So i woke up on Sunday morning...to bathe and get ready for church....anyway, i've already detailed my chance encounter with the cute Jap-looking guy and the church service in my earlier post My 1st (and likely last) church service in England ...
After church i went to this place called Leamington Spa which was about 15 minutes bus ride from the University...Jie said there's more shopping to do there...and there's actually a spa there which the Queen has visited...they had an afternoon market along the main shopping road at Leamington Spa on Sunday...and i saw this stall that was selling pig roast...i vowed i would buy one to eat...after i finished shopping...saw a Whittard Chelsea shop at the beginning of the road and bought a few cans of hot chocolate and tea (a friend asked to buy some for her)...almost every shop was on sale...but didn't find much to my liking and those that caught my eyes were not that cheap (after being converted to RM)...ended up buying a blouse only...for 12 pounds...
Then i decided it was time for my pig roast...so bought a bread stuffed with stuffings and pig roast and sat at a bus stop and enjoyed my pig roast...but it had too much fat for my liking...so had to take out some of the fat part...after that went to look for the bus stop where i would take the no. 12 bus back to University...initially went to the wrong bus stop and almost got onto the wrong bus...then found the right bus stop but waited for almost an hour for the bus...i guess Malaysia isn't the only place where the buses are never on time...although in England they have schedules...
Finally got back to University and i didn't know which way to walk back to the apartment...hehe...so Jie sent Jeff to get me from the bus stop...they were at Sylvia's previous nursery...there was a birthday party for one of the kids...after the party, went back to the apartment to rest...nice and cosy...
Friday, October 28, 2011
England Part 1 - Day 0/1
So i thought i'd better post up my England trip before my degenerating neurons lose their retaining power...while i was in England i spent about 3 days in Coventry visiting my sister, her husband and their daughter...and then about another 5 days in London...too short an English holiday most will say, but i was desperate enough when i booked the tickets...and really thank God that He made it such a wonderful trip...everything went smoothly...and the timing was just right...
I boarded the AirAsia X flight to London Stanted at about 1500hrs on 14 October 2011 (Malaysian time)...suffered about 13 hours of being suspended in air while strapped to a seat which only allows 5 degrees of reclination...thank God for aisle seat...and toilet breaks...if not, might have developed massive DVT...and the food sucked...but at least i had a book to read and my new ipad to play music to me...
We landed at Stanted on time...2145hrs 14 October 2011 (English time)...and i thought the nightmare would have ended but no...had to suffer through another 2 hours of queueing up to get through immigration...i guess when it comes to immigration service, English efficiency leaves much to be desired...thank God Jeff came late to pick me up...so that by the time i managed to breathe in the cold English air (apparently it was 3 degrees celsius that night), it was almost 12am and he had only reached for about 15 minutes...and then we had to drive another 2 hours plus to get back to Coventry...stopped by at a rest place on the way back...well, apparently most of their rest stops are our equivalent of Sg Buloh/ Tapah rest stops...
We reached the apartment at about 2am plus...Sylvia was asleep...Jie was asleep too but got up and made sure i bathed and washed my hair before allowing me to sleep on her bed...i did sleep quite a bit on the flight, despite the discomfort...so i ended up sleeping at about 4am...but woke up at 9am plus..had yoghurt with huge strawberries, raspberries and blackberries for breakfast...then Jie and Sylvia brought me around the campus in the morning...then came back and had a picnic at the yard in front of the apartment with Sylvia's buddy, Luka and his parents...it felt so wonderful to be basking in the sun while the weather is cold...i wished i could do this everyday...
After lunch we went out walking around the campus again...this time they brought me to the Tocil Woods and Sylvia showed me 'The Land of Nothing'...it was an open landing with barren trees...and there was this place that i thought would be perfect for an English wedding...walking down the lush green aisle...how romantic...then we took a bus and headed for Kenilworth castle...Sylvia actually brought back her class teddy bear called Spencer and she was supposed to have a weekend adventure with Spencer...so obviously we brought Spencer bear along with us to explore the castle...we didn't get to go into the castle though coz everything closes at 5pm in England...Sylvia ended up playing at the playground at Abbeyfield...till it was almost dark...and the bus was late so we only got back to the apartment about 730pm...
