The white Christmas in Scotland

The Scotland trip that I had with my friends from Manchester and Belgium turned out to be a special type of trip that I ever had in my life. It is an adventurous one and most importantly it has given us so many lessons to ponder though the trip has ended. If I were to write about every details, I might have published a mini novel and the title should be "A series of unfortunate events during the Scotland trip"...haha! But it is quite pointless for me to tell it all - people will just get bored listening to old grandma's bedtime stories if they didn't experience them. Thus, using the experience from this trip, I might as well make it into tips and advices travelling during the winter.

1 st - always make sure you bring enough warm and thick clothes if u know u're going to somewhere snowy. This is no joke! U might consider wearing boots rather than sport shoes because they can keep your feet warm BUT they can cause sore legs after some long distance walking. i wore a pair of sport shoes, though, and they easily get wet and my feet has to soaked in melted ice. I have to wear double layers of socks too!

2 nd -always allow plenty of time to travel from one places to another and better to prepare a plan B if plan A doesn't work. This is especially true during the winter. Trains and planes can get delayed, not by minutes but by hours or days due to the poor weather. It can be due to the poor visibility, snow blocking the road or engine default caused by the melted snow. And find the alternative transport just in case the first one doesn't work. During winter, it is so normal that a train station closed without any early notice. That's what happened on the last day when we want to travel back to london. Luckily we start leaving by 3 pm while the plane is actually at 830pm. Seems exaggerating but then the train that we're supposed to take to the airport is closed! Thus we have to find the buses to the airport. A long tiring journey.

During the scotland trip, when we're travelling from glasgow to Edinburgh at night, the train that we were waiting has suddenly been delayed for around one hour! Then, we're like a bunch of orphans being abandoned in an isolated train station! We can see no lights from anywhere outside the fence of the train station and we can only wait outside the closed station with our feet freezing in duno how many negative degree celcius of temperature. In this kind of miserable circumstances, meditation might helps: we can meditate until we forgot that our feet is still present.then you'll feel no pain and cold. haha..my friends laugh at my words but it is not a joke la..~ I was freezed to a point that I also practised some dance to avoid my feet from frostbite. After a long waiting that 1 hour seems to be extended to ages, the Hogwarts train finally has come!!! After going through this kind of temperature, i can say that our life may be prolonged, just like the frozen chicken in the fridge, the expiry date is always longer than the fresh ones. haha. ( I know you guys miss the lame jokes that i have told! XD)

3rd - make sure you read through at every detail of the information that you have. Did i mention that we left by 3pm in the afternoon and find out that the train station in Edinburgh is closed? The story hasnt ended yet, though!!! We managed to get to the airport at around 4 something and then we felt so relaxed because we have plenty of time before the plane departs.Thus, we lied on a row of seats and took a long nap in the airport ( forgetting about whatever images we have) until it was around 7pm. Then...we wanted to check in. WE COULDN'T FIND THE TIME OF THE PLANE WE WANT TO CHECK IN. We wondered and we asked the kind air-stewardess around. OH my GOD. We're on the wrong airport!!! It is stated there in the boarding pass that it is " Glasgow (prestwick)" but we went to the Glasgow airport without the word prestwick. There's only one airport in Glasgow, but there is another one in Prestwick!!! Nyiao...The time is running out and the distance between these 2 airports is around 1 hour. The check in gate closed at 740pm. Hopeless. Miserable. Don't know what to do at all. Where can we see the way back to our sweet and warm home? The air ticket for the next day's plane is too expensive, around 100 pounds something. The train tickets are not cheap either, 116 pounds something. Have you ever try this before? When you're in state you don't know what will happen next, at all. We all thought travelling is just about fun but we forgot all the possible consequences that can happen once you stepped out of your house. But~~ There's always a silver lining behind the dark clouds! Thanks to a friend in Edinburgh, we managed to book a latest bus going from Glasgow to London for just 40 something per person. Minimise the loss but it takes 8 hours to reach. Nevermind, just treat it as the Redang trip journey then, as well as we can get back home!

