| calvin in cambridge |

(100) days of summer

2010-06-24T09:13:00.006+01:00

21st June
Arrival in Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3 at 7pm, after 1 hour delay before take-off due to a potential threat from 2 individuals who checked in their luggage but failed to board the flight

My parents and sisters were around, and as I hugged them I knew most of them were crying inside, and my dad hugged me tight and couldn't hold back his tears. 6 months I have been away, and I am finally home.

We went to Marine Terrace to eat Zi Cha, my favourite, ordering many local delights! overwhelmed by the choice of vegetable dishes available as compared to the uk. ate to my fill, and even drank bubble tea. went home satisfied!

22nd June

Day out with my mother and sister. Been a long time! first went to try on contacts because I would require them for frisbee matches in the future. took almost an hour to put them on and take them on. comes with loads of practice, and couldnt help blinking and twitching uncontrollably

Then went to eat at treats, this time i ordered cai fan! my personal favourite. also ate char kway teow, curry chicken and chin chao! haha yes i am always talking about food, you should know by now how deprived in uk i felt.

Bought new long sleeve shirts for my work attachment at YMCA next week! couldnt bring all back due to luggage space

Altered my zara jeans bought in glasgow.

came back for dinner, but then together with my dad the 4 of us went to watch karate kid! been a long time since we last watched a movie together =))

slept at 2am

23rd June

woke up at 4pm (haha Z monster with the other circadian rhythm)

missed lunch with kenghoe, but we didn't set anything initially, fortunately.

went to john's house before visiting junheng, and managed to drop by siewhwee's house too! shockingly, many of the odac people are getting attached =/ haha except their president. lol

then went to visit junheng, details in the other post.

then went back to john's house and met up with bryan. we're planning on a weekend getaway to tioman! happening round my birthday period. super psyched and excited about it man! =D

cab back at 1.30am

24th June

Calvin 1 Z monster 0 - managed to wake up at 9am, and went for a 4-5km run. originally intended to run 6km, but the heat and humidity was hitting down on me, and I felt really out of breath, so decided not to overexert, I guess my body is still acclimatising to the new climate =)

Did up the VinE website!

https://sites.google.com/site/victoriansineurope/

met hweeleong auyong and kenghoe for dinner at din tai fung. catch up session with the disruptees, great to find out how each has been after one year of studies in 4 different locations, 3 continents. interesting!

240610 own it. live it. disruptees!

25th June

Met my YMCA boss today to discuss about details of attachment starting next week. involved in overseeing a flag day, english speaking competition, and will also be attached to various departments to see how it works. well YMCA although completely independent of the govt (NGO), but it will still be very enriching to see how a large organisation like it function!

Lunch with auntie huan mei and cousin andy!

met ODAC people at somerset, chill and talked and ate cookies. and also did a bit of shopping!

250610 odac @ somerset 313

then met vs boys for dinner at thai express, just like the good old days! haha went to udders for ice cream, then watched soccer at jarren's! brazil vs portugal was a disappointment, goalless draw, but the spain vs chile was so much more exciting! stayed over at jarren's place.

250610 vs @ udders

26th June

had lunch with mother and sister, SAMBAL KANGKONG! loved it!

collected my contacts and jeans from parkway, then went to vj to do filming for some higher education ct session for JC2s. great to go back, went into odac room and walked around. although it was empty, it relived some memories. where my better youth was spent!

went to church with my sister!

then met wyemin for dinner at hongkong cafe in siglap. wyemin just got his license and drove me from church to siglap. cool that everyone has licence now, but it is good to be DRIVEN! talked so much, haven't done that for the longest of time. very glad that everything still felt the same!

met up scrabblers (jarren zara daniel benchia nazri) to watch soccer again. south korea lost to uruguay. sad, it was really quite good play, but sigh. asian pride!! go go go japan!! ben chia drove me home!

27th June

met arkar first for breakfast! ate egg tarts, char siew soh, fried prawn dumpling and chee cheong fun. cool stuff, reminiscing!

walked from city hall to tanjong pagar. great to just look at the sights and scenes of the bustling city on a sunday morning. only the humidity was killing me =)

singapore river

met the rest of odac for SAKAE BUFFET in tanjong pagar. massive turn out! super glad and loved the company. everything felt the same as we talked, I felt super fortunate and comfortable. constant amidst change! =D laughed and enjoyed myself thoroughly.. good times good times

odac @ tanjong pagar sakae buffet

went to grandma house for dinner (I didn't eat till full in the buffet), and they whipped up such a storm! loved so many dishes.. really really miss home cooked food =/ hurray for sunday!

reflections and revelations

2010-06-24T09:13:00.001+01:00

Visiting Jun Heng at TTSH, 23 June, 8-9pm

With a plethora of mixed feelings, of anguish and anticipation, I made my way to TTSH with john, jabez and mr khoo to visit Jun Heng for the first time since I got back, and since I heard about the incident. I entered with a heavy heart, as I knew that any bit of sadness from me would do him no good, so I held up a smile - yes that typical face - and walked in with the gang.

We had don masks as instructed by Jun Heng's younger sister, but as we entered, Jun Heng and his parents were quick to point out it was not necessary, and we laughed in foolishness. He couldn't recognise me with the mask on, but immediately after I took it off, he went 'Calvin! Did you cut your hair? I couldn't recognise you with the mask on!'. Haha it definitely cracked me up as I had not cut my hair for almost 2 months, but he said he had been looking at my photos on facebook.

There in the bed he lays, well-spirited and well-rested. His left hand was placed firmly in his left pocket (I assumed), and I did not dare to ask more. The silence and initial awkwardness was a little overwhelming for me, but it soon turned into a hearty conversation!

Really proud of the warrior, an amazing fighter. Could not have imagined the same jovial character had actually been through so much! He was light-hearted, and clearly accepted the situation he was in, but just hope it was not a brave front that he was putting on in fear of loved ones worrying unnecessarily for him. In either case, Jun Heng is a brave and strong child, and I am proud to be his senior and brother!

He talked about Modern Family, a new sitcom which he had introduced to mr khoo, I believe I would start soon! We also teased him about a potential girlfriend, and he laughed and blushed with us. I recalled one of the most amazing things he said, "I am very well-pampered here! Everything is done for me, food is served, everyone is visiting me and giving me gifts". He jovially illustrated how he did not recognise the Commander of Naval Diving Unit who actually made a trip down one weekend in shorts and with his kids. You totally cannot tell that he had been a victim of a cruel and gruesome attack.

As he made a trip to the toilet, we can't help but noticed a scar at the back of his neck. Then mr khoo asked him about it. And without hesitation he told us more and even showed us another one on his neck. 'The surgeons are very skilled,' he said with a smile, 'you can tell they are sealed pretty neatly'. But he felt that the one on the neck was a true testimony of how cruel the Sarawakian foreign workers were, and how they sought his death.

