Happy Birthday Lester!

Lester's birthday is on March 25 and we wanted to surprise him at midnight but there were a number of difficulties:
1. which time do we use? if Singapore time, it'll be at an odd hour before dinner; if UK time, we don't know if he'd sleep early as he claimed he would
2. how to surprise when all of us are around each other 24/7?
Never fear! We'd surmount all obstacles! There were a few hitches though... hehe

I started baking apple strudel early in the morning. I tweaked the recipe (conventional rolled-up apple strudel) I found to make it look more like ritz apple strudel that Lester likes. I was going on nicely when he burst in for breakfast. To my chargrin, he said,"Wah, look nice, apple custard ah?"

What do you think? The top crust was the 3rd batch to be baked. 1st time I thought not golden enough when checking... the next time I check, it burnt; 2nd time I had to attend to something else and it burnt. Poor Xianhong ate the burnt ones, haha!

Then I drew this doraemon for him. Like doraemon with its magic pocket that produces anything asked, Lester has everything, sleeping bag, cooling tea sachets, string, you name it, he has it. The accessories represents his roles here: chef and cameraman.

Meanwhile, Lydia cut out "HAPPY B'DAY" from yellow paper we filched from printers in school. Print jobs in this school waste an extra paper with the owner's name and article printed. Meanwhile, Xianhong makes sure he doesn't suspect anything.

When night came, Lydia and I were on our toes in our room, waiting for Xianhong to tell us through msn that the coast is clear for us to spring into action. There was a narrow shave when Lester rushed in to ask Lydia for something not once, but twice! Xianhong's alarms came seconds before him, and Alwyn, who was there had to hide in our bathroom with the strudel. Luckily, I was in the kitchen, else the closed door would be amiss.

Finally, he went to bathe and we rushed in and decorated and waited. It was awfully hard to remain silent and refrain from giggling as we could hear all his movements in his bathroom! The sounds enabled us to anticipate his exit, so we all stood at the bathroom entrance and sang "Happy Birthday" to him when he came out.

Then, we all fell into eating. We had also bought Ben & Jerry's ice cream, the other 2 flavours on offer that we didn't try the other time, luckily, it included Lester's favourite flavour -- vanilla.

Yummy! As we lick our way through decadent dessert, it was time for us to fast forward our time by one hour, which is known as daylight saving. This is because the sun rises earlier in summer and when summer ends, we have to move back the time by one hour. So, has Lester been one hour into his 24th year or do we refer to Singapore time? Well, all we know for certain is that the surprise was a success!

Upcoming Drought of Posts

Have been furiously planning for our upcoming Easter holidays...
transport: air tickets booked and eurail passes bought
food: brought biscuits, instant noodles, granola/muesli bars for emergencies
accommodation: hostels all booked
itinery: the cities split between all 5 of us to work out finer details
others: camera, 1 hard-drive and possibly 1 laptop, chargers and handphones

I think we're pretty well prepared right? hopefully the fun will be worth all the plannings and readings!!

Well, have been thinking that I would not be able to blog my experiences when I am travelling except at hostels with internet and computer usage. And photographs would have to wait until I am back... so to all family and friends, there will be an UPCOMING DROUGHT OF POSTS...

To make up for it, I've decided to post two of my favourite youtube videos: dance by Polina to a German song and an adorable Welsh Corgi puppy:





I have also just realized that I would not be able to catch Bleach (the anime that I am currently chasing) episodes as soon as they have been subtitled in English... nnnoooooo! Especially at this juncture where all the slashings and bashings are heating up. Nevermind, shall watch them back to back when I return =)

So long folks! Shall update everyone asap, meanwhile, shall send love and regards to everyone!

Snowy Sunday... sunday (haha), march 18, 2007

Last week we invited Eujin and Ying for dinner so this week, we're going to their house for dinner. Since they brought dessert that time, we had to reciprocate and baked chocolate and vanilla cake. It is fun to do it with another person because the whisking of the ingredients would be less tiring and monotonous. Melting the chocolate proved a great challenge for me as I just feel like eating it!