4th - Prepare some dried food in your bag, no matter where you go. You'll never know when you need them~~The food in the airport and train station is incredibly expensive, and sometimes they're not open 24 hours. You might get stuck in a station at night ( like us) and suffer from cold and hunger! After the second event of being frozen at the train station, the fact that we have missed the plane doesn't seem to be that miserable - At least we are not hungry and not cold.That's already a thing to be grateful of!!! When we finally know that we have a hope to go back that night without having to stay overnight in the airport, tears well up my eyes..not because of how miserable we were to be in this situation but I was too touched to have so many kind hearted people and friends helping us in times of need! 在家靠父母，出外靠朋友，所以我们平日要广结善缘，以善待人，因为我们不知道什么时候我们也会需要朋友的帮助。

5th - If you're thinking of getting an iphone, go ahead! it is a perfect gadget during travel. It helps us when we're so desperate to call someone or to online to check on the weather, the train station closed, the air ticket and so.

Despite all the unfortunate events, our trip turn out to be a heart-warming one! The snow can be a great thing but also a disaster, but we get both of its sides. Not forgetting the funny and memorable events in Scotland:

~Thanks to Hana's warm hospitality, we had some very delicious korean food i.e. kimpap for lunch and steak noodle for dinner. Miss the ginger beer, it tastes so~ gingery.

~ Having some snowball fights in Glasgow. Building snowman in the garden,which take ages!

~ Came to a beautiful city of Edinburgh, where the fairy tale settings take place! Seeing the roofs of houses covered by snow, stepping on the crispy snow that never melt that fast, visiting the historical building with so much of a European style, visiting Edinburgh University which gives me a wonderful feel of being at one of the greatest universities in the world..I seriously fell in love in this classical city!

~ having a great oriental christmas eve dinner. Thanks to the great chef jinghui corrine meichi yunyi piyasilo and yew lee!

~ Fighting with turkey for the christmas dinner: It's my first time marinading a huge turkey! Just simply pour the salt and pepper and everything in. It takes 3 hours to be fully cooked and it's hard to be cooked thoroughly. Anyway, It was really a great dinner!

~ Confession of couples during christmas night!

~ playing the addictive mafia for the whole night! That's the most popular game i have ever had since i came to uk.

~ Boxing shopping in Edinburgh and london.

6th - As a conclusion, if possible, avoid travelling during winter. Many unexpected things can happen in such an unpredictable winter. You might get bored hibernating in your room, but actually it is a bliss! After a long travel between Scotland, London and Bath, I felt so so SO great to be back to my home a.k.a. hostel in Bath! Trust me, there's no place like home in the world and travelling can only be made fun when a tired soul can rest in a place before the next journey. A big bed with fluffy pillow to sleep on, laptop on the table to surf for 24 hours, huge food storage in my room which makes sure i wont be hungry, heater than keep me warm..all those details that we were least aware of were suddenly become so essential. Anyway, travelling makes us grow, and we will become more conscious of what we have after experiencing the absence of them.

