Had an amazing Bath!

The date was 5th of March two-oh-one-one. 'Twas a regularly, ol' Saturday for most...

...but an adventure for moi!

DAY TRIP!

Destination: Bath, UK

Mode of Transport: Train (that was delayed by an hour -.-)

Weather: White clouds with sunny intervals says BBC weather.

Pish posh...it was freezing!

Travel Buddy: Eric

Attractions:

Me!

Naw...Just messin' with ya.

Bath Abbey

Basically just a big, ancient church ><

Pulteney Bridge

'Tis a pretty bridge

Sally Lunn's, Bath's oldest House, c.1482

'Tis old indeed.

The Roman Baths

I have a feeling this is where Bath got it's name. I could be wrong.

When the munchies attack:

Breakfast at the Guildhall Market

Afternoon Tea in the Pump Room

where we savoured the famous Bath Buns

Dinner with our guest star at Yak Yeti Yak!

the lovely Ting Huong Eng!

Lack of photos due to rapid consumption of food

Souvenirs:

Sally Lunn's historical buns

No, I'm not talking about her gluteus maximus region

A delicious toffee apple...

...rolled in dark chocolate chips and studded with fluffy marshmallows

Yeah, I'm gonna rub it in reeeeaaaaal deep.

Dang...I ate all my souvenirs.

Souvenirs: Not anymore

Cravings...

...for MEAT

Made meself a couple of sweet, juicy, pork and beef Parmesan meatloaves slathered with a tangy glaze...Mmm...

'Tis my 2nd time making meatloaf and I think it's just DELISH!

Now who else do I thank but American television for introducing this wonderful dish into my life. God bless America.

I've also tried making American-kids-camp style Sloppy Joes a couple of times using http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2010/03/sloppy-joes-recipe-video.html 's recipe. Amazing!

Never again will I doubt the magic of reasonably priced ground meat and their ability to produce mouth salivating delicacies.

I've also mastered the art of making Chilli Con Carne with any edible ingredient that can be found in my flat.

Doesn't look like much, but YUM!

Oh man, all this talk of meat...I want a steak.

Dreams and Ambitions

At that age when I started having crushes, but just before steady dating, I used to daydream about unadulterated romance: sappy love songs, fireworks, bunches of beautiful flowers, cosy picnics, exaggerated declarations of love, rooms filled with helium balloons, love letters, radio dedications, weekend trips away...

At that age when I started having to choose a career path, but just before experiencing life changing failures, I had huge ambitions of being at the top of the professional society; well respected career, multiple degrees, PhDs, top results in education, world class universities, above average income...

Looking back, I wonder what happened to that drive of wanting to be a cut above the rest. Failure has left me settling for a probable career that I have no passion for; to settle for average results; to avoid risks in my relationships.

I AM studying at a wonderful university, averaging at 2:1 without much effort, high chances of employment with a steady income and in a stable relationship despite the lacking spontaneity and oomph.

Should I be content with what I have?

Or should I

...strive for a first?

...register in various different countries as a Pharmacist?

...travel the world before concentrating on my career?

...apply for a place at a cookery school for a year?

...find my passion?

...be more spontaneous and romantic?

Shouldn't my personal development be showing an exponential growth instead of plateauing?

I have a superpower...

...to be able to gain and lose 2 whole kg...

...on a monthly basis...

...every month...

...forever...

What is this crazy thing, hah?

I've just completed the most excruciation 3 months of my life; what with exams (MPharm, not to be taken lightly. It'll chew your bones out), home-sickness, and house-hold conflicts.

I'd say the last month was another test of my faith and to bring me back into letting God take the lead of my life.

I had that much to MEMORISE...

...within 3 weeks.

A couple of my closest friends in London turned against me due to some misunderstanding;

I missed my family;

I was quite sure the world hated me...

Suicidal thoughts made way to my mind;

I found no pleasure in eating food and would rather starve then cook;

I felt weak and exhausted every single day but still had to study from daybreak 'til dawn (In my terms, 9am til 2am).

I'm lucky I have mom and Eric smacking me in the face and telling me to stop depending on myself and to rely on God - to not please the people of the world but to only please God; to place my burden on God; to find peace and joy knowing Christ has saved us.

