Today's the last day of school before easter break! It's finally here...a one-month holiday! Yippeeee!!!!!!
The university ground was packed with cars, with parents fetching their daughters/sons for a long break to be spent at home...around the halls, students lugged with suitcases could be easily spotted. The conversations all around the school ended with 'Happy Easter' wish...even though it's still 2 weeks away! Lecturers ended the lectures by reminding us to revise the school work during this break...but of course that advise was dismissed by us, exchange students! Lots of courseworks will be due after easter break...lots of revisions need to be done...but at this point of time, with holiday mood hanging around the air, who cares about school work? haha...
Tomorrow night would be my turn to leave this place for the highly-anticipated Euro trip! After so much planning and after going through the hassle of visa application, finally the day that i have been waiting for is right in front of me. Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich, Salzburg, Naples, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Lyon, Paris: here I come!!!
Saturday, 24 March 2007
Monday, 19 March 2007
Snow...snow...snow...It finally snowed!!!
With spring being a week away from now, the chance of seeing snow seemed to get slimmer...We have been wishing for snow ever since we came here, especially when we knew that we missed the heavy snow in UK (as it happened 1 week before we arrived). The weather, however, gets a bit more erratic...It was pretty warm one day that i could survive with 2 layers of clothes and the next day, i had to go back to 3 layers of clothings...The guyz have been checking on the weather forecast regularly and it was surprising to see the forecast saying that it'd be snowing on Monday and Tuesday. Being excited as always, we were just hoping that the forecast would turn out as expected.
I was lazing around in my room on a Sunday morning when i heard some commotion in the guyz' room...Xian Hong shouted at Lester asking him to see what's happening outside...Then came the knock on my door...Four of us gathered around the window to see the very fine snow flakes falling from the sky...It was actually hailing and it lasted for about 5 minutes only, not too bad at least can see 'a bit' of snow,haha...
Then in the afternoon, when lester, yan lian and I were preparing our late lunch (at around 3.30 pm), we heard Xian Hong shouting about snow again from his room...seems like he's always the first one to find out about what's happening outside! I looked through the kitchen window and was so excited when I saw heavier snow...much bigger in size...this's really what i called 'snowing'.
Still clad in my pajamas, i rushed towards my room, grabbed my camera and jacket and ran downstairs as fast as I could...not wanting to miss a single second of this highly-awaited moment,haha...
The snow did not last long though...only about 20 minutes. And the sun was out again...but it was unusually cold...We were freezing outside while playing with the snow... Take a look at the clouds after the snow...look different from the normal clouds we usually see...
I was lazing around in my room on a Sunday morning when i heard some commotion in the guyz' room...Xian Hong shouted at Lester asking him to see what's happening outside...Then came the knock on my door...Four of us gathered around the window to see the very fine snow flakes falling from the sky...It was actually hailing and it lasted for about 5 minutes only, not too bad at least can see 'a bit' of snow,haha...
Then in the afternoon, when lester, yan lian and I were preparing our late lunch (at around 3.30 pm), we heard Xian Hong shouting about snow again from his room...seems like he's always the first one to find out about what's happening outside! I looked through the kitchen window and was so excited when I saw heavier snow...much bigger in size...this's really what i called 'snowing'.
Still clad in my pajamas, i rushed towards my room, grabbed my camera and jacket and ran downstairs as fast as I could...not wanting to miss a single second of this highly-awaited moment,haha...
The snow got heavier but not heavy enough to cover the whole place...Being so excited, we were running and jumping around outside Butler Court, taking pictures and videos...I kept on saying: "OMG! It's really ice!!!" The passers-by who saw us must be thinking that these 4 Asians were really mad...Those people that we saw outside Butler court were rushing towards the building and there we were rushing out of the building and playing with the snow.
The snow did not last long though...only about 20 minutes. And the sun was out again...but it was unusually cold...We were freezing outside while playing with the snow... Take a look at the clouds after the snow...look different from the normal clouds we usually see...
Finally our wish came true...hoping to see more snow in the next few days!
