Picture Time! London Trip - Part 1

It's Snowing I Believe

I knew the night's temperature would be -2 degrees on the forecast but I really did not expect it to snow! I was in the kitchen getting my dinner ready, eggs and ham, when I saw one of my housemate.

Frankie: Heyya, look!
Andrew: Huh? Are those leaves?
Frankie: No! It's snowing! Can you believe it?

It's my first time since the first time seeing snow, so yes, I think I do believe. Thing is it's only October and it's already snowing. She told me it should snow on January like it always do but today it's magical. Those snow looks like powder to me and normally when it rains, that's how it looks like too. But as time goes by, it was snowing quite heavy.

Andrew: Are you guys going downstairs later?
Remy: Yea in like 10 minutes or so.
Andrew: Knock on my door when you guys do!

We went down and it was real hard to see with the wind blowing at my face and the snow kept getting into my eyes. It wasn't pain though because the snow was really fine. I wore 2 winter clothes and a T-Shirt, snowcap and gloves. I consider myself heavily protected from cold. It did but my hands were numb and it was hard to take pic with my poor fingers.

















They were having snowball fight by the time I went down. Students from all over came down and gathering the snow with their palms. It was really fantastic. Out of control. Some students even tossed at the security holding umbrellas.

Anyway, it's taking forever to load the videos. I will load it in another post and another time k!

The 1st Month

"It's 3"
Andu: Are you serious?
Jacky: Yea. 3 degree.

Yes I was shocked. I felt as though I'm living in a freezer or somewhere as cold. That was at night though, about 12am when I was walking back with my friends that I met in church. There were 5 of us, right after watching a football match. It feels weird watching TV for me when I'm in my friend's place. I feel as though it's my first time watching one.

Same feeling as when I took a cab when there's 4 or 5 of us. I'm sitting in a car.. That's so unreal for me because when I reach UK, there's a mind barrier that I held before me. I could never drive, there won't be TV, etc. It felt nice though. First car ride in UK was in a cab. When one of my friend in church told me he could drive, I was like, "Wow you got a car here!?". Then I noticed how absurd that question was.

I'm doing fine here in UK. It's getting a little too cold for comfort. On Friday my church friends, William, Jacky, Jason, and Mahesh invited me to visit London with them tomorrow(Saturday) and my eyes grow brightly.

I woke up at 7.45am and got ready. Brush teeth, breakfast, skin lotion, lips care, and off I go. William woke up late and we had to wait from 9am till 10am, then till 10.45am for the bus. We reached the station and I noticed there were another 2 girls following us, Rain and Yi Li. We went by train with an All-Day Pass ticket. Here are some pictures.



















After that we went to Chinatown. It was already about 6pm I think. It was quite dark though but luckily the camera my mom bought for me was awesome.


















These are just a few of them. I will post all of the other pictures, and the same ones, in a new post. We went to the Eye of London as well. I won't tell you how it is, but to show you in pictures.

















There, London as it is. When my friends have uploaded the pictures I'll take some from them as well. From left to right, including those 2 girls at the back, Yi Li, Rain, Mahesh, Jacky, William, Jason, and Andrew at the camera.

















We were really tired after this whole day trip in London. We've spent more than 12 hours all over and it's my first time traveling so far from Hatfield. Thank you for reading! Don't just read next time k. Come UK :D

The First Few Days

The 1st time I went to the cafeteria, I was so lost and alone. So I innocently sat in a particular end of the table. There was plenty of seats at the row beside and in front of me. I had lasagne and yea it was nice. Cost me £2.65 if I'm not mistaken. Quite affordable but can't have it everyday. As I was enjoying my meal, a local girl sat right in front of me. Then again, I was lost. "Should I say Hie? But she's not looking over. Gosh it's so tough to be a foreigner!"

Ended up I just finish my food quickly and left. I felt horrible actually. Anyway, there's lotsa things that I should learn. I noticed they never say "Thanks" but "Thank You" instead. So I started saying Thank You too. I guess it's more polite that way and it sure sounds like it.

Several weird things happened at the 1st few weeks in UH.

1. I was bathing after I had my dinner. It was quite early then, about 9pm. It was really quiet at first, but not anymore. I start heard moanings. Real loud ones. I couldn't believe it at first, "It must be some jokers watching porn aloud". The moans continued. It seems to be coming from the room directly in front of the bathroom. Then later, the guy starts to moan as well. It was a low groan and moan. Then I knew it was real.

They gave us free condoms anyway during orientation. Haane must be glad I couldn't make it from orientation. Haha.

2. I was walking to my dorm. A bunch of drunk white guys and girls in school uniform was walking the opposite way. It seems to be an event which requires everyone to have school uniform. I kinda stayed away from them because I don't know what to expect from drunk white guys. Some of them were holding glasses of beer which appears to be even more threatening. I stayed few more steps away trying not to look too obvious. Suddenly one of them approach me and mumbled something but I kept walking till he was trying to catch up. I looked at him and noticed he was talking to me, trying to keep up with me while holding a girl's hand and casually asked, "Heyya, do you happen to have a condom? You know, condom?". I just broke out laughing because he seem to be really used to this kinda things. His friend then asked me if I would like him to slap the drunk sextard.

So there, my exciting week on UH. Keep in touch!

