Back For Good

So...2012, huh?

Well, the grand plan to stay away until I squeeze every second of my student visa did not come to fruition. Personal decision. Good, personal decision.

We did have a good run, didn't we? (I know, it's just "I" but the many "I"s make a collective "we". I'm schizo like that.)

1 year. It was such an amazing one year.

First, I visited a whole lot of beautiful and amazing places (outside of London). There was Paris before school started in September, Amsterdam snucked in during the Michaelmas term, Austria (Salzburg and Vienna) a week before the term ended and when it was snowing beautifully, Israel right after the term ended, a roadtrip to York, Edinburgh and Lake District during the Christmas period, and to cap off the year 2010, a nice visit to Oslo and Stockholm. Lent term saw me heading back to York and Edinburgh with some Singaporean friends via rail, and then another roadtrip to Bath (via Stonehenge), an unexpected stop at Exeter to queue for the iPad2, and a week of bliss in Cornwall. Easter holiday was spent at my aunt's in Basel, Switzerland, where I had some much-missed homecook food and Swiss treats (lotsa chocolate!!).

Of course, I cannot forget the days at Manchester. I finally saw my first live match at Old Trafford, Man Utd vs Chelsea no less (which the home team won 2-1). I toured the museum and stadium twice over on two separate occasions. I did a super last-minute and tiring bus trip to Manchester to catch Gary Neville's testimonial match, which saw the Class of '92 return to play. I saw David Beckham play, clean up real nice and be a real gentleman, signing autographs and letting us flash our cameras in his face. The shopping at Manchester, in my mum's words, was "better than London". I agree it is easier, but "better"? I disagree.

There was Bicester Village (ok, not London, but close enough), days upon days walking down Long Acre to get to Chinatown, Regent Street, Oxford Street, Knightsbridge, Bond Street, Selfridges in particular, Harrods (at times), Westfield at Stratford, plus possibly my most regular place to go: TESCO EXTRA at Surrey Quays. I think I can never shop in Singapore again. Really.

And the food, oh the food. I really didn't miss the food in Singapore. Part of the reason was that I could cook, and my friends and I did cook regularly. We made soups, dishes, rice, pasta...and just to boast a little, we were very successful with our Hainanese Chicken Rice, Bak Kut Teh and Ko Lo Yuk (Sweet and Sour Pork). In fact, we had a wonderful Chinese New Year reunion dinner! And if we didn't cook, there was always Gold Mine (best roast duck in the world), Yauatcha (1-Michelin-starred dim sum), Lido (dim sum and more), C & R (Singaporean/Malaysian food), Jasmine Princess (I think...at Mayfair, dim sum), Belgos (musselssss and beer) and the best pho in the world at Cafe East! At the very least, we could always count on the takeaway place near our residence. Singaporean noodles or fried rice, anyone?

School life was a rollercoaster ride. There were days of relative quiet, when all you think about is showing up for the two days of lesson and pretend you know what is being said. Then there are hurried days of preparing for presentations, writing your essays, wondering if what you said or wrote made any sense or did someone called your bluff. There was the mugging that we Singaporeans were so used to, the tension and stress of exams, the 10-minute blank-out from the word 'GO' before you furiously start scribbling whatever you can possible remember and attempt to string into proper sentences. Halfway through, you start panicking about the lack of time and how you still have 2 or more questions to complete. Your hand feels limp but you still need to muster whatever strength you have left until the examiner says, "STOP. Please put down your pens." You scribble that last word, hoping no one saw you, check that you have your name and pray that somehow, God's hand was on that paper, not yours. You feel that relief and it's as if everything you mugged for that subject has been poured out, together with your relief. It repeats. Twice.

And after the exams are over, it's the dreaded dissertation. I started my studies not knowing what I was going to write, and then, having a feel of what I wanted to write. It changed after several discussions with the adviser. Not much, but just narrower, and narrower...and it's a discovery of just how ambitious or totally clueless you were when you first started thinking about your thesis. It was the latter for me. Then you kinda put it aside over the Lent term, and the holidays, and the exam period, and only really start on some serious work when you are done "resting" after the exams. Then you (I) generally panic for a few weeks, wondering what to do, how to do what, when to do what...and the biggest question of all "HOW AM I GONNA CHURN OUT 10,000 WORDS?!?".

The first step was to get the resources and documents. That meant many trips to the library to borrow thick, heavy books, photocopy as much as you can (*ahem*, as the copyright laws allow for, I meant), and for those you deem important enough, to hog it with your life and bring it home. There were also trips to the British Archives, which to me was quite the eye-opener. I touched REAL official documents from the past, letters which heads-of-states, kings and presidents signed, memos, etc, and took photos of these documents for my research. Ingenious suggestion from one of my profs.