Check out these links for the videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e31wPvlkIY (taken when we were outside playing with the snow)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=274b_1hdLKI (taken from my room)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRBSTJJxjUk (taken from the window outside my room)
Sunday, 18 March 2007
Feb 28th 2007 - My first trip to London
That's the day when i had to catch a 6.42 am train from Loughborough to London alone...for the sake of my Schengen visa application.
I made an appointment with the German embassy, instead of Italian embassy, which i had planned to apply at, as the appointment date given to me by Italian embassy was too late...haiz, didnt know that there're so many ppl out there having the same fate as me! Anyway, making an appointment itself cost me close to £40, as i had to call this appointment hotline, which is answered by a machine and the call is charged at £1 per minute (according to them). Using a public phone costs more i believe...as the only thing that i remembered out of the call, was me grabbing every single coin in my wallet and inserting them into the phone at an unbelievably fast rate...And i couldnt concentrate at what the machine was telling me! What made things worse was that i could not go back to the previous option the moment i chose the wrong option! So that explains why my £40 worth of coins was gone within split seconds...After choosing the date, i was asked to tell the machine my address, so that the appointment letter could be sent to me...Without that letter, i would be refused entry to the embassy. I was so extremely worried that the voice-recorder could not capture my address correctly...but lucky enough, a few days later, i saw an envelope with my name wrongly-spelled and so were some parts of the address...luckily the machine got 'Loughborough University' right!
Next cost to be added to my total visa application cost was the train ticket to London...I had to catch an extremely early train, which costs more of course, so that I could reach the embassy at 9.30 am...(have to include the one-and-a-half train journey and a buffer of 1 hour for me to find my way to the embassy). The hole in my pocket got bigger when i had to fork out £64.20 for the return train ticket (GOSH! my flight to berlin costs much much cheaper than this...)
Another worrying part was how to get to the embassy, given that it'd be my first time getting into London (the centre of London itself, discounting the Heathrow airport where i first landed).
After my train reached St.Pancras station London at around 8.30 am, I found myself joining the morning crowd of working people...can really spot the difference in the pace of life between those in Loughborough and the ones in this capital city. What differentiates me from the crowd was the 'I'm lost' expression on my face. I stared at the tube map for 15 minutes, trying to figure out which line I should take to get to the nearest tube station to the embassy. By the way, tube is the underground mode of transportation in London...similar to the MRT in Singapore. The routes are much more complicated...so many lines, so many interchanges. Next, I found myself walking to the security guard asking a direct question of how to get to Hyde Park Corner.Geez, it's so much easier than staring at the London map like a sotong.
Finding my way to the embassy from the Hyde Park Corner station was another challenge. Equipped with a free pocket map of London, i found myself lost twice, before finally standing at the security check counter outside German embassy. Next i was asked of my nationality...and the moment the word 'Indonesian' came out of my mouth, the person instantaneously replied, "Oh that's a hard case! Do u know that it will take 14 days for your visa to be approved?" Oh i am so fully aware of this fact! I was then given a form to be filled in (only certain nationalities have to fill this form in).
Some of the hilarious questions that were asked:
- "For the past two years, have you ever visited any of the third world countries listed below?" (I had to tick Indonesia and Philippines)
- True or False Statement (these statements have been paraphrased as i could not remember the exact phrasing...forgot to take picture of the form! only after i told my Singaporean friends about this that i found these questions are worth to be recorded)
1. I have never joined any non-state armed forces.
2. I have never attended any religious school.
3. I have never been involved in the planning of terrorist attack.
4. I have never carried out any terrorist attack. (who on earth will admit that they carried out terrorist attack before?)
I waited for my turn in suspense...praying that they'd not ask for other supporting documents on top of what i had prepared. Luckily everything went as expected, except knowing the fact that my visa will only be valid till the last day i have an accommodation at the Schengen state...so it's not a 3-months or 6-months visa...Schengen visa does not work that way anymore..it depends on the itinerary submitted. Haiz...that means if i were to travel again after the easter break, i have to re-apply for another Schengen visa again and the same routines will apply again and the holes in my pocket get even bigger!