Then mr khoo asked him about what happened that day. I feared at first when he popped the question, but Jun Heng seem calm and composed, and illustrated it with detail. He was using his phone on the way back from an RJ event, R Project, and was approached by the 7 workers. Knowing their intentions, he moved on promptly in the direction for home. He then received a blow on his head, leaving him collapsing on the ground. He got up, dizzy from the blow, and signalled to them that he wasn't looking for a fight, and would give them all his valuables. They did not stop, and attacked him, the details he could not remember. Extremely cruel, 7 men to 1 helpless teenager.

He could not remember much after that, but the 7 hour ordeal was excruciating with the need to hold on to a deep wound on his scalp, and the need to muster enough strength to sit up or shout when he saw shadows. Apparently a old man had passed by and did not call for help, thinking he was a mere drunkard, and did not want any trouble. It was uncertain if he had been chased away by the 7 workers. By the way, 1 is still at large now.

He also told us about what happened to his fingers, and you just cannot believe how calm he was as he told us about his condition. His left hand's index finger has been amputated, together with 2 and a half segments of his middle, fourth and fifth fingers. They were attached to his hip area due to a procedure similar to grafting, where they borrowed skin from the hip region. It is now allowed to grow.

When I first heard about this, I questioned why God let this happened to an innocent child, who was a firm believer in Christ. I did not understand what he did to deserve this. But, it is human nature to look at and pin-point the lapses in life, and we are never contented.

After this visit, what I saw was what God did, and not what He did not do, and I understood that Jun Heng has received His blessing, and escaped many worse possible scenarios from this ordeal.

1) The slit at the back of his neck was 0.1cm away from his spinal cord, which would have resulted in paralysis
2) The stab wound across his back missed his kidneys, which of course would have unimaginable repercussions if damaged
3) His scalp miraculously healed completely, without the need to carry out grafting from his butt area, which will prevent hair growth. He now has growing hair, and looks just like before
4) The slash wounds on his hand was at the palm area, which was fixed back successfully. Although he lost his digits, he was still able to grip things.
5) The slash was on his non-master hand
6) His face and master hand and legs escaped any form of injury

Besides all this, Jun Heng also showed tremendously speedy recovery, in leaps and bounces, and psychologically he was also able to accept what happened, judging from how he was able to illustrate what happened in detail.

Praise the Lord for His blessings, and His love for Jun Heng. He had been watching over Jun Heng all along, He had listened to and answered the prayers of every single one of us, making the best of the situation. God is Great!

As for myself, I have grown tremendously from this incident, special thanks to regular updates from you Aurelia and Joshua who walked me through even as there were exams. I think it was a true testimony for how God works in our lives. I prayed regularly, and never felt His presence stronger in my life.

I have been a free thinker all my life, and many times have try to find out more about Him, but have failed. Multiple churches I attended, but never permanent; Many friends I have talked to, and have inevitably disappointed. I always said there were things holding me back, but I can never say what they are. Now that my family is supportive, and I have a conducive environment in Cambridge with supporting friends; I would want to further develop my relationship with Him in Christ. Yes, I want to be a firm believer in Christ, and I hope that friends you can continue guiding me along as I am new and ignorant about so many things.

Somehow I feel very nervous as I am about to publish this note. I hope it's a good kind of anxiety =)

a third of university over

2010-06-20T14:41:00.002+01:00

I am just about to leave my college in 45 minutes time, not just for lectures, or to sainburys to buy groceries, but for a period of 3 months. It is scary to say that one academic year has just came and past, and possibly a third of my undergraduate experience has just gone past me in an instant.

A crazy year, I struggled quite a bit at the start. being alone, having the need to make new friends. thanks to technologies like skype and facebook, keeping in touch was not difficult, and every sunday i would skype with my family. new friendships made filled the emptiness in my heart, and pushed me on whenever there are hard times. really want to thank people like zhengwei, joshua, yuhui, tim who stuck by me through it all, providing me with guidance and support. zhengwei was always there when i needed to ask about things, borrow stuff, and is an instrumental source of support in churchill. if not for him, i dun think i will be able to adapt to my college. joshua is an inexhaustible source of strength. it's a pity we only got to really know each other in easter break onwards, but there's still 2 more years! I have learnt tremendously about myself the past few months, alot more than the past 19 years. being 2 years older he had understood more things, but never hesitates to share them with me. i also like his honestly to tell me the things i am weak in, and feel i have learnt so much from him! of course, joshua has also been very helpful in my journey towards seeking a better understanding of Him, and in the final term, i have progressed so much, at a rate that sometimes scares me, in a good way.

Frisbee has been a great avenue of stress relief, and just fun! i thank the seniors (matt, lauren, gareth, eric, zhengwei, dao) for their support and encouragement. i feel a sense of belonging in the club! and they even voted me as best newcomer, something i dun think i deserve alone =x. i have been improving quite a bit, and it also fulfils my desire to participate in competitive sports, something i have never done before. for the summer league, we came in 2nd! losing only to a team filled with university level players, which was quite a feat for a small college like ours!

Academically I have been handling well with the supervisions system. special thanks to my supervisors, especially Dr Martin Stevens and Dr Alan Hendricks for their great insights into the course. and i thoroughly enjoyed myself. results will be out on 25th, and we'll see how things go!

that's all i can write for now. i will update about what happened during the past month, including the UK trip I just went, as soon as i get back home..

in 20 hours! HELLO SINGAPORE!

easter, it's the easter!

2010-05-02T23:15:00.010+01:00

The final term has finally started! I would say so far it hasn't been as intense as lent, having less practicals really makes things alot easier. but there is also the struggle to retain old information and at the same time acquiring new information! well 1.5 weeks has passed, super fast, nearly halfway of the lesson part of the term. and tripos is in 1 months time. don't want it to come so soon, at the same time I want it to end asap. sigh..

ok here's what happened the past few days!

April 25: Jiak Bak Lang - Buffet and Karaoke at HK Fusion

=D DA GEs ftw

team greece =)

自 high gang

EVERYONE

This was an awesome CUMSA event, i give it ***** (5 stars!) haha great food, free flow, and k box!! whoo haven't k-ed since jan, already getting withdrawal symptoms. need to really take a good break from all the mugging, and to just forget about the hustle of the start of the new term. i really really enjoyed myself that day. kudos to cumsa for a great great sunday! no blues for the rest of the week =)

SPRING

gardens of newhamn college

I really really love SPRING! haha all of a sudden cambridge is breathed with new life. the sunshine lights up the place, and the leaves start to grow and flowers start to bloom, there is a sudden boost of energy and positivity. temperatures are double digits, apart from occasional rain (although quite common the past couple of days), and i can wear my thin ODAC JACKET AGAIN!

filial imprinting; ducks of churchill

Really really adore this photo here, of the ducklings in my college. whoo they literally follow their mother around, it's a real sweet sight!

