L4C

L4C stands for London for Christmas ^^.

Hehe, a lame acronym I came up while thinking of a weird title post. Well, as it says, I was down in London for Christmas. Come on, why not? Being in UK and not visiting London is like going KL and not visit Chow Kit road! (Haha, makes sense yet? =P ).

Well, this years plans were quite not normal for sure. If it was back in Malaysia, I would be with friends or a 'certain' friend's church event as I would be at, every year. This year around, I got to go to London instead~~

It wasn't as fun as I would thought it would be though. Maybe it was due to the excessive walking and all. Don't get me wrong, as I DID get a transportation pass. Just that there were too many places to visit hence no point taking the public transportation. Everything was like 10 mins apart from one another. On the other hand, walking EXCESSIVELY has ever been my daily routine ever since I was 9 =="

23rd - 24th December

Didn't actually get much sleep at all on the night we departed. Was awake in my room doing some work till like 4 in the morning. By then, I was already half dead and dragging my body across the room and down the stairs =). So, by 4.15 me and my housemates (total 5 of us) were ready and walked all the way to the bus station. Oh boy, it was a long walk! Took us 45 mins to reach and it was SOOO far away! After a 3 hours journey down the M1, finally reached the infamous Victoria Coach Station in London! Yay~

After settling down our things in Bayswater, we were ready to venture London. Was able to get to the Tower Bridge, visited H.M.S. Belfast, Tower of London, London Bridge, Millennium Bridge, some ship museum, the British Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral, Oxford Street, Picadilly and most importantly --> China Town!

On the way to St. Paul's Cathedral

The Tower Bridge of London

(once known as the London Bridge - before it collapsed that is ^^ )

Shocking as it is, China Town is just a street and a junction! LAWL! Never the less, I miss the chinese environment and mood (unlike Nottingham =P). As our first official dinner, we had an all you can eat Kowloon Style Buffet for only 9 pounds! After some digesting, went to the London Eye which proudly overlooks the Thames River. For some reason, there's no fishes in there. When I asked, CeDong only answered me with "Ask Oxford who's upstream...". Lol?

London Eye during the night

Housemate Liek Seng waned to climb it =)

Our night activities didn't ended there. We continued on to Big Ben for the famous Clock Tower and Parliament Building and as well as Knightsbridge. On Knightsbridge would be the famous Haredz which is one of the top class malls here in London! When the Queen comes here to shop, they have to close it just to honour her graces presence =)

Speaking of which, she's the only one who is allowed to use the third person tenses to refer to herself in the English language =D.

Parliamentary Building by Big Ben

25th December (Christmas!)

This was really one of the weirdest day on our itenary. First of all we woke up late and had to rush out, since ALL public transportation was not in service. Went to Hyde park first where i broke off with my housemates. Went to meet CeDong at Wellington Arch while the others went to the Princess Diana Residence.

From the arch, we went to the subway where they portrayed Lord Wellington and his various achievements in History. Besides being Commander-in-Chief of the British army, he was also the one who defeated Napolean in the Battle of Waterloo! On we went to Mayfair and Park Lane, which are the 2 most expensive plots of land in the UK. Well, according to the Monopoly board la. Went on to Marble Arch for a short walk, before doubling back to Green Park to meet the others.

Proud memorial statue of Lord Wellington

From there, we went Buckingham Palace to visit the Queen! Well, her gates were closed tight, so better luck next time =D. From the palace, we embarked further into St. Jame's park, the Palace of the Horse Guards, Parliament Street to the Prime Minister's Office, Big Ben, St. Jame's Abbey, Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and finally the Malaysian Embassy. Phew, what a long walk! Took us 4 whole hours to cover all those grounds!

Taken at the area over-looking the front gates of Buckingham Palace

Big Ben in the Morning

In the end, we had the entire Evening from 4 onwards to spare. So, we decided to explore more of Oxford Street looking for suitable shops to shop at for Boxing Day. Saw CeDong for the last time here, and we soon headed off for dinner. Guess what, our Christmas dinner was Kebabs! What a way to go! HAHA!

