i dont have Internet *again* and no hot water for the whole weekend! somehow both my apt. mates have it but not me, so i'm using theirs now.
but other than that, it's been an AMAZING weekend. i met up with this Msian guy in Sat morning to get his books and he ended up carrying my Tesco stuff home and going to CityCentre with me to get my printer (:
he asked me to go to his house for dinner as well but suddenly his other Msian guy called and told me that this bunch of Msians wanted to meet me for dinner so i went there instead. they were *incredibly* nice and bought me dinner as well (:
then when i mentioned i was going to church the next day, this guy J (who looks exactly like Dennis and is super nice) volunteered to go with me to the Chinese church, which is actually filled with people who were born and bred in Belfast so they all speak with accents and stuff.
the Msian people are really great and called to check up on me and everything. awesome huh?
yeah can't use Sinead's comp for so long. hope this doesn't go on every weekend. it's probably because all these Irish all go home for the weekend or something. grrr.
*oh yeah mummy i fried rice today. (: i took photo, when i get my Internet back i'll post it yeah!
?!!!! must all the TV shows i watch. the Brits think i come from America.
anyway the Msian people hv been real nice. the girl who called hooked me up with another guy who's gonna lend (not sell) his books to me until he graduates in 2 yrs time.
which means *yay* free books because obviously by 3rd year you don't need them anymore so by the time i'm finished with them he graduates so *just* nice.
so i got free notes+free books.
awesome.
*ey the AllInOne Printer has this function called copier, is that like photostating/copying ah?! because i'm wondering should i spend another 10 pounds for an AllInOne compared to just the normal printer. same price for ink cartridges and all. worth it anot? EvilSpawn, you should know this.
today one of the many medical societies came into class and played this huge elaborate practical joke on us which ended with a bunch of guys running in half naked with water guns and spraying all the first years.
and then they gave us a booklet on familiarizing with the classes (which to skip) and all the clubs in Belfast and also told us to drink more, have more sex and skip classes. and they're all medical students... apparently they get drunk like everyday. ..... ......
everyone goes home at the weekends, so Elms is pretty empty.
something big is going to happen to me soon, and i really hope i can cope with it.
okay i'm so tired now i don't really know why. i'm gonna just research for some quick recipes (i've decided to start cooking-any ideas?) and look at some micrographs then fall asleep.
okay, i just got two posts in a row and another for today before i sleep. sorry sorry.
but anyway i was walking back and this is the first time im out in Belfast like after 4 or something, so on the way back there's like a lot of clubs and pubs and stuff and the line is FREAKISHLY long!!
and as i mentioned earlier it was 2 degrees out, all the girls were wearing shorts/miniskirts/tanktops. really really.
i was walking shivering my bones out of place, and they were all waiting in line wearing next to nothing... to get into a pub!
on a school night summore. hellllo, really?!!
and outside ElmsVillage there was this whole line of girls all dressed and glammed up for a night out wearing like going to beach like that. i would seriously be in hypothermia straightaway.
oh yeah and people asked me today about where i stayed, and a lot of them seem to think that Msia is next to China/a part of China/a whole bunch of islands. i got such a laugh looking at their incredulous faces.
and they say our accent is really thick. they must be talking to the Malays huh. and since they only got one race it's hard to explain that i'm a different race from them and I AM NOT MUSLIM.
oh and they get such a kick when i tell them that we do A Levels here too. their eyes grow huge and they go 'REEEEAAALLLLY?!!!'
seriously.
okay it's so late its 9 am back home. i talk too much!
i just finished Heroes ep1!! but the last 30 seconds, the most exciting ones the sound just went off! so yeah someone please tell what they were saying.
oh and if you wanna hear how everyone around me is talking like, watch the last minute of heroes. it's EXACTLY like the two henchmen but faster like a thousand times.
i love love love it here. i had the AMAZINGEST FANTASTICEST DAY! first i got to see cadavers which kinda looked a lot of papier mache so it wasn't too scary.
then after the lecture this group of Malays from my class came and asked me if i was from Msia and they told me someone wanted to meet me. *too bad it was a girl haha. anyways she called me and she wanted to pass me all her notes and notes from previous Msian Senior Lecturers! *this is my first contact with a Msian since i arrived.