April 29: St John's Formal + Iron Man II

st john's formal

iron man II + julia's bday surprise

Yes I am still going for formals. bleagh, can't stop. need to complete the list. haha but st john's is a must go, one of the big 3 in cambridge. and also it was to celebrate julia's birthday! so we went to catch iron man II. my first movie in uk (apart maybe in mid-air on the plane), which was quite a blast. jam-packed action with a bit of pseudo-clicheness, but on the whole still enjoyable. great company, great show!

April 23 + 30: Frisbee College League

Match 1: Churchill Chillis vs Corpus Christi = 13:3

Match 2: Churchill Chillis vs Homegrown = 9:10

The second match was really really intense, well we were leading all the way, and we just lost out in the end. but still great play, because they were really 20-30 yos who have played so long and are super experienced, many of them playing for London and even UK.

April 24 + May 1: Jesus Brunch(es)

we all love jesus brunch!

every saturday, jesus college serves great english breakfast. sausages, bacon, hashbrown, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast.... and you can pile your plates and still not exceed 2.50 pounds!! amazing. and tasty, sinful guilty but yea you just need to have it! ok yea i still run and exercise

May 1: Joshua + Fitz Cookout with Higher Ground

fitz-higher ground cookout

it has been quite a struggle trying to figure out alot of things in my life, and why i am holding back. thankfully i am blessed with friends who are willing to listen and help me understand myself better even. cambridge is really conducive in this area, and i really hope that i will be able to take that step further. really thankful for joshua and tim =)

SNF 2010 Preparations

things are looking good for SNF planning, finally moving forward, hopefully we can make it in time for july!

chapter three

2010-04-22T00:26:00.004+01:00

i can't believe im saying this now, it's yeasterday! the day before easter term, the so-called worst term of the 3. my third and final term for the first year. cant believe how fast time passes, even when you are doing mundane scheduled activities like mugging everyday. having kind of thursday blues now, cuz apparently easter is really tough! 4 weeks of new lectures, keeping up with 2 terms of work already there, learning new things, keeping old things learnt. it is going to be a struggle, but they say the first year natscis course is one of the most challenging in the world, and i like to think that my combination has one of the worst.

iceland volcanic action has led to many many flight cancellations over the last week, with many stranded overseas or not able to come back to cambridge for the start of term. i really hope that all this ash will clear out soon, such that my travel plans and going home will not be affected.

YES I HAVE BOOKED THE TICKETS.. 21st June, 1700hrs at terminal 3. SQ321 i think.. really really look forward to going back to meet the friends and family =(

ok so what happened the past 3 weeks after Greece besides studying? honestly studying is the only thing i vividly remember. haha proud to say i have went through my lent term stuff once, michaelmas stuff the 2nd time, did some cells prac and math bio papers. I have had study sessions with joshua, tim and yiyang that turned out quite well, but gradually i also got used to studying alone i think

April 3 - Bros Cookout at Churchill

straight after my sunny hannymoon in greece, i gathered a few whom i have not seen for ages in cambridge for a cookout, just to catch up, and to whip up a few good dishes for them. it was really glad to see them after 3 weeks. you see, we have grown to see each other almost 7 days a week. and here you can see how tanned i was straight after greece. unfortunately, i've already lost it =x

April 4 -16 Random Baking Attempts

peanut butter cheesecake for bros cookout

almond cookies

butter cake

peanut butter cheesecake for VinE picnic..

isn't it great to have an accessible oven? this is one of the two greatest things about cambridge, the other is having a gym in every college which is free such that it motivates you to go exercise, well at least to burn off the KILOcalories from eating all these goodies. but yea my ah gong (cambridge ah gong la zhengwei) taught me that holidays are meant for baking, so i tried a few recipes online, and they all turned out great! yay haha =D

April 9 - joshua came over to study, CCCF Food + Games Night

joshua DA GE decided to drop by cozy churchill to mug together. haha not the most productive day, but i guess i enjoyed it alot more than other days because it was relieving to have company and to really feel im not alone in this endeavour. we also listened to 987 top 20 countdown and talked alot of crap hehe.

April 10 - Emmanuel Cookout

woohoo i just love cookouts!! haha the company, the self-cooked chinese dishes, the unique kinds of vegetables we can never find served in our hall.. a real big group, so we ended up playing a 20 men murderer, which was quite amusing, apart from the fact that the cards kept ending up with the same people somehow. oh and kudos to yiyang for cooking duck. abit sick la yiyang as a cooker. love his equipment and induction cooker. he was the one who motivated me (indirectly) to splurge on a NEW NON STICK TEFAL PAN.. just used it today to fry an omelette and it was so easy!! yay great purchase to improve my welfare..

April 12 - tim came over to study

tim decided to drop by my place to mug like the good old michaelmas days.. also because he was just about to embark on a christian fellowship retreat to wales. we watched amazing race together which was quite funny because they came over to singapore for this season. loved how great they portrayed us!

April 14 - went to yiyang's place to study

you must be wondering why i so happening keep going different places to mug, that is because i am really fearful of mugging alone! well i guess i have grown abit more used to it, but a bit of company definitely won't kill! i did quite alot at yiyang's place, enough to justify one episode of bones =x

April 16 - Corpus Post-grad Super Formal

yes yes who says formal hopping stops during the holidays? im still trying to complete my list, and thanks to chee hui and chungsun, i crossed off corpus christi! quite a hard place to go, so i immediately jump onto the occasion when the opportunity came. the food was in general quite good, love their bread which is super soft yet crispy. it was a 4 course (hence super-) formal and although the servings are smaller i was still very full. love the fish they cooked, and the dessert was great too!

April 17 - Fitzwilliam Cookout

this picture sorts of proves the male biased ratios of the year 1 freshers in cambridge, yes there are none here. fitz 3 decided to hold a back to term cookout. really kudos to chorkiang for heading the organising, and many people for their great great food. love weijun's self-marinated chicken, and junwei's soup which was like a chapalang mixture of barley brocoli celery potato carrot etc but it was very tasty! we actually played citadel until 2am. haha yea here in cambridge you play sophisticated games. haha i thought it was because i have never played it before coming here hur xP

April 19 - Picnic at Covent Garden + watching Woman in Black with victorians

HEROES

went down to london AGAIN to meet the victorians. ahh just love their company. somehow victorians have the natural tendency to gel together and clique well! we have only known each other since october, but also because of sharing commitments in VinE i guess we have forged a strong bond. check out our feat of 130 comments in facebook, just on my wall..

we went down to covent garden for a picnic. everyone brought or bought something, and most were self-baked. really really loved wenxiu's rice cakes which reminded me of home =( and also of all the junk food and sweets. we actually found potato chips refreshing after that.

we then watched women in black, our second horror play together. yes the previous was exactly one month ago on 19th mar.. we got a thing for spooking ourselves out haha. this was fantastic, love how they acted in a play that they were rehearsing for a play, such that they had valid excuses for bad props. haha love the plot and its twists. love the times when they kept us at the edge of our seats awaiting the worst. and how they made huimin screamed so much that george and i who were adjacent felt super intense too.. londoners or uk-ians reading this, it is a good play to watch!

