How much better can life get ? Part 1

Wonderful weekend I had after some serious effort placed to finish up my work, most modules have actually ended this week and I wont be getting anymore lectures but just some briefing on my coming exam on the 18th of December, part from that I'll be getting my questions on that day, wahey! :)


Friday 30th November Part 1


Hectic morning I'd say, I was awake till 3 am in the morning (30/11/07) cause I was still preparing for my presentation that I'll have to do at 9 am that day itself. Was rather doing some self video recording on the webcam to look at myself on how I present my work. It seemed rather funny cause of the accent I've adopted since I got here, not to say that Im speaking with an accent just because Im now in the UK but more like its a norm to speak with an accent whenever Im around non-Malaysian friends. Rather ODD really. Had like 4 alarms set 1 hour before my presentation : 7:45, 7:50, 7:55, 8.05 am BUT as usual I dont quite hear the alarm when Im depriving of sleep, I was so frigging shocked when I woke up at 8:38 am. I was like SHIT, WTF @!(#~!@!#, jumped out of bed, got everything done by 8:48 am which I was pretty impressed being able to get ready in just 10 minutes.


Presentation was alright I'd say, with some confidence kicking inside; referred to my cue cards at times and hopefully I did pretty alright, IT sucks to be first for a presentation! =/


Took the bus with Jun to London and reached around 11:50am at Joshua's place walked across Hyde Park to the Malaysian Hall. FOOD WAS GOOD, CHEAP and FAST. Had so much to satisfy our hunger, Bangdon, Joshie, Jun and I ordered so much stuff and cleared everything, sweet desserts were good too. Managed to convince Jun to try some serious chilli hot sambal belacan that he was frantically searching for water. WAHHAHA, not being mean but just to have a taste of one's culture and be adventurous!

Doesnt that seem just aweeeesome

And this!

Two comical figures.

Jun and Brandon

Pictures like these just put a smile on my face when I look at them! wahha


After lunch, went for Sir or Lord-to-be Nicholas Stern, Prof of LSE's talk. He wasnt that great of a speaker as in terms of being entertaining and being able to crack some humour in between but just mere of presenting his really inspring ideas on Climate Change. Had so much going on my mind after attending that talk and it had knocked some sense into me right after. Jun, Sue Bee and I went!

DINNER was at 7:30pm, booked for 7:30pm but we reached the restaurant at roughly 8:00pm after gathering everyone at Finsbury Park Tube Station. I didnt know my way tho I organized the whole dinner but I had reviews of that restaurant being excellent, value for money etc. Along the Seven Sisters Road, one of the best japanese restaurant Ive tried in the UK I'd say, super value for money just that they lack manpower ; I bring u Hana Japanese Restaurant!


Sushis were made to purrrfection! Simply tasted so good, Brandon, Joshua, Jun, Ryan, James, Sue Bee, Yvonne and I. Chester was supposed to come but he couldnt make it in the end. The dinner was so so good, super value for money after the amount of food we've ordered, round after round, woooh ; had never felt that good and satisfied for a super long time!! Thank you DADDY AND MUMMY for the great present. Love you! Had maki like Shrek, Samurai, PeterPan, Hana etc and tonnes and tonnes of sushi and sashimi.



Picturesssss:

Gyozas! Sue Bee's Idea

Sue Bee and Yvonne. Oooooh, the girls.

Everyone of us!

Yvonne and Joshie! Some seriously good stuff there.

Pretty dramatic huh Yvonne. =P

The shy Gaysha and I

Was so touched when Yvonne made a cake for me. Thank youuuu :) Honey and hazelnut cream cheese cake, tasted good okay! Worry not.

Just look at how happy, good we all look while enjoying Yvonnes cake. Thank you guys for coming and you guys rock!