Then we were making cheese omelette for lunch when it started snowing! Very little but very real. Earlier, there were on-off little showers of hail. Then suddenly there was this gusty wind and the snow started falling. Like lunatics, we whipped our dusty coats on and scampered outside for our first experience of falling snow. Brrr! It was cold but we were delighted and waved our arms wildly to catch the ice from the sky. It is cliche that people from the tropics whoop when they see snow but we just could not help ourselves. Not only Lester , who had almost given up hope on seeing them at the warming weather, was excited but all of us because the most we had seen of snow was from TV or else a real-life small, little dirty patch during short holidays.

Very quickly, the sky started clearing up. The strange clouds that brought us a long-awaited for present was being blown away and the sun came out again.

Looking at these pictures and those taken so far, I think a lot of beautiful things cannot be captured on film. The falling snow looked like drizzle and Beacon Hill looked dry. Still, we take photos to relive those moments of thrill at delighting on something wonderful but fleeting. I like to photograph things but not to be photographed (because I look dowdy in them... see, it can't be captured on film! okok, joking). Although I am no narcissist, I was a wee bit pleased to hear from Zibin that a photo of others and me in Chingay was at some photo exhibition in Suntec. There was only one other time when I was in some sheares hall photo exhibition pictured running. Well, I've got better pictures to take at Eujin and Yingying's house: Refreshing punch+orange, stir-fried noodles (made from packaged beehoon from Singapore) and bread...to go with piping-hot curry dessert was rich tiramisu and erm, the not-so-rich marble cake

Not only did we stuff ourselves but had a good glimpse into their lives. To know their times back home, they had...

below, they kept a large fish...
and lower down was Eujin's collection of WWE (formerly known as WWF) action figuresEujin is a great collector with a box full of Star Wars models, real badges of courage (not souvenirs) from WWII and rocks -- the one I found brilliant. They aren't just any old stones but fossils. He goes around beaches in UK and hunt them up. There is the positive, where the ammonite (kind of shell-like organism millions of years ago) is hardened, and the negative, the imprint on the other face of the stone. Some beaches have dinosaur fossils and some ammonite and so on.

The other natural history lesson we had was watching documentary when having dinner. BBC documentaries on whales by a lady who holds the world record for deepsea-diving and on meerkats by a group of Cambridge scholars who have tracked them for ten over years. It's really interesting and presented in a story-like way with the meerkats named and everything. Finally, we saw the photographs they took in Berlin and Prague, and I can't wait for Easter, when I will be there!

Sleepy Saturday... saturday (duh), march 17, 2007

After the splurge in London and Manchester, we've decided to stay in Loughborough in the weekends until after Easter. We're saving our pennies to spend, Spend, SPEND on our Europe tour during Easter. I can see my mummy fainting and papa exhorting me to come home immediately... kidding... Then, we can see how much we have left to see other parts of UK.

It isn't boring at all, for me anyway. Firstly, there is a lot of work to complete before Easter and they aren't easy. Despite the not-so-light workload, there is no sense of urgency at all. So, after moaning about all the dastardly assignments, we went off to the Rushes, the closest thing to a shopping mall here. There is JJB, selling sportswear and equipment, where Xianhong bought me a comfy pair of shoes on our last visit.

While he tried on a pair of soccer boots, Lydia and I sneaked off to purchase candles on the sly because Lester's birthday is coming up! I'll tell more about the surprise celebration when it has taken place, if it's a success anyway. Well, we went to Marks & Spencer's too and drooled and drooled at all the delicious desserts... have already decided which ones to buy to send back home =)

Some hours later, with somewhat more work done, we went to the lounge to play table tennis and watch TV. I have not watch any TV since I arrive... my brother must be shocked... but it's TRUE! There was this ice-skating competition "Dancing on Ice" where contestants learn to skate and every week, they had to present an item with a professional partner. For this final week's item, they were given the beginning and ending of a famous ice-skating routine and could do whatever they please in between. It was pretty good and I was amazed that the amateurs could do stunts quite well but was floored when I went to look up the famous routine:

Breathtaking. There is effortless strength and grace. It is enchantment, a little out of this world for me. The same otherworldly wonder I feel when I read myths and legends, especially Celtic ones. Vivid tales of romance and tragedy. It's as if time stood still as these beautiful things weave their magic. Don't worry, I'll send this over to you asap, bro.