We were supposed to meet up with some of Jeff's uni mates for steamboat dinner and karaoke at 7pm...celebrating some guy's birthday...by the time we reached the restaurant the party was in full swing...so attacked the buffet steamboat and picked our songs...managed to sing one or 2 Khalil's songs...we finished at about 10pm...then went home and i crashed...too tired to bathe...so i slept on the sofa...hehe...
I boarded the AirAsia X flight to London Stanted at about 1500hrs on 14 October 2011 (Malaysian time)...suffered about 13 hours of being suspended in air while strapped to a seat which only allows 5 degrees of reclination...thank God for aisle seat...and toilet breaks...if not, might have developed massive DVT...and the food sucked...but at least i had a book to read and my new ipad to play music to me...
We landed at Stanted on time...2145hrs 14 October 2011 (English time)...and i thought the nightmare would have ended but no...had to suffer through another 2 hours of queueing up to get through immigration...i guess when it comes to immigration service, English efficiency leaves much to be desired...thank God Jeff came late to pick me up...so that by the time i managed to breathe in the cold English air (apparently it was 3 degrees celsius that night), it was almost 12am and he had only reached for about 15 minutes...and then we had to drive another 2 hours plus to get back to Coventry...stopped by at a rest place on the way back...well, apparently most of their rest stops are our equivalent of Sg Buloh/ Tapah rest stops...
We reached the apartment at about 2am plus...Sylvia was asleep...Jie was asleep too but got up and made sure i bathed and washed my hair before allowing me to sleep on her bed...i did sleep quite a bit on the flight, despite the discomfort...so i ended up sleeping at about 4am...but woke up at 9am plus..had yoghurt with huge strawberries, raspberries and blackberries for breakfast...then Jie and Sylvia brought me around the campus in the morning...then came back and had a picnic at the yard in front of the apartment with Sylvia's buddy, Luka and his parents...it felt so wonderful to be basking in the sun while the weather is cold...i wished i could do this everyday...
After lunch we went out walking around the campus again...this time they brought me to the Tocil Woods and Sylvia showed me 'The Land of Nothing'...it was an open landing with barren trees...and there was this place that i thought would be perfect for an English wedding...walking down the lush green aisle...how romantic...then we took a bus and headed for Kenilworth castle...Sylvia actually brought back her class teddy bear called Spencer and she was supposed to have a weekend adventure with Spencer...so obviously we brought Spencer bear along with us to explore the castle...we didn't get to go into the castle though coz everything closes at 5pm in England...Sylvia ended up playing at the playground at Abbeyfield...till it was almost dark...and the bus was late so we only got back to the apartment about 730pm...
We were supposed to meet up with some of Jeff's uni mates for steamboat dinner and karaoke at 7pm...celebrating some guy's birthday...by the time we reached the restaurant the party was in full swing...so attacked the buffet steamboat and picked our songs...managed to sing one or 2 Khalil's songs...we finished at about 10pm...then went home and i crashed...too tired to bathe...so i slept on the sofa...hehe...
Till I Hear You Sing....
I stumbled upon this song while browsing through my friend's blog yesterday...and i found out that this is one of the songs from "Love Never Dies"....the so-called sequel of the Phantom of the Opera...coz Andrew Lloyd Webber didn't want his new musical labelled as that...after hearing 'till i hear you sing', i just couldn't get it off my head...no wonder Pei is so ga-ga over Ramin Karimloo...this guy's voice is amazing...and he sounds so good singing it live...
Here's a link to his live version of "till i hear you sing"...tell me if it isn't amazing...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKajSh084WY
And here are the lyrics to the song...gee, i can really listen to him sing all day...