And then, it was to read ALL these material and make sense of it. I also started just typing ideas out and reproducing chunks of information on my laptop, while organising my thoughts and my study area. By then, I had reduced my living/dining room to my study area. Everything was on the floor, on the coffee table, on the dining table, on the TV console. Finding a place to eat or sit meant removing some materials and relocating them somewhere else for the time being.

And then, as you start putting your thesis together (from skeleton to having some actual meat) you realise you've been wrong all this time. The real question should have been: HOW AM I GONNA KEEP MY THESIS TO 10,000 WORDS??? This process, might I add, took me a good 2 weeks. And that includes formatting and writing the references and bibliography. Not. Fun. At. All. When I finally got it done and ready for printing and submission, it was not really "Phew! My thesis is ready!" but more "I don't care if it makes sense! It's less than 10,000 words! I can't wait to get it out!!!"

But really, the past year had been such a great experience. I liked living on my own. I liked London. Most of all, it made me appreciate everything I had in Singapore: the conveniences and awesome things about Singapore that we take for granted (good leaders, transport, food, good but comfortable standard of living), my family and my friends. There is still no place like home.

Except for shopping.

A Million Love Songs Later

Yeap, still keeping with my trend titling with song titles or lyrics.

This song has been stuck in my head for 2 days. I haven't actually sung it out loud (why haven't I?), but it's been there alright. Not sure what triggered it. Perhaps something I read on FB.

So, this morning - no wait, it's afternoon cos by the time I woke up it was already noon.

So, from the moment I woke up to now, which has been all of 1.5hrs, I have had a few realisations:

1. 1990, was 21 years ago. More than 2 decades! Oh man, oh man, oh man.

2. There is too much negativity online. Not just the things people say, but the way they say it. There is so much cynicism, bragging, sarcasm, envy...and the list COULD go on. I've been asking myself if I really want to read stuff like that. Do I? No, I don't. So what can I do about it? I could be selective in what I read/comment/like. I could try to post stuff that do not emit a negative vibe. Or, maybe, I could get off social networking sites altogether. The last one is, for now, just a thought. I could do the first two though, and I WILL!

3. I am perfectly contented. Not envious of anyone, of their lifestyle, of their career, or what they've got. I know, so surely, that I am EXACTLY where I am supposed to be in life. It doesn't mean it's all bubbles and strawberries all the time, everyday, but once again, I can't deny that I am truly, unabashingly, undoubtedly and knowingly HAPPY about my life, and where I am in life. And I wished everyone, especially the people that I love, would get that same perfect contentment in life and get to know how this feels. Because baby, it feels good! It feels victorious.

Right, so it's a rainy day in London-town. Great day to stay in. I'm gonna make me some lunch and let the words come right through my fingers (thesis!) until I am all hungry again.

Missing all my peeps! :)

Raindrops keep falling on my head~

The sky looks pretty gloomy now, befitting the typical London impression. It hasn't always been like that since I've been here, which is about 10 months now. WOAH!

So, anyway, I welcome the rain. I guess y'all heard about the London riots this past week, right? It was crazy. I mean, there were spots of mayhem and violence in various parts of London, with looting and burglary and fires and all. The fires are what really scared me. If you can't be safe in your own home... you know what I mean? And the riots spread to the other English cities too. (I have to say English, in case the Welsh and Scots get mad for using 'UK' since they were all fine and dandy there.) Manchester and Birmingham were quite badly hit. I feel sad for Manchester, cos I really liked it when I was there, and I was gonna bring my parents there in September. We've got to monitor the situation though, and hope that normality will be back. Soon.

So back to the rain. I think raining at night is excellent. Besides the obvious comfort factor or sipping a nice warm cuppa tea or hot chocolate and snuggling in the warmth of my heavy-duty quilt, there are actual positives that come out of raining at night too. For one, as it has been proven from the previous night, it actually keep the thugs at bay. No one, not even hooligans and yobs, like to be drenched in the cold, wet rain at night. Plus, all the loot that they are stealing may get dirtied or spoilt. So, when there is rain, there is no stupidity on the streets. Also, any attempt to light up stuff is made more difficult when everything is drenched and wet. That means they will have to take a longer time, and that means that the police can CATCH THEM!

About the police, I really appreciate what they have done to try and keep the streets safe. It's not an easy job, especially those in UK. They have to beware of accusations of police brutality and all that (what a friend of mine calls) liberal human rights crap. Now, I am all for human rights, but I think when somebody needs a whipping, they REALLY ought to be given one. I watched this documentary on TV yesterday "Coppers", about the police trying to control two crowds of protesters. I think my respect for the police in UK went up one notch. It's really not easy, and I doubt I can do it. Wait, I KNOW for a fact I can't do it. I'd probably be squashed, if not by the mobs or crowds, then by actually trying to hold the police line. I'm more a liability than help.