Definately not forgetting what my friends back in Oxford did, I was so so touched, Jenny made a cake, Victoria Sponge cake topped with strawberries and tasted so good, a surprise party made for me in my own kitchen when 10 other really nice friends sneaked in. It was rather weird really because Jenny acted pretty weird that day itself. I was busy finishing up my work on my actual birthday and I did not want to go out unless I finish my work and also since I'll be going out for dinner on thursday at Edamame. I was determined that I sit down and get work done as much as possible. Jenny asked me to enter the kitchen roughly 8, a birthday cake with candles lit were on the table and they started singing the birthday song. AWW, I was speechless, didnt know waht to do rather and I thank you guys so much for being such a wonderful group of people. I dont have pictures with me atm but it will be done soon enough! :)

Love you guys!!

And also, picture of the year!

You call that sexay.. wahahhaha

To be continued..

Time to Make or Break!

Wahh, definately wont break! :) I'll be having my presentation in 7.5 hours from now? Fu*ken annoyed at it but i made a few preparations etc. Hopefully it will impress the people and after that I'll go to London and meet up with my brothers! CANT WAIT! :D

These few days were simply magical, had surprise party thrown for me, dinners and so much fun and good laugh. Will update you guys more on it together with photos! Wont be able to do that for the time being, gonna have a shower and RELAX then look back at the problems, be confident JT. 10 mins presentation is abit too short cause i spoke for 13minutes on my recording webcam and I felt pretty disappointed at first but it got much better later on.

So long guys, I will update soon, this weekend is so goonna be awesome, as well as going for Lord Stern's talk tomorrow. woohah.

Been Busy Busy, Bloody Busy

Ahh, I wont be able to make updates these rather few weeks cause I've not been going out much often besides to lectures or seminars and also the kitchen which is literally 1 big step away from my room. Got my law essay done, 1500 words but due on the 12th of December, some other assignments due on the 13th of December, my exam on the 18th of December after that I'd be free like a bird till 23rd of January. NOT FORGETTING, I have a 2000 words appraisal report on some big development plan in Oxford as well as a 10 minute, solo presentation without the help of the powerpoint nor pc. The report and presentation must be done before the 30th of November, and its so so close now.

I should stop procrastinating. Time to run. Take care guys. :)

Life Goes On

Hmm, it fact life goes on and its out of our control. In other words, we decide and plan the coming future instead of just letting it pass. Even when shit happens, life goes on; life has no sympathy or feelings for u, its too busy.

I'd say Im fully if not almost adapted to Oxford, liking basically everything here except the food they have to offer at any restaurants. So far, the best would be edamame which is like a really authentic japanese restaurant, most staffs were japanese as well as giving a really homely feeling cause its small and cozy. Im not having any regrets about coming to Brookes to be honest, its a wonderful place since I can just hang around Oxford, cycle to the city- challenging due to the traffic and lights, super fun but tiring on the way back due to it being uphill.

Before coming here, I had a choice between Oxford Brookes and Westminster, Brookes was my second choice possible since I rejected by Reading - somehow i feel its a blessing in disguise. Westminster is in central London, as in really central, right opposite Hyde Park which also mean that Im near my brothers. Joshua would then be studying just a stone throw away from where I study, Brandon would be slightly further but still near. Im not quite sure of Chester tho, sorta lost touch in a way but ah - Life goeees on!

You must be thinking, what the hell is wrong with me that Id choose some far away place to live than central London with all my brothers and friends. Simple reasoning, Londons far too expensive, big temptations everywhere, good shopping and good food. Just imagine eating out every week or even clubbing every fortnight, shopping whenever u saved up money from eating less ; doing all these wont be anyhow cheap. Oxford is not cheap comparatively, it is pretty much the same as London in terms of food but however there isnt alot of selection; plain simple ones instead lik Belgo which we went to last week, the food was simply excellent, the bill came up to be equally shocking like how when we ate the mussels and found it shockingly fresh and tasty. Was so good, the 6 of us ( Brandon, Chester, Jean, Joshua, TengTing and I) ordered 2kgs of mussels which came in 2 big buckets, ones with white wine and cream sauce which tasted so so good and the other one tasted good as well, the plum tomato sauce. Chester was literally scooping up the white sauce, sipping every lil bit which just shows how much he enjoys eating.