Here's a link to his live version of "till i hear you sing"...tell me if it isn't amazing...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKajSh084WY
And here are the lyrics to the song...gee, i can really listen to him sing all day...
The day starts, the day ends
Time crawls by
Night steals in, pacing the floor
The moments creep,
Yet I can’t bear to sleep
Till I hear you sing
And weeks pass, and months pass
Seasons fly
Still you don’t walk through my door
And in a haze
I count the silent days
Till I hear you sing once more.
And sometimes in darkness
I dream that you are there
But wake holding nothing but the cold night air
And years come, and years go
Time runs dry
Still I ache deep in my core
My broken soul
Can’t be alive or whole
Till I hear you sing once more
And music, your music
It teases at my ear
I turn and it fades away and you’re not here
Let hopes pass, let dreams pass
Let them die
Without you, what are they for?
I’ll always feel
No more than halfway real
Till I hear you sing once more
Monday, October 24, 2011
Of dreams and desire....
So i'm back from England yesterday...and today i'm back in KB...and tomorrow i'm back to work...not sure if i would be jetlagged from English time coz apparently i wasn't in England long enough to recover from the initial jetlag...anyway, would write about London and my West End adventure in another post...felt a need to write down about this recurring dream theme i've been having...well, as far as i can remember (vaguely), it has occurred twice...
Don't really remember the details...just that in my dream, i was supposed to be meeting a person (i'm assuming it's a guy)...and i can remember the anxiety and anticipation and excitement about meeting this person...but somehow, one by one my friends would come along and tell me he's delayed by one thing or another...can't remember any of the reasons for delay but they just felt ridiculous...and in the end, i woke up...never meeting that person...dang, must be my biological clock ticking loudly into my subconscious mind...it would at least have been nice to actually catch a glimpse of the person i was supposed to meet (even if he had to be swiftly carried off by the stormclouds or something)....
Was reading a book over my English holiday...it's called The Journey of Desire, by John Eldredge...honestly, i'm not a fan of Christian books...but i daresay it was divine intervention that brought me to this book...a month back or so, i stumbled upon a comment left by a friend which mentioned that i reminded him of the sea turtle stranded in a barren desert in the story which was in the above-mentioned book (just for the record, i don't think i'm like the sea turtle coz i don't delude others into thinking that the sea doesn't exist...i'm more like the sea lion, who is always dreaming of the sea)...the comment must have been left there for a while but i never noticed it...so i decided to get the book and read it for myself...Suet Lai got it for me the last time she went back to KL...but she only gave it to me a day or 2 just before i left for my English holiday...
I thought that was a sign i should read it somehow...and i must say this is one Christian book that really spoke to my desire...i'm just so glad that there are Christians out there who believe that we should not kill our desire but embrace it...at every turn of a page or two, my tears will swell up and spill over...i don't think i've read a book that made me cry that much (apart from PS I Love You)...i wish i could read it everyday to remind me of how i should have the freedom of desire and how i should channel my desires to God...it is too easy to forget...when i was younger, it used to amaze me how Israel quickly forgets God everytime He delivered them from their afflictions...i wondered, how can they forget the miracles and amazing feats God did for them? i'm older now...and i realized how foolish my amazement has been...for i forget too...again and again i forget...just as Israel did...
How God must be looking down at this child of His and shakes His head...He'll say: I forget too...again and again i forget...all your iniquities and sins...as long as you come back to My Side and love Me with all your heart and soul and mind...Oh, such amazing love...Oh Lord, don't let me be ruled by my heart's desires but help me to surrender them to You each and everyday...don't let me forget You, Lord...
Don't really remember the details...just that in my dream, i was supposed to be meeting a person (i'm assuming it's a guy)...and i can remember the anxiety and anticipation and excitement about meeting this person...but somehow, one by one my friends would come along and tell me he's delayed by one thing or another...can't remember any of the reasons for delay but they just felt ridiculous...and in the end, i woke up...never meeting that person...dang, must be my biological clock ticking loudly into my subconscious mind...it would at least have been nice to actually catch a glimpse of the person i was supposed to meet (even if he had to be swiftly carried off by the stormclouds or something)....