April 20 - The most informal PSC meet-up in London!

the next day jinzhi mobilised a few PSC people in the matter of less than a day to have lunch with me the big shot. haha no la, but really appreciated them coming down even though ucl exams are really really ROUND the corner.. jerik was there too and we ate at the hare and the tortoise, great singaporean type of food. i ate char kuay teow! guilty but satisfying. sigh looking at jinzhi and syeyuet's flowery summer plans (yale summer school, obs croatia, mfa attachment in geneva just to name a few) made me few abit envious. really hope everything for me will eventually turn out well, cuz now that MCYS attachment is down, i hope YMCA is still possible..

April 21 - Random dinner with joshua and crashing st edmunds (failed) and fitz (succeeded)

joshua DA GE and i decided to randomly go for dinner at an indian restaurant, yes he was craving for it. and so we did! haha had a great time with him just talking cock like we always do, making fun of derry and just chillax on the last day before the evil easter term starts. we also loitered around st edmunds to try and look for derry but he wasnt that. then went back to fitz and talked to wenxi chork and vanda who was there too.. and i tried to help wenxi solve puzzle. TRIED is the keyword. love to hangout man, anything is better than cooping myself up in college

GREECE (Ελλάδα)

2010-03-31T21:23:00.015+01:00

[RECOMMENDATIONS]

ACCOMODATION

Athens Backpackers

Tsikeli Hotel

Aeolis Hotel

San Giorgo Villas

TRANSPORT

Taxi: 6-10 euros, anything about 10 euros is expensive, but sometimes the driver may jack up the price if its to coach stations, ports or airports / you have a lot of luggage / you are travelling at an unearthly time. we were quoted 35 euros when requested one from the port to hostel in athens, which was not very far, but we managed to cut it down to 15 euros! yes it is madness..

Metro: always validate your ticket by inserting into a machine at the gantry, seemingly trivial because you don't need to do it to gain entry into the trains, but it is necessary to print the date and time on your ticket or risk paying 60 times normal fare, yes thats 300 euros PER PERSON

Coach: to Meteora it was crazy, 42 euros for a return ticket, we did not take that into consideration, and 3 buses are required to reach Meteora, but it is DEFINITELY WORTH IT

Athens - Trikala - Kalampaka - Kastraki

Ferries: it is good to book early, during the peak season cause tickets sell out fast, leaving you expensive seats / and during the non-peak season because there is only one scheduled timing a day, you may need to factor into your itinerary, some are really ulu timings like 5.25 am or 7.30am departures.

Car Rental: for Milos it was not necessary to rent a car, most places were accessible by foot, just be prepared for quite a bit of walking. Santorini is half the size of Singapore, and because we rented a car, we covered the entire island in 2 days, walking is definitely not recommended, or all the suntanning will be done on the move, not while chilling at the beach. it costs 30 euros a day for a 4 seater automatic car, 15 euros for a 2 seater ATV (all terrain vehicle) and 25 euros for a manual car. Driving is not easy in Santorini with a few hairpin turns, windy roads, rocky roads, one-way streets with poorly visible road signs so the driver must be confident. The driver seat and driving lane are opposite of the UK and Singapore.

MISCELLANEOUS

EU Student Cards are a MUST!! we managed to save about 20 pounds on main sites of attraction because of student privileges, and they don't tell you! ask them. FREE ENTRY to acropolis, temple of zeus, acropolis museum (6 euros for public) etc, so you can travel cheap!

Acropolis Museum is a must visit, we could not take photos, but it really astonishes and engage you to know more about greek history especially the Parthenon. loved the concept and design of the building in producing a 'live' replica of the building.

Meteora is a great place to consider with stunning sights, alternatively try Delphi which we did not have time to venture, but Meteora is really a site worthy to be a wonder of the world!

Visiting 2-3 islands for 2-3 days each should be sufficient, most islands are similar.

[ITINERARY]

the long awaited greece trip had finally come and gone so quickly! definitely the best holiday i have had thus far, and i would definitely HIGHLY RECOMMEND greece as a tourist or honeymoon destination. they have so much to offer, ranging from majestic sites or ruins with rich historical value and beautiful islands and scenic beaches with stunning and unbeatable sunsets.

Day 1 | 21 Mar: London - Athens

Heathrow Terminal 5

Acropolis - Theatre of Dionysus (Greek God of Merriment)

Hill of Pynx

Streets and Flea Markets of Thision

Acropolis at Night

We were all rather tired from the plane ride and lack of sleep the previous night, so we didnt tour much on the first day, simply walked around Athens near our hotel to see what was around, dinner was settled at everest early, since most of the shops were closed on the sunday. we rested early in our hostel!

Day 2 | 22 Mar: Athens

Day 2 was a day when we ventured deeper into greek history, looking at ruins and majestic buildings of great history.

Arch of Andrianos

Temple of Zeus

Theatre of Dionysus, inside Acropolis

The Parthenon for Athena, inside Acropolis

Acropolis

Change of Guards outside Parliament BuildingLykavitos Hill National Gardens of Athens

Savvas Restaurant, Monastiraki, Athens

Savvas is a place worth visiting, with large servings of excellent grilled meat (gyros/souvlaki) for 8 euros. this type of restaurant are ultra-common in greece, but this one is exceptionally good. most serve free bread so don't worry about not filling!

Day 3 | 23 Mar: Athens - Meteora

Day 4 | 24 Mar: Meteora - Athens

Day 5 | 25 Mar: Athens - Milos

Day 6 | 26 Mar: Milos

Milos: Klima
Milos: Catacombs (Tombs in First Christians Priests and Families in Milos)
Milos: Ancient Theatre
Milos: Tripiti
Milos: Plaka
Milos: Sunset in Plaka (Castle/Kastro)
Milos: Sunset in Plaka (Castle/Kastro)
Milos: Sunset in Plaka (Castle/Kastro)
Milos: Dinner in Adamas

Day 7 | 27 Mar: Milos - Santorini
Milos: Adamas Port, Ferry to Santorini
Santorini: Port
Santorini
Santorini: Red Beach
Santorini: Lunch
Santorini: Lighthouse at Faros
Santorini: San Giorgo Villas
Santorini: Fira
Santorini: Sunset in Fira
Santorini: Dinner in Nikolas Restaurant

Day 8 | 28 Mar: Santorini
Santorini: Ancient Thira
Santorini: Ancient Thira
Santorini: Ancient Thira
Santorini: Lunch in Alfresco, Kamari
Santorini: Black Beach, Kamari
Santorini: Sunset in Oia
Santorini: Sunset in Oia
Santorini: Sunset in Oia

Day 9 | 29 Mar: Santorini - Athens
Santorini: Boat Tour to Volcano and Hot Springs
Santorini: Boat Tour to Volcano and Hot Springs
Santorini: Boat Tour to Volcano and Hot Springs
Santorini: Boat Tour to Hot Springs
Santorini: after swimming in 'Hot' Springs
Night Sky from the Ferry

Day 10 | 30 Mar: Athens - London
Athens: Olympic Stadium (1st Contemporary Olympics in 1896)
Athens: Zappoion
Athens: International Airport

a victorian affair

2010-03-31T20:39:00.005+01:00

19 March: Ghost Stories with VinE Committee + Hui Min

went down to london again to catch a play with an interesting concept! well who says ghost stories can only be told on the big screen with computer effects? the actors of this play challenged this notion successfully and kept us at the edge of our seats as they acted out 'live'. kudos to them for the use of bright lights to shine at the audience such that our vision is 'impaired' in the sense that everything becomes darker when the lights go off. i totally felt engaged as the audience, although certain scenes were slightly disturbing, like how a demon was sucked into a hospital bed which laid a man in coma, the man was literally dragged onto the hospital bed. i won't spoil the excitement for you but if you can (are in uk now) do go and watch it! although it is at ulu pandan hammersmith, but it is worth the trip there!

