touring??

today, i was inspired by kar wei to go to see the Northern lights in Kiruna, Sweden. seems their houses there are made from ice too!

northern lights

this got me thinking of the places i might like to visit if i had a chance. =]

Loch Lomond, Scotland

London

Venice, Italy

Barcelona, Casa Batlo, Spain

Edinburgh Castle

Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland

Florence, Italy

Paris

Rome

Spain

The Louvre, Paris

songs that tug at my heartstrings

Amazing Grace -- John Newton (1725-1807)

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.

And Grace, my fears relieved.

How precious did that

Grace appear

The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares

I have already come;

'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far

and Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.

His word my hope secures.

He will my shield and portion be,

As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease,

I shall possess within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.

When we've been here ten thousand years

Bright shining as the sun.

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

they sang this song during koko's funeral. since then, i could never hear or sing this song without tears stinging my eyes. for that moment, i feel like i was 9 again. reliving the past. when we leave one day, all we'll leave behind are memories of our presence. so let's make this life worthwhile and live with no regrets.=]

since we are at the topic bout songs, there's this song i think has quite meaningful lyrics too. they sang this one day at City Harvest. it's a very old hymn.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus - Joseph M. Scriven, 1820-1886

1. What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.

2. Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.

3. Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he'll take and shield thee;
thou wilt find a solace there.

1st Week

We went for the West End Parade. lots of strangely-clad people @ animal/insect-wannabe. plus lots of hot ladies from a wide range of ages dancing across the street. there was even a lion dance! too many photos of them, lazy to post them all. haha.. maybe when it's not nearing midnight and when i haven't read my PP3 for tomorrow's lab.;p

these are the other things i've done.

After the parade, we wandered into Glasgow botanical garden to see a book fair. needless to say, we got so side-tracked that we never found out where it was.;p

first and foremost, we were sidetracked by the beautiful flowers. i had my first fall in Glasgow for taking this picture! now i realise why my leg is painful. haha..

then we were amazed by the vast amount of people there, really BASKING in the SUN! my greatest enemy!

of course, the amount of well-behaved and oh-s0-cuute dogs were not missed.

and the flowers! wow! the botanical garden was full of them! these are all enclosed in the green house. it was so hot inside there!

a sakai photo taken with sounds of buzzing bees nearby. so scary!

a rainbow, short and stumpy, but yet still plants that feeling of awe in my heart... it was so THICK! i've only seen skinny ones before.

wanted to save on Fish & Chips, so bought Sausage & Chips instead. the smoked sausage is so BIG! it's as big as my door handle! but it's 3.80 pounds. should have ordered the fish & chips after all (4sth pounds).

Glasgow is never lacking of street performers.

at the fish& chips shop again..=] tried the normal sausage this time. 3.30 pounds, but got TWO!hee..

chinese takeaway from china express. top: beef mushroom fried rice. bottom: curry chicken wings fried rice. both yummy!

that's all for this week! hmm.. now should i just go to sleep or read PP3? interesting question...;p

first few days in UK

10/06/08 Malaysia

Boarded the plane and prepared for takeoff. Sadly, engine 1 failed, or in the exact words of the air steward… “爆炸”！ so we had to change to another plane, along with all our luggage. As a result, we were delayed for 3 hours!! By the time we flew, it was like 2sth in the morning. We were all so tired and half dead. We saw people who could just lie down anywhere on the floor and just sleep. Wow..

On the plane, I realized that the air stewardesses are actually very strong. They could life up my handcarry as heavy as 10kg to put it into the locker like they were peanuts. So, don’t just think they are pretty and curvy.;p I like the plane because I can ask for any number of juices or water. They are very efficient. The food wasn’t too bad either. The seats were very cramp though.

11/06/08 Heathrow

Upon touchdown, we hurried like mad to catch our next flight, which was leaving in like an hour. Good thing this ground officer led us in taking the bus to the correct terminal, and then handling our tickets. Still, we could only get the 2.05pm flight. We couldn’t have made it anyway, especially when the airport is so strict and had many many checks. We even had to take off our shoes.