and then after that i told her about my reluctance to buy books (because they're 200 over) and she got this guy who called me and offered to lent me his books for use until he graduates, which is in 2 yrs. so i dont need to buy anymore books and i have free notes!! (: (: (:
after that i went to this Fresher's Guide To Medical School and there were only about 20 people there so we got to talking and sat there gossiping for 2 hours about everything under the sun. and this girl, Kelly from my study group invited me over to her apt. in Elms for yummy yummy food and all her apt. mates were there so we sat there for another 3 hours and just talked nonstop and they just walked me home (:
ohhh it was great. too bad my apt. mates aren't like that though. but i'm really happy already and tomorrow im off free so i'm gonna get my notes/do laundry/meet up with Kelly. OH YES AND I MANAGED TO DOWNLOAD HEROES THANKS TO LORYUNGMING!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it's like an online file and i just dled off it. connection's fast too so it took 2 hours but somehow this doesn't work for torrents.
it's 2 degrees out at night just now, i could feel my heart shivering the whole time.
i attempted dwling HIMYM today but it's not moving at all. then out of kindness i told david just now since he's in US he can watch all his fave shows on TV that are premiering this week.
and he told me that in US, his dwling speed is 2 MB.
WAH TWO MBS!
and he said that if the connection's horrible the *DROPS* TO 200 Kb!
*kickslappunch*
CBS streams the episodes online but somehow i can't load them. this is what happens when all you did for the past 3 months was watching TV. eeeesh.
oh yeah, tomorrow i'm going to DissectionRoom. i think i get to see a cadaver. it'll be fun to see people's reactions (:
but i'll be okay since i already went to morgue when i did hosp. attachment last year. let's hope the smell doesn't stay on me for another 2 days again yeah.
and people are really surprised i speak English "so well". when i say i went to chinese school for 11 years they get so shocked (:
they must think we live on trees or sth. oh yeah, i'm the only Msian Chinese in med school. all the other Msians are malays... and i haven't spoken to any of them yet.
and apparently a lot of UK ppl do a gap year after ALvls and go to Msia for the whole year/ travel around SEA. they think Msia is beautiful. reaaaally?! i would rather travel Europe, seriously.
they really overuse the word 'whereabouts' here. it's always 'Whereabouts are you from?' 'Whereabouts do you stay?' and when i reply Elms Village, they will go again, 'Whereabouts?'
so weird, people in Msia would never ask a question using that word. i've heard the words so many times here it doesn't really make any sense anymore.
p/s. the school uniforms for girls here are crazy short miniskirts. it's unnerving to see 9 yr old girls all wear miniskirts with black tights. if that happened in PuayChai or even CHS the teachers would have a heart attack.
i was complaining to everyone yesterday that i had no one to talk to and no friends but today it's been okay. so far i managed to talk to people with super light irish accents so that's great.
guess what i did today. i learnt basic life support and performed CPR on a dummy. ahahhahaha (: everyone had to perform summore luckily they broke us into super small groups and we learnt how to do CPR, Heimlich Manoever and all. pretty exciting!
and i just got another filling meal like after a week because churches here always give free lunches to students and i went and met more people.
yer TV season started yesterday and HIMYM and Heroes premiered already. ): *wei, remember to dwl and let calvin+alyssa watch also yeah!
urgh okay got another weirdo seminar to go to now about finding yourself.. (TheTen- our ExClassRep should've gone for this HAHA) and the lecture theatre very cool one it's on the roof of the hospital so it's crazy windy and yesterday it was raining while i was up there so it was about 7-8 degrees and someone told me that this is hot compared to winter! and then i was wearing a trench coat and complaining i was cold and then they looked at me weird and said ' but you're already wearing a coat!' and there they were in hoodies and normal long-sleeved shirts looking cool.
oh and today is my fave holiday after Christmas ..... MOONCAKE FESTIVAL! and my parents gleefully told me that they were bringing the rest out for my favorite dinner- beef noodles ):
first day and i'm at the library already. haha (: my Internet access in my room is screwed, so while waiting for my next lecture to start im checking emails and stuff.
i went to church yesterday and the Rev. was speaking in *such* a thick accent i couldn't understand a word of the sermon (which was surprisingly short). the people were crazy super nice and the church was reaaaally beautiful (complete with the DavyJones-esque organ) but obviously understanding what the guy is saying is waaaaay more important right?!
but it was kinda weird because everything was like a procession and when it came to offering time people put in coloured pieces of paper instead of money so i didn't know what to do and just passed the basket.