20 March: VinE Night 2010 - 90's Nostalgia!

Relieved to say that VinE Night was a great great success! although the turnout was lesser than expected, it was still a cozy and close-knitted bunch, with majority of the participants outside london, many outside england even! no major hiccups, and the team stay united throughout, everyone was proactive to ensure everything went smoothly, and the theme was engaging and enjoyable, im sure everyone felt nostalgic about their childhood after the event!

the day started early at wenxiu's place, where we went through final preparations, like the friendship dance video, packing goodie bags and making milo and tehtarik, our local favourites. wenxiu cooked up a storm (literally) for lunch with swensen-like baked rice with a twist of malay flavour and a super-filling peanut butter cheesecake!

then at UCL Refectory we held the event, simple, informal, VJ-like! there was awesome malay food ranging from mee goreng, nasi goreng, tofu, veg, KUEH!! i saw many people, including the weight-conscious conran, go for second and third rounds, so good job shuwen!

emcee yongfeng did an awesome job even though he wasn't presented a script nor did we give him much time to rehearse, but totally thank him for his help! the night was filled with fun games and quizzes about the 90s and i really felt my heart sank on many occasions when we were reminded of our not so distant past. kudos to jieru jianfeng and jason for coordinating programme and videos!

and what's a victorian event without mass dances..

.. loads of CAMWHORING...

president george and vp alan

shuwen and hari

huimin

wenxiu

07 batch (yes the highest turnout, including 2 from ireland!)

everyone

... and clearing up the Victorian way: many helping hands make the job done FAST!

i had a wonderful wonderful night, im sure the same goes to whoever was present. everything seems good, the first years (07 batch and 05 guys, and george the o6 batch anomaly) seem to be rather engaged for the event, so i really hope that they continue to come down to support VinE events, and our dream of making VinE events a must-come will be realised in the near future!!

thanks jianfeng and jason for housing me before i go airport at awful 5am..

productivity plummeted =)

2010-03-18T12:48:00.005Z

the end of term was also the end of the healthy body cycle of 8am to 12-1am. when the curriculum slackened so did the academic rigour. well i hope it's due to my body trying to reset like the winding up of toy, and also due to my commitments in VinE (which ain't alot xP) i am taking a break from work! well not that bad, i did start to do math yesterday, haha and hoping to do some more physiology today now that i am almost fully done with my VinE stuff and have no more excuses to slack off!

Here are some of the things I did to pass my time,

March 13 - LONDON - Imperial SingSoc Play: Love Actually is..

Went down to LONDON over the weekend, to firstly watch a production by Imperial SingSoc, mainly to meet up with the PSC scholars from London and Oxford (actually huching only) and also to support shenghao, dawei and mingquan who were involved. to my surprise two other vj girls starred as 2 of the main characters too!The plot was set in a very familiar context, a bit cliche like the channel 8 type of drama but nevertheless still enjoyable and heartwarming, to talk about love in this society that clearly is lacking it! could see a lot of effort in choreography and songs, it was really a huge production!
Massive turnout also, the number of people in the audience was like as much as the total number of Singaporeans in Cambridge, or maybe more, it's just so scary how we have infested and dominated London haha. Yea and I met my VJ group of friends who were here to catch the show too!

In short, a very enjoyable night, much better than staying in my room in Cambridge, go out and meet people YEA! stayed over at George's place near Imperial later that night!

March 14 - LONDON - VinE Lunch at Malaysia Hall and MY FIRST MEETING

The next day I woke up with George and made our way to Bayswater, the best place for Singaporean gatherings, because there are tons of good Chinese and Malay food there, not forgetting Kiasu restaurant (abit off-budget, but once in a while is ok la)

We went to Malaysia Hall for lunch, which was just fantastic. love the spiciness of the dishes, it was just HOT HOT HOT! and loved the chicken rendang which was SEDAB! haha had a really really great meal under 5 pounds, although in Singapore you will never spend this amount of money on malay food but I guess we were desperate from the deprivation of local cuisines here!
The malay kueh was awesome! abit of the glutinous rice with coconut milk, abit like ondeh ondeh. woah and not forgetting the teh tarik that you see below, most of us got 2 cups because 1 was just not enough!!

We also settled catering with cash from Rajesh, who was a real saint. He has been contributing immensely to VinE since he set it up a few years back. It is not just the amount in cash he is giving that is formidable, it is his spirit and willingness to give back to his alma mater that is truly respectable. he has promised that even though he wont be london next year, he will still find a way to work with the next batch of exco. true blue victorian indeed!

We then went to imperial college for our meeting. my first meeting actually, the meetings have always been on saturday and having saturday lectures and being in cambridge, it wasnt wise for me to be down, but glad that i was finally able to do it!

we finalised alot of stuff, and i was really excited about the upcoming VinE night, im sure it will be a BLAST, great get-together, total immersion of nostalgia of our VJ times and our childhood in the 90s!

here are some of the mass dance videos which we have done for the event

more videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/ykhan90

March 15 - Churchill Cookout

Great way to end the term and to say our goodbyes before everyone scrambles off for their own holidays, a cookout!! invited zhengwei meiyi and zihan over, the typical churchill newhall gang, but brought derry vanda and yiyang over too!

I tried making the curry puff filling which you can see in the frying pan above, and it turned out quite successful! only a little too spicy for those who can't take much spice, but still TASTY and REMINISCING of A1 and old chang kee!

then zihan vanda derry yiyang and me stayed behind to play cards until nearly 2am. ah the merits of holidays!

March 17 - Chill and Picnic at Cambridge Botanical Gardens

16th i stayed in college the whole day doing up the mass dance videos, doing laundry and going for a run even, but still wasnt able to pass time. so i really needed to get out to the bright sunshine!

loved the reasons to go for the event which i put up under the fb event!