Reporting Live from Loughborough on Shootout... sunday, march 11, 2007

Sunday, March 11, 2007 marks our one month in UK and we celebrated with Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Now, I love ice cream and chocolates but my inner scrooge allows me to buy only when they are on offer. Consequently, my brother and I only buy these treats at discounts and I only eat my all-time fav venezia ice cream on special occasions. So, when we spied Ben & Jerry's ice cream going at 2 tubs of 500ml at 5 pounds, we bought it! It's costly to me but according to Alwyn, our foremost expert on Western cuisine, it's a steal. Plus, we should treat ourselves to commemorate our one month anniversary here. Whatever, all I know is that I could wallop the whole tub all by myself but being a perfect lady conscious of decorum, I refrain from showing my prowess... haha!

Sadly, this happy occasion is marred by news of a shoot-out at the student union. The student union here has a pub (pub selling drinks and where people party, not the British pub selling fish & chips) and somebody shot the bouncer in the stomach. Luckily, nobody was killed. The gravity of the situation didn't fully register with me until I pass by there the next morning.

Read all about it in http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/6438939.stm

The whole area was cordoned off and there were policemen all around. There were also reporters interviewing the vice-chancellor, student union president... ... It was rather shocking and sobering, making me feel that life is highly unpredictable. One minute you're partying and having fun, the next minute something tragic happens. Well, all we can do this time, this moment, this instant, is to treasure the precious time we have.......

House Party... saturday, march 10, 2007

Saturday was a day of firsts: first time I jogged and first time we have a house, maybe hostel, party... and it feels good!

The weather is really warming up now. My wiggly toes don't need socks to cover them when I sleep at night. However, we weren't too brave to jog in the cooler morning or evening but brave enough for a noon jog when it is the warmest. Starting was a little chilly but soon we felt so warm that Alwyn, who wore a track suit, started stripping. It's a wonderful sensation, to feel the breeze against you and yet be warmed by your own body and the lovely sunlight. The sun here really warms you up and the breeze is like air-conditioning; unlike London and Manchester, where the sun gives no warmth and the wind cuts to your bone. I would jog more, so as to lessen my guilt at chomping down hot food and decadent desserts and because the brilliant sports facilities here require MONEY...

Dinner was a spread, we had invited Eujin and Yingying over, whom we met during the Chinese New Year celebration in the Town Hall. We had roast chicken,

home-made siew mai,

mixed vegetables

and fish soup...

wahhh!We planned for "traycake" (due to lack of cupcake holder) with ice cream but they brought apple pie so we had that instead. Apple pie was scrumptious with custard and vanilla ice cream. It was piping hot (kept warm in the oven) and melted the frosty feeling when we had to gather outside in the cool night in our thin clothing for a false fire alarm.

What's a party without games? We played pictionary that Yingying brought, a game where a team member has to draw and the teammates guess. First, we played guys against girls and the guys won because there were more of them, so NO FAIR. Then Xianhong decided to tweak the game rules: whoever's drawing lets most people guess right wins and nobody is to pretend not to be able to guess. And, Yingying won! Proving that GIRLS RULE!

Then we settled into a more relaxed atmosphere and chatted. A cosy feeling for everyone because there is a familiarity to home because no matter how beautiful this place is, it isn't for us to call home. The sweltering weather, jostling crowds and sky-rise buildings of Singapore is home, where our family is and our memories are. Thus, chatting and even complaining about Singapore was really fun.

Mancheste United vs. Lille... wednesday, march 7, 2007

Wednesday morning was warm and sunny, reflecting the atmosphere on campus because it was election time! The lengths the candidates and their friends go to to garner votes is crazy. There was "Big D" who had a bus plastered with pink paper going round and him whistling, "Action Man" Has ("a" has "ah" sound) has a bunch of girls drove around in an opened space wagon singing "Vote Has, vote Has!" to Stallone's Rocky's theme song and there were other less nutty antics.

After voting, we left for Manchester. Being an industrial city, it was not as pretty as small, sleepy Loughborough but there was a more sophisticated transport system with trams and more importantly, it's home to Manchester United. I am not a fan and know next to zilch about football but it was all rather exciting really, to go to a Championships game with Manchester United against Lille.

