Here I am finally stepping on the ground of the United Kingdom. As happy as i am to be here finally after the exciting and restless 16-hours of flight. I am all sad, excited, anxious and happy to be in this brand new territory. Sad as I never being aparted from home, never. Excited as this will be the first time I'm going to fly and live out in a strange place all-by-myself. Anxious, as I'm so uncertain of how is it like to juggle between my studies and manage my life here alone in a short 3 months time. Of course, happy!! I have two other companions, Fei Wen and Joanne who will fly together with me. So much happy as I knew it's going to be a memorable once in a life time experience and who can wait for the enthralling Europe trip ahead... France, Belgium, Czech, Italy, Austria, Germany... here I come, so wait for me ok! hehe...
First day: 1st June: Manchester - Sheffield
It didn't cost us much time to pass by the immigration as I heard before. After we touched down at the Manchester Airport, our friend Wei Shiong was already there to pick us up to Sheffield, a place of where he's living now. Besides, we were all given a toy to hug-through-the-night as a welcome gift, so nice~ Fei Wen got her Ryan lion, Jo got her Paddy teddy bear, and I got a sadomasochistic bear... which comes from a family call bad taste bear!! hahaha...
not-so-huggable Buffy and I... haha...
Despite of the tiredness, we can't rest more because the night activities in Sheffield were just too much and fantastic to be explored in a short two days time. And so, the night we arrived, we were brought to watch our FIRST EVER STRIPPER SHOW!! It's a MALE stripper show in a small pub and you wouldn't believe that it only cost one pound fifty (RM10.50) to watch the show that lasted for 15minutes! Eye-opening indeed! hahaha...
It's freezing cold that night. 11 degree celcius to my imagination before was aiya-okla... but in fact, I shivered all the way back home that night after the show...
2nd June: Friday: Around Sheffield
We had our first traditional English breakfast in UK, that cost us 2 pound fifty (RM17.50). And it considered CHEAP already... (guess how broke my life would be like the next few months if I ever try to eat out...it's really a big no no) Anyway, this breakfast is so fulfilling compare to the first meal we had when we reached UK, which was MAGEE MEE... pity*
After that, our new made friend Pei Pei, a very kind big sis who made us magee mee and chicken wings brought us sight-seeing around Sheffield. We've been to a place with a beautiful fountain where kids were playing around, that's called Peace Garden if I'm not wrong. That was a sunny day and many ang moh all lazing down on the lawn, enjoy being sun-tanned. In the noon time, Wei Shiong spent us a luxurious buffet lunch in the Chinese restaurant that he's working currently, we're fed to the max and we cannot finish it all... =p too lavish!
Later in the afternoon, I met with my long lost primary school mate Siow Lee, who's now studying in Sheffield University. That feeling was undescribable as you've not met up with a friend for so long and now you met her in this faraway place in UK, but I'm sure that's happy one. She had cooked us a lovely dinner that's totally unplanned - Tom Yam fried mee hon. That's a lovely home cook meal and the portion of the mee hon is so big (look at the pic) and I actually finished it all... I guess, it's when my appetite started to get too well here hahahaha... I ate a lot!!
Not to be able to linger too long in Siow Lee's place, we rushed to meet all the mates at home who're waiting for us to PARTY... gosh, when can I rest a little longer? noooo... slowly and achingly I dragged my feet to the chilly street which was like miles away, from pub to club, I almost dead cause the next morning we're going to wake up at 4am to go back to the Manchester airport, in order to be sent to the exact place of where we're supposed to belong to the next few months- LIVERPOOL!