26th (Boxing Day)

SHOPPING DAY! This was supposed to be the highlight of our trip, but I actually hated this day the most! Of course they were the unreasonably cheaps stuffs on sale, so who could complain at all right? Well, due to lack of asking beforehand, I ended up carrying my big luggage around London while shopping! Grrr, hated it so much! But regardless, it was a team fault, so I can't complain much. (ARG!)

From Picadilly, we shopped all the way till the start of Oxford Street, which is Marble Arch. Got my self some Tee's from a buy 2 free 1 sale (6 pounds), a nice polo shirt (3 pounds), an Espirit sling bag (20.80 pounds), glossy formal shirt (18 pounds), facial products (3.50 pounds), a cheetah cap (10 pounds) and a hell of a leg ache (FOC!). Well spent if i say so myself =D

Nothing much to say about this final day except, Boxing Day is hectic! People were rushing to all of the stores, especially to the Burberry, Gucci and other famous brand flagships everywhere! People were crowding as far as the eye can see! Top that up with my luggage I was carrying, it was a no brainer why I was 'unhappy'. Well, that was an understatement, cause we had 3 backup plans to leave our luggage but all backfired badly! Haiz~

After a long tiring day of shopping, we finally reached back at Victoria Station and departed back to Notts at 8.20. Ultimately, my entire London trip costs about 156 pounds which includes my accomodation, transport, spending, and food! This rounds up to a whopping MYR 875! Haha, at least I got lots of things that are useful and practical! (till CNY at least, haha!). Guess have to work part time soon to cover these expenses =P ).

Well, that concludes my 3 day trip in London. Mum is so killing me for overspending 'a little' XD

Ciaoz~

Tang Yuan-less Winter

Christmas Break has begun, and still no 'Tang Yuan' in sight. =(

For those who do not know, the 'Tang Yuan' is a Chinese traditional food made from glutinuos rice flour. The fluor is then mixed with water, and rolled into small little balls. Sometimes, it's even filled rock candy, sesame paste or sweet red bean paste! Yum Yum! - Ref from my best buddy, Wikipedia =)

Well, there's always next year right? So, Ever since Christmas Break started on Friday, I've been literally eating like a PIG!!!! (Quote Miss Sonia). So, once Friday class finished, Hakim called us few guys and Amanda out for a movie. We watched Avatar at the Corner house which cost us 7.20 pounds. (Had to pay an extra 80p for the 3d goggles). 80p's only like RM 4.50 so I didn't mind it. Actually, no one minded!

Well, it's better made then GSC's though! (hush~ hush~ ^^) It's much more comfortable, cheaper, and it's not a rental. i repeat, NOT A RENTAL! So we actually get to KEEP the cool shades. Well for Hakim, he loved wearing them, but i prefer my Vincci Shades more =P

Avatar was Cool! Putting the fact that I only watch a movie once every fortnight the most, I still enjoyed it. I can literally imagine myself there in the movie! (Oh wait, that's just the 3D Glasses speaking..). Still, 8.5/10 rating from me! And guess what, Iron Man 2 is COMING SOON! Here comes the all awaited War Machine, Major Fury and of course..... Black Widow! Add in Hawkeye, Destiny and the old gang and we've got Iron Man 3 not too far in the future too!

Sneak Peak of War Machine!

(sedang 'membatu' at the sight of the armaments!)

Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow

(membatu at something else now ^.^" )

Well, after the movie, we had a whopping dinner at Pizza Hut. Intended to save up money, so didn't plan to spend more than 6 pounds. In the end we ordered till 9 pounds each! (SWT!!!!!! My maths failed liao!). Still I didn't mind much, since I got to eat a lot!!!! Also found out that poor thing Amanda only ate brussel sprouts for the past few days, due to assignments and all =[ . So I 'think' she was contented with me.... gua.

Off to Saturday now. Housemates all went to ASDA for some grocery shopping in the early afternoons. Hours later, (yes, HOURS!) they returned with two whole buttered chickens! So, with the season of Christmas in motion plus two friggin whole birds and you'll get --> ROASTED CHICKEN FOR DINNER!! Yup, yup, in the end we had whole chickens for dinner and oh boy, it sure tasted good! Add 1k more calories to my diet, wahahah!

Still, they were many leftovers as the bird was relatively large! So we used packed them up for the next day. On Sunday Erwin made a BIG wok of chicken fried rice for all of us to enjoy! (What a poultry delight!). From roasted chicken to heavily flavored Chicken Rice! The best comes lasts, which was on Monday. After 2 failed attempts to go to Alferton, a few of us finally managed to do it! We actually went to the Chinatown Restaurant for a 'light' and long sought dim sum lunch. Pathetic isn't it? =)

For some reason, dim sum unlike back in Malaysia can only be enjoyed in the afternoons. Weirder, some people here calls it 'Dim Sims'. o.O

Although it is in pounds and we ordered like mad (hehe!), but still it was worth it! Not only that the prawns used were so succulent and fresh, they even tasted better than Taman Paramount's or SS2's! From AUTHENTIC egg tarts, to succulent siu mai with har gou, apetizing pei tan porridge, REAL chee cheong fun and so many others, OhLaLa~ Top that up with the 50% discount we got from the manager, it was truly Heaven~

Siu Mai!!!!

Har Gou

Porridge ^^

The Aftermath 2hours later =))

It was nice to enjoy Dim Sum after 3 months long months~ I'm so going there again, since it's just a 15 min walk from my place. Finally, there you have it! My eating fiesta for past 4 days straight. Now I have to deal with the after effects --> my brand new tummy! [ Oh wait, there's still Christmas Eve and Boxing Day Dinner! ] Wahahha! Guess I'll double my workout next year to compensate then =P

Signing off,

~ Guy with new proud belly~

Last week of term

"This's the season to be jolly, far lalalala~ Lalalala~" ---> NOT!

Ok, I'm down to my final week of my first out of 4 sems. Logic dictates that I should be most busy during this time, as sem finals and assignment datelines are approaching. NOT! Truth be told is that all of my modules this sem are assignment based. Hence, I don't have to indulge myself hours in the library studying~ (Yet, at least ==" ).

On the other hand, I have 3 heavy programming assignments which are due after New years. There goes my Christmas plans down the drain.... Did I mention that one of them is a currency exchange predictor assignment? =D

Random Grumbling : I So wanna travel around UK a bit!!! Why don't I have many contacts here! Mataku.....

Taken from Christmas Market. This brings pain to a whole new level!

Speaking of Christmas Plans, was supposed to be down in London during early this month and Manchester for Christmas Celebs. Due to some unexpected stuffs, nothing happened. Ce Dong made an unexpected visit over from London,so no point going there then. Also got tight on budget ever since I got forced to buy a 50 pounds book. Jeez, who would spent 50 buckaroos for a lousy 'INTRODUCTION to Programming'? Oh wait, that's unlucky me.... =(

So, till I (we, the related housemates) sit down and discuss Christmas plans over Sunday dinner, life is as boring as ever....

P/S :Oh yea, anyone knows how to straighten hair? My top's getting bit too heavy and I don't wanna cut it yet...

Been a while..

Let's see. Tuesday out was considered fun. A little escapade for myself, away from the 3 assignments I have right now. Went to a place called Coco Tang which is actually an underground bar/club. Enjoyed myself, but just have one freaking conclusion, I so need to learn some dance moves!

The Entrance Ticket (Neat!)

Supposed to glow in the dark with UV lights, but when i tried it, nothing happened =(

By the way, hair's still messy from heavy wind uproars everyday! So disappointed now~