*does anyone know what they are doing?!
k i have to go to my next lecture which is Learning Style- Getting Down To Work. bye!
i've been searching for them since i arrived (which is exactly one week today) and last night i finally GoogleMapped them. there are two, Asia Supermarket and Cam Seng but only the former showed up on GoogleMap so i wrote down instructions and everything carefully but once i walked today i lost all my bearings and the directions didn't make any sense at all.
so i gave up and went to good old Tesco (of which i am a member now!) to get dishcloths and scourging pads. one thing about the Brits, everything is so convenient for them. out of all the refrigerated shelves there, only one was selling raw stuff. there were like 5-6 and stocked with precooked food that only required heating = good news for me!
but they're kinda expensive so i'm only eating one hot meal a week to make sure i survive and not die, ODing from bread. so my new meal plan is :
Breakfast- Cereal+ Yoghurt/Cranberry Juice Lunch- HamandCheese Sandwich + an Orange Dinner- PeanutButterandJam Sandwich + Yoghurt and weekends i will have one microwaved item!
i told my parents to ship instant noodles here so i can have hot meals twice a week.
anyway back to the supermarket story. walking back with the super heavy plastic bags, (which really cut and eat into your arms during that 30 minute walk back to the apt.) i saw this HUGE chinese words 'Jing Sen' and i thought JingSen= CamSeng and i was right!
the supermarket was HUGE from the outside and kinda looked like some car factory. i walked rounds trying to get into the entrance and *finally* got it (:
THEY SELL MAGGI MEE! one noodle packet for 25p though, so might as well ship from Malaysia. too bad there aren't any Msians here so far if not i can start a MaggiMee black market or sth.
anyway the market really smelled so i left quickly but without first seeing some very questionable items. since when Chinese people eat jars of pickles?! and i doubt if people in China buy giant bags of crinklecut fries or onion rings.
it's almost 4 o'clock and i've finished The Life Of Pi. i have nothing to do and im v hungry. thank God school is starting on Monday, even though it's just the introductory week.
oh yeah, i'm going to church tomorrow! there's like 16 here and like 5 diff types of presbyterian churches and got brethren church but i think it's beyond walking distance. plus got a ChineseChurch which conducts English services but i dont really want to go to a chinese church. so i'm gonna church hop forawhile and go to the one nearest to where i stay first.
i'm a bit nervous though since people in western countries generally go to church wearing dresses and hats so i think i'll skulk around in front and pretend to read something to see whether i'm dressed appropriately anot. wish me luck!!
*urgh my posts are getting so long. i need to get a friend to talk to.
woohoo. today i did the nerd thing and decided to go for a tour of the Medical Library, since im planning to spend most of m time there anyway. well, only me and another 1styr MedStudent turned up. and we really hit it off. maybe its because she's part American and lived in NYC so i could understand what she was saying (:
anyway, more pictures of Belfast! City Hall again. i can't help it, it's beautiful with the huge white marble columns and lost of statues of (probably) famous Irish. there's a nice garden in front and all these people were lying around. talking and smoking.
so nice (:
My Toilet. if you look properly through the mirror the mantelpiece (up right) is really tiny and i have to cram everything in here. this is taken from the shower area so you can't see that but it's VERY small. i can't even stretch my hands fully in the shower.
My Table! as you can see, lots of wires everywhere because i have lots of gadgetry. and see if you can find my box of mooncakes! haha.
My Room from the front door. the white thing's the heater (or so i am told..) but it doesn't work. my room is so tiny it takes one step to reach every part.
View From My Window. i people-watch here. (:
Entrance Of Elms Village. (where all the 1st Yrs stay). from here it's another 10 mins to my apt.
oh, and today i walked into M&S and looked straight at this guy and almost screamed. (the tall one obviously)
My dad's in Thailand, i'm in Ireland and the rest of my family in Malaysia AND WE'RE ALL SKYPE-ING NOW!!!
very cool!
i had the weirdest adventure today. went out to buy pots, other kitchen-y stuff and spaghetti in a can (: and then everything was so heavy and it was *so* far i got lost a few times. even worse, it started RAINING. >.<
so i took a bus and since i didn't know what my busstop was called i simply hopped on a bus hoping that it was the right one.
obviously, it was not. so the bus went allll the way to the end and the bus driver signaled me to get out. i told him the story and he let me ride the 2nd time for free and took me back to Elms.
the irish are so nice, but again, i didn't really understand the bus driver so i signalled and nodded a lot. he must think i'm a migrant from China.
