Next post...

Looking thru the pics in Bruny.. i guess it'll b worth doing a post or two on it. Mainly pics tho.

While I was home

Chicken Cordon Bleu at Niniqs, JB.

While I was back in Malaysia, I didn't get up to very much. Had a few things to do with regards to official documents. My mom made a variety of things for me to eat, so as to keep me well nourished for my later excursions in the UK.

 

Some kind of chocolate dessert, also at Niniqs

I did get the chance to meet up with some churchies. It's been awhile since I've seen them. We're probably what's left of the old gang.. altho we were missing a few people. Watched "2012" which was another end-of-the-world movie. It was reasonably watchable.. the whole movie was basically Computer-graphic depiction of the whole world going KABOOOOM!!

 

 Slurrrppsssss

While back in JB I also took the opportunity to guzzle down some of the Irish Cream I brought back. Seeing that I'd be meeting Yong Chen at some point (and he wants me to drink), what a better time than the present to raise my treshold to alcohol a little more.

Going Mild In Manchester

Well well.. its been a few days since i've touched down here in Manchester. The 1stop flight from Singapore - Dubai - Manchester was freakishly long.. but i made it in one piece without any DVTs. Food was alright i suppose, as most airline food never is up to what we would like.

Landing at Manchester.. i meet Diana Gan & Leong at the customs.. very familiar faces from IMU. I gather they were going up to Glasgow, but were stopping in Manchester first. Good start to the day I suppose :)

Kee Fong's apartment is smaller than I expected, but definitely very very very nice. I wish my place in Tassie was like this. Havn't played the playstation 3 on his mega big HD widescreen monitor yet... but I intend to at some point.

Dinner on the first day was a happy occasion. Although pre-exam stress from the Manchester people was pretty evident, they were a pretty happy bunch. KeeFong, Stephanie, Angelene, Lilly, Christina, and 2 others (non-IMU folk) went for a yummy Chinese dinner. Some would raise eyebrows that I go all the way to UK to eat Chinese food... but to be honest.. I don't eat out much back in Malaysia, so it's not a big deal. Thankfully, my mom always cooks when I'm home.. So I seldom eat Chinese-y food all that much.

Weather has been a little bit dreary.. I suppose that is to be expected of England as a whole during Autumn and Winter. I might come down with a sore throat in a day or so....sighh...

I have not experienced jetlag at all... not one bit.... Reason? Probably because my sleep pattern was screwed up before I came to Manchester. Back in JB, I noticed I didn't need much sleep.. probably 50% less than what I normally needed back in Tasmania. I guess warm weather does effect me quite a bit.

Havnt done much exploring as yet... maybe that's why i'm not really tired either. I don't see the point in rushing, since i'll be here a month anyway.

The Road Goes Ever Long

Been too busy with mourning for my exam results. They aren't out yet... but i got a sneaky feeling that I might need to redo the exam to some extent. God-willingly, i don't repeat a year.

After the exam.. just been too busy to pen down my thoughts and what i've done. Did get a chance to go to Bruny Island.. although not all of it. It was pretty decent. You can check out Jerine's blog to read about it.. I probably won't put anything up for the next few days.

Packing up was difficult... I've become quite careless with my belongings nowadays. I used to be pretty organized despite the mess... now my mind is equally messy as the room.

Still waiting on applications to houses..... havnt found one for the next year -insert swear words-

Since i got back... have been busy with renewing offical documents and preparing for my electives in the UK, as well as my planned holidays... Not as easy as i thought. I think i've got it down to the best case scenario.

p.s. Exams were bad.... i'm not gonna talk about it further.

.........

Preparing for exam in 2 days... or at least i'm pretending to.

Can't wait for holidays.. :)

D & D

Being involved with cancer patients is like being in a different world of medicine. It's probably the only time in hospital that i feel that the doctors take their time to talk to patients. If the patient needs to talk about pee, poo, or Kevin Rudd.. we sit and listen.

Some oncologists are comedians of some sort. Humour is definitely a delicate skill to employ when talking to patients who don't have many moons left.. I was cautious about trying it out myself... still not very comfortable about it though.

Nevertheless, patients with cancer are wonderful to talk to (if they feel like talking). They have great stories to tell, and great insight into life. I feel a different person when I'm with them.

Could I deal with Death & Dying? Deterioration has been hard enough to go through on a daily basis. I can only hope that i will eventually desensitize myself to some extent.

Wynyard Trip: Chapter 1

I got my wish to see the Tulips in Wynyard. Thanks to our super-stamina driver Chee Boon.. and my fellow travelmates Juin and Yeung Hsen.. we made the long trip up. We chose not to go during the Tulip Festival itself.... I suppose having less people did have its advantages.

It really is a marvelous sight to behold. So many flowers... so colourful and bright. I hope i'll be able to come next year as well :)

Ahhhh... luvly... With so few people around.. it was way easier to get good  pics of the flowers... and more flowers... and moreee... Whheeeeeeee!!

