I went to this place which has really really cheap and really really good beers (Budvar/Budweiser, no not the American ones. The real ones. from Czech) but I can never blog about it because I almost died. Who the hell almost died on a holiday? Who? Seriously. Suffice to say, it was one of the scariest moments of my life, to be underwater and under the raft and being unable to breath. I was pulled under the raft and I couldnt breath. I remember telling myself before letting go is I need to find a way up so that I can breath. The 10 seconds of trying to look for a way up is the longest 10 second of my life. I managed to get hold of the edge of the raft and pulled myself up and breath in the small space between the floors of the raft and the water. You know how in the movies when the actors are in the water and under a raft or a boat and they are always able to breath? Well, all of it is fking true. And the current, don’t even get me started. It is the only reason why I am even in the water in the first place and being unable to swim because if i let go of the goddamn pillar, i’ll be swept away definitely. My passport is wet, my phones are gone and camera dead and I don’t even feel a tinge of sadness. I was really grateful to be alive until 6 days later when I’m in the underground on the way to King’s Cross to catch my train back here and it suddenly hit me, where the hell is my debit card? Oh guess what… I left it at Carphone Warehouse near Harrods the day before when I went to buy a new phone. Can you fking believe that? How unlucky can someone get? It took like 20 mins to get to Knightsbridge from King’s Cross and another 20 mins back. And I had to go collect my ticket as well from the machine (thats why I needed the card). And the only reason I manage to catch the train was because I was an hour early. I was supposed to meet my friend at King’s Cross and the last thing he said to me before the attendants closed the doors was, “So i only get 10 minutes of your time?” I was so unbelievably pissed off in the train. Seriously, how unlucky can one get? Any unluckier, I will be six feet underground. I am never going back to Czech again no matter how good the beers are.
And to the very strong gentleman who pulled us up from the water, thank you very much.

Today, I did something I never thought I would actually do. At least, not now. And it feels liberating. I win.

Sums up the world cup.

1. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bubble pearl tea drink before this but ever since I came here, it has been one of my favourite drinks. I really like the pearls. My ex flatmate used to make some thai tea and then we will put the pearls inside. It taste really good. Remember to boil the pearls with some sugar.
2. I went to the fun fair over here twice, once in the day and once at night. The rides at the fun fair here are like the rides at a theme park. Puts Genting’s theme park to shame.
3. I still really really like London. There is just something about London.
4. I went to Gordon Ramsay’s Maze. Not sure if I will blog about it coz everyone have been asking me how was it but I can’t really tell. It doesn’t suck but was it worth the price? I don’t know what should I have expected. Something that taste really out of the world?
5. Phantom of the Opera was good.
6. I didn’t expect to miss this place that much.

no longer finger lickin good after 3 attempts, i have come to accept that kfc will no longer be my comfort food. it doesn’t taste like how i remember it used to. i wonder if the english kfc have anything to do with this. the same goes for ramly burger. i think the bread is the cause. alllllll the sandwiches i had in a year. right now i crave for a good steak.

alright here are some insights to my life and mind, mostly. I am not a religious person. The only ‘religious’ thing I do every year, if you can call it that, is to visit this Goddess of Mercy Temple at Pitt Street during CNY and offer joss sticks. A couple of years ago, I was at a very low point in my life and I asked God (in general) for some help. When I said I asked, I meant I was down on my knees praying to whoever that is up there. Of course, things didn’t work and I was devastated. I knew it was on me and not him but I also knew I’d done everything I could possibly do to salvage it so why couldn’t things go my way for once? Because life is not fair. Fast forward to now. Now, I’ve always believed that there is a reason why things happened. Reasons, purpose, however you wanna call it. However, right now, at this point in my life, I am not really sure if I have faith anymore. I don’t know whether its because I have too much time on my hands lately or this is what everyone has to go through at least once in their life but what I do know is I feel lost and I have never felt this way before. I don’t know what I want to do and I don’t know if I will like doing what I should do and most of all, I do not like not knowing where I will be in 5 year’s time or even next year.

I was the first batch at this kindy! They bought over the one on the right after a few years. and no, it wasn’t covered in those colors last time.

I’ve never felt this lost.

The very awesome kitchen. I’m actually quite surprised that I don’t miss the place as much as I thought I would. I’m also surprised that I only had char kuay teow once since I got back. It’s never really my fav hawker food to begin with. I’m very surprised at how much I have missed my friends here. I’m not the sort of person that will actually miss their friends. Perhaps age plays a part. In fact when someone asked me why am I going back, I actually said I miss my friends. I came back at the right time. CNY. Everyone is back.

Sparkles at the “snow-covered-backyard”! NYE was spent having probably the best lasagna in this city. Found out the city had its fireworks at 6pm and of course I missed it because I was still half-awake then. But I still went to possibly my favorite-st part of the city hoping to catch some fireworks. Well, we saw a few and some even light up wish lanterns. One didn’t make it though and hit the freezing water. My 2009 was arguably slightly better than 2008. I moved to a foreign country, lost both my granddads, lived and still am living on my own, able to cook a simple meal, traveled…. The only time I was hit with homesickness was in early April, before the Easter Break and I was this close to booking my flight back for the break but instead I went to Amsterdam. I had a lovely time there though I think I never got around to blogging about it. I was sick of this country, sick of the bland tasteless food (seriously wtf), sick of the general politeness here and I missed home. But somehow, I got over it and that was pretty much the only time I felt homesick. If I don’t take into account all those cravings for my asam laksa, chicken rice, hokkien mee, the list goes on. I think one of the main reasons I actually survived this long is that I have a great bunch of friends here. All of us are from different countries but somehow we get along great. I remembered I was on the phone with my mum once and she asked if I have any Malaysian friends here. Before I came here, I have about two malaysian friends here. I was and still am very close to one of them but he left in July. I think I know why some of the students overseas stick to the people from the same country as them. The familiarity of home, food, manglish etc but I will never see the point of students coming here and preferring to speak in their mother tongues instead of English. In case you are wondering, I can count the number of Malaysians I know here with one hand. Quality over quantity, I say. 2009 was also the year I got seriously drunk till I have no recollections whatsoever of the events that took place. I was feeling ill for a few days after that and the next day when I saw the wine list at some restaurant in Durham, I wanted to puke. I stopped drinking after that, well, till couple of days ago. It was a scary feeling, being not able to remember what happened. There is another thing that I learned in 2009 but since this is not a private blog, I shall not mention it. I wish I can say I did some growing up in 2009 but nah I don’t think I did, apart from the moving to another country. If all goes well, the reason I am here in the first place will be accomplished soon.

How I would grab the car keys and drive alllllllllll the way (about 5-10 minutes) to McDonalds (not a drive-tru) and get out of the car just to buy the sausage mcmuffin and drive back last time. But now. Now McD is just less than 5 minutes walk away (probably something like 3 minutes) but I’m so lazy to walk there to grab a double sausage mcmuffin.

Am considering going back to Aviemore during winter for some skiing. Switzerland is too expensive bleh.

Drove up to the skiing place - Caingorm Mountain

Took the tram up.

The tram coming down.

You can see a lake at the background. It was freezingggggg up there.

There’s a restaurant at the top.

View on the way down.

Stopped by this small town, Pitlochry for lunch.

Penang Bridge The Forth Road Bridge at Edinburgh. I swear it really looks like Penang Bridge. I showed a friend the picture and told him its Penang Bridge. He believed me haha.

I missssssssssssss Penang.

That’s The Forth Rail Bridge on the left.

Windmills

And of course, this trip is made possible by Google Maps.