Bath

Went to Bath today with the entire IFSA group. It's funny how IFSA keep telling us not to go anywhere in big groups because when we get carried away, American students attract all the unwanted attention. Yeah, so today there was like literally 200 of us. No big deal.

These 2 lovely ladies were my travelling buddy for the day :)

The city of Bath is famous for the Roman Baths built by the Romans 2000 years ago when they invaded England. Apparently, the water is not safe for consumption, but I pulled a water bottle stunt (just for show only la). There was this one lady who was super gross - she actually dipped her hands in the dirty water and rubbed it in her face. Yucks.

There you go - Roman Bath.

I feel so lazy to blog today. Blah.

Btw, Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Valentine's everyone!

We went out for a quiet dinner at a lovely Persian restaurant. He was funny, nice, engaging, a little cute with his quaint accent. Everything was perfect. I feel loved again :)

But wrong time, wrong place.

Let's just be mates XXXX.  (that's what they call it here in London!)

Do you hear me?

The music at INTERMISSION wasn't that loud, but I think I'm half deaf now.

What's wrong with me?

Today is the day I got inducted into the team.

Yesterday and today, I was just so Blaaaaaaaaaaah and not in my element. It really sucks to be down with the London flu and having to report to work so early in the morning.

So yesterday certain someone asked me out for dinner. To be honest, I am really surprised because I have never seen anyone so agressive before. That aside, I guess it's a good sign? - at least someone's still asking me out! HAHA. HAHAHA. HAHAHAHA. I have Yering as speeddial number 1 and Jon Foo as speeddial number 2, just in case anything happens so someone can come rescue me! To be honest, I barely know this person. I only talked to him for 2 minutes the other day!

I had my first group work discussion with Kojo today. He's from Ghana and he's, uhm, let's just say, a real adult. I feel weird doing group work with adults! Like seriously, my Global Politics Class partner is a 27-year guy from Czech Republic. In a way, it's a refreshing experience because mature students tend to treat their work more responsibly and I am secretly happy for that. For once, I don't have to be THE naggy partner! yeay. I've only worked with Kojo so far, but I could tell that he's young at heart and he is super funny. I've never been so comfortable doing group work with strangers before! I guess age does make a difference eh? Or maybe I'm just learning to be less uptight and take everything easy yeah?

Today I actually went to work with a super eager heart because today was our team lunch. My bigger boss (not The Mentor) decided that we should have a team lunch at Wagamama to properly introduce me to the team. Once again, The Mentor sent out an invitation via email to confirm my attendance. So cute! When I RSVP-ed my attendance, bigger boss replied to the entire team in a P/S format: "Good, your mentor is treating." I couldn't stop smilling at their ridiculousness (is there such a word?)

At lunch, I finally popped the question - is there a reason why they don't have girls in the department? Bigger boss thought about it for a slight second, then told me he doesn't know and that I am the pioneer! They have never received any girl's resume. Oh god, I thought that I was abnormal for a second, but then again, I really like working with guys because 1) no bitchy politics 2) guys are more straightforward, I hate beating around the bush 3) they are all married and attached so I don't have to worry about anything 4) guys are nicer 5) I think I have more affinity with boys anyway. Geez, I am such a tomboyish girl.

Anyway, the fellows at my department are super hilarious! Yesterday before I left work, Bigger Boss yelled out as I was stepping out of the door :"So, tomorrow's the day for 71". I think he could guess from my perplexed expression so he added, "Oh you don't know the menu at Wagamama. U're in for a treat tomorrow". Later today, I found out that whenever the entire team goes to Wagamama for lunch, everyone gets item number 71 and gyozos as side dishes. Without fail. Oh my freaking goodness, these guys are so weird but I love it! So today I decided to order number 71- Chicken Katsu Curry to show the team spirit. Welcome to the number 71 club!

Before I left my desk today, Bigger Boss thanked me because I reminded him about the upcoming Valentine's day on Sunday by blurting out that I have no dates on that day. Hahaha. He wants a report of my date with the dude when I get back to work next week though. So cute.

Finally, today is the day I got inducted into the team. For Real.

I met a Hamburger in Hamburg

"Crew members prepare to land in 5 minutes...." The rest was a blur. I don't even remember landing on German soil. Before I knew it, we were on our way out of Lubeck airport and headed towards Hamburg, the land of Hamburgers, as in the Hamburgians. Makes you wonder if the food version of hamburgers came from Hamburg eh?

