Nottingham, England

It's 3 (or 2.5) days to Halloween, and already there are themed parties for the occasion. Strangely enough, I cannot feel the same excitement for it--at least not as much as the locals here. I am going to try and think of a similar example to clarify how I feel. This is going to sound rather lame, but perhaps, Children's Day on the 1st October? AHAHA. Nonetheless, there was a disappointing Halloween formal a few hours ago, followed by an informal session of Uno at Sara's which more than made up for the lackluster of the former (Ioana and I discovered we both share the same tastes in music!). The invitation made it sound so grand, but we ended up queueing, table by table, for our food. Mind you, that it is exactly what we do every day. The only difference was the annoying Batman theme song playing in loop and the sometimes entertaining getups by the locals. Edward Scissorhands graced the event. So did a few mummies and giant walking skulls. Can't forget the angels and devils... Then, I walked past this girl/guy in a skimpy fuchsia tube-dress and it suddenly occurred to me that I really couldn't discern her gender. Was she a girl who simply had manly features? Or a guy with really good makeup and a hot costume to match? If the latter... why dress up this way for Halloween?! The former's just plain sad.

Confined to the four walls of my humble room thanks to the drunkards making an immense din at 0340 in the wee hours, I decided to share photos from today. :D And also because I finally completed my 2.75k-word Politics essay. I need a much-deserved break from Planet Bookworm.

Ahhh, the thought of Christmas in Lake District... <333


Pre-dinner photos! First time seeing Phoebe in a dress!


Phoebe Scissorhands.


The shirt. Classic.


Sara and Dunni, the spiderwomen.






Group shots for fun!






Lunch with Kilian and Jessica this afternoon, with complimentary mooncake from Jess' parents :D

Birmingham, England

Photos from Birmingham (: All within 2 days!

Day 1:


Mandatory photos of nameless buildings. No post is complete without them.


Hm.




Equally mandatory group shots, taken with self-timer.




Dinner at Alan and Herman's. Homecooked at its "best". :D



Day 2:

Sidewalks. Nothing like those in Singapore.


Welcome to Cadbury World!


This is why I need to cut my hair.

Here begins my attempt to make up for my absence over the last few weeks. I've decided to attempt to do so in reverse chronological order, so here goes:

Two photos will be sufficient in summing up school so far.


Cous cous and chicken caesar salad


Bookshelf

Okay, I'm exaggerating it really. It's not as bad as it looks. For one, takeaway food in Notts is arguably tastier, healthier and more pleasant to the eyes than catered food in the halls. In a nutshell, all students in halls get a meal card with a value of GBP4.90 to spend every weekday. If you get a typical meal in hall, you use up all the value you've got. So fussy (or/and calculative) people, like yours truly, make special and sometimes out-of-the-way trips to the the library just to spend my credit on takeaway boxes, pints of milk and the occasional starbucks latte which sells at 3/4 of regular price. Then again, there's also the necessity to stock up on rations because a certain somebody will be arriving in two weeks time to leech off my supplies... As for the books, it's a classic case of "be careful what you wish for". Flashback to a month and a half before, and I was complaining for days on end, worried that I wouldn't have enough books to tide me through my stay in UK. I'm certain I've got my hands (and maybe feet) full this time round. I swear, at this rate, I will never be able to complete The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

Moving backwards, I woke up to the most unpleasant reality today--temperature zero degree celsius. It's tormenting enough to have to get up at 7am for class. So, imagine, for half an hour, desperately sieving through my wardrobe for items to layer. Presenting to you, the final product--



That's right folks. Me in a purple beanie which Sara and Jessie got for my birthday. I never thought I'd have the guts to wear it, but today's weather pushed me beyond the brink. Well done, nature.

Finally, dinner a few days back with our pioneer neighbours at Lenton Hall, during International Week. :D





Can't go into the finer details now. Got to rush off for Tools for Self Reliance. More on Birmingham later <3

Before I begin, living in hostel might not be the best option for some, and I've certainly learnt it the hard way. I had 18 year olds screaming down the corridor and banging their doors from 9pm to just after midnight, yelling at the top of their lungs and cursing like nobody's business. Ironically, last night was the first time, since I've arrived in Nottingham, I decided to hit the sack early. WHYYYY.

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October marks the start of the annual Nottingham Goose Fair. Remember the once-yearly UK Funfair in Singapore? Imagine that scale multiplied by 5. Complete with more than 5 bumper car stations, and CRAZYYYYY rides which promise to turn your face green at the end. Jessie turned really sick after one of the rides (refer to photos for reference!) and Fiona turned really pale. I got tricked into taking the reverse bungee with Chen Guang... which was kinda funny because I expected to barf in midair but I didn't. I landed a rockstar. HA. We were high-fiving in the air when the crazy part of the ride was done with. I can't put it down in words... but the way your stomach tightens up and propels itself towards your throat during the split second the bungee launches off at the count of 3, 2, 1... AMAZING.

Food-wise, there's the usual funfair fare. Your cheeseburgers, corn on a cob, fries and gravy. Instead of mash, you get mushy peas w/o mint sauce for a pound. There were Mary Poppins toffee apples going for 2 a pound as well, but Chen Guang claims the Chinese ones are more authentic and nicer to chew.

I think I'm going to start planning for a trip to China during the next summer vacation. Perfect timing since everyone will be back, and I can drop by their provinces for a day or two. It's going to be such an eye-opener.


Can you see the funfair in the distance...


One of the many kiddy rides--little kids strapped in bouncing on trampolines.




Local "gao lak", roasted chestnuts. Same same but different!




The ride that made everyone, except Sara, sick.




Our resident professional photographer. Love Kee Wei's camera!


Fiona and I outside the bumper car station.


I wouldn't mind my grandma working at such a shop! So cute! Grannies baking donuts.

If you haven't already known, Lovedrug's Spiders is one of my all time favourite songs. I can listen to it on repeat and I know the lyrics by heart. Whenever I run out of songs on my playlist, Spiders is one of the first songs I scroll to on my Ipod. This leads me to announce my latest purchase--Lovedrug's "Pretend You're Alive" album. I did a preview of their recent stuff, from 2007 onwards, and nothing seems impressive enough. Yet at the same time, the album with Spiders was nowhere to be found in the Itunes store directory. Finally tracked it down on trusty Amazon, and it's due to arrive either next week or the following, with only less than 3 pounds deducted from my bank account. Can't waitttttttttt!

It's been awhile since I've purchased a CD. You* left me with no choice.



*My university's too-highly secured network

New place. New friends :)


Moxi with Jennifer, the Londoner!






Esther--the only other Singaporean I've found on campus. Not on exchange though. She's a full-time Psychology freshie.


The Chinese kids from the campus in China. Moxi, Sara, Jessie and Chen Guang. We had to walk in the rain to get to the Chinese buffet.








But a student's got to do what a student's got to do.