3rd June: Saturday: LIVERPOOL
Compare to the journey to Sheffield, we had a not so pleasant journey way back to Liverpool. Despite the fact that it's where we get the studies all that stuff started here, the University coordinators that were supposed to be here to help were non-helpful. When we reached there at our Marybone Project hostel, all our big luggages were left behind in the bus, and so I've to climb in myself to dig the luggage out (freaking 30kg) and then lost our way to find our hostel. FLAT 7, PHASE 2, with common sense, we went to PHASE 2, 7th FLOOR and then found our way wrong. Tugging all the luggage down to the student office again and that shitty Malaysian guy helper gave us a "oh you so stupid" look, "flat 7 you duno meh? 7 divide by 2, how much? 4 la... you guys are living in 4th floor".......... WTH..... 7 divided by 2 is 4???? who teach you geh??lucky us, we had Ah Fang and Kelvin around to help us with the luggages or else we die die gotta go up and down for few times to carry our luggages. Thank you guys...
We're so lucky again, cause on the day we arrived, there's Mayor Parade having down the street. I'm so lucky, cause I was assigned to the biggest room of all 5. Anyone who wanna come visit me??
4th June: Sunday: Birthday in Liverpool
It's Sunday and it's my birthday. Due to the 7 hours time difference, I woke up early to make phone call back to Malaysia. Happily as I talk over the phone with my family and I walked out of my room and guess what with my key left in the room and DOOR LOCKED!! Fei Wen and I ran down to the student office at once and the staff came following us to our hostel to unlock the door for me, phew.... lucky me~ and until the time when I was requested to fill in a form, I then realize today was my birthday... Have I been such oblivious before? Nope... I was just too numb to it.
And then, we went out to find our way to our University using only the MAP provided. It took us exactly 30 minutes walking distance to the University; if there's without this kinda chilly and windy weather, I guess I'll just pengsan halfway through... haha... But it's cool cause the largest church in UK and Europe - Liverpool Anglican Church is just located right beside our university. However, our library is even further, will take about 5 minutes walk from our uni, so all in all, each day I'm going to spend more than ONE HOUR on walking... just walking at the premises on I do not lose my way or being attracted to stop by at some spot... hmmpph... Good thing about walking so much is that, I can exercise after I ate so much hehe...
As for my birthday, it's a beautiful solitude for me to celebrate it alone in my room with my cup noodle night before and roti again for the breakfast. There's none singing birthday song for me today. Sound ke lian but I was quite happy as friends around still remember my birthday... even some not so familiar acquaintances had come up and greet me happy birthday. The heart of remembering this small little thing can certainly warm me much throughout the chilly and out-of-place day. Thanks people... for the dinner, I cooked myself instant Japanese Ramen that I brought from Malaysia and then I went to bed.
5th & 6th June: Monday & Tuesday: Induction day
It's all that boring shit of getting ourselves prepared for the coming week's studies. All that shit... cause I was so in holiday mood, you teach me how to tune to a study mood in a matter of a week time, tell me how? The weight of the three key text books were as heavy as my heart... Can I finish it all in a matter of, 14 weeks to be exact??
Cruel fact: 30min of walk to Uni... somemore got a lots of slope going up and down along the way... phewwww... it reminded me of the days when I was studying in secondary school, I had to walk for 10 minutes also, there's also a disgusting steep slope way back to my house... urghhhh... And now, after years of not walking, all these challenges multiplied!!
Oya, I again locked myself out of my room for the second time, and this time I was locked out of my room half a day waiting people in the office to help... it's so not fun to be locked out!!!!! I swore that it's gonna be the last time, last time!!
7th June: Wednesday: Social Trip
My University had arranged us a trip to North Wales, yay!! The crooked road took us about 2 hours of drive to reach there, it was a small village with a strange name called Betws-y-Coed. The scenery was so nice, seeing many ang moh walked their doggie in the park (all the doggie here have bigger size than the ones in Malaysia ahaha) and old folks came in bus, in wheel chair or crutch, they will still come out for a walk and chat, that's so lovely... Weather there is nicer, chilly wind and hot sun~ Before we headed back to hostel, we went to Conwy Castle of where the ghost stories in Liverpool began... spooky* Again, we took lotsa pictures teehee...