Oh yes, TV. I finally can watch clear TV. Got the fibre-optics people come in, sort the wiring and nonsense (that I cannot quite understand) out. And now I have lots of channels that are SO clear. It's great cos it's not as quiet at night, but at the same time, it's now twice as hard to not be distracted so I can do my dissertation thesis. And the good/bad news is, I am gonna get my Sky TV installed this coming Sunday. Dear Lordy Lord! I need help, God! Save me from the box!

So, I just paused for a while and starting wondering if the sky is getting dark because it is about to rain or if it's cos we are nearing the end of summer. Cos you know, the sky gets dark earlier these days, when in the last 2-3 months, it'll stay bright until about 9, even 10pm. It's only 7pm, and...it looks like 7pm.

Puh. Send in the rain!

Hello? Is it me you're looking for?

I like putting lyrics as the title of my posts. I don't think I have done much of it, or any at all, but perhaps today is a good day to start.

Seems kinda appropriate since it's been a while since I last blog. I blame it on my iPad2. Although, it's too lovely and wonderful to be attributed blame, so I take it back. But the point to make is that I can't seem to type a blog post on my iPad, like some other blogsites can or have apps for. So it ain't my fault!

It's a beautiful morning in London. Errr...it's morning for another 6 minutes. Then, it'll be noon. I decided to sleep in a little today since I'd been up bright and early at 8.30am the last couple of days. Took crazy early morning trips to the Mail Delivery Office to get my parcels TWO DAYS IN A ROW because for SOME OBSCURE AND IRRITATING REASONS, they failed to reach me at home. I don't get it. I'm at home almost ALL of the time.

Bygones. Did I mention, I still use "bygones" like how Richard Fish does in Ally McBeal? I like it. It facilitates an abrupt change of topic quite seamlessly.

It's been an interesting 2 weeks. I moved to a new nook. I went to the Glee Live concert at the O2. I saw Take That, the entire five-piece, at Wembley (and Pet Shop Boys too, since they were the opening act). Had a blast. Someone told me that the places I've been and things I have seen/watched/attended this one year has made it worth the trip. Did someone also mention that I came here to get a Masters degree? Prob' not. HA!

I love my new nook. It's so much more self-sufficient, beautiful and cute than that hole of a dorm room I was in. Even the view is better! At least, I don't get drunkards from across the street shouting and cussing at each other or pretending they are rock stars. Now, I get cute doggies of all shapes and sizes run around and doing their business, kids and families walking down the footpath going about their business, or a squirrel jumping up and down the branches of this huge tree in front of my window picking up some business (nuts). It's a nice view. Can't complain.

You know, I could live here forever. :)

Early in the morning!

I've been trying, for the last 3 weeks or so, to wake up early.

The problem was, I had been sleeping late. And it just gets worse. From 1am to 2am, then 3am, 4am and next thing you know, I was sleeping only when the sun was starting to rise up. It was bad. Very baaaaaad.

So one day, I slept early, thanks to some booze.

I woke up at 12noon. The same. No difference. Argh!

Until yesterday! I decided I got too sleepy while preparing for my exams and reading my notes. So I head to bed and TADA, I got up at 8.30am today.

I am so proud of myself.

Managed about 45mins of work.

And now, I shall go reward myself with a morning Starbucks latte!

I'm a happy girl. *skip to my lou*

Being Too Green

Everybody who knows me KNOWS how much I like green.

Okay, I'm gonna put it out there, once again for the gazillionth time: my favourite colour is green.

There! I said it.

That said, I'm now feeling a little worried that I may have overdid the colour a bit. In my room. The room that I will stay and hibernate for, at least, the next 39 weeks.

Just looking around and I see quite a bit of green. For one, the things I brought tend to sway towards the green-ish side of things already. Then, there are the things I bought. Green sheets from Ikea, but that's just cause they were the cheapest. And then, I had to go to Primark and get a green throw for the chair. Ok, to be fair, it was the nicest colour around and the chair was really not suitable for human seating. It's a fresh olive green. :D

And did I mention the pinboard against the table? It was HIDEOUS! So I got Christmas wrapping to kinda "wallpaper" the board. It's nearly Christmas season. Go figure. I didn't get the tacky ones though. I got the not-so-obvious kinda of wrapper. The only giveaways were that the colours were white, red and green (with blue too!) and that there were stars and polka dots (I suppose that's for snow?). Yeah, I 'wallpapered' the entire board with that. About 1m (l) x 3.5m (w) of wall/board space.