First off, the stadium, Old Trafford, was gargantuan with seating capacity of more than 70 000. I was awed. Our seats were just before these rooms with heater (Manchester was VERY chilly), sumptuous dinner and television for replays. I was stunned. All this while, the guys were gazing at the players warming up with admiration in their eyes. I looked too and sadly, could not identify their brilliant touches or whatchmacallit.

According to the guys, the game was a letdown, with Lille (in yellow) playing badly in the first half and Manchester (in red and white) playing too defensively. This all goes to show that ignorance is bliss, I found it all tremendously exciting. The crowd acted like a single entity except for a group of Lille's supporters from France but their number was small compared to those of Man U's. (I had looked with some trepidation at the police guarding Lille's supporters as a precaution against riotsor mishaps) Anyway, the crowd sang (the roaring was undecipherable to me), booed (quite intimidatingly), groaned and stood up exactly at the same time. Everyone stands up when there is a potential goal in sight and sighed back to their seats except once. The once was the goal by Larsson in the 75th minute. After that, loads of people left as there was little chance of further goals... and it got colder.

More pics (not of the match though)

http://picasaweb.google.com/yannyranran/Manchester

Oh well, despite the cold, it was a brilliant experience, for me anyway. Bet all many football fanatics back home are growing green in envy... mwahaha!

London: Little Look... weekend, march 2-5, 2007

Continuing with my gloomy rantings on a lighter note: actually London is really rather exciting.

After a night's sleep at Lianglong's (one of Xianhong's pals, funny, they all rhyme: XianhONG, SinlONG, LianglONG...) place, we set off early to Westminster Abbey. It was adorned with gorgeous and intricate carvings, statues at every inch. There were so many of them and in such rich details that I was lost in them. There was a sign put up for lessons on Westminster Abbey, and I think to fully appreciate the artistry, one needs to learn the histories of the people they were rendered in homage to, else they'll all seem a blur. I can only remember the Chapter House (from popular fiction The Da Vinci Code), Poets' Corner (from a fondness for reading) and Sir Isaac Newton's tomb... it's HIM that we all have to memorise, swallow, digest and assimilate into our bodies awful, awful equations!!!

These are the little photos we took as cameras were not allowed inside. If they were, I bet I'm still there clicking away.
http://picasaweb.google.com/yannyranran/WestminsterAbbeyMore

In the afternoon, we watched the longest running musical "Les Miserables" at the Queens Theatre. Not a fan of musicals and plays but I was blown away, so it's easy to conjecture how good it was. Wonderful songs delivered by beautiful voices and brilliant acting played upon fantastic props. My personal favourites was the theme "Do You Hear the People Sing" and "On My Own", I like the stirring of the first and melancholy of the second. The realistic town prop was turned and hey presto! it transforms into burning wreckage. I found the depiction of the suicide of the officer imaginative, the bridge was lifted gradually to show him falling and the turning spotlight accurately imitates the swirling of waters when one is drowning.

Here is a recording of the finale during its 10th anniversary concert. This special has them all standing while singing when the actual musical has them singing and acting. My favourite part starts at 5 min into the recoding... oops, but this is the best I could find.

Spectaclar, but no photos allowed except for these:
http://picasaweb.google.com/yannyranran/PiccadillyCircus

Sunday was a visit to the London Bridge, Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Tower of London does not really count because we didn't go in but took photos of the postcards showing crown jewels in the souvenir shop and also of the exterior... it does seem dumb but none of us were particularly interested to see them up close and personal and a hole in the pocket but we were determined to see what most tourists see.
http://picasaweb.google.com/yannyranran/Bridges

Later we went to HMS Belfast -- London's Floating Naval Museum, a historic warship that supported the allied troops duing D-Day landings now moored on the Thames. It was really an eye-opener to the lives of seamen. We first boarded with walkie-talkies-like gadgets that acts as a tour guide on pressing buttons (we abandon them soon as they were long-winded and anyway, I can't multi-task). We climbed up and down ladder-like steps from deck to deck, ogled at statues enacting the tasks during voyages and of course, took photos aplenty.
http://picasaweb.google.com/yannyranran/HMSBelfast

We also visited Camden Town that resembles a very expensive pasar malam... expensive because we multiplied everything by 3 due to the exchange rate, cheap to the Britons though.
http://picasaweb.google.com/yannyranran/Camden

At night, there was a birthday celebration for Lianglong... Happy Birthday!