Not wanting to waste my £60++ train ticket, i decided to explore London before taking afternoon train back to Loughborough. I went to the Natural History museum and the Victoria & Albert museum for free. Most of the museums in London are free for public...so have to make full use of this opportunity.
If you are not interested in plants, animals, and the human evolution, then this museum is not the one for you. The architecture of the museum amazed me more than the skeletons of dinosaurs, the evolution of human beings, the never-see-before insects, and the whole row of plants.
Victoria & Albert museum was my next unplanned visit, where i discovered much more interesting stuffs...A world's collection of ceramics, furniture, sculpture, textiles, paintings, jewellery, and textiles dated back to 3000 years ago!
I made an appointment with the German embassy, instead of Italian embassy, which i had planned to apply at, as the appointment date given to me by Italian embassy was too late...haiz, didnt know that there're so many ppl out there having the same fate as me! Anyway, making an appointment itself cost me close to £40, as i had to call this appointment hotline, which is answered by a machine and the call is charged at £1 per minute (according to them). Using a public phone costs more i believe...as the only thing that i remembered out of the call, was me grabbing every single coin in my wallet and inserting them into the phone at an unbelievably fast rate...And i couldnt concentrate at what the machine was telling me! What made things worse was that i could not go back to the previous option the moment i chose the wrong option! So that explains why my £40 worth of coins was gone within split seconds...After choosing the date, i was asked to tell the machine my address, so that the appointment letter could be sent to me...Without that letter, i would be refused entry to the embassy. I was so extremely worried that the voice-recorder could not capture my address correctly...but lucky enough, a few days later, i saw an envelope with my name wrongly-spelled and so were some parts of the address...luckily the machine got 'Loughborough University' right!
Next cost to be added to my total visa application cost was the train ticket to London...I had to catch an extremely early train, which costs more of course, so that I could reach the embassy at 9.30 am...(have to include the one-and-a-half train journey and a buffer of 1 hour for me to find my way to the embassy). The hole in my pocket got bigger when i had to fork out £64.20 for the return train ticket (GOSH! my flight to berlin costs much much cheaper than this...)
Another worrying part was how to get to the embassy, given that it'd be my first time getting into London (the centre of London itself, discounting the Heathrow airport where i first landed).
After my train reached St.Pancras station London at around 8.30 am, I found myself joining the morning crowd of working people...can really spot the difference in the pace of life between those in Loughborough and the ones in this capital city. What differentiates me from the crowd was the 'I'm lost' expression on my face. I stared at the tube map for 15 minutes, trying to figure out which line I should take to get to the nearest tube station to the embassy. By the way, tube is the underground mode of transportation in London...similar to the MRT in Singapore. The routes are much more complicated...so many lines, so many interchanges. Next, I found myself walking to the security guard asking a direct question of how to get to Hyde Park Corner.Geez, it's so much easier than staring at the London map like a sotong.
Finding my way to the embassy from the Hyde Park Corner station was another challenge. Equipped with a free pocket map of London, i found myself lost twice, before finally standing at the security check counter outside German embassy. Next i was asked of my nationality...and the moment the word 'Indonesian' came out of my mouth, the person instantaneously replied, "Oh that's a hard case! Do u know that it will take 14 days for your visa to be approved?" Oh i am so fully aware of this fact! I was then given a form to be filled in (only certain nationalities have to fill this form in).
Some of the hilarious questions that were asked:
- "For the past two years, have you ever visited any of the third world countries listed below?" (I had to tick Indonesia and Philippines)
- True or False Statement (these statements have been paraphrased as i could not remember the exact phrasing...forgot to take picture of the form! only after i told my Singaporean friends about this that i found these questions are worth to be recorded)
1. I have never joined any non-state armed forces.
2. I have never attended any religious school.
3. I have never been involved in the planning of terrorist attack.
4. I have never carried out any terrorist attack. (who on earth will admit that they carried out terrorist attack before?)
I waited for my turn in suspense...praying that they'd not ask for other supporting documents on top of what i had prepared. Luckily everything went as expected, except knowing the fact that my visa will only be valid till the last day i have an accommodation at the Schengen state...so it's not a 3-months or 6-months visa...Schengen visa does not work that way anymore..it depends on the itinerary submitted. Haiz...that means if i were to travel again after the easter break, i have to re-apply for another Schengen visa again and the same routines will apply again and the holes in my pocket get even bigger!