After we cleared immigration, we roamed the airport, and ate our first meal in UK：sandwich and apple juice. They are also very strict were photography is concerned. I had to delete some photos coz they said it contained their security information.


Starbucks at Heathrow airport (top), my first meal in UK paid in pounds. so xin tong! 2.64 pound for sandwich and 99 p for the drink (bottom).

Finally, we boarded the plane. BA seats are more comfortable, at least for this internal flight. They also serve delicious tomato juices. Haha..

Glasgow

After landing, the university’s officer was waiting for us. We were so glad they didn’t leave without us. Sadly though, my luggage went missing. Of the 28 JPA students, the only ones with missing luggage were me and Fiona. What a coincidence! I guess we can never be separated. Haha..!

the fluffy clouds on the way to Strathclyde.

On arrival at James Blyth Court, the seniors straight away took us all to Tesco Extra, which we had to walk Extra long to reach! And the wind was so cold!!! It’s summer, yet we are all covered up, in think coats and some in scarfs. Meanwhile, the seniors were wearing spaghetti straps! We bought some groceries, then took the taxi back. Their accent is sometimes quite hard to understand. Rottenrow East can be heard as Are you Louise?

At night, we went over to my mentor’s place to carry back our kitchen utensils. By the time we ate dinner, it was 11.15pm. Over here you wouldn’t realize it’s getting so late since the sky is still bright at 8pm. But the winds would get colder, leaving us with dry painful lips. However, your hair would dry faster and behave better, while the fruits like strawberries are plentiful and affordable! (if you don’t convert) I was so happy to find out that we are sharing the apartment with Pui Leng and Shu Yin! Haha.. no need to walk out to find them.;p Finally, I sank into my soft bed and floated straight into dreamland.

12/06/08

We went to register at the doctor’s, opened our bank account, and then went for a tour at the library. I feel so lucky that I met Lee Yin, my O.O from samba yeah last time, if not we would have to find our way around ourselves, and the road to all these places are not that near, by Malaysian standards. She also told us to register at the boots pharmacy for free medication, and showed us where Aldi (where you can buy cheaper groceries) is. We also saw all the guys rise up to the occation and cook like professionals, or at least it smelled that nice.

My luggage didn’t arrive yet, jeez.. anyway, I bought 2 second hand shirts from seniors for 1 pound each. They seriously have a lot of nice clothes to sell.

relaxing on the grass ourside JBC

At 4pm, after our library talk, the seniors took us to Argyle street where there is Tesco Metro, Primarks, Carphone Warehouse (for sim cards), newspaper shops selling Talk Home cards, and even 1 pound shops! Totally shopping heaven. Haha.. and you can walk and shop until 8pm and it is still bright, with plenty of people on the roads. We bought back lasagna to heat up as dinner from Tesco Metro. Tastes delicious!

haunting music playing in Argyle Street by some red indians, simply tugging at your heart-strings.

13/06/08

I’m still waiting for my luggage, hopefully it will come today. I discovered that our fridge was not on, hence the strange lack of coldness. However, it made our milk even tastier. Haha.. otherwise, the milk was bland and tasteless. My hair has dried quite nicely, better than what I would have after blowing it. But you must bear in mind that I’m kind of sucky at hair blowing.^^ my skin is very dry though. Sigh.. bag bag please come back… so I’m off now to go to the registrar later!

nice view on the way

dropping by for toffee oreo mcflurry (99p) while cold wind howled outside. quite a paradox.

i'm actually shivering in the wind... grr...

double decker bus with an open-air upper level

beautiful right? forgot what building this was. saw it on the way back to JBC.

the back view of JBC

14/6/08

today is saturday. we gathered outside JBC, where some people from the new mercy church took us on a small tour of glasgow on foot and bus. this was the first time i sat on a bus in UK. it costs 1pound 10 wei! anyway, we went to a big chinese shop which sold so many chinese products! it was like coming home!