8th June: Thursday: Tesco is our 'Second Home'
Except the studies, I was so bothered about the meal each day... Seriously I can't survive on bread, for a week or so it'll still be ok, but not for months... I never liked bread and fact is bread was the main course meal here! I started to miss the nasi lemak and chicken rice in Malaysia. Everyday without miss I'll eat bread, don't ask me why la... I LIKE BREAD MA... fuiyoooo... Everyday since I came down here, my housemates and I will shop in Tesco without miss! I'll be getting quite sick if I have to go to Tesco for the grocery everyday yet I don't have the strength to carry back all those stuff at once... kill me ba... And that's why, roti roti roti... easy and fast! ANYWAY, we had already bought RICE, yay~ and we got rice cooker which can not only cook rice, but steamboat, boil soup, bah kut teh etc etc.. that you can think of, uak uak uak! From Sunday onwards, we will have rice to eat... every Wed, Fri and Sunday... I'm such a fan tong! =p
9th June: Friday: Ferry to Wirral
This was our first ever personal trip in Liverpool. 9 in the morning, 7 of us, all gals walked to the dock to catch the earliest ferry to Wirral. There we reached Birkenhead, a small town again and out of the plan we visited the oldest church in Wirral, that's called Priory of Birkenhead. Unfortunately, the church was open quite late at 1pm and so we only can linger outside the church. It's like an abandoned church with lots of tombstones, and yet we still happily snapping pictures around, cannot tahan us...
Today was the hottest day since I came, the sun ray was as strong as the wind, and I felt like I could almost being blown away into the poisonous sea when I stood on the board of the ferry. The sea look like mud water, i'll be poisoned to dead rather than drown if I fell into it... the seasides in Malaysia are way too much prettier I guarantee! skies in Malaysia are BLUE and skies here are definitely incomparable to it, cause it's always pale and grey...
In the afternoon, we had our lunch in Hamilton square, a park that looks so unlike Titiwangsa hahaha. It's funny for us to picnic together for the first time here in this park. haha... Under such a nice weather, picnic is a must ok!! However, we might look a little odd here as we purposely sat under a shady tree whereas all the other ang mohs lied themselves down the sunlight... what a big contrast! We didn't want to be tanned la, in fact we had lots more SUNLIGHT back in Malaysia... all free for 365 days a year!
The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and so for the last spot of my day, we went to Tate Art Gallery... well, finally had the chance to see some of the pieces of Picasso myself BUT forgive me that I don't know how to appreciate it... =p What a tired day! I had lotsa nice pics now! heheh... Well after the day trip, I was tanned, I guess bean curd will turn into a bar of chocolate so soon~ =S
At the same day, the World cup was kicked off in Germany! Even being 1 hour difference apart, certainly I can feel the fever and it was much more intense compare to the time when it happened in Malaysia!! The whole block of hostel was like shuddering with all the boisterous applause whenever there's a goal scored... And I had a friend, Ming Chun who actually bet on the opening game, chiseen fever!! Could you believe that he even brought mahjong all the way to UK?!! chiseen lan dou guai! haha...
10th June: Saturday: I want to rest, I don't want to eat bread no more
It's weekend and my feet badly need some rest seriously. My right ankle has been achingly all this while and I knew it's because of the reason that I rarely exercise before and suddenly when I came here, I need to walk for at least an hour EVERYDAY... The muscle was torn I guess. So I need to rest... while all the housemates were out, went to library, to China town, to pak tor... and I'm here all alone, I can have the house all myself! Anyway, the wind is very strong today as I can heard the wind grazing my window with such a spooky sound, my door keep banging itself... -_-lll Watching the world cup with England vs Paraguay at home alone, so not fun... cehhh~
For those who wonder what I eat here, the answer is --- ROTI. Bread is mainly all I had for my meal since I came UK, it's the cheapest and easiet to make: take out the bread, spread jam and you there you go. However, it's been a week plus and I'm getting sick of it... And I want to cook something special today for my dinner... SO, wait and see how it turns out k... stay tuned bye now...
*Oppss, happy 22nd birthday to Fei Wen... hope that your internet access will get fixed soon and also my water heater... I'm stink!!