*oh, and people here think im from China or the Phillipines!
anyway and then i heated up the SpaghettiInACan with the electric stove and it didn't seem to heat up so i kept putting my finger to the hot plate and now it's burnt!
ahaha yes i'm very clever right.
i found loads of great shops today, i'm gonna go buy one pound shoes tomorrow! (: (: (:
edit* OH, AND TODAY THESE STUPID MSIANS! there was this Fresher's Fair so the library had this booth and i was standing there when these 3 Msians came up to the person, asked what time the library opened in HORRIBLE english and proceeded to ask her for free pens and paperpads. the woman froze for awhile and then graciously gave it to them.
HAIYO! come all the way to Ireland to study still ask for free pen and paper?! urgh..
i was sitting watching stuff on Youtube and suddenly this LOUD SHRIEKING siren just went off and i thought it was from my apt so i panicked and started jumping to whack all the fire alarms in case angry neighbours come and whack my door.
i was gonna rush off to call the reception desk but i quickly put in my contacts first (my glasses are now held together by a rubberband k, im not gonna risk looking like an idiot!) and ran out when a fireman came and shouted at me to evacuate the building immediately.
i ran downstairs and these people outside were looking all confused and dazed, wearing pyjamas ready to go to sleep d (which is good because i thought i was the only one who stays at home at night) and one poor girl was in the middle of showering and had to run out with towel and all outside where it is below 10 degrees. luckily i was wearing thermal underwear and three layers.
so we stood outside waiting for news while all these firemen came and checked the system.
i nosebled *again*! very annoying ):< today went to register my thing, wasn't a proper orientation so i still have no friends and won't have until next monday ):
*and dont ask me to go make some friends, not easy okay, since almost everyone here is from Ireland already so they have cliques!
every night these Brits go out partying and make so much noise while i stay home and watch TV through PeekVid (which is the best invention, EVER).
I FOUND HOT WATER! I CAN DIE, REALLY! (: woooohooo. i had the nicest shower in ages. i still can't get the heater to work, but i've got hot water between 7-9 am/pm and that's enough!
aaaaaand, i was in the kitchen today and one Same-Apt-Floor-As-Me Girl (i dont know how you would name her) was watching WILL & GRACE on tv! yaaaaaaaaaaaay they get that here! (:
sadly, i dont think i can dl torrents anymore. and this comes the week before the TV season starts ): i think i'm going to cry.
today got orientation. let's hope not all the med students are nerds! (:
pic 1 is Belfast City Hall, pic 2 & 3 is my uni. IT'S FRIKKIN BEAUTIFUL!
1. I GOT INTERNET! now i dont have to sit in my room all day reading/sleeping/doing nothing/people watching. i really have NOTHING TO DO.
2. I FOUND WHERE ALL THE SHOPPING IS! well every afternoon i go for these 3-4 hr walks to different places just exploring and today, i stumbled upon this huh-uge area where ALL THE SHOPS WERE.
i swear i almost died. then i saw this shop selling nice clothes for 1pound. *Ho, you will die. but dont worry mummy i didnt buy anything. im here to study and not shop (; hahaha.
3. I HAD MY FIRST SEMI-FILLING, NUTRIENT FILLED MEAL. it was a free ham-and-tomato sandwich. yeah im pathetic i've been eating cereal yoghurt oranges bread and jam for these 4 days. can you tell im dying? i have no cooking stuff yet + no microwaveable container so no cooking at the moment and the microwave foods are too expensive. i'm already spending too much of my parent's $ okay!
well so far i'm really keeping to myself since everyone is mostly from here and have groups of friends already. 99.9% are irish, and i don't see and Asians.
tmr's my MedSchool Orientation so hopefully i will make friends that dont talk so fast (:
my legs are falling off from the walking *everything's v far from the Student Village and THERE IS NO HOT WATER it's like taking an ice shower seriously REALLY CAN DIE!
although now my fingers are frozen off i cant feel them at all and im sitting here with three layers of clothing.
the first two days here was bleargh as i just sat there doing nothing since i see NO ASIANS at all, *until no i dont see ANY of them* and summore there was nothing to do. so i sat and slept and read.
yesterday it HAILED! the weather here is weird, suddenly raining for 5 minutes, stop for 10, rain another 5, etc etc. and then suddenly little pieces of ice rained down.
it's freaking far from the main building and all so i have to walk a lot and everything. i think it's the weather but i get hungry all the time and i only eat cereal and bread and yoghurt now since i dont have any microwaveable containers/ anything to cook in yet.
the irish are very friendly and they smile at you and ask how you are all the time. but they talk SO FREAKING FAST with that irish accent i dont understand ANYTHING. so i nod and smile and act stupid. ): they must think i'm an idiot.