Here are some reasons to come down for this PURELY RANDOM EVENT!
1) You haven't been there before!
2) You want to embrace spring!
3) The weather has been perfect this few days, above 10, with a whole lot of sun.
4) This is a great time to meet up before we part for our respective holidays!
5) You have been sleeping from 3am to 12pm every night and need an excuse to reset your body clock
6) You miss each other since we have not seen each other for a few days now, while we used to see each other at least 6 days a week!
7) You are heavily scarred from seeing Aylwin's photo as a sunflower and you need to see real ones to neutralise that thought or risk nightmares every single night.
8) You are super bored in college! Don't deny, if up till this point you are still reading, seriously, you need a life!

the day was an excellent choice for picnic, with the sun shining brightly and temperatures up to 14 degrees! when can you ever find this type of weather here!

we did crazy things like jumpshots and cartwheels which were unfortunately in chungsun's camera, and played frisbee for a while even! most importantly, we sat down and munched on loads of junk food and even spared some for the ducks in the river. it was really peaceful and relaxing, great break from the madness of term!

not forgetting our favourite game 'Mao' which we played on the grass seated down until we were all standing up, and were still playing!

only to leave the park at 4pm..

GREECE UPDATES

fortunately the BA strikes did not affect the departing flight, but still not very sure about the returning flight, hopefully it won't be affected if not we will be stuck in greece )=. tonight will be my last night in cambridge before the trip, heading down to london tomorrow to catch a play, then VinE Night will be on saturday and SUNDAY IS THE DAY WE FLY TO ATHENS!

stay tuned for updates during the trip, im bring my laptop there!

end of lent

2010-03-13T11:59:00.011Z

can't believe i am writing this down so fast! yes it is the end of lent/chapter 2 of han zi in cambridge. freaky how quickly this term has passed. i realised i haven updated for 20 days, also because the end of term is always extremely busy, and my weekends were burnt for various reasons. but definitely can catch my breath now, looking forward to my upcoming holiday and then it is massive revision!!

lent as you would have heard be said millions of times is really a lot faster and more taxing than michaelmas. increasing one more prac in 2 weeks seem little, but we could really feel the load on us! i found myself going for less frisbee, watching less shows, and feeling more tired in general. but i guess lent terms are meant to be like that, building up and preparing for the peak in easter term during the exams, that after falling off like a rollercoaster, embracing may week and the 3 month long SUMMER HOLIDAY WOOOO!!

ok just a snapshot of the crazy things over the past 2 weeks

28 Feb 2010: 元宵大COOKOUT: 无与伦比大汤圆！

it's true that absence makes the heart grow fondler, in this case im not just referring to the people i have left behind )= in singapore, but also the cultural traditions that we have left behind. something told the singaporeans in cambridge that we had to gather together on the 15th day of CNY just to eat glutinous rice balls, and we did! i personally whipped up sambal prawns using sambal paste from singapore, but the prawns were quite chui la from sainsbury. hmm not a good place to buy seafood here =)

unfortunately, more people were supposed to turn up but because of the first CUMSA committee meeting it was reduced to this, still great turnout i feel, haha just look at the crowd! and we also found out that in cambridge the tang yuans had an abbreviation, called GRBs (glutinous rice balls) which was indeed quite cute!

March 1: Oversleeping and Finalisation of Greece trip

Really shameful to post this here because for the first time in my life (yes) i missed lectures because i overslept for school. felt really bad after that even though i only missed one introductory lecture, but yea it has taught me to set more alarm clocks in the future =x. needless to say, i haven missed anymore after that! what was surprising was that i actually slept a lot on saturday night and then on sunday night quite a bit too, not sure why i still didnt wake up, probably due to accumulated fatigue after 7 weeks.

went over to Emmanuel College to straighten out the itinerary details for greece trip. during that day we actually talked briefly about the major destinations and finally booked our air tickets. it will be from 21 Mar to 30 Mar, for a total of 10 days.

we just finalised more details on 10 March, now we are going to Athens (a lot of greek temples and ruins and also the city part of greece), Meteora in Kalampaka (monasteries literally planted on tall rocks), and then moving on to the islands Santorini and Milos, great beaches, resort like accomodation which is cheap also. thats the life!

we have know that there were ongoing strikes in greece, hoping it will simmer but it seems to persist. but just yesterday (12 March) we received news that British Airways is going on 'scheduled' (the part i find most ironic) strikes on the days we are flying there and back, and we are really really hopeful (keeping fingers crossed) that it wont affect us if not we have to redo alot of planning! bad luck bad luck!

March 5: Wolfson College Formal

One of the 'mature' colleges in cambridge, admitting only people above 21, just nice for singaporean guys after NS. the fellows do not cluster, but then they observe very strict rules when it comes to formals. but still, that didnt stop the cheeky fingers from dropping pennies into each others wine glasses and desserts. pennying is evil, i really dun like it when it happens to me, especially the dessert since u are not supposed to eat without utensils, and when the dessert rocks it gets SUPER IRRITATING!

here's a picture showing the ties that bind!

apparently we look alike, i beg to differ

March 6: CUMSA Annual Ball 2010 - SHOWHAND!

CUMSA's biggest event of the year, annual ball. great way to approach the end of the term. haha with a theme that is in sync with the current opening of the integrated resort in singapore. my first time wearing a 'black tie' dress also although it is not really proper with regards to the long sleeved shirt and jacket and pants but i still got a bow tie! (borrowed hehe)

the whole night was filled with lame jokes due to our capable and cold emcees yuhui and joshua

i especially love the personalised table seating arrangements with the photos that they koped from facebook stalking, and we also tried to replicate the photos. my photo was taken with zhengwei and meiyi during Asian Food Festival, another CUMSA event.

on more drama things i saw what happens when people lose their sanity to alcohol, there were mad people who were so drunk they went around splashing people with water from buckets of melted ice previously used to store white wine. i kena-ed quite abit myself, until now i haven figured who she is haha.

but onto more pleasant things, i guess i had a great that night, and look forward to the ball next year! that will be by my batch's committee, it is sure to be a blast. hmm till then, in anticipation..

psst: these occasions are great excuses for camwhoring, wait, you dun actually need one!

me and my 大哥 joshua!

vs boys in cambridge! to keep her flag unfurled!

the cool people at my table

physio prac buddies!

haha liu yun acting cool, i am his fan!

1st year PSC scholars

random photo!

1st year natural scientists

March 7: Lunch with Perm Sect of PSD at Oxford

after one whole night of fun, some of us had to get up early the next day just to take a bus to oxford. you see perm sect is down for her regular enrolment and publicity trips but she decided this time to meet up with the scholars to have a kind of dialogues. why not! since there's also a chance to meet up with friends from oxford

the dialogue was short but fruitful, i guess i learnt about a lot more things which i wasn't particularly clear before but i am supposed to be clear since i will eventually be serving my bond with them. hmm i look forward to more sessions, and the next time i will probably make sure i ask questions to benefit more!

and then the psc scholars in oxford took us around for a short tour. i guess oxford is alot more city-like, but i still prefer cambridge because it is quieter, but then there aren't many places here to go, so i guess its a give and take!

I really love the last two photos, hmm =D i guess i have some talent in photography!