UH

It's Sunday. Totally doesn't feel like it except for a Sunday service in church. I attend church quite frequently nowadays because that's the only place I could go. Weekends on campus is quite deserted. Most of the locals went back for the weekend. So nice.. If only I could go back for the weekend too, I thought to myself.

The place is nice. The people here are wonderful. Willing to help. The weather.. Very windy at times. The sun is still bright here which I'm quite thankful for. When the wind blows, it's very cold. But if it isn't windy at all, the temperature here is like air-con temperature back in home sweet home.

It's still autumn now or so I hope. It is starting to get a bit too chilly here. The leaves on the trees are nice. Green leaves on the lower part of the tree, and slowly gradient to dark orange on the top part. Most of the leaves are falling already. Dead leaves everywhere. Sigh.. This is so depressing! Lol just kidding.

Come to think of it, this is my first real post when I reach in UK. I've settled down already, luggages are fully unpacked this afternoon. Everything looking great. Winter's approaching. Haane's being quite strong already. Not much worries at hand. Kept in touch with everyone. Getting a laptop at the moment. And some churchmates just invited me to watch a Football match on tuesday night at their place.

I say let's watch together. Yes you.

Notice

I guess I'm doing quite okay now. Can say I'm on a steadier phase already. But I haven't take the opportunity to explore yet. That might come in a bit later. Been thinking to get a laptop as soon as possible. Been onlining in the library since I reached. Gonna blog a brief one for now. The next post will only be posted when I have a laptop, or when I have plenty of time to do so. Till then people! Take care ya back home. And keep in touch.

1st Post In The UK

Finally found a chance to get online and blog. I'm currently in the library, University of Hertfordshire, UK. There's a lot I wanted to share but I just don't know where to start.

A lot of things happened on 8/10/08. I got my visa in the morning, got my flight ticket in the afternoon, attended my grandmother's funeral as well, and then left for the airport after mourning. It was hell, if not close to it.

Me and my family went to the airport with me. Haane was with me the entire day and I was really glad. My uncle and few of his church member came as well. My friends came a bit later. We had dinner at KFC and gosh I was blank. It's all so sudden.. too sudden in fact. Basil sang a few songs together. I was blank. Haane tried to comfort me. I was blank. I hugged Haane before I left and she cried.. And there I went.. down the escalator. No turning back now.

And now, it's the 3rd day in the UH(University of Hertfordshire) and frankly, I've cried more than when I was brought to this world. It was a really hard 3 days for me. Here's a list of why I can't turn the taps off.

1. I can't see my family, friends, and Haane till June
2. There's no way I can go back now
3. Everytime I see something that reminds me of home
4. All the things my family did for me
5. All the little things that Haane did for me(the folded stars and crane)

Okay that's just the tip of the iceberg. The list can be longer. Not to mention I've used up 5 packs of tissue already. Even seeing the pricetag on the tissue made me teary. It was tough.

Now, I'm beginning to get used to it. Had to see the bigger picture. I've been locking myself in my room most of the time, spending £25 on calling Haane(I really needed that). Aaron helped me a lot. We cooked dinner together and we went shopping in a nearby supermarket, Asda. I spent almost £50 on stuffs I needed to cook, food stuffs, and kettle. I know it's a lot but it was necessary. Most of the things are actually very cheap if you're working in UK. I'll upload the pictures when I have a laptop. By the way, a laptop is the most important thing that you'll ever need to go overseas. Without it, prepare to think a lot in the room and cry along with it.

Here's what I think about trying to get used to a new country, alone. I think it's not a matter of time trying to adapt to a new surrounding. It's actually a phase. The 1st phase is when you've just arrived. It's the worse of all. This phase will be in action for as long as the individual stays in it. You'll only move along to phase 2, if you manage to get out of it. So, time will not matter.

Anyway, I guess I'm in phase 2 already. Not that bad now. Previously, I never wanted to unpack because if I do, I'll have to accept the fact that this isn't a 9 days thing.. It's 9 months, and I did unpack. My room is still a bit untidy though because the luggage is still on the floor and the clothes aren't unpacked yet because I forgot to get a hanger.

On the 2nd day, I went to a church event called International Food Night. It's when everyone gathers around to have dinner, volunteered by people to cook. I had rice and spaggheti sauce with minced meat. Very nice. Had a great night there. Keeps my mind off of home.

Well, I still miss home though. Very much. And really, there's no place like home. And Haane, Happy 2nd Anniversary! I really wish I could be there for you.. It's already 2 years now being together and I had to say, you're wonderful.. I Love You Haane! Will try to get online more often now. Keep in touch people!

Captain's Log

Captain's Logbook - Page 59, by Sir Andrew Whisperwind

Found this old papyrus crumpled under my documents in Photoshop. Seems to belong to a certain Captain of the vessel H.M.S. Visapliz. I'm amazed at how old the logbook is. I'm quite determined to recover the rest of the lost papyrus though. What this Captain is going through is quite similar to my situation, which is rather fascinating. Oh well, I guess waiting for the Visa is as random as any sea could be. Never know exactly when the rain's about to fall.

Anyway, I'm still waiting for my Visa. I managed to contact one of the students from UH. He's really helpful and he's currently filling me in on what's going on through the week. Good news is class haven't started yet. The first week after orientation is for Seniors to help Juniors out on their first week at Uni. Bad news is, although I will be joining the 3rd year students, I still am a Junior.

Oh well, hope things will go well. Classes will start tomorrow. Hope the "rain" will fall as well.