Was reading a book over my English holiday...it's called The Journey of Desire, by John Eldredge...honestly, i'm not a fan of Christian books...but i daresay it was divine intervention that brought me to this book...a month back or so, i stumbled upon a comment left by a friend which mentioned that i reminded him of the sea turtle stranded in a barren desert in the story which was in the above-mentioned book (just for the record, i don't think i'm like the sea turtle coz i don't delude others into thinking that the sea doesn't exist...i'm more like the sea lion, who is always dreaming of the sea)...the comment must have been left there for a while but i never noticed it...so i decided to get the book and read it for myself...Suet Lai got it for me the last time she went back to KL...but she only gave it to me a day or 2 just before i left for my English holiday...
I thought that was a sign i should read it somehow...and i must say this is one Christian book that really spoke to my desire...i'm just so glad that there are Christians out there who believe that we should not kill our desire but embrace it...at every turn of a page or two, my tears will swell up and spill over...i don't think i've read a book that made me cry that much (apart from PS I Love You)...i wish i could read it everyday to remind me of how i should have the freedom of desire and how i should channel my desires to God...it is too easy to forget...when i was younger, it used to amaze me how Israel quickly forgets God everytime He delivered them from their afflictions...i wondered, how can they forget the miracles and amazing feats God did for them? i'm older now...and i realized how foolish my amazement has been...for i forget too...again and again i forget...just as Israel did...
How God must be looking down at this child of His and shakes His head...He'll say: I forget too...again and again i forget...all your iniquities and sins...as long as you come back to My Side and love Me with all your heart and soul and mind...Oh, such amazing love...Oh Lord, don't let me be ruled by my heart's desires but help me to surrender them to You each and everyday...don't let me forget You, Lord...
Monday, October 17, 2011
My 1st (and likely last) church service in England...
I landed on English soil on Friday night...on Stanted airport to be exact...Jeff came to pick me up...he drove for 2 hours plus from Coventry to pick me up...thank God he left late coz I was stuck in the immigration for almost 2 hrs...definitely nowhere near Changi's efficiency...we drove back another 2 hrs plus and by the time we arrived at University of Warwick, it's half past 2am...after bathing and settling down, it was about 4am...tired...
Woke up by 8am plus...Jie took me and Sylvia for a walk around the university...it was really nice...has it's own theatre/ cinema...the buses go through the university...huge areas of land...the day was very sunny and quite warm...so we had a picnic at the apartment courtyard...it was so fun to be sitting outside and soaking in the sun...we took a bus to Kenilworth to visit the Kenilworth castle...but only manage to see the outside...coz Sylvia was getting tired...dinner was at this chinese restaurant at Coventry town centre...it was one of Jeff's coursemate's birthday...we had steamboat and karaoke...who would have thought huh? Get to sing karaoke in England...haven't been karaoke-ing since May this year...how I missed having private concerts with Elaine...
This morning I went to church with 2 of the guys from last night...one was the birthday boy and the other was a Singaporean...they went to church at Westwood church...it was a quaint little church...and I mean the stereotypical church building complete with stained-glass and altar and pews...my 1st (and likely last) church service in England was great...felt quite at home during worship coz the songs weren't foreign to me...the speaker spoke about discipleship...was a good sermon...oh, while I was waiting for the guys to pick me up at the bus stop, I saw this cute Japanese-looking guy walking pass with his friend...he looked cuter than Takuya Kimura (I love him)...and then saw him at the church...dang! If only I were 10 years younger (coz Takuya lookalike is most likely 10 years younger), and was studying in University of Warwick...unfortunately that's not meant to be...sigh...God, You're always good to me...but I don't need teasers like that...I need the real deal, hehe...
Tomorrow planning to visit Stratford...the place of Shakespeare...maybe I'll meet my Mr Darcy there...hehe...