Not wanting to waste my £60++ train ticket, i decided to explore London before taking afternoon train back to Loughborough. I went to the Natural History museum and the Victoria & Albert museum for free. Most of the museums in London are free for public...so have to make full use of this opportunity.
Natural History Museum
If you are not interested in plants, animals, and the human evolution, then this museum is not the one for you. The architecture of the museum amazed me more than the skeletons of dinosaurs, the evolution of human beings, the never-see-before insects, and the whole row of plants.
Victoria & Albert museum was my next unplanned visit, where i discovered much more interesting stuffs...A world's collection of ceramics, furniture, sculpture, textiles, paintings, jewellery, and textiles dated back to 3000 years ago!
For more pictures, check this out: http://picasaweb.google.com/lydia.makmur/FirstTripToLondon
Tuesday, 13 March 2007
One-month Anniversary
Yesh! It has been 1 month since the day I stepped into this part of the world...I must say that i have successfully adjusted to the environment here...to the lifestyle...to the cold weather...to the difference in timezone...but have yet to change the "times-three" mode in shopping (Every single pence still has to be converted to Sing dollars...luckily my brain is not in 'Rupiah' mode...else the calculation will be more complicated!).
Another thing is that after 1 month, I have yet to find a friendly and approachable Brit...most of the friendliest people i met in Loughborough are either Singaporeans or fellow exchange students. Sad to say, the locals have their own clique and they do not even bother to get to know us...Having to take mostly third year modules makes it worse...the bond between the locals are too strong for us to break. During lectures, they will shun us by choosing to sit at any other empty seats but the ones next to us (unless there is no choice)...during labs, i thought i would at least get another slim chance to befriend them as i was assigned to a group of Brits, but i was wrong again!
My perception of angmohs changes as well. Who said angmohs are slackers? The locals in my university are the most hardworking angmohs i have ever encountered...Majority of them do their tutorials, crowd the library, email the professors asking questions, and borrow any reference books available on the library shelves...I was shocked to see the library packed with people on a Monday morning and to find out that all the books that i wanted to borrow have been taken up by my fellow course-mates. Being in a small university town with limited entertainment explains it all. We are now the slackest creatures in this university.
After travelling out of Loughborough for almost every weekend, we decided to celebrate our first-month anniversary by staying home and catching up with school work. We invited Eu Jin and Ying, two Singaporeans who are pursuing post-graduate and undergraduate studies in Loughborough University respectively, whom we coincidentally met during the CNY celebration at the Town Hall, for a home-cooked dinner specially prepared by us...stayed up till quite late playing Pictionary Mania and chitchatting (Time really flies when u have good companion!).
Take a look at the roast chicken! That has been our signature dish...Every time we invite others for dinner, the roast chicken will be on the table for sure...Lester and I are the ones responsible for preparing that dish as we were the ones who found the recipe online and tried it out...and with more and more practice, the chicken tastes better! I call myself the chicken massager...responsible of massaging the chicken with the salt, pepper, garlic, ginger & herbs!
I am getting better at folding dumplings and siew mai too - another successful dishes that we can make!
We were still in the '0ne-month anniversary' mood on Sunday, when we heard the shocking news from Alwyn that there was a shooting incident at the pub in Loughborough University Student Union building...shocking in the sense that this incident happened just less than a mile away from where I am residing...It's even scary to know that it happened in the university that I am studying at...Scary and shocking things aside, it's quite interesting though to see the police tape surrounding the Student Union building, fleets of police cars around the building, a forensic team working at the crime scene, reporters from different TV channels webcasting the news...
Interesting rite? Well, this makes up part of my exchange experience! Wanna read more abt this incident? Check this out: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/leicestershire/6438939.stm
Time to hit the sack...having early class tomorrow! This week gonna be a hectic one...a test on Wednesday, a coursework due on Friday (only 20% done)...For those who have been asking me abt my Oxford, London & Manchester trip posts...please be patient k! haha...gonna write them soon!!! I promise...