the cathedral

beautiful flowers

where clouds embrace the water

flowers all around

after that, we walked to the church, where we had a taste of scottish food. wow. i finally managed to taste haggies, the scottish novelty made from sheep intestine i think. i know, seems quite geli, but it tastes not too bad. haha.. i like their curry minced lamb the best.

top: yellow vegetables, half a meat pie, mashed potatoes, haggies and curry

bottom: gingerbread with icing topping, scones with jam, apple pie with custard and cream, shortbread, triffles.

from the church, we walked back through sauchiehall street and past buchanon galleries back home, where we had to lug all our groceries back up. there was a big bag of 20kg rice waiting for us. after picking up all our groceries, we had to walk back out to argyle street, then to buchanon street. i even went up to sauchiehall street to see the primarks there, just as it was closing. gah, i should have just stayed in H&M. we then bought 4 pints of milk each and lugged it all the way back through arglye street. haha.. aren't we such geniuses.;p should have just bought it in tesco metro. my legs really felt like falling off. plus, the weather was so cold. me and fiona had to eat our sandwiches out in the cold while yi lyn hid in the telephone booth and laughed at us. i could have gotten mugged too, if not for fiona, who was quick enough to push me away. be careful. don't walk around dazed like me.

street musicians in semi-kilt attire. the round thing hanging there is to prevent accidental freezing when the wind blows. i saw some which were furry and cute, adorned by some animal's head. hope the head's a fake though. if not.. poor thing..

10 p toilets on Argyle Street. it will open after 15 minutes, regardless of what stage you are in. so beware!

when it comes to nights here, i think it's pretty boring. all the shops close at 6pm. miss malaysia suddenly, where you can shop till 10pm. wonder how those working people get their stuff. anyway, i found out that the connection is so fast that i can watch shows online without having to wait for them to stream, terrific isn't it, since i can't download anything. haha..

the view outside my room's window

Below are my contact details:

My UK address:
Block J Flat 8 Room 2
James Blyth Court
59 Rottenrow East
Glasgow, G4 0NG
Scotland, UK.

Extension number: 7201

Hand Phone number: +447503529063

Keep in touch! =]

sing k & PD 070608

On Saturday, we went to sing k at jusco green box as a farewell for me before i fly - bk's idea, wholly supported by ck. haha.. it was quite fun, loved the white carrot soup!;p the barley was not too bad too. actually i prefer this place where they just charge according to what you order, and not just charging preposterious sums for the tit bits.

top: me and bk

middle: alap, me, ck

bottom: ks, sen, me, bk

left: me & ky, right: ks & me

we even had our own paparazzi hot at our heels ~

finally a shot showing ks's bf's face. haha..

hee..

group photo take 1

group photo take 2

After waiting for alap to have his hair cut, ck came out with this crazy suggestion to go to PD and then eat there instead of going for a movie followed by food diam. so off we went. squeezing into 2 cars. off to where sunshine meets no end!

we went equipped with the best photographers (one more is absent, the one who came up with the bright idea of 'pretending' to jump!;p)

early birds get all the sun! yikes!

F4 & big S??

finding shade in his shadow..=]

my favourite shot ^^

these are the people taking photo of F4 and big S just now.haha..

good old friends!^^

up we go! can you spot the fake? haha..

at Restorant Yee Tong with rumbling stomachs

we had tofu geng, fried oyster with egg, 2 types of crab (marmite & gok with salt), asam sotong, steamed fish (hong zao), and paku vege cooked in red wine!(simply delicious!!)

All that came to rm27 per person. since the fish cost 60 bucks!

it was a wonderful day though, truly a reflection of the saying that 'it is not where you go, but who you spend it with'. i believe that wherever we go, whatever we do, we will alwaz be united by this ring of friendship we have that is forged through times of ups and downs, innocent and sweet, which can last for lifetimes to come.

cheers to friendship! friendship foreva! =]