Updates

I'm sick. Down with flu- Stuffy/runny nose, sore throat and general fatigue.

Because of that, Vincent and I missed going to the Peak District with Cat and Andy, who were going to drive us there! :(

Don't worry about me though, because the boyfriend is taking very good care of me. He cooked oxtail/beef kuay teow soup for me and or beh (a chinese glutinous rice dessert) recently. With all his 5-star culinary skills, you'd think I'd put on weight but I've actually lost weight! Yay! Haha

Anyway, good news because he got an internship in Singapore too!! In August so all you people back home who are so excited to meet him can finally do so.

And my Dermalogica products arrived at my doorstep yesterday. :)
I was actually starting to doubt the online company that I bought it from because it'd been 3 days when I expected next-day delivery but those doubts were unfounded. Excellent products with free samples! I LOVE Dermalogica, their products are very effective, gentle and best of all, smell fabulous.

Ok gtg now.. Bye!

Expensive skincare

I just spent about 70 pounds on Dermalogica products.

So much money gone!!! :( But at least they're cheaper here than in Singapore.

They'd better work on my skin.

I'm not going to buy anything (excluding groceries) for a long long time. At least I won't be travelling this Easter, so that's a few hundred pounds saved. Maybe I'll attend a Bible conference in Wales.

On the bright side, I got another internship offer, from Lee & Lee. ie the law firm set up by Lee Kuan Yew! I don't know whether to accept it or wait for other firms to reply..

Going to the city now.. Whee!! I love Tuesdays, it's free day for 2nd year law students.

Internship

I got an internship offer today! :)

Thank u Lord!

Results back

I received my results on the 31st and I'm really happy with them! It was truly unexpected.

Overall I got a high 2:1, a very big improvement from last semester.

Criminal Law was the most surprising as I expected to do badly for it. So was EU, on which I had given up all hope!

What can I say? I deserve no credit. All praise goes to the Lord :D

Also to my boyfriend who was always there for me no matter how tired and discouraged I was.

And to all back home who were faithfully and lovingly praying for me.

I love you all!

To celebrate, I went to town with Vincent :) The post-xmas/new year sales were still on and I spent 11 pounds on 3 items. Not bad huh! I got a white T-shirt and black pin-striped pants from Zara and a red long-sleeved shirt from GAP. I shall not do anymore shopping for the month!
Vincent then treated me to a lovely dinner at a French restaurant where we had the most delicious warm chocolate cake which had a moist centre, topped with vanilla ice cream.

Next week will be REALLY busy!! Alot of dinners to attend/host. :)
One of which is Pancake Day at Cat's home (my English friend from church). Updates soon!

BATH

BATH continued

Visit to a glass blowing factory- it was very educational.

Next up we went to the Roman baths, which was established when England was under Roman occupation. This is Sulis Minerva, pagan goddess of the baths. People at that time used to write curses on lead, crush them and throw them into the baths in the hope that she would answer them! It was pretty funny seeing all their curses like "The person who stole my cloak should lose his eyes/mind".

The hot springs itself, which heated the entire building. To this day, the water is still bubbling and you can see the vapour evaporating.

BATH!

BATH (end of January exams trip)

We had English cream tea at Sally Lunn's, who has world famous Bath buns.. I had cinnamon flavoured ones while Vincent had clotted cream and strawberry. After our lunch we went downstairs to visit the original 15th century bakery, which has been given a new lease of life as a museum.

Outside Pulteney Bridge, which is a medieval bridge modelled after the original bridge in Florence. It has the quaintest shops in the Bridge itself!

River Avon

The Royal Crescent.

Puff Fuzz

I haven't been updating my blog regularly, sorry to those who want updates!

Well things are alright here. The pace of school work is still leisurely before tutorials start next week.

I've been feeling very anxious about all the applications and school work though. Applied to a few UK firms but am not expecting very much because of tremendous competition as well as the fact that I applied so near the deadline. I finally decided to get it done and over with after weeks of procrastination and uncertainty as to where I wanna work in the future.

I got my results for my Psychology coursework yesterday- Vincent and I ran down to the Pysch building right after our last Law lecture to get the results before the Psych reception closed. I was rather disappointed with my results because I expected to do better. But I still managed to get a high 2:1 afterall at my first attempt in studying Psychology! Oh well :)

I concluded that the Law course is alot better- better teaching, facilities (our reception doesn't have limited opening hours for instance) and online support.
I was aghast that I don't have any tutorials at all for my Psychology module this semester. How to prepare for exam then?!!!

I've also started watching Heroes. Hehee.. It's really good! And I'm on Season 2 right now.

It's dinner time now and Vincent my wonderful chef boyfriend has cooked up a storm... :D
Got to go!

gracie and me

Christmas 2007

This is a long overdue picture of my best buddy Grace and me outside Trent Building in my uni campus. To Grace- I'm printing this and it's going up on my noticeboard! :) Thanks for coming down to Nottingham with me, I really enjoyed your company!

It was only 4+ in the afternoon and the sun was setting. It was glorious- the pinkish blue hues splashed across the canvas of the sky.

