Officially Declared Offline for 1 month

And here it is....after weeks of planning, frustrating bookings, and frantic card-swipings, it has come down to this......one of the greatest and unforgettable journey I will ever undertake in my life. For the un-informed, I will be travelling to quite a few places for this one month Easter break. Starting from East Midlands, my route would be to Berlin, Prague, Munich, Vienna, Naples, Rome, Florence, Venice, Paris, London and finally Bath. Therefore this blog shall take a bit of a back-seat for a while as I will not be online for the whole month. But do check back for updates, cos I wld definitely blog abt my adventures in Europe when i return! Until then, to mum, dad and my bro and to all my dear friends reading this, take care, ya! Cheers!

Happy Bdae SeeHwei!

A birthday celebration for the birthday girl, See Hwei, who is turning 21 this yr! Anw as with Wei Xiong's birthday, we tried to keep it as a surprise.

Notice the kitchen towel used to stick over the window pane of the door? Well, cos the last time my head wasn't big enough to block Wei Xiong from seeing the Happy Birthday sign we made from the outside...so this time we took precautions!


The birthday girl herself...and Shiwei's freaky reflection in the mirror :p

Toasted bread with mozerella, salad with raisins and apple, and sheperd's pie! All courtesy of Jared, our master chef!


Group photo together...we are showing our age there....damn old liaoz....hahaha

On a side note, just found out something interesting. My bdae falls on 29th Oct, Shiwei's on the 30th Oct and Jared's is on the 31st Oct....lolol.....so I guess it wld be a great time to meet up den when we are back in S'pore!

Anw this was sorta like our last dinner here in Loughborough together before Easter. For the next month, we will have different travel plans and very different experiences, so ppl....all the best and have a great time during the Easter break!

Chem Eng is the same everywhere la!

Met up with one of my group members, Abdihakim, for the Chem Eng and Society module for group discussion. Had a real interesting conversation with him. Basically the geez of it is tt being a chem eng student here in Loughborough sucks. (and i guess it sucks b in S'pore too and in every other university!) Cos the students in chem eng have to work super hard and can't afford to slack like the other students from other faculties. (sounds familiar?) Other things similar to tt in S'pore include lab reports which are like 20 to 30 pages long and done every 2 weeks, plus a presentation here and there. The students also take abt 6 to 7 core modules each semester. The only good thing is tt over here in Loughborough, nobody does cross-fac stuff so they don't have stuff like GEM, breadth or watever nonsense NUS has...It's just pure chem eng focused.

Conclusion: It sucks to be a chem eng student....regardless of where u are.....lololol....

South Park returns!!

Oh yea....finally season 12 begins!! But i wun be arnd to watch it by then, cos will be embarking on a long journey...but still so gonna watch this when i come b.....i am a crazy fan of South Park...hehe...anw as quoted from the official website:

New Season Premiere Wednesday night! From the Comedy Central Press Release:
CARTMAN COMES FACE TO FACE WITH HIS OWN MORTALITY IN THE SEASON 12 PREMIERE OF "SOUTH PARK" ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12 AT 10:00 P.M.* ON COMEDY CENTRAL

The face of South Park could change forever when Eric Cartman is diagnosed with an incurable disease in the premiere episode, entitled “Tonsil Trouble.” When the support Cartman is counting on falls short, he has to take matters into his own hands.

Wat the..!?!? Another fire drill?!

Ok it happened again....this time for real.....the fire drill which we cursed and sweared abt....only this time it happened at 2130 hrs....unlike the unearthly hour at 0400 the previous time. Therefore it wasn't too bad this time. (Only found out tt the previous drill was a false alarm cos some idiots decided to do a water fight and the water got into the system and tripped the alarm) Luckily I decided not to bathe yet cos I was in the midst of brushing my teeth.....Heng ar.....

Donut Craze

It's Crispy Creme!! Never thought tt I wld have a chance to have it here, esp. the last pleasant encounter wif it in HK....so thanks to Wanping and Hazel for buying it in Birmingham and sharing wif us! Long long time since I had donuts le :p

To strike or not....NOT!!