The drapes are really awful. I don't know if I can do anything about that. I doubt it. Spoils my room though. Argh.

So yeah, back to the topic. My room, is turning out to be a little too green.

Great for the eyes.

This is why I don't do interior decorating. Or design. Or art.

The First Week, Or So.

It's a chilly night in most part of London, and especially where I am, which is on the other side of the river. Mostly cause it's been raining the whole day. I'm pretty glad I took the time and effort to get my room in proper living conditions so I can just laze in here while I watch the rain trickle outside. See, it wasn't that heavy.

I did take a walk at about noon to Tesco. It's about a 10min walk from where I stay, and there is another supermarket, Costcutters, just below me. The price, however, is not as great as Tesco or even Sainsbury so I refuse to pay for more. Plus, I had all the time in the world, so why not take a little walk down the nice neighbourhood and get some cheap items, right?

'Cept that it was drizzling. Hmm...didn't think that through huh? Yeah...but it was alright in the end. Came home with all the things I need to live comfortably - toilet paper, bread, ham, detergent, coffee, sugar, coke...amongst other things.

I have eaten out a few times since I arrived in London. Besides the Gold Mine duck rice and maybe the Wanton Mee soup at London Chinatown, the (Chinese) food isn't that great and exorbitantly priced. I cook much better. And cheaper. Do you know, the price of one meal at any of these 'restaurants' can buy me supplies for 1 week of food? Yeah...THAT bad.

Which is great for me, cos I love love love supermarket shopping. And the produce here can be super duper cheap. Like a packet of cheese for 67p; that's about $1.30. And a lot of other stuff are cheap too...but I forgot the prices already. Anyway, it's great doing supermarket shopping here.

I've also caught Jersey Boys and Les Mis. Jersey Boys was beautiful. Loved the songs and the way it was presented. Les Mis was also excellent. Eponine, Jean Valjean and Javert were wonderfully played. The role of Marius was played by Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brother. Okay, not a big fan, and I thought he paled in comparison to the rest of the cast, but to be fair, I think he did a decent job.

Oh, in preparation of my room, I also headed down to Ikea and Argos. Ikea never lets me down, but the hot-dog area was a little filthy. I got all typical-Singaporeanish and started using wet-wipes (which I brought from SG) to wipe the table. I mean, there was ketchup and mustard stains all over. How to eat on it? Urgh! Argos was an eye-opener. Catalogue shopping is my new favourite type of shopping. Okay, maybe 2nd favourite.

Oh, as for selecting course (or what we call modules), my Singaporean roots came out again. I went into the system on the day and time it was open for registration and tried to register all the courses I want, plus select my timetable choices (some courses have more than 1 timeslot to choose from). Before I came to London, I was already looking at the courses I like and surveying the timeslots and options that would give me a good timetable. I had 2 main options, with alternative timetables for each option. Kiasu right? Yeah, you can take the girl out of SG, but you can't take the SG out of the girl.

Anyway, back to registering courses, I think I was far too efficient and quick for the system. End up, the system had some issues and didn't start exactly at 10am like they said they would. So after a whole day of dilly-dallying, I finally got in and got all the courses and timeslots I want. WAHAHAHAAAA....

BUT, it is not the end, because they have to approve everything, which is likely the case cause I didn't stray very much from the regulations. So if all goes the way I want, I could possibly have a two-day study week. Tuesdays and Wednesdays. NICE, right? WAHAHAHAHAAAA.....

So, it's been a rather fruitful week. It's the weekends, and I plan to go to town and get some stuff to continue with the sprucing up of my room. I have a list. Yes, I do. I always have lists. :)

Till then, tata~!

My First London Post: Observations

Hello from chilly, not quite gloomy (yet), sometime-windy London!

I got to do this quick, cos although I've been here for *counts* about 5 days, today being the 6th, I've still got quite a lot of things to do before I am REEEALLY settled into things. And also, I got to be in school in about an hour for an orientation talk.

School is LSE. Yes...no need to say more. *grin*

The weather is now in the tens, i.e. 10, 11, 12, 13...17. Today, apparently, would be between 11 and 18. That is not cold. At all. I generally just wear a tank-top, a sweater-ish top, and a coat with jeans or pants. It's toasty like that.

I'm loving a lot of things about London, as I always have. BUT...there is one thing I have observed that I'm not too keen about.

The air, my friends, is very dirty. Like smoke, soot, dirty particles...eeks. It makes my booger really, really...black. Yuck, right?

Okay, I will do another post about the food soon. I have tons to talk about with regard to food.

Signing off!