Woke up by 8am plus...Jie took me and Sylvia for a walk around the university...it was really nice...has it's own theatre/ cinema...the buses go through the university...huge areas of land...the day was very sunny and quite warm...so we had a picnic at the apartment courtyard...it was so fun to be sitting outside and soaking in the sun...we took a bus to Kenilworth to visit the Kenilworth castle...but only manage to see the outside...coz Sylvia was getting tired...dinner was at this chinese restaurant at Coventry town centre...it was one of Jeff's coursemate's birthday...we had steamboat and karaoke...who would have thought huh? Get to sing karaoke in England...haven't been karaoke-ing since May this year...how I missed having private concerts with Elaine...
This morning I went to church with 2 of the guys from last night...one was the birthday boy and the other was a Singaporean...they went to church at Westwood church...it was a quaint little church...and I mean the stereotypical church building complete with stained-glass and altar and pews...my 1st (and likely last) church service in England was great...felt quite at home during worship coz the songs weren't foreign to me...the speaker spoke about discipleship...was a good sermon...oh, while I was waiting for the guys to pick me up at the bus stop, I saw this cute Japanese-looking guy walking pass with his friend...he looked cuter than Takuya Kimura (I love him)...and then saw him at the church...dang! If only I were 10 years younger (coz Takuya lookalike is most likely 10 years younger), and was studying in University of Warwick...unfortunately that's not meant to be...sigh...God, You're always good to me...but I don't need teasers like that...I need the real deal, hehe...
Tomorrow planning to visit Stratford...the place of Shakespeare...maybe I'll meet my Mr Darcy there...hehe...
Friday, October 14, 2011
I'm off to see the Phantom, the Wicked Witch of the West and Fantine....
So i've crossed the line and entered the realm of impulsive traveller...this England trip was planned at a time when i was feeling too stressed out and i just booked the flight tickets without thinking if i would be able to take leave to go...but thank God that as i'm typing this post, i'm back home in KL and am just another 6 hours away from my flight to England....
I've also finally received my ipad 2 which i bought like 2 months ago...it's a long story and i shall not venture into it...but my new toy will be my source of entertainment as i suffer through 13 hours of airasia flight to England...
I'll be in Warwick over the weekend to visit my sister...then i'll be going to London for my musical marathon at West End....woohoo!!! I booked my tickets for the Phantom of the Opera and WIcked...which has created a rather huge hole in my bank account...hoping to get cheap tickets for Les Miserable when i get to London....then maybe that would leave me some money for yet another musical...hehe...
My sister said that a lot of shops are on sale now...i do plan to do some shopping while i'm there...retail therapy should be good for stress...hehe...i do hope i don't get a full-blown flu coz my nose is running like it is preparing for a marathon...being sick on your holiday is really a bummer...but that's not gonna stop me from enjoying my holiday...
I've also finally received my ipad 2 which i bought like 2 months ago...it's a long story and i shall not venture into it...but my new toy will be my source of entertainment as i suffer through 13 hours of airasia flight to England...
I'll be in Warwick over the weekend to visit my sister...then i'll be going to London for my musical marathon at West End....woohoo!!! I booked my tickets for the Phantom of the Opera and WIcked...which has created a rather huge hole in my bank account...hoping to get cheap tickets for Les Miserable when i get to London....then maybe that would leave me some money for yet another musical...hehe...
My sister said that a lot of shops are on sale now...i do plan to do some shopping while i'm there...retail therapy should be good for stress...hehe...i do hope i don't get a full-blown flu coz my nose is running like it is preparing for a marathon...being sick on your holiday is really a bummer...but that's not gonna stop me from enjoying my holiday...
Saturday, October 1, 2011
A good weekend...new beginning in October...from free flaps to free from flaps...
So October is finally here...my release is finally here...tomorrow onwards i will be working in HKB for 3 months...although i'll still be back in hellhole for another 6 months after my 3 months freedom, but i'm gonna savour every moment of my 3 months of 'from free flaps' to 'free from flaps'....i supposed how i'm feeling right now can be akin to a prisoner about to be released...except that for the prisoner, his release is for good...