March 10: Last lecture..

Biology of Cells is always takes the last lecture of every term, and it must always end with a bang

March 10-11: CUMSA Lent Bop - Hollywood Walk of Fame

no no i still don't like clubbing, i was only there to support the current CUMSA com. after one whole night of experience, i still conclude that clubbing is not for me. music is too loud, and im not a fan of alcohol!

March 11: Churchill Formal FINALLY

why finally, because i started inviting people since 2 months ago, but its scary that 2 months just flashed past us like that, and finally it was the day we (or at least I) have been eagerly waiting for. a massive turnout of 20 guests, 19 of whom are freshers, I guess it was a great success..

but more amazingly, it was the best menu served EVER. that being my 4th or 5th formal in college, i have never actually eaten something so good here before. appetiser was salmon, and not soup to my disbelief! main course was duck which could have been better with more sauce but it wasnt very dry. and dessert was tiramisu! wooH, some actually found it better than pembroke.

it turns out the food was so good because the master invited guests for formal that night, so the kitchen had to whip out everything they have got to impress. im glad i postponed it by 2 days eventually, because i also had formal on 9th, and it was really nothing compared to the menu on 11th.

i don't exactly have a photo of wenxi here, but that irritant actually pennied me 4 times, but i have better friends who shared with me, so i was still relatively sober at the end of dinner. hmm he better watch out next time =P

March 12: Churchill Ultimate Mini-social

we went to dojo noodle bar, this chinese restaurant place that serves big portions of noodles. not bad i guess, i had penang char kway teow that was ok, acceptable, although it didnt exactly remind me of singapore style char kway teow, which i was hoping for. haha the restaurant is really funny because they tried to be abit english, coming one with noodfucius (pun on confucius) but i feel it is abit PHAIL. haha well i had a great time with the frisbee freshers!!

ok i have a lot more things coming on now, actually going to london later today, well i will update more frequently now since formal classes have ended! so stay tuned!

jangan tension!

2010-02-26T21:59:00.006Z

feels great to complete 2 timed essays in 2 days, yes each taking less than one hour each, and now having the free time to relax a bit! just less than two weeks left, and really got to not to be too hard on myself so that i will have the stamina to thong through till the end! not much week 7 blues, but just a bit tired, but still motivated to sprint till the end, then have 6 weeks to consolidate the term's work, and tour greece! yay should be going with derry, yiyang and chungsun for now, don't know who else to jio yet, but we will see!

ok my typical list of happenings this week

20 Feb (Sat)

Churchill Cookout

Yes i finally did it, hosted my very first cookout! Not easy there were like loads of people, and i personally cooked 3 dishes. but thanks to counterparts and their formidable culinary skills, it was a great success. great turnout, but owing it to the Malaysian Night we i will touch on shortly, and great fun. only bad was time management but it was because we were rushing to make the show, but still, all turned out fine! but i finally understood that hosting a cookout can be really stressful, but it won't be soon before the next one happens, since my college is really far and no one in the right mind will come by.

Malaysian Night

the main reason why i organised the cookout was in conjunction with Malaysian Night, which was held in Churchill College. well a great friend of mine yuhui was performing, and it's the least i could do to garner some support for him! so yea that whole gang who came for the cookout went straight to support him after that (we went prepared with banners). it was great fun, haven watch a drama production for ages! the actors were really good, and it was apparent that they have rehearsed vigorously for the actual day. so in character. the plot was twisty too, not forgetting constant comic reliefs which never fail to crack us up despite it being a 'serious drama'. i thought yuhui was really good! haha he's usually the joker sort, but could see how serious he was about acting when he was on stage, and it was great great entertainment value. sigh, kinda miss the early vs days when i participated in evening of music and drama or dramafest. no big role then, but still rehearsed very long, and it was like a team effort. ok some photos of the actors and audience!

21 Feb (Sun)

HCI Alumni UK-VinE CNY Carnival 2010

after a whole day of work to ensure the cookout and support team went smoothly, i barely had sleep and had to get up the next day at 5am just to cycle to the train station to catch the earliest train to london. the day started out CRAP because it turns out i bought saturday's tickets instead, never do things at 2am (thats when i bought the ticket, after the chu xi countdown). and i also learnt that uk is a place where doing things beforehand (like booking tickets in advance) will do you no good. lol no difference to just go there and buy -_-''

ok but other than the 1 hour weight at the train station, the rest of the day went well. being in the committee based in london yet being away in cambridge was really hard because i found myself lacking the ability to contribute tangibly. not being around for any meetings, only been able to do publicity and sponsorship stuff that didnt require being around. and the website, which i haven't resolved.. sigh, but oh well this presented great opportunity to give a hand!

it was really fun being involved, and there was really quite a bit of chinese new year mood generated with the songs and goodies. we sold peanut cookies, milo and teh tarik and earned a total of 60 pound, not bad for a day's work only. we were also involved in the yusheng preparation part. well most of the baking and shredding were done on saturday, but i still helped to clear the mess up and everything, so i did my part! haha memorable part about clearing up was the duct tape which was impossible to peel from the ground. had dinner with some of the comm members before heading back on a night train, by that time i was dead beat and i just slept the whole way through.

CUMSA Elections and AGM

while i was out having fun with the vj kids in UCL, my peeps at cambridge were running for an election of their own. yes the results were out, and i can't be happier how the comm turned out, as most of my friends were elected onto their desired posts. well there are some lack of variability in the comm, be it gender or subject for that matter, but i do feel that there are many team players present, so whatever differences or problems im sure they will straighten things out. but this means no more ponning of CUMSA events for me! must support hehe.

22 Feb (Mon)

Random Snow

yes it snowed again, but melted within a day. MAKE UP YOUR MIND UK WEATHER..

迎接虎福临门！·

2010-02-19T00:13:00.016Z

Chinese New Year deserves such a cheena title for my blog post! yes yes i have not been sticking to my minimal one post a week ritual, sorry but last week was really really madness, and i shall attempt to tell u why.

on the academic side of things i had 3 essays! hmm seldom they all come together, but i guess it was my supervisors way of wishing me a good CNY break, which btw most are ignorant about here.. not surprising. but i guess the motivation to finish them before CNY weekend was SUPER HIGH, and i really chiong to finish all of them. hmm SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT..

ok onto the more fun side of things..

Feb 7 (Sun) Pembroke cookout!
it was a really huge gang this time, and i was introduced to the black hole of card games: Mao. wittingly invited by cambridge mathematicians, the only rule being there are no rules, and you set the rules. but it can be addictive, except the fact that you are likely to be bullied if you first played it and didn't know the concept.

oops no photos for this, need to pester someone to upload the photos!!

Feb 8 (Mon) Feast and Fitzwilliam

Guys day out at fitzwilliam, treated to great food and the real version of Mao (yes there are two Mathematicians at Fitz), and I was totally tortured by the game. It was fun just to hang out with the guys and our miserably failed attempts trying to dig out secrets from each other. of course the pillar of fitz 4 didnt seem to hold so well when certain 'dirty laundry' were aired in public. ok la not so bad la, we only play play only haha!