One day, I decided to dust off my bible and turned to a random page. This was what I saw:

Mark 4:40 - He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

Afraid I was! Of losing my friends, of being alone, of failing my exams, of being not good enough, of getting dumped again. Oh, there were so many things I was afraid of...And I'm pretty sure it wasn't a PMS episode.

I decided I've had enough of this. I prayed, and prayed and prayed and gave my whole heart out to God.

I gave my best shot with the exams. And I kid you not, 90% of the materials I focused on were tested!

I stuck post-it messages on the walls and baked food (pandan cup-cakes and cheese puffs) for my flatmate in hope that they will see that I am sincere and honest. I was accused of many things and words that came at me were harsh. But I learnt not to judge anyone from their actions and pray people around me will learn the same.

Matthew 7:2-5 "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Despite having still a slight aversion to food, at least I'm making lunch and dinner dates with old and new friends to catch up.

I'm glad God missed me and decided He should do something about it so I'll go back to his open arms. =) And it does take a lot of chiseling for us humans to become more Christ-like.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 2011, YOU LOT! Or..um...just you, my only reader.

The year was 2001

When the world was crazy about Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears...

I found this dude =)

...via Duke of Mount Deer 2000 (小宝与康熙) which remained one of my favourite HK dramas.

And these songs of his were my absolute favourite.

Still like 'em, actually...

I now realise what a strange little person I was, resisting conformity and day-dreaming half the day away.

I had a bad day

Woke up with an excruciating pain in my abdomen which lasted for the whole morning... cold sweats, nausea, dizziness, shivering, black-outs, the works...leaving me begging God for mercy and dangerously close intentions of calling 911 to give me a jab of pure, unadulterated morphine. Dysmenorrhoea's a b*tch.

Waited for a parcel that never came.

Waited for an electrician/plumber to fix the showers (that spews either freezing cold water or scalding hot water) and my broken ceiling lamp (getting too comfortable studying in the dark), only to find he'll be showing up tomorrow instead.

Way behind on my studies and pretty sure I'm gonna fail this term without God's graces.

Feel so exhausted today for no apparent reason (...may be due to writhing in agony half the day).

Then came a phone call which brought up every other crappy emotions: distrust, embarrassment, anger, sorrow, doubt, envy, neglect, worthlessness...

Damn the evil concoction of hormones that creates a soupy mess of chemical imbalance within my delicate circulations...every 28 freakin' days!

And hey, it's only 5.45pm. Let's see what else is there to come.

It's all about receiving!

Year 2010 has been pretty eventful, I must say, and *cue sentimental music* I...I don't think...I don't think I'm ready for a new year yet. It's just...It's just too soon. It's only been a week since I said goodbye to 2010. I'm not ready to commit to another year.

Ah...2010, you brought me much joy. Especially after a rather difficult relationship with the previous years...you...you helped me give life a chance again. I shall never forget the moments we have together, my darling.

Anyway, enough moaning. I shall now brag about the presents I got 'last' year. Whoever said giving is better than receiving is clearly a person who has never received presents, the hypocrite.

On my '18th' birthday (Well, you see, the candles marked 22 is clearly a mistake)

• Lovely pair of earrings from Eric
• Exciting Grow-your-own-peanuts box from Cyn
• A beautiful chocolate cake...
• ...and GAP hat-glove-scarf set from XiaoLi, MengNi and Claire

Moving on to Christmas...

Sing along with me....you know the song...

"2 Christmases ago, I gave you my heart...

but after a few weeks, you gave it away.

This year, to save me from tears,

I had my mother interrogate you before I started dating again."

Now let's talk about the stuff I got! Because we all know that's why you're still reading this.

• Fluffy, red ladybug slippers and...
• ...Cosy Vero moda knit sweater from Eric
• Cute earrings from Cyn
• Adorable Cupcake mug from Jen

But the most amazing Christmas present I got this year is to have everybody I love crammed in a tiny 2 accessible bedroom for 3 weeks with enough food to feed an army.

'Mom and Dad on top of Primrose Hill'

'New Year's Eve dinner with the family'

Now everybody's gone back to where they need to be, I feel so...alone. And exams are coming up, and I've got homework I haven't finished...and terms starting in a couple of days. Damn you 2011. It's only been a week and you've already started scroowing with me.