Another thing is that after 1 month, I have yet to find a friendly and approachable Brit...most of the friendliest people i met in Loughborough are either Singaporeans or fellow exchange students. Sad to say, the locals have their own clique and they do not even bother to get to know us...Having to take mostly third year modules makes it worse...the bond between the locals are too strong for us to break. During lectures, they will shun us by choosing to sit at any other empty seats but the ones next to us (unless there is no choice)...during labs, i thought i would at least get another slim chance to befriend them as i was assigned to a group of Brits, but i was wrong again!
My perception of angmohs changes as well. Who said angmohs are slackers? The locals in my university are the most hardworking angmohs i have ever encountered...Majority of them do their tutorials, crowd the library, email the professors asking questions, and borrow any reference books available on the library shelves...I was shocked to see the library packed with people on a Monday morning and to find out that all the books that i wanted to borrow have been taken up by my fellow course-mates. Being in a small university town with limited entertainment explains it all. We are now the slackest creatures in this university.
After travelling out of Loughborough for almost every weekend, we decided to celebrate our first-month anniversary by staying home and catching up with school work. We invited Eu Jin and Ying, two Singaporeans who are pursuing post-graduate and undergraduate studies in Loughborough University respectively, whom we coincidentally met during the CNY celebration at the Town Hall, for a home-cooked dinner specially prepared by us...stayed up till quite late playing Pictionary Mania and chitchatting (Time really flies when u have good companion!).
Take a look at the roast chicken! That has been our signature dish...Every time we invite others for dinner, the roast chicken will be on the table for sure...Lester and I are the ones responsible for preparing that dish as we were the ones who found the recipe online and tried it out...and with more and more practice, the chicken tastes better! I call myself the chicken massager...responsible of massaging the chicken with the salt, pepper, garlic, ginger & herbs!
I am getting better at folding dumplings and siew mai too - another successful dishes that we can make!
We were still in the '0ne-month anniversary' mood on Sunday, when we heard the shocking news from Alwyn that there was a shooting incident at the pub in Loughborough University Student Union building...shocking in the sense that this incident happened just less than a mile away from where I am residing...It's even scary to know that it happened in the university that I am studying at...Scary and shocking things aside, it's quite interesting though to see the police tape surrounding the Student Union building, fleets of police cars around the building, a forensic team working at the crime scene, reporters from different TV channels webcasting the news...
Interesting rite? Well, this makes up part of my exchange experience! Wanna read more abt this incident? Check this out: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/leicestershire/6438939.stm
Time to hit the sack...having early class tomorrow! This week gonna be a hectic one...a test on Wednesday, a coursework due on Friday (only 20% done)...For those who have been asking me abt my Oxford, London & Manchester trip posts...please be patient k! haha...gonna write them soon!!! I promise...
Saturday, 10 March 2007
Weekend Getaway: OXFORD
Saturday, February 24th, 2007
The majesty of the palace and the intricate detail of the carvings were enough to make me gasping in awe, considering the fact that it was built between 1705-1722.
I love the gardens there...very well-arranged, extremely beautiful...feel so relaxed walking through the garden, admiring every single part of it.
We went to the city centre after leaving the palace...It's much much more bustling and crowded than the Loughborough town centre.
Monday, February 26th 2007
This's our first trip out of Loughborough...My first train ride in UK from the Loughborough train station, a 30-mins walk from my university...
Loughborough Train Station - The Midland Mainline train
Loughborough Train Station - The Midland Mainline train
There are several train providers in UK: Midland Mainline, Virgin, Central Trains, and many others. Different companies serve different part of UK, with different quality of trains. I prefer Midland Mainline train, for it's newer and more spacious (with a bigger table for the 4-seaters section).
We had to change train at Derby station and pass by several stops: Birmingham New Street, Birmingham International, Coventry, Leamington Spa, and Banbury, before finally reaching Oxford after about two-and-a-half hour train journey.
Yanlian's friend, Zhaoqi, picked us up at the train station and then brought us to her European-style house, where we spent 2 nights there...Finally, i had the chance to experience what it's like staying in the house that i had been seeing around in UK!