See, hopefully u get what I mean, eating out once will make a hole in your pocket and make u feel bad for a week, somehow that guilt will disperse right before another weekend starts. YES, its that amazing, and there goes another cycle of money spending frenzy. Besides spending it on good food, u might do some shopping once a fortnight or once a month. Clothes are not cheap in London as well, unless u take a Pound as a Ringgit then everythings frigging cheap. I've been telling the people here that they have a really low cost of living if their strong exchange rate is being ignored. Malaysia is so much more expensive if u were to buy some good high quality clothes, most good food u needa fork out so much just to enjoy it and most of the time after paying so much for the food, price overweighs satisfaction. Working here, a minimum wage set by the government is £5.60, just take that hours pay and walk in BurgerKing or McDonalds and Im sure that can buy u a meal, probably even the biggest set meal and walk out with some change. What can u buy after working an hour at most places and get paid say RM5, the most u can buy from McDs would be a chocolate sundae and get some change back.

Cars here are cheap, dirt cheap. Simple comparison, BMW 335 coupe cost £34k/RM240k , in Malaysia is it RM470k. Just look at the difference, most of the time, they tell us their cars are expensive. Booh! I see more Aston Martins in London than I get to see Porsches in Malaysia and thats the truth.

Okay, back to the reasons of choosing Oxford instead of London: Oxford has less distractions which will lessen £ spending and being able to concentrate more on studies, chances of knowing more people since its a campus life which makes it fun as well. Oxford is just like Kajang, less happening in terms of shopping but the nightlife is way better than what I get back in Kajang. Oxford is not very far from London which makes Kajang something similar. I guess Im just a person who prefers something slower paced and simple.

And oh yeah, I made my most satisfying meal so far yesterday, seaweed soup with eggs, chinese lettuce jewels with perserved beancurd and dad's recipe of sardines in tomato with onions and lemon juice. wahhhh, was so good; felt like home instantly and after I finished my meal, I was savouring it well while Jenny was staring at me looking pretty confused. hahaha. I MISS HOME but Ive been buying stuff from some oriental/asian shops recently and they have Malaysian stuff! :D

Thats all, life goes on no matter what, be positive bout life. xx

Paint The Future

Something either the late Isaac Mendez could do or even now Peter Petrelli. Thats not exactly the point but I mean painting the future would be awesome either way I think. If u were to literally paint a picture bout the future; if its a good happy thing den of course it spoils the surprise but if its the other way, preparations can be done to face it despite knowing it'll come one day.



Anyway, in relation to the title; its my grandfather's birthday today! Happppy Birthday Grandpappy :D
Looking at this picture just makes u smile. heh

Just look how he smiles, hes so animated and funny in person and hes now 79 years old. Wish and hopefully he has more years to come and im so glad and proud having him as a granddad. Hes the only person i know who can talk to strangers for HOURS and I really mean it, long winded but nevertheless all that he says are basically words of wisdom from all the experience he had in life. May god bless you with good health! :)

And I miss these 3 men ALOT. My dad, granddad and uncle Bryan. Down to earth, humble, and I really admire them alot after all they've done and achieved.

Anyway, this is life I guess, theres always a sad side or sad part; no nothing to do with the 3 great gents above but now its about a girl/lady whatever she thinks she is.

Well, at the way we're going, we are now moving at a different pace, a different route, different thoughts and the diversion is getting bigger by the day. BUT im sure of one thing, we are equally stubborn and Im very stubborn at stuff like this and I'll stand strong on what I think is right and wrong. We have known each other for say 5 years? Perhaps getting closer after 1-2 years knowing each other and I dont even remember how. However so, I think its coming to an end looking at the way we're going - everything has an ending ; good/bad. Shes really nice but yeah, positive and negative again of course, however I cant quite believe nor accept the fact that she thinks I have feelings for her and the reasoning behind it was because I treated her really well, yeah well, back in the past. Everythings changing, you, me, she. Im tired of giving in everything and I dont think its what Im obliged to do so that I can be friends with her; Im already sick and tired.

Ability to paint the future will clarify everything, but id call that ability - a dream or jokes.