We checked into our hostel near the central train station. I wasn't aware that they give star ratings to hostels as well. Weird. too weird, but our room was cosy and nice and we had a German girl as our roomate, plus another faceless girl whom we've never met and she invaded Chris' bed when she arrived on the second day. Poor Chris had to shift to another bed.

Hamburg surpassed my expectations. Honestly, the reason why I went there was because Ryan air was offering cheap tickets. Who in the world would go to Hamburg in Germany though? Not you, not him, not her, but me! I went with low expectations but it turned out to be a beautiful city. If only it weren't that cold.... then it would have been perfect! Chris really liked it and now he has a new goal in mind: to visit all states in Germany. Crazy fellow. Seriously.

Oh btw, that's Chris. He slipped while walking on ice and I managed to snap a picture of that =p

So Hamburg was freezing cold and the river was frozen. I didn't try to walk on it though because 1) I didn't want to die if I were to fall into the waters 2) I don't think I would have made it across the river without screaming and yelling and attracting unwanted attention to myself.

Look, walking on the streets was just like ice-skating. It was such a treacherous journey to get from one side to the other side, but we had so much fun balancing on ice:)

Closer to the evening, we made our way to the Red Light District. The sex shops were too complete - they had everything. I had an educating tour of the shop and learnt so much but I found out one thing - porn is disgusting. Yucks. That's me on the red light district main street btw.

Apparently, Beatles once played at this place (St Pauli area) before they became famous.

Advertisement at the train station - Give AIDS no chance.  

They were even selling real guns at the red light district. Cool stuff!

Train ride back to our hostel at 12am - Hamburg has 24 hours train service, and I love that!

So the next day, we ventured further into Hamburg downtown and saw a lot of churches. Honestly, I am pretty sian of churches alrd but we went in anyway because Chris wanted to see all of them. My most enjoyable part was to climb up St Petri's church, right up to the very top. Folks, that's 544 steps in total. Even before we could cover half the journey, I was scared as hell already. I kid you not. Yes, this is Ms bungee-jumping girl talking here. My legs were wobbly and I had to sing a song to distract myself from the looking down. Chris was laughing at me all the way because I was like a baby, but I told myself that I have to climb all the way to the top, which I did! Thumbs up for myself =)

No smoking sign all around the building

Next highlight of my trip was the Miniature Wonderland. Never have I ever seen something so spectacular before! Families arrived in throngs with their kids in tow, and Chris and I stuck out like a sore "couple" since we didn't have kids. Haha. jkjk, but that place is well worth a visit, even for adults. With 3 floors of miniature models of different countries like the US, Switzerland, Germany etc, the modelling part took them 550,000 man hours I think. To illustrate the scale, just take a look at the person standing beside the model. Everything's so detailed - like the following picture: there's a crime scene with a floating body in the river. Crazy stuff.

A miniature version of a concert going on with thousands of "people" standing in front of the stage.

And this sumo-wrestling team is just one of the many many intrincate handiwork. I am so impressed!

And of course, now onto the German palates. Yum yum. The Germans apparently eat their sandwiches with raw meat. Like this sandwich with raw fish. And that brings me to the topic of Fischmarkt. Both Chris and I woke up at 630am the next day to make it to the fishmarket. Of course, they would have food on sale and I just had to try some of them.

Ladies and gents, meet my travelling buddy, Chris. Haha, he is so funny sometimes!

After the fischmarkt, we caught the 11am train to Lubeck to explore this UNESCO Heritage site before heading to the airport in the evening. And of course, we made the mistake of sitting at the first-class carriage before the conductor came over and told us about it. So malu but who cares right? Hehehe.

My destructive friend here tried to break the chocolate shop glass window.

Lubeck gate was impressive, but besides that, there was nothing much to see in Lubeck since it was a Sunday and everything was closed =p

Random Germans posing for me. Haha.

Forever 18.... Apparently, 18 is so much more a big deal in Germany.

It got so cold that we just chillax at a cafe and headed to Tipasa restaurant for our dinner. Chris couldn't stop complaining about the cold weather, so I told him to get alcohol, which we did btw. He got a cup of hot chocolate as well. Beer and hot choc - such a weird combination. I was craving for the chance to try German beer since day 1 and I finally got to fulfill my wish on the last day! Geez, I'm such an alcoholic.

