haha

got to adjust my body clock a little cos my meal times and sleeping time are all screwed up now. couldn't wake up at all this morning cos it was still the wee hours only back in UK.

Anyway the 17 days were really fun and a short escape and break from reality, from all the stuff i got to face. I thank God for this break. This really long holiday. It had been an eye opening experience for me. I have seen much more and meet more people and grew a lil more too.

The culture and life style is more laid back, slower, and people pursue quality of life. The youths there are so much more independent and very strong individuals. Buskers filled the streets and train tunnels with their splendid performace. Some are full time street performers. It gives an impression of a nation that dares to pursue their dreams and place no importance on what others think. All really different from Singapore. I have also seen the uglier side. Beggers scattered all over the streets, some more aggresive ones coming to you to beg for money. Really sad and disturbing too.

I guess after this break I am more geared for my upcoming battle. There are many things that we can't change in life but we can certainly do things to better the situation. trust in Him. stay faithful. stay diligent. n watch my great and glorious fight people!

Thank God for this break, this rest, and i am now fully charged to rise up to the challenge He had presented me with.

Well since this is a really long holiday. I really got tonnes to say! haha and tonnes of photos. so yeah. I cant just do em all in one blog. so i shall break it down and do it bit by bit!

School starts tmr! :S quite apprehensive. cos i have got no fren! argh!! n i missed out on all my OG outings while i was overseas.

And so battle shall commence tomorrow! the long battle to better my future! to better my situation! LSE!!