I played tour guide, bringing Grace, a girl from China whose ambition is to go the beautiful "Nuo Da", around University Park for a walk. We were too full to sit down after a delicious Christmas lunch at the Skippers', a very nice couple at church who invited us to their home.

Next up is the photos from Bath, which is still in Vincent's camera.

Plans for tmr:

-Gym in the morning

- Way overdue cleaning of room

-Laundry

-Land law lecture

sem2 starts

School just started today, but I feel like being back home.
Spoke to Dazz, Mum and Dad yesterday and soooo much is going on at home now. Hearing from family is always so encouraging and uplifting :)

Independence can get quite tiring sometimes.

Daily studying, cooking, cleaning + other commitments takes up so much time; I feel that I don't really have enough time for myself.

This semester, I want to have more control over my time.

Goals
-No more late nights, I want to sleep early and wake up early.
-No more headaches, lethargy
-Regular exercise (gym/tennis/swimming)
-Be more confident, more secure
-Be motivated and disciplined with regard to studies
-Stop worrying

Exams over

I finished my exams on 14 Jan. Wooohoo!
But I don't feel all free and wonderful because I messed up Criminal Law. :(
Was feeling very sick and uncomfortable in the morning of the paper- churning stomach, headache and persistent tiredness. Which is strange because I've been getting enough sleep!
I do feel very annoyed with myself for messing it up since the exam was easier than expected. Sigh. At least it isn't counted!!!

Less than one week of holiday left before school starts again.
So far, I've cooked 2 very delicious Chinese meals (with the Chef's instructions of course) and baked brownies. Tmr we're going to Bath! :D
Vincent finishes his Commercial Law exam today.
Thanks for all the prayers!

Semester 2 will be a NEW start!
Cheers!

London, continued...

Bubble tea and mango sago in an asian teahouse

Grace acting cute haha

The fattest, furriest and friendliest cat ever.. :D it approached Grace and I on a London street. We spent about 20 minutes stroking it; I was sooooo happy!

SO CUTE

London, continued....

Me, Vincent, Jaclyn (his sister) and Calvin (sister's bf), outside Shakespeare's Globe

Exhibition showcasing the social divide in Tate Modern Museum. Someone asked if there was an earthquake! lol

Saint Paul's Cathedral at night

Borough Market, London
(Food heaven!)

Pheasants, Mandarin ducks, hares, deer

Brussel sprouts on a wheelbarrow

Soooooo crowded on a Saturday morning

Vincent, Danny and Grace. I'm glad all of them got along so well! Oh yes, Grace was accompanied by 5 lawyers on her trip to Borough Market. ;)

Xmas 2007

Christmas 2007
Leicester, London, Nottingham, UK

In Leicester's city centre with Archana

The best crepes in the world! South Kensington, London. With Grace :D

Enjoying his crepe!

home alone

My home alone experience wasn't good.

I started at 7pm and once I finished cooking, eating and cleaning, it was 830pm.

The food wasn't so bad, but I ended up throwing away 1 portion of it cos I hate eating leftovers. The carrots and chicken were overcooked.. :(

It was the chopping carrots and frying in the tiny pan, with alot of food flying out, then finally the washing up which was sooooo tiring. My shoulder is aching. These mundane things take up sooo much time. I've done nothing constructive today...

I am not a domestic goddess.

At times like this, I appreciate my super boyfriend even more- he who taught me how to cook, clean, iron, self-medicate and does them for me most of the time. I really take him for granted.

And I miss him. :(

Anyway, here's the plan for the winter vacation.

18-19 dec: Leicester to visit Archana

20-23 dec: London to be with Vincent and Grace

23 dec: Back to Notts with Grace

26 dec: Vincent comes back to Notts

Ice skating

Outdoor skating in Nottingham

Finally, something I can do which Vincent could not.. ice-skating!

It was his first time and after 4 falls, he could glide on ice!!! So proud of him.. Hehee

The atmosphere was so Christmassy, ice-skating out in the open, underneath the stars and the kaleidoscope of colours from the German Christmas market not far away. Families, parents literally dragging their toddler between them, young couples, friends forming a chain, annoying hooligans, girls donning headscarfs and long black cloaks, big men falling- all on ice.. :)

Afterthat we went to the German Christmas market, had German doughnuts which were yummy, German wheat beer and walked around, hand-in-hand, enjoying the festivities. The next day we were back for the garlic mushrooms, German sugared muffins and a dome-shaped amaretto whip. More photos to come...

Just for laughs

Just for laughs

This is what we do when we're sick of staring at law books. :D
That's my Halloween costume which I was supposed to wear but did not eventually cos I thought it looked too slutty. Hahaa
We made the collage of photos (centre photo) during my birthday because my noticeboard looked too plain. It was an arduous process, but doing it together made it alot better :) He has an amazing artistic sense...

Anyway, after the essay deadline on Monday, we've been enjoying ourselves alot, going out to town, eating out, shopping, having friends over.. and ice-skating.