On the very last day, Xianhong and I rushed through the National Gallery while the others went to Harrods. Wished I could have wandered in the rooms forever, there are so many pictures to admire, again, no photos allowed. I hope to return and the plus point is that it's FREE... haha!

Next we rushed to Buckingham Palace for the changing of guards. When we got there, it was so crowded that instead of the dark furry headgear worn by the guards, I could only see the dark glossy manes grown on people's heads... sigh, was too greedy but luckily, Lester was in front and took many photos. I think it's amusing to hear the guys (who have undergone National Service) dismiss the sloppy marching of the guards when it's an attraction.
Judge for youselves =)
http://picasaweb.google.com/yannyranran/BuckinghamPalace

After that disappointment was a lovely walk in Kew Gardens. The others weren't very interested but I was set on going, so Xianhong had to come. But it was really beautiful even though not all the flowers bloomed and we prefer outdoor trips to the hustle of city life. We followed the Explorer's Route in the map (that belies the size of the gardens, the map seemed enormas!) with some little detours. We decided to leave the Palm House to the last, coming from tropical country, we weren't too fascinated with palms.
We decided to go to the Temperate House, a large greenhouse with stairs! and temperate plants although there were some that seemed tropical to us, non-horticulturists who can't differentiate shrubs and bulbs.
Then we went to Evolution House that tried to show how plants evolved through the ages.
Next was the funny Pagoda, ugly to our oriental eyes because we have seen much more beautiful ones then to a Japanese garden with a strange gate. We trampled over gravel to take photos excitedly before we saw the notice to NOT step on the gravel... oops!
The waterliy pond looked... pathetic because no lilies now! There was a boring Queen Charlotte's Cottage, odd name, Queen in a Cottage? The star attractions were animals, pheasant, squirrel and peacocks! An old man's comment echoed our sentiments. Looking on a peacock fanning out it's amazing tail before an unfazed peahen, he said,"Well if he doesn't impress her, he sure impresses me!" and shoo the peahen towards the frantic peacock,"Go on!"There was also a serene pond with ducks swooping around.
A passing shower forced us into a Minka House, a wooden hut imported from Japan. Then to the Rhodendron Dell, I've come across them so many times in books that I yearn to see whether they match my imagination. I think they weren't blooming yet and mistook dandelions for them... only realized error when looking at brochures... haha!
The Princess of Wales Consevatory was full of beautiful tropical flowers and prickly cacti. We regret taking too many pictures of not-in-bloom temperate plants because the faulty battery was running low when I just charged the night before. It has inspired me to consider growing some orchids when I return home.
http://picasaweb.google.com/yannyranran/KewGardens

This trip was certainly not as relaxed and enjoyable as the trip to Oxford but it has its highlights. I prefer the quiet and tranquility of an old, old town of dreaming spires and wider expanse of small Loughborough.

London: Large Losses... weekend, march 2-5, 2007

London sure is a bewildering city, full of hustle and bustle. There are masses of people everywhere and the tube maps are awfully complicated to simple old me. Although I bet I could decipher them if the guys did not always want to flaunt their "superior" map-reading skills. They block the map from my view... humph

Besides being confusing (some lines were closed for maintenence and repair), they were extremely costly. A single one-way adult fare costs 4 pounds, that's like S$12 for an mrt ride back at home!!! Luckily, there is such a thing as an oyster card, similar to ezlink but with lower prices at 1.50 pounds. BUT, a horrible information guy mislead us and we bought a painful single one-way adult fare on the evening of arrival and a lousy daypass for 5.10 pounds the next day... effectively squandering... shan't calculate anymore or my cash register heart will be wrecked with grief!

Another money down the drain was yet another meal of fish & chips on saturday night... costing 8 pounds! The portion was smaller than the one back in Loughborough but tasted considerably more palatable. Maybe it was because it was eaten in the eatery and not lugged back home. In any case, I HATE fish & chips! AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!