Anyway, i had a good weekend...was post call on Friday...it was a good call despite having to do 2hourly flap monitoring...went home after my call to bathe...then went to pick up my friend...asked her to join our church service on Friday...it was a welcoming service for the undergrad 1st years...was a bit late...there were quite a few 1st years with us yesterday...Dr Tee gave a welcoming talk which felt very much like a lecture...hehe...then Dr Chew showed a slide show of photos of church activities gathered from since i was an undergrad...
One slide had photos of one of our church camp with me in the pics...Dr Chew asked me to go to the front to share my experience...i was quite amazed to see how i looked like back then...i wondered out loud "was i ever that young?"...even Suet Lai said i looked like some secondary school kid...and as i was sharing, one of the 1st year kid actually asked me how old i am...dang!!! can't exactly lie in church can i? so now everyone at church knows i've hit my big 3-0...oh, and one of my burn patient was there...this guy who burned his heel while he was at a sauna in Golok...hehe...
Had a good lunch after service...Hsiao Ling baked some yummy-licious chocolate cake...i think she knows i love and need chocolate...so every week she bakes some pastry/cake with chocolate...or cheese...God bless her...then i went for my facial appointment...it has been ages since i last went for facial...about time to pamper my face...actually, more like it's about time to salvage my face...in the hopes that i won't look 70 by the time i finished my suffering in hellhole...ended up spending rm271 for my facial and buying some products...also got mildly electrocuted during the facial massage...that's definitely the first time i experience such facial massage...
Came back and tried to study a bit but failed miserably...then went for dinner with Sharon & Suet Lai...had Thai food...woke up at 1130am this morning...and have failed studying the whole day...ended up browsing online clothes...saw some dresses that really piqued my desire...and they're quite cheap also...but trying to restrain myself...hehe...well, tomorrow i get to wake up a bit later than usual...better try to read a few more pages before i fall asleep on my physiology book...hehe...
Anyway, i had a good weekend...was post call on Friday...it was a good call despite having to do 2hourly flap monitoring...went home after my call to bathe...then went to pick up my friend...asked her to join our church service on Friday...it was a welcoming service for the undergrad 1st years...was a bit late...there were quite a few 1st years with us yesterday...Dr Tee gave a welcoming talk which felt very much like a lecture...hehe...then Dr Chew showed a slide show of photos of church activities gathered from since i was an undergrad...
One slide had photos of one of our church camp with me in the pics...Dr Chew asked me to go to the front to share my experience...i was quite amazed to see how i looked like back then...i wondered out loud "was i ever that young?"...even Suet Lai said i looked like some secondary school kid...and as i was sharing, one of the 1st year kid actually asked me how old i am...dang!!! can't exactly lie in church can i? so now everyone at church knows i've hit my big 3-0...oh, and one of my burn patient was there...this guy who burned his heel while he was at a sauna in Golok...hehe...
Had a good lunch after service...Hsiao Ling baked some yummy-licious chocolate cake...i think she knows i love and need chocolate...so every week she bakes some pastry/cake with chocolate...or cheese...God bless her...then i went for my facial appointment...it has been ages since i last went for facial...about time to pamper my face...actually, more like it's about time to salvage my face...in the hopes that i won't look 70 by the time i finished my suffering in hellhole...ended up spending rm271 for my facial and buying some products...also got mildly electrocuted during the facial massage...that's definitely the first time i experience such facial massage...
Came back and tried to study a bit but failed miserably...then went for dinner with Sharon & Suet Lai...had Thai food...woke up at 1130am this morning...and have failed studying the whole day...ended up browsing online clothes...saw some dresses that really piqued my desire...and they're quite cheap also...but trying to restrain myself...hehe...well, tomorrow i get to wake up a bit later than usual...better try to read a few more pages before i fall asleep on my physiology book...hehe...
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