Sunday, February 17, 2008

Happy 21st, Elvin!

Well actually his birthday is not today, it’s the following day. But since me and him have to go to Manchester to apply for Schengen visa (Europen visa) in Spanish Consulate early morning the next day, all of us decided to celebrate after dinner today. We were still kinda ‘tired’ of cooking during the CNY, so we decided to take away Nando’s this time. Last time he wasn’t able to eat it, so now we gave him the chance. Yee Tat, Serene and Mina were still in their return trip from Edinburgh (Scotland), so they couldn’t join. Instead, I invited Juanda, still remember him? =D

Our surprise was successful because obviously he didn’t expect it to be today (even though our Nando's dinner had already finished), and the theme for his unforgettable 21st birthday is PRINCESS!

The princess cake...

The princess 'tiara'

The farting birthday card


All of his 'wives'....

And Juanda! xD

MY and Su-En gave...








And from me, JQ and Carol... They are bowl, mug, and lunch box. A bit lame, but they are NECESSITIES!















Last but not least, the URs gift (passed to me before I left to UK)
And finally Elvin got 4 ZARA T-shirts for his bday....

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Fri 8Feb08: Nottingham Light

One distinctive thing that I am fond of developed country is that they are well-organized and well-planned ahead. In UK, besides promoting those places of tourists’ interests, each city council has been very active in organizing shows, attractions, offers, special occasions, etc in attempt to make their city eventful. Furthermore those events were planned in yearly-basis, and eventually the brochures and other form of publications could be disseminated to locals, institutions, and tourists, free of charge. Tourist information centre, usually located in the heart of the city or easily accessible, is the place where you could find all the information that you would like to know regarding the city. The officers will be glad to help and guide you kindly, with maps or booklets provided, and again free of charge. Of course the information could be easily found in internet too, but sometimes you could just get more updated and complete ones in these information centers. Getting answers directly from a person will be more convenient and straightforward, do you agree?

We received a copy of the events held by the Nottingham City Council from the International Office during our first day of registration day. That is how all of us we were aware about this “Nottingham Light”

Not really knowing for sure what we were going to see, 5 of us (Su-En departed to London today) went to the Market Square, city centre around 7pm. While approaching our destination, we were so surprised by a glimpse of a big Ferris wheel we saw from inside the taxi.

When we reached, we can’t help our mouth from forming ‘WHOAA’ because there’s SUDDENLY a NOTTINGHAM EYE in the Market Square! There was nothing, absolutely nothing in that place, and all of sudden, WUSH!, there’s an Eye there. This is so exciting! We were quite late though, because apparently there was a musical performance that had been going on, and the place was quite crowded. The performance was, I would say, more to a classical or easy-listening using some traditional instruments. We enjoyed it so much!










Nottingham City Council building







£5 per person to ride on the eye, anyone?







But we can let ourselves enjoy too much because there has been a strike in our stomach: we haven’t had dinner yet.
And so we decided to go to Nando’s to eat, since the restaurant was just opened. I was told by my ex that the Extra Hot Peri-Peri sauce here is more spicy and delicious that the one in Malaysia, and so I was so eager to discover the truth. And you know what? IT IS! IT IS INDEED MORE SPICY!! I LOVE IT!! Hohohoho~~~~ Poor Elvin, he couldn’t enjoy it since it was his fasting day. Too bad! =p






When we nearly finished our dinner, Yee Tat, Serene and Mina joined us: they just arrived after having their dinner in the campus. It was so coincidence that when we were back to the Market Square, lots of fireworks had been shot!!

Oh, so glad that we didn’t miss it!





The 'stunned' people...

Nice shot, Elvin!









Thurs 7Feb08: CNY Part 2

You mustn’t deny that WE ARE SO PATHETIC!! Yes, it’s Chinese New Year today, but there’s no holiday in UK. It is just like the other ordinary day, classes are still on as well as other normal activities. Ohh~~~~
So envy with you’all having a-week holiday! So sad!! :’(

The ballroom dance class was running as usual too, so three of us (including Carol and JQ) went to Trent Building, Great Hall for exact, where the class was conducted. That was where these pictures were taken. Seems like there was sort-of Chinese New Year celebration held for the counselors or other respective people of the university, therefore the decoration was purposely made.


All of sudden, Yee Tat, Serene and Mina, to express their gratitude for the last night’s dinner, contacted us and proposed to hold a drinking session in our flat (note: they are staying in the catered halls of Jubilee). Of course, we were very happy to accept their ‘good’ intention! Let’s ‘share’ our pathetic Chinese New Year and have fun! xD
Thanks to Carol for taking most of the pictures.. She's the only alcohol-free in our flat, hahaa..

Thanks to UK for its easy access in getting alcohols so that tonight's plan could be on!

A lil chit-chat before the fun starts

Wont be fun without our new playing-cards




Jia Qian and her super-red face






Having a break, what to do? Camwhore! lol

....and plenty more

One down... there's an 'interesting' video also ;p

Wed 6Feb08: Pre-CNY Dinner

We’ve come up with the decision to organize a small gathering tonight to substitute the pre-CNY dinner that we usually had with our own family back home. We’ve been so busy in the preparation as we were expecting around 10-11 people to attend. The preparation started from the previous night, where we had to mince the pork meat by ourselves with a lousy chopper, marinade with some sauces (not telling ;p) and some vegetables like carrot and finely-sliced cabbage.




Meei Yunn, our main chef.
Give applause to her for her hardwork!







Me and Carol are making dumplings
(I was having a bad hair day!)


Being not used to organize this kinda gathering, we started the dinner 1.5 hours later than the planned time, even though we’ve been spending the whole day preparing the food. The last-minute jobs are too much to handle, not to mention the unexpected errors or failures occurred. But, anyway, we still make it though! Here are some of the ‘very few’ pictures taken on that night…

JQ brought 'lap-chiong' from Malaysia and so she cooked the rice with it (no wonder her luggage was so huge and overweight) =p




The other dishes for the night

A LOT isnt it?














Meei Yunn and See Toh

Mina and Yee Tat (exchange students from Melbourne University) and JQ

Rene (exchange student from US), Serene (exchange student from Melbourne Uni) and.. you-know-who

Carol, me, Meei Yunn, Jia Qian






Su-En and Rene


















Kanpei!
Toast!
Cheers!