Now I'm home alone for 2 days, having sent him off to London at 8.28am this morning. And all our friends have gone home for the Christmas vacation too... Yup, so it will be a test of my home-making skills as I cook and clean for myself. So far, it's been fine, I had a bowl of cereal and 2 chunks of grilled foccacia bread from M&S. Vincent is sooo worried; before he left, he chopped all the ingredients for the soup I'm making tonight and wrote out the recipe for me. He even drew me a map of the city centre.

I'm happy and grateful for him.. It's in the little things that he does which shows me that he cares, alot. Like making 3 trips to the laundry room (for washing and drying), in the dark and chilly night, lugging 2 huge hiking backpacks full of dirty clothes, simply because he didn't want me to be out in the cold. Cooking sweet corn and carrot soup and fish porridge (which he hates), because he knows I love it. And how could I forget, he made a cucumber and avocado mask for me! Hahahaha.. All this, among many other things he does, day by day, for me. I am a blessed girl.

20th birthday

My 20th Birthday

This is a bit late, but I promised my family I'd put up pictures to let them know how I celebrated my birthday this year. :)
Vincent refused to let me into his room the whole Friday and only called me at 7pm to tell me to come down to his room. When he opened the door, this is what I saw. His room, neatly tidied, just for the occasion and the table set for two. 2 tealights floating on water, a circular glow to create the atmosphere. He had been experimenting how to make the candles glow tall and bright for weeks. I was so happy and surprised, I knew he'd be cooking for me but I didn't expect everything to be so perfect. Afterall, we were eating in his room. But yes, he exceeded my expectations! The food was amazing too; gourmet style specially prepared by him. The starter was smoked salmon wrapped around a chive and cream cheese dip, and ciabatta drenched in olive oil. The main course: vanilla flavoured haddock (because he knows i like fish and sweet things), with honey roasted walnuts and mushroom risotto. And a bottle of white wine bought from the Christmas market which was really expensive. Everything went so well, even the flame died once we finished eating. What made me the happiest was the fact that someone would go to such lengths just to make my day. He'd been planning what to cook for my birthday since last summer! ie 5 months ago.. Yes, I was beaming throughout the whole dinner! That's the happiest day for both of us in the whole semester, for him because he loves to see me happy.

After that, I wanted to go back to my room to get something but he persuaded me to stay and barricaded his cupboard, hinting to me that my present was inside and that I could find it at 12am. Then when it was finally midnight, Jenn and Xuanee came in to the room with a cake lit with 20 candles! :) That was really sweet of them. Jenn stayed for a really long time and the 3 of us talked into the night. The next day we went to Frankie and Benny's, this American-Italian restaurant in town. Although not as many people as last year turned up, it was still a nice get-together with close friends. :) And that's how I turned 20.

bday

That's Jenn, me and Xuanee with the birthday cake in Vincent's room,
Claire, me and Jenn,
Chen, Vincent and Aidan in Frankie and Benny's.

I really enjoyed myself and I'm glad all of us got along well during the dinner. There were conversations mainly in English and Chinese (because of Chen) and smatterings of Spanish (from Jenn and Aidan), French (from Aidan) and Malay (from Vincent). And of course, lots of laughter. Thank you God for all of them! :)
My 20th birthday was a very happy one indeed.

Bleahhhh

Once I finish my tutorials tomorrow, I wanna watch Enchanted. :D

Just had the chicken curry for dinner which Vincent cooked. It's really good.. :) I'm upstairs in my room now as he entertains Otto, a Ducth friend. Vincent was telling me loads about Otto, so I'm glad I finally got to meet this enigmatic character. Talking to him at first was a little awkward because his command of English isn't very good; hence the hesitant little pauses and silences. But after a while, he warmed up and our conversation was rather pleasant. We talked about European history and the Austro-Hungarian empire which ruled much of Europe, including Holland, Germany and Italy in the 1800s. As well as church history like where the Presbytarians and Calvinists originated. For the record, it was from John Calvin. And other stuff like how most Europeans attend the festival celebrating St Nicholas instead of Christmas. He asked me how I knew and I told him it was because of Milad, a German friend from last year.

Talking to him reminds me of the amazing international experience I had in hall last year and how comfortable I felt with internationals. Had so many close friends from all over the world- Germans, French, Canadians, Brits, Singaporean/Malaysian, Hongkies, South Koreans etc. Really miss that all of them, as well as being able to engage so many of them everyday. Every meal, every moment spent in each other's rooms was a cross-cultural exchange with like-minded people. The friendships and breadth of exposure were really priceless. They opened my horizons. And now I feel both a twinge of happiness and sadness. But as Jenn said, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it's happened". Because of last year, we know there is a place for people like us.

Anyway back to Otto. In brief, Vincent went over to Otto's place for dinner. Vincent had sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and half a sausage for dinner. He began by eating the food. A few mouthfuls later, he began swallowing it without tasting it, then as it became more and more intolerable, gulping it down without even chewing. Once he came back, he immediately threw up in my room. Wow... even hall food wasn't that bad. And he told me alot more interesting things about his host, like how he counts by the minute- "I'm going to the toilet, I will be back in 1 and a half minutes". "The potatoes will be done in 2 minutes". Truly one of a kind right!!

Ok back to land law... :(