This is kinda crappy, but received news of an impending train strike in Germany on Saturday. This would mean our Easter break would be very very affected cos Germany is the first destination! And any delays wld seriously screw up our plans. So you wld imagine just how relieved when i just saw this headline news : "German train strike is called off"

The link for the article is over here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7286181.stm

As quoted, "German train drivers' union, GDL, says it will not strike on Monday after reaching an agreement with the railway operator Deutsche Bahn. But rail services will still be affected. The union warned on Saturday that, even with a deal, there would not be enough time to adjust schedules."

Oh boy....crosses fingers and hopes for the best now....

Leeds (8 Mar 08)

Decided to make a trip up to Leeds to visit Huiyian although i was constantly bothered abt the cost of the bus trip (18.80 GBP) and also the insane bus timing. Missed the chance to go there during the Frank Morten games cos i cld not find a car pool at the last min. Anw after seeing tt the girls in my exchange grp were headed down to Coventry and the guys were going to stay back to finish up their homework, I just decided to go ahead with the booking. And so i woke up at 5.15am to fix breakfast before arriving at the bus stop at 6.15am. It was a quiet and chilly morning and it was the first time I saw sleepy Loughborough at dawn.

The very deserted Loughborough town area

Sleepy sleepy Loughborough

Anw, the bus ride for National Express took 4 hours plus, which I tried to sleep aboard. The bus journeyed to Leicester, Nottingham, Chesterfield, Sheffield and Sheffield Meadowhall before arriving at Leeds. Along the way, witnessed just how heavily industralised Sheffield was....esp. at the Meadowhall area. Anw was just glad tt the bus finally arrived at Leeds!

Oh well....look at the time there.....close to a 5 hours bus ride...anw received a sms from Huiyian tt she wld be late, so decided to roam abit by myself first...

The West Yorkshire Playhouse, apparently a theatre of sorts, was more amused at the Year of the Rat performance though....considering it IS the year of the rat for the chinese...lol

The open market beside the bus station....a very pasar malam feel here comparable to tt in Loughborough...although i heard it opens everyday except wed! Tt's so much better than in Loughborough la!



Interior of Kirkgate Market, another huge indoor market in Leeds





Outside Kirkgate Market





Shopping area of Leeds....notice FCUK? Yep, tt's the retail building here

Victoria Quarter, a very posh and upmarket shopping district





The crowd on a typical day in Leeds...

Anw finally met up with Huiyian and Amelia at the market. Was kinda glad and excited to find fellow Singaporeans and more imptly fellow chem engrs here in the UK. Proceeded to find food for lunch...although as usual the price of eating out put the calculator converter *3 to my head...lol...so just decided to settle for McDonalds where i had a deli instead...

Amelia and Huiyian with their cheeseburgers....cheeseburgers are the cheapest here liaoz

Tried to decide on where to go next, and was kinda amused tt the girls had no real clue as to where to take me....I guess Leeds is more of a shopping city...anw there was this really nice church tt i saw on the bus at arrival, so I pointed it out to them. Was again amused tt they had no idea where it was and have never been there b4...(eh....u sure u all never fake me hor....)...anw tt was where we were headed to next!

The church, also known as the Parish Church, as seen from far along Commercial Street

The archway before the Parish Church



Damn street lamp spoiling the pic....lol....





Was kinda disappointed tt the church was not open on the weekends





So we decided to roam the church grounds...lovely garden in it...







After tt, with no clue as to where to go, the map pointed out the Royal Armouries Musuem as another attraction so tt was our next stop!....Was again bemused tt the girls have not come to this part of the city. Amelia even commented tt they cld even fake their friends tt this was not in Leeds! On a side note, Huiyian's camera died off and Amelia did not bring hers, so I guess I was the photographer of the day....

Approaching Langtons Wharf

Brewery Wharf by the River Aires

The Centenary Footbridge







The whole area here reminds me alot like Boat Quay





Setting foot upon the Centenary Footbridge





Super amusing sign...lolol...