This is one of my favourite shots. Somehow the red and white seem so vibrant. I'm no camera pro... so i hope it doesn't defy some photo-taking law.

:)

:)

Another one of my favourites.

These remind me of lychee....

Yellow tulips under the sun... Yummyyy!!

Peaches?

They needed scarecrows to scare of pests... We volunteered for about 5 seconds.

Ahhhhhh.. feel so at home.

Wynyard Trip: Chapter 2

After the Tulip farm, we had lots of time to spare. So we wondered where to go.... Near the farm was a lighthouse... and so we thought... "Hey, why don't we go see the lighthouse.." and so.. we did... From  far it did look rather promising... I was hoping the view from here would be similar to that of Cape Tourville at Freycinet (which was awesome.)

What we got in the end was...... Just this. I guess it does look rather nice... but then.. there wasn't much of a view. It was partially obstructed by the trees and so on.... but definitely cannot compare to Freycinet's.

 

Nearby was a good lookout point. Took about 10 minutes walking from the lighthouse. The view itself was alright.. I was more interested in this plaque. Tasmania has something to be proud of after all... :P Not to mention the telomerase-Nobel Laureate who was also from Tassie. 

 

Where else could we go?? There isn't really much around Wynyard to visit. From experience of travelling around Tassie... the tulip farm was probably the best thing. With no where else to go... my urge to suggest Tasmazia could no longer be suppressed. I've been wanting to go there all year.... and now... I got my wish. Outside is the little-est post office you'll ever see. It is an actual post-box at least... and i could send a letter from here if i wanted to.

What is Tasmazia famous for???? Well.. obviously... Mazes.... It has a whole variety of mazes. This was the only one I have on picture. Sad to say the batteries on my camera were dead... so I couldn't take the pics i would normally take. This was rather good tho :) There is a main hedge maze, which was rather confusing.. but also quite hilarious. At every other junction, you would meet signboards with humerous one-liners... e.g. How can you tell when a whales' water breaks? Or..  Dieting is mind over platter.... Etc...

The full name of the place is.. Tasmazia and the City of Lower Crackpot. The city of Lower Crackpot is awesome.  As you can see from the background.. this is a miniature city with fairly odd buildings and assorted oddities. Behind me is a little square of plants, with the sign.."The Worlds Smallest World Heritage Site"... or something like that. I stand grasping the sword of King Arthur.. Didn't pull it out tho.. thought i might leave it for someone else.

  There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. It had no plumbing, so it was hard to poo.    Gazing at this made me remember of the story "Enchanted Wood".... for those who have read the story.. you'll understand why I giggled at this boot.

The centre of the main maze was the House of the 3 Bears. We took an insane amount of time to search for it. It was actually very easy but the maze did a good job in confounding us. We were walking around the area repeatedly.... till someone had a brainwave and tried something different.

 

The house is not just for show.... The bears could be found having some porridge in the dining room. It was a fairly well-furnished house.. very clean too. Never would have thought bears were so clean.

Walking around the maze has its own dangers. As you can see, this was the lair of a very famous character from our childhood stories. Fortunately, the miniature wolf was not home.. probably went to visit a sick aunt. 

Nevertheless, I thought it would be wise to check up on the neighbours. I must say that i liked this house very much. Wonder if i could use it as a designer toilet. 

Lower Crackpot has many facilities and services. They have banks, pubs, clinics, schools, markets etc. Each with their own little funny quirks. This little church is even modestly furnished on the inside. I dare say we could at least hold a wedding inside it. I like the words written on the wall though... You'd have to enlarge the picture to see.

No.. that is not a real person..... :)

Wynyard Trip: Chapter 3

I'm typing the 3 chapters in reverse order... Probably because it's almost 5 am... Hehe.. At the end of the trip, we stopped by Launceston for dinner. We went to this place called Dynasty. Quite a grand looking place.. but luckily the food was kinda affordable for us students. Rice was free... so needless to say that yours truly ate enough rice to cover for the last few weeks in which I didn't have any at home.

This was pork ribs if i'm not mistaken... In Peking sauce?? Can't really remember now.... It was good eating though.

Mixed seafood platter. There was a scallop or 2 in it. I found one.. Mmm.... :) :)

 Cannot really remember what this one was. Pork or fish is my guess.. Althought there should be much differences between pig and fish... My eyes do not distinguish.... It's just food.. Mm..Yum yum to the Bum Bum.

Yum Yum

 

Just a little progression on my mushroom curry... pictures of spices not included.

This was something similar to what my mom used to make every 6 months or so... Probably because spam is obviously a no-no for health. 2nd time i'm making it in 2 years.... Over did the chilli powder tho.. So it's quite volcanic stuff, even for me.

*cough*cough*

Poor little bloggie.. so dusty... oh well.. soon to come:

1. Wynyard tulips :)

2. Recent foods

3. Recent happenings