i want to go to orientation events but so far everything's like catered for groups of people and since most people here are from Belfast originally they all have groups of friends already. yeah sigh ):
okay lar i think i'm going exploring soon. email me! (:
*weirdly i have no jetlag and i dont really miss home. i just want to do something, this nothing-to-do state is killing me.
hey. ho here updating on behalf of sammie who currently has no internet till she gets her username n password from the uni.
sammie is damn bored in belfast as she has nth to do but read fairy tales n look at hot guys jog past her window.
she says her room's tiny and her toilet is "very clean but showerhead can't move". but its ok, as her bowel movements had no problem adjusting.
the last time i sms-ed her (a few hrs ago) it was raining out and since she didnt bring her trusty transparent umbrella which does absolutely no good in msia but would have been of use in ireland, she was stuck in her room not being able to go out to buy food, without anything to eat except for 'plain dry bread'.
also all the shops r v far.
so i asked her to make some friends in her dorm, but apparently the place is almost empty. can "hear doors slam but dont see anyone"(freakayyy)
shes only met one girl so far n everyones irish.
n no, no matter how dire the situation there, it doesnt mean she wants to come home. she just needs something to do. so ppl...send ur sms-es asap! haha
latest news: sammie found tesco after an hr of searching for it. she also says her face is frozen off.
okay got a webcam+mic so add me in Skype la huh, you know my email.
my luggage is already overweight, so i gotta throw away (another) near 10 kgs or so ):
thanks for everything people.
let's hope everything goes well and i reach there without being hijacked or attacked by gigantic snakes on the plane.
and also please hope that i dont fall asleep suring that terribly long 7 hours and miss my flight and get my luggage stolen.
and and and, hope that i dont throw up on the plane since im sitting next to the aisle, or i sit next to someone who hasn't taken a shower for 10 days because *that* would be a loooong 13 hrs flight.
so yeah. i'm gonna miss you all loads so MSN/Skype/Email/Facebook yeah! first thing im gonna do is connect to the internet and superpoke everyone okay!
or rather, my mum packed while i sat and watched (: i have so much crap that the luggage is full already only with clothes and stuff. i haven't even cleaned my room yet.
okay so it's confirmed. i'm flying to London for 13 hours, sitting in airport for 7 hours, flying to Belfast 1.5 hours.
oh yeah, i'm leaving on Friday.
and for those that still dont know, i'm going to Queen's University Belfast, NorthernIreland (which i will forever remember as the country that won the QuidditchWorldCup and produced WESTLIFE!), to study medicine.
yeah can't wait.
okayokay gonna eat beef noodles now for the very last time. !!!!!!
I took a nice long drive around Bangsar today looking at houses, thinking about my future and whatnot while listening to TheAfters. and i think i've come to terms with this.
so i'm not flying tomorrow (i think) i have absolutely no idea when i'm leaving. i just left the ticket on hold. i'm so dying to go that if they tell me tomorrow that my visa is approved, i will jump on the plane straightaway.
thank God for people who know people. parent's client, church friend, best friend...
but no news yet.
i've been walking on eggshells all day. walking around waiting for phone to ring. tense as a rubberband stretched to its fullest, ready to snap anytime.
my mother really told me to go charge myself some happy. if you dont know what it means, it's something to do with shopping and cards. JUST FREAKING CALL ME LA VISA PEOPLE! >.<
despite everything that happened, i really had the best LastMonthInMsia :)
i know i've been a bit ambiguous lately, so here's what happened in those funfilled jampacked four weeks.
HongKong, getting sick, results, Feebs' KLVisit, acceptance into med school, Pangkor Trip, fainting twice, visa applications+ rejections, watching and rewatching SNL countless times, spending MerdekaEve in KLHilton for free, finally finishing that TVB drama series, and then getting sick again.
went to the visamaking place today to kick some ass and reclaim my rightful clearance. yeah, didn't really work out as there were hordes of people and we sat there for 2 hours only to find out that they didn't do that anymore.
after one wild goose chase after another, we *finally* dropped everything my life hangs on to to the British High Comm and went TransformerToyHunting (:
yeah thanks YouKnowWhoTwoYouAre. you made my day! (:
Here. Charge Yourself A Little Happy! -Karen Walker
i wished someone said that to me. i doubt it would help much though :(
well basically i got rejected for a visa because the officers read the bank statement wrongly :'( so i have to go again and everything and i might not leave just yet/forever!
stress from that+ lots of crying+sleepless nights = being sick AGAIN.
eeeesh. so til then, i'm going to assume that i'm not leaving at all la.
gonna indulge in That'70sShow and blow my nose now :(