The dock near the Royal Armouries Museum, the place feels like a very high-class, upmarket residential district





Knights Way Bridge



Royal Armouries Museum

Hugging the cannon-ball



The girls playing tug-of-war up there

Oooh...wat a sexy cannon! It's big, bold...and sassy!





Proceeded into the musuem, was surprised tt it was free of charge, so all the more we had to explore the place! Anw, this helmet here sure wld fit Pinnochio!



War exhibits.....liked the medieval fighting section part



Standing in se di ya position! Amelia was commenting on how her friend loves posing in tt position so I just did the same thing here....lol...



Came to this exhibit with the armour gloves tt medieval knights used to wear....did a bit of goofing arnd....

The boxing champ, Huiyian

And same goes for contestant no. 2, Amelia

Tried to do something very wrong here.....can you guys see it?

Guess not....but this clearer pic wld....i was psychoing Huiyian to point the middle finger....and she did! Tsk tsk.....wat a naughty girl....

Huiyian trying to grab onto her mace

And Amelia brandishing her sword

And my turn now....though as in the case in Nottingham when pulling out the Excalibur Sword, my bag started reflecting light at some angle....ooh....now i'm lighted up!

Ooh...lemme have a go with tt weapon!



Plenty of goofing arnd at the souvenir shop.....Crazy Viking brandishing his halberd! :p

And introducing princess ameee and princess ah huiii!!!

Oops...a bit of cap reversal here

A group photo together...cam-whoring is gonna happen when u girls make me the photographer of the day...muhahaha..

The Corn Exchange Building. According to Amelia, it's one of the oldest building here in Leeds...but now refurbished as a shopping arcade...



Where are we?! Can't even see myself here...

Oh there we are!

A very nice mural here beside the Corn Exchange


Time was running short, so decided to head back for dinner, but not before stopping at Morrisons and the market for supplies. Morrisons price is quite comparable to Tesco, but oh well...they dun haf Morrisons in Loughborough...Weather changed for the worse with heavy rain and strong winds. In fact, in the one month here in the UK, this was the 3rd time it has rained and the 1st time I have experienced it so heavily here....now I know wat Huiyian meant by her cold and miserable days...lolol...

The road to Leeds University, with the Parkinson Building in the distance

Some cool looking nightclub tt looks like a church, apparently favourited by Leeds students

The Parkinson Building, an iconic landmark for Leeds University





Victorian style buildings in Leeds University









Yea!! I conquered Leeds University!....Though can't see myself again....



The slope down to Huiyian's residence....so this is the route she has been complaining abt
Decided to take a pic of Huiyian's smoky dungeon room view of the outside....but weirdly ended up taking a pic of our reflections! Turned out surprisingly ok actually....lol...

The girls preparing dinner



On the whole, I think their kitchen is very much well-maintained and neater than mine! The floor of my kitchen forever feels sticky..



Dinner's rdy!

Fried rice, there's ikan bilis in it! Something I have not had in a long long while....

Lettuce stir-fried in oyster sauce...I guess oyster sauce goes well in anything :)





And I am a very happy, well-fed man!

Dinner was kinda rushed cos my bus departure was at 1840hrs. So we headed off without washing up and ended up half walking and half running until both the girls had stitches...aiyo....felt so guilty....anw somehow they were like more kan chiong than me throughout the whole thing...lol....

Day ended quickly enough and I was tired but realli happy. Spent about 7 hours in Leeds and I feel it's a very cosmopolitan city, with a heavy emphasis on shopping and high rise buildings....very unlike in Loughborough.....oh well prob. I have been sticking arnd in the town areas for too long le....lol....

Anw, a really really big thank you to both Huiyian and Amelia for making my stay in Leeds so enjoyable! Though I must say tt somehow our little tour down tt unexplored corner of Leeds (I'm still wondering whether u girls realli haven went there b4 or not....lol) was kinda random and just happened there and then, it turned out surprisingly well. Dinner was delicious and I realli cldn't ask for more le...In any case, hope to see you girls arnd again and here's wishing u 2 a very happy and exciting Easter break!