Naturally, I am dead-beat now on Monday but I still managed to get up in time for my morning class. I am so proud of myself :)

I am no superwoman

The mentor came to work today! He brought along with him 5 apples, 2 bananas and a big bottle of water. He's damn hardcore la, kept chewing on his apple while we were working. Haha. so cute! I guess he's scared of falling sick again.

For the first time in my entire life, I actually enjoy doing office work because I am learning so much! Time flies by just like that while I try to figure things out in the office. My colleagues call me the star because I am super efficient with my job. Yesterday before lunch hour, he gave me a pile of stuff to do, and I finished them up right after lunch. At 2pm, he turned his chair around to give me more verbal instructions. That's when his eyes literally popped out when I told him, uhm I'm actually done. Haha.

But I am no superwoman! I make mistakes all the time. Today, in a rush to make it in time for the train, I actually boarded the one towards the opposite direction and I ended up wasting so much time travelling back.

Blah.

Some things are best kept as secrets

The Mentor was sick today so he didn't come to work :( We had a firedrill at work so I asked my other colleagues, what do they do then at the trading floor? Time is money and you can't leave like that, can u? Apparently, they "nominate" people to stay behind. I wonder if anyone volunteers during a real fire eh?

We had Mexican food today at a Mexican restaurant! I went (like duh, coz it's free what!). I want to say it was yum yum, but Mexican food in London pales in comparison to those in the US.

Honestly, I have so much to say everyday, because not a minute passes by without me having new thoughts in my head. I have so much to tell, but I can't remember what. I have to so much to write, but words fail me sometimes!

Oh well, some things are best kept as secrets anyway. Shhhh.....

01022010

Allow me to indulge in this new found hobby. I never knew writing dates the other way round (date, month, year) can be so much fun! Today 01022010 I realized that the numbers on the date actually reflect each other!

Today 01022010, was the first day of my second week of school here. It's also the one month anniversary of my arrival in London (yes, now I count in months for anniversaries because time is so precious). After being here for exactly 31 days, I'd like to just rant about things that I've discovered while in London.

Londoners dress up way too much. Previously, I rejoiced at this new found fact because I told myself that I could finally dress up for classes, but it's been getting a little too stressful, up to the point that I really don't care anymore.  Today 01022010 I asked Ishra, my friend from my accounting class this question: Do you feel judged if you don't dress up? Ishra's really pretty and her entire body just screams out to you as being a well-groomed person. That's why I was midly surprised when she said YES. She expressed she doesn't go out without make-up; she feels slightly insecure if she doesn't. Sigh, behind all those pretty facades lie such great but trapped personalities.

London is bloody expensive! I don't know if I should cry, laugh or just accept that as a fact. Today 01022010, I just spent 5.50 pounds travelling to the Harrow Campus for one stupid accounting class. Sigh. Granted, if the class is stimulating enough, I would have paid for it willingly, but I caught myself falling asleep midway through the module. Blah. I think my wallet's crying out loud: Please save me, I'm getting thinner and thinner day by day.

But on to some nicer and happier stuff. Today 01022010 I formed groups for my Global politics class. I sat in class, and this dude came by and sat beside me. And then we started chatting. When I expressed that I would be picking this and that topic to present on, I liked how he assumed that we would be in the same group. Haha. Year 1 students in my school are so cute. They attach themselves to anyone they can find to be partners with.

Today 01022010 I did a survey on my ex-boyfriend and my memories on him. Geez, those questionaires are never ending. I should have just told the girl, sorry no boyfriends before. The problem with me is that I'm too honest sometimes. I think I just divulged the story of my life on that piece of survey. Opps.

Today 01022010 I received my book in the mail. London's Royal Mail (that's what they call it here!) is super efficient. I ordered that book on Friday and I guess they have been OT-ing to deliver my book? Otherwise, how is it possible that it arrived today? I am impressed already. London Royal Mail, I am officially declaring you to be most efficient postage system I've ever seen.

Today 01022010 I ate 4 bananas. Sainsbury was selling a bunch of them (10 I think) for only 1.20 pounds. I grabbed them two days ago and now I have to finish them up. Sainsbury sells the cheapest foodstuff sometimes!

Today 01022010 is also the day homework starts for me. Blah. Off to work now. Ciao.

Guess what I found!

I found pictures of you. Yes, YOU MS NGAN! I thought I had lost them, but today I stumbled upon the stash again. Hehehe.

That's my old buddy there on skype:)

Disclaimer

According to JoAnn Melina Lopez, my beloved roomie back in Philly, this is why people should skype with me.