BLENHEIM PALACE
We stopped by at Ben Cookies as recommended by Zhaoqi before boarding the bus to Woodstock, where the palace is located. According to her, the calories contained in 1 piece of cookie is equivalent to a meal's! But who cares...as long as we had a delicious crunchy cookie to munch on along our journey to the palace.
Blenheim Palace is currently the home to 11th Duke of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Set in 2100 acres of parkland, the palace was the reward given by Queen Anne to John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, for his victory over French at the battle of Blenheim. It's well-known as Britain's greatest palace!
The majesty of the palace and the intricate detail of the carvings were enough to make me gasping in awe, considering the fact that it was built between 1705-1722.
I love the gardens there...very well-arranged, extremely beautiful...feel so relaxed walking through the garden, admiring every single part of it.
OXFORD CITY CENTRE
We went to the city centre after leaving the palace...It's much much more bustling and crowded than the Loughborough town centre.
We were amazed to see this bunch of people screaming and dancing away at the roadside and the police did not deter them from doing so...that's what free expression is all about yah...You try doing this in Singapore and you know where you will end up at,haha...
Another interesting encounter: moving Corona advertisement!
Sunday, February 25th 2007
THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
What i had in mind before visiting Oxford was that the university would be similar to NUS...concentrated at one specific area where you can find all the departments. I was wrong! Oxford University has 37 colleges spread around the city of Oxford. Each college has its own residential area, tutorial rooms, and different culture and tradition. All the students of the same course attend lectures at the department buildings. The tutorials, however, are conducted within the college, depending on which college you belong to. There is an examination building, where the students, cloaked in formal wear and academic coat, sit for their exams. The academic coat reflects the students' achievement. The first-class-honor students will wear different type of coat than the average student. So you can imagine how stressful studying at this prestigious university is.
Not many colleges are open to public. We only had the chance to visit Merton College, Keble college and the very famous Christ Church, where the first two of Harry Potter films were shot at.
Merton College
There was nothing much interesting in this college, except that the path above (centre picture) is 'cursed'. No couple can be seen walking through that path as it's believed that their relationship will be broken once they do so.
Keble College
Initially, one of the scenes in Harry Potter movie was planned to be shot at the dining hall at Keble College (above)...but the college did not allow it as it'd disturb the daily routines carried out there. By the way, those students staying at Keble college have a choice of dining there, but they have to wear their academic coat when dining in. Cool rite? And take a look at the library! I think i can score all As if i study in that kind of library,haha...
Christ Church
Take a look at the tree, whose branches have spread across the surface of the building...
The fan-vaulted ceiling inside the tower dates from 1640. And that's the staircase leading to the ever famous dining hall, which has many connections with Lewis Carroll's book: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The set up for Harry Potter's dining hall also resembles Christ Church's. The film was not shot inside the dining hall, instead the same set up was built at Christ Church lawn.
While walking at the huge lawn at Christ Church, we spotted this rainbow.Isn't it beautiful?
We were having a relaxing stroll around the Christ Church...playing with the ducks by the river and feeding them with our left over bun when suddenly the weather decided to turn against us. There was a heavy downpour and we were 'caught' in such a huge lawn that the shelter was nowhere to be seen...The rain got heavier and we had no choice but to run as far as we could against the direction of the wind towards the main entrance which was a distance away. The rain then turned into hail stones...I could feel my face being hit by something harder than water! Stones of ice! And the wind deliberately blew the tiny pebbles of ice towards my face...That was just not the right moment to see 'ice' falling from the sky...It was really a torture!
Soaked, frozen, exhausted
Our journey for the day ended up at Christ Church...drenched and totally drained! We went back straight to where we stayed for a cup of hot drink and a warm shower...
Monday, February 26th 2007
That's our last day in Oxford...We went to Ashmolean Museum only to be disappointed after finding out at the entrance that it's closed on Monday. So we decided to head back to Loughborough earlier than planned...The train that we took to Loughborough was extremely packed that we had to stand throughout the 2-hours journey to Derby...
It was an extremely tiring weekend getaway but a memorable one!
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