Feb 9 (Tue) CUMSA New Hall Formal

It was a struggle alone just to confirm my attendance for this as apparently I had not signed up and merely accepted the facebook request, which obviously is not enough (yea you have to pay!). but i took a chance to sign up on the waiting list, and somehow someone pulled out and i got to go instead. but that meant going to supervision in formal clothing (quite a normal trend here la), and a mad rush cycle from city centre up the hill to new hall college. but it was worth it, with good food, good company, and a good game of darts. yes, i learnt the scoring system for darts, not very useful as a lifeskill, but at least something non-examinable (-_-'')

Feb 10 (Wed) Churchill Ultimate - Downing Ultimate Frisbee Formal Swap @ Downing College

massive out of comfort zone to actually go on a formal with NO singaporeans, but i feel most comfortable already with the frisbee lot, especially when seniors are super nice and often give constructive feedback, and also make effort to connect with me, i really can't ask for more. turned out quite well, i was quiet as usual, and didnt drink much, but still participated. played table soccer, talked alot, WATCHED THEM do the 3-pint challenge, trying to play with a black frisbee disc at a poorly lit area, and watching my college granddad drunken antics; i had a great time. but it wasn't a good choice staying until the end, reaching college at 1am, and still having to rush a lab report. ended up sleeping at 3am, but it was still an enjoyable night.

Feb 11 (Thu) - Trinity College Chinese Formal

Formal initiated by the Chinese, but I hopped on the band wagon and managed to get invited. ALL IN THE NAME OF formal hopping, striving to clear the list of colleges by the end of 3 years. trinity college formal is one of the cheapest, but food was average, and a lot of self service. but still had a great time hanging out in tian bo's room with derry and yuheng and just spamming random youtube videos.

yes you should have realised by now that was 3 consecutive formals in 3 days, what better way to welcome the new year? hmm and you do recall about the 3 essays! haha bottom line is, not much sleep hmmm.. one week only la!

Formal Swaps Report Card =D

Christ's

Magdalene

Churchill

X

New Hall
X

Clare

X

Newnham

Clare Hall

Pembroke

X

Corpus Christi

Peterhouse

Darwin

Queens'

Downing

X

Robinson

Emmanuel

St. Catharine's

Fitzwilliam

St. Edmund's

Girton

St. John's

Gonville and Caius

Selwyn

Homerton

X

Sidney Sussex

Hughes Hall

Trinity

X

Jesus

X

Trinity Hall

King's

Wolfson
SOON
Lucy Cavendish

Feb 12 (Fri) - WORK AND REST
chose not to go for churchill spring ball, and ended up doing 2 essays instead. wise choice, there was alot of booze, abit of unrest and party till 3am.

Feb 13 (Sat) New Year Goodies Baking and 除夕夜团圆饭- 超级无敌大火锅！

tried to create the festive mood in our very own way. some time we are so so so so so greatful, no we are indebted for cho mee's present, for us to buy all the chinese products which can't be found nearly anywhere else.
i tried to bake kueh bangkit, which turned out quite well for a noob like me.

zhengwei, meiyi, wanlin, derry and shueli whom i baked with tried more advanced stuff like pineapple tarts and peanut biscuits. pineapple tarts were really intense because they were made from pineapple fruit, which had to be boiled dry, then cooked for 3 hours with sugar until that caramel brown is obtained. i dun even think i have the patience. the dough was made hands on too. note our attempts to make weird shapes! like star, and tortoises haha.

peanut cookies were like the 3rd year wanlin is making, so they tasted like those sold, and not just the anyhow brand, it had the standards of a branded kind! haha i joked with wanlin that she will be my new best friend.
then it was the massive steamboat at pembroke. usual hangout due to the massive common room found there, that can probably fit all the singaporean freshers (if they go that is).

i loved the pork floss bakkwa bread which daniel chen made, yes from chomee again!

loved the tomyam steamboat! loved the normal steamboat!

people loved my bean paste minced meat also. and my kueh bangkit, both wiped out.

loved the dumplings!

my stomach was in totally spoiled that day. and guess what, we played MAO. haha we totally have no life, and we just waited together until the clock struck 12 (although it was already 8am in singapore), but its still the significance of the new day, wished each other happy CNY, and really tried to be high! i have a video of our miserable attempt, but oh well cant really post it here.

and guess how we spent the first few hours of the year of the tiger. we exchanged lame jokes! HAHA yea quite sad, but i did have my fair share of laughter.

okok more non-food photos

not forgetting i actually managed to do new year visiting on SKYPE with my family at 3am uk time, and talked to my uncles aunties and cousins. THANK GOD FOR TECHNOLOGY!

Feb 14 (Sun) Chinese New Year Dinner at Pembroke (again)

you must be wondering why the same place for two days, but there was a high turnover of participant. excluding the host, there was only a repeat of one other guy (yuhui), the gentleman in blue in the above picture.

and i have to say, because it was potluck, the food was outstanding also, well a picture speaks better so just take a look..

really adored yuhui's mapo tofu, THANKS TO CHOMEE again, and jeffrey's pork rendang, ada's indian curry. here we have a congregation of great cooks =D

I guess spending CNY away from family and friends in singapore is not as bad as i imagined, since i do have my fair share of new found friends here AND skype does help to minimise distances. certain customs like new year goodies can break geographical boundaries with the help of angelic chomee. but again, we were lucky that CNY this year falls on a weekend, because previous years everything functioned as normal, yes lectures and practicals. whatever the case, im thankful for all the hearts and smiles that provided warmth and festive spirit to this important tradition that we chinese SHOULD BE PROUD OF, and a novel way of celebrating in cambridge is just as fun!

looking back

2010-02-06T23:30:00.004Z

and as usual it is like a kind of information overload, more practical, long hours (9 to 5), 6 days a week, frisbee 3 times a week. im sure you guys heard alot about this.

but this week i also busy with other stuff, when i was not doing work, i was designing logos and doing sponsorship for VinE. but yea i kinda realised 3 years is very short, and many tell me first year no need to chiong so much, no need to worry so much about work, should participate and be involved, and then next time can look back and say wow i did this and i did this, like now when i look back at vs vj days i was really proud of the tough times i been through, even in OCS when i was the CPS for section field camp, one of the best times in OCS (yea quite sick i know)

of more interesting things, the term is ending in about 5 weeks time, and i am probably going to tour. definitely not going home unfortunately, but going to tour with a group of friends, probably paris and spain. yea i know it's SUPER COOL, not to make you guys jealous, but this is one of the high sights of studying overseas =x

very happy that i am sort of also finding a place among the singaporean freshers here. i think i see a lot of potential in many of the friendships i have made, and i know that they are likely to flourish over the years here. the natsci bros (and sis) like derry yuhui joshua yiyang yuheng and gang, actually all astar scholars haha but yea it's been great to have their support and company through this rushