From where I last left off, I was talking about a 'yee-sang'less CNY and how I typically spent my few first days of CNY. Highlight of this month will be spending the last 3 days of CNY in London. This time, I was down to my sweet 2nd home in UK for the grand Malaysian Nite Event. The event was hosted by imperial College London and has reputably been doing a good job of it since few years back. During the duration there, stayed with Ce Don again, as it was so much cheaper that way =)
The first day here was a bit hectic. Arrived at St. Pancreas at about 2 in the evening when I suddenly got a call from my group project mates. According to them, they were some group assessment thingy, and our group kinda lacked information on it. So, had to sort things out over the phone like for an hour, before moving on as planned. Problem number 2 then came up when my host forgot to wake up on time! Ended up waiting for him in Costa for like an hour before 'Sleepy Eyes' finally came to pick me up.
Then we went off for a late lunch at 3 at some Chinese fast food outlet in front of King's Cross. I would seriously recommend it to the Malaysian guys here! Not only are the portions big and reasonable, but they ONLY serve Malaysian and Singaporean dishes! Top it up with iced soy bean, Ohlala~ Feels like home (*.*)
After travelling through the busy London Friday traffic, finally arrived at Ce Dong's place. During the trip, we sure had an interesting conversation about random stuffs. Seriously, I missed the old secondary school days where we can just sit down, and discuss nonsense stuffs, and try to relate them to actual facts as much as we can~ Sure, it might be a head scratching and throat strangling experience, but heck it is academically beneficial (Well, in a weird and far fetched way.....). Anyways, back at his place, we just chill out for the remainder of the evening, cooked dinner, did some online surfing, chatted and finally Dota till 3 am!
Dinner for the first night, Stir fried Mee Hon with mini fried chicken wings
The next day started off late at about 11, as expected from a gaming fest that ended at 3 am! Anyhow, we just had some simple cookie breakfast and headed out for the British Museum. As usual, our trip there turn into another weird ended discussion. If I remember correctly, this time, we were talking about the 3 basic branches of engineering, before it actually branched out into hundreds of new fields! Sounds interesting at first, but trust me, neither of us escaped the conversation with anything less than a sore stomach from laughing or a light migraine from squeezing out so much brain juices. XD
Well, we were finally there at the museum, which was previously closed during my last visit here. This trip was important to me, as I was searching for the Magna Carta that was given by the Queen of England to Malaysia, that granted us our Independence. Apparently the original copy is still here. Problem was, we spent 5 hours here, and still couldn't find it! Oh well, 5 hours worth of time was spent on experiencing the rich history of Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamian, Rome, and other parts of the world. Finally, a well informed guide told us that the carta is actually stored in the British Achieves. So, we ended up leaving empty handed~
A scarab Beetle - Nerubian Assassin from DotA!
This lovely angle piece is actually an oil bottle
A sphinx representing beauty and eternal life~
A chair made out of entirely AK-47!
See the big Canon camera? It's actually a coffin!
Zoomed off for dinner at Pizza Hut where we ended up having a weird discussion of pronouncing the word of 'hippo' in full. I actually felt remorse bringing that topic up. You see, an old couple was actually eating beside us. Upon hearing the different names and pronunciations we came up with, the old lady (about mid 60's) couldn't stop giggling and eat her meal in peace. It kept falling off her spoon from her hard held laughs! Aww man, I should really do stuffs in public more appropriately next time.
Well, after dinner, we zoomed off again to Imperial College for the Malaysian Nite event. It was just a simple stage play performed by the Malaysian Society here. With the turn out of few hundred, I would say it was rather superb. The play was about a succesfull millionaire 'Bruce Weng" (a parody of Bruce Wayne) and his faithful secretary, Robin! (Go figure! Haha!). Upon a night of party at his lavish home, he was about to make an important statement, when suddenly his home was sabotaged and bombed. Prior to this incident, he was presumed dead, and his 3 business partners, (the oyster sauce business tycoon, Donald Tiram, the multimillionaire computer manufacturer Bill Backgates, and a charitable but super vain and eccentric lady, Datin kelentong) took swift actions in taking over Bruce's company. Unknown to them, Bruce survived, and the shocking news had mortified him into becoming the evil scientist, 'Dr Terrible-lah' (with the touch of malaysian naming ingenuity!).
Bruce with his newfound identity and trusty partner, Robin now plots in getting the revenge that they rightfully deserve, but is it righteousness or plain revenge? The entire play would centre around the basic concepts of good versus evil, from both sides of view. Add your typical Malaysian comedic sense, bravada performances, live songs with dance, and some TV parody mix, we have the perfect mix for a fun filled night! Well, after a whole 2 and a half hour, the curtain came down and it was the end. Everyone sure had a nice night as no one complained or even criticize about anything! My 10 pounds was well worth spent.
The next day started off late again, as we we headed off to the Malaysian Hall in Bayswater. The final day itself was actually Chap Goh Mei. The MH here was having some late but still well awaited for CNY celebrations. When we arrived, the Lion Dance group were already performing in front of the halls, chasing away bad luck and spirits ans tradition dictates. The funny part was, the entire performance had to be paused, whenever a car needs to pass by. Given the small size of the road, and the large crowd, not much can be done =)
One of the lions at the Malaysian Halls
Preparing to score the goal of the lifetime! Haha~
The amount of people who turned up. There's some VIP mixed in the crowd, but I'm not sure who they are :p
The female lion dominates the male!!!
But still looses shamefully to her =(
Yet, they both lived happily ever after XD
I could have sworn that they were a few times where the lions did not notice the cars were coming and almost became road kill!!! Why couldn't they react a second slower?!?! Well, that's only wishful thinking, but wouldn't that be a story to tell! After performances, we were treated with an authentic Malaysian styled 'open house'! Open House literally means as it seems. Doors are open for whoever who feel like coming, and guests are all treated with free and nice food! Mee goreng, chicken curry, popiah and curry puffs, what else can one ask for more? During lunch, met a few new friends from Oxford and London itself. Soon, had to go off again as it was getting rather boring and cramped. Was better to leave my host with his casual friends than sticking to him like a magnet.
So, decided to leave early and headed down to the High Street for some nice afternoon stroll along with some window shopping. No thanks to the weekend maintenance work, I had to interchange 4 times, before reaching by target tube station, which was only 5 stops away! I just had to pick a weekend to travel about London huh? So, did some strolling, bought a neat sports jacket (15 pounds), strolled about, spotted some eye candies here and there ^_^, and finally headed back to Ce Don'g place by 6. Host was sleeping again, as usual, while I was busily packing my stuff. After bidding a standard farewell, Headed back to King's Cross and met up with a friend for dinner and coffee at 8. Can't believe we actually chat for 3 hours straight! Well, time sure fly by when you are just having some casual conversations about life and all =)
By 11.30 it was, adios London and tadaima Notts. Putting aside the 45 min walk home (yes, I'm stingy for not paying 8 pounds to get a cab ride home!), i would say the weekend ended well. It would have been better if some Malaysian guys from notts actually came down with me. Oh well, another time, another place then. Thus ends my weekend and Feb holz story. Till next time,
Ciaoz~
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