***

*

*

"Home is the most important place in the world" quoted from nowhere. Can't help agree with it!

~~~Home Sweet Home~~~

Lumix, snow, and tripss ^_^

After much discussion v Kenny, We have decided to buy a panasonic camera so that We wont be regretful in going to a one-in-a-lifetime Italy trip!

Finally it has arrived....we're so afraid that we cant get it before the trip because our school mailroom will be closed during holidays.

Baby lumix~~

But then the memory cards haven't arrived yet until now!!! so now we have the cameras without memory cards...英雄无用武之地..nyiao~~

*

*

*

*

And ya...Bath has finally snowed!! We have been waiting until our necks also long already! The temperature in Bath always goes lower than Cardiff London but these places are having snow since a few days ago and Bath still maintain its " autumn appearance"! Luckily we are able to see some snow this morning for the first time in Bath before we set off to london tomorrow! ^_^

The road in front of my flat!

The kitchen view~ nice~

Despite the very thin layer of snow on the grass, we were too excited and someone engaged a snowball war among us!!! Huu...luckily the snow is not that much, or else we'll get wet in the war!

*

*

*

Tomorrow will be the reunion of Manchester and Bath friends! And I'll be going to Scotland with them from 22nd to 26th of December! Hooray~~ We'll be freezed in Scotland and celebrate a white christmas there! What would I expect more than spending a lovely warm christmas with my dear friends? Hope everyone has an unforgettable christmas this year!!! ^_^

4 things

They said, there are 4 things that you can't recycle.....

and also my sleeping hours.

So, give it your best shot in whatever you do in the present moment!

Going to reduce my lifeless way of living, thanks to my friend's reminder.

Baking cookies

A happy life is like baking cookies.

It is happy to do it together, from the mixing of the ingredients to stirring to baking.

When the cookies turn out to be a good one, it is happier if we can share them with the others~

By sharing we make people smile. Making people smile encourages us to bake more~

By receiving, people are inspired to bake something by themselves too.

And when they bake, they think of us and the sharing continues~

Hence the circle goes round and round~

*

*

Sharing the happiness, the happiness doubles. ^_^

Secret Santa

As the Christmas is around the corner, we're all involved in a game named Secret Santa. We have randomly chosen our "Santees" from a box of names and now we're going to buy a Christmas present for him/her. Today I and Yean went to the town to shop and look for the present and luckily after much headache, we finally bought something for our lucky Santees! hehe~

Btw, today I saw a cute ear-muff hat similar to these two:

Oh my, they are so adorable. I never knew how nice and comfortable it is until I put it on my head. My ears and face are so warm despite freezing air outside.

These kinds of hat are not cheap though~ but I wish I can have one....

Btw, when we're on the way back to our campus, we saw a guy in a Scottish skirt passing by. Then Kenny said he would like to try on it and he asked us to buy for him during the Scotland trip. haha. Can't wait to see him in the skirt!

Wah, now only I know that guy wearing the skirt can be so man 1. It changes my perspective though!

We're going to bake some cookies and muffins later at 8.00pm. It's my first time baking things!!! I won't ruin my birthday present right?? God bless! ^_^

Updatess =)

=A great book for a good cause=

Last Thursday was the Water Aid Day where stalls for Charity Sales being set up along the parade of UoB. Water aid day's mission is to raise the fund for the regions of poverty in world where the water supply is under the standard so that the people can access to more hygienic water for daily activities e.g. cooking and drinking. While browsing through the items, I was lucky to spot it, silently sitting on top of the books -the 6th Harry Potter hardcover book which costs only 1.5o pounds! FYI, this is equivalent to RM9.00. Wow~~~ Without any hesitation I took out my purse and pay the price! Btw, my excitement grabbed the attention of a lady, and she said that there's a Harry potter exhibition in America. Good news for HP fans...in america but not for UK for now perhaps. Oh yeah, according to UoB website, a total of 300.71 was raised for Water aid - 1.50 pounds from a great book. hehe.

ooh my dear hubby...!!

=UCAS helpers=

On the same day, Yean and I worked as the UCAS helpers for our department. Our job is to bring the students who come for the Pharmacy interview and their parents to look around the environment of our school. It is said this is also a good way to increase our confidence and communication skills. However, honestly, I still failed to speak with proper English and my tongue easily get rolled up when I switched from Chinese to English and when I am scared. Anyhow, I believe " Practice makes Perfect". I believe I can fly~~

=Assignment done!=

Yeah yeah yeah, the group work reflective article was completed and uploaded on Friday. 1 thing less to worry about!

=Its F-R-I-D-A-Y night - the Birthday celebration!=

It was yesterday, we celebrated the birthdays of our friends Fausha, Adrian and Jecerlyn!!! Celebrating birthdays have become a monthly routine in here and most importantly, we're having fun making all those Malaysian foods and having a great chat with friends around! And this time, Yean and I were responsible for nasi lemak and fish cuisine! See our ingredients:

Don't be shocked, these were for 20 peoples!!!

However, the lemak rice is totally an overestimation. We cooked 2 kg of rice and only 30% of them were eaten!

I guess the overnight rice is enough for us to eat for like...erm...about a week??

cooking in progress~

the red curry fish

Luckily, limiting down the budget still does not affect the quality of food and the best thing is all the food was finished ( except the rice!!) The other food presented were: Sandwiches (by 194 kenny ang n jackie); pasta salad, ayam masak merah, cucur pisang, honey chicken, omelettes, jellies and drinks! Yum yum~

After the party, some of us gathered at Wanjoo's room to play Heart attack and mafia! Mafia is really an exciting but very licik game! We went back home at about 2.30 am and we can see people still clubbing in the bar of our school.

= Today, Saturday =

Woke up at 1030am. Updating the blog. Enjoy the feeling at home. Nothing to rush..nothing to worry about...haha..going to do my homework lo.. See ya! ^_^

2012 afterthoughts

Yeah! I watched 2012! No, not in Odeon, but in my room! hehehe...I have actually downloaded ppstream a few days ago and buffer this movie to watch. Seriously not sure whether this is a legal act under UK law! haha~

Alright, this is really a good movie!!! As a audience with some ethics of watching movie in mind, I know I shouldn't reveal too much of the content of the movie - it will become the spoiler and spoil the interest of people who are going to watch it! Oh, this reminds me of the code of conduct of being a pharmacist - not to disclose any of the patient's information to the others. I have to say I love ethics workshop - although people may get bored for the no-exact-answer and so called no-right-or-wrong study cases which deliberately put us in some dilemma, I find the excitement in debating and in weighing out which one is the best solution out of the many other choices. It was a brainstorming session I shall say, and new opinions that I probably never heard of do pop out. It helps me to think from the other point of view. What I have learned so far : There're always alternative for solving a problem, and sometimes we can get a win-win situation out of the mess; And, we're in a dilemma more often or not, because we're human! We're not those robots who know just to obey the guidelines given. Ooh, I have digressed far from what I intended to write about 2012. haha.

Surprised or not, the 2012 prediction might be true. The information about the end of the day can be googled easily, and we can see people argued over whether this prediction is indeed true. I believe the director knows how "animated" the scenes were, and hence instead he put more emphasis on the moral values that he wants to convey to us - Human beings have both sides - evil and good. It is totally up to you to create destruction or hope to our future.

*
*
*
*

*spoilers warning* Please stop reading further if you don't want the suspense in the story be ruined. =P

It is so similar to ethics that we have learned.

During the times of disaster, who are they to have the right to decide the life and death of the other persons? if Charles Darwin's evolution is true, then are the factors which make people survive through that disaster the money, politics and luck? One sentence by the "US president"in the movie does tell the truth: A scientist is better than 10 politicans in the ship. haha.

And who are they to regard themselves as the next generation of the human beings? They have been saving the masterpiece of art, animals, books but they have forgotten to bring along their humane heart. We are made civilised not by the materials, but by our spirits and noble values of humanity. I guess that's the main theme of this movie.

There are indeed some parts of the story which almost moved me to point of tears. Almost o..I didn't cry ar. hehe. Parents who're willing to sacrifice themselves for the life of their children. People who are willing to care for the others disregard of their own safety. People who choose not to escape from their own responsibilities and just run away. A particular scene which strikes into my heart: The phone left unreceived. The father always thought that he has plenty of time left to make the call, and he never knows it is too late to do so. He should have heard his son if he had make the call a bit earlier. Every second counts.

It is this funny scene that i have to mention! The monk was still ringing the bell despite the rolling waves overwhelmed him in seconds. It was so meaningful. Life and deaths inevitably happen no matter the calamity comes to us or not. But one thing we must assure ourselves is, as long as we are still alive, we are going to do our obligation and live our life properly. 当一日和尚敲一日钟。This proverb does match with the scene. haha. Everything in our life keeps reminding us to appreciate the things around us. Don't put the important things last. We don't know whether we will open our eyes tomorrow; not to say till 2012. Oh, then shall I say "I love you" to my parents through skype next time? Urgh~

*

*

*

**
*

Alright, that's the end of it. Love the movie! Love ethics more! haha. Have to bury my head into the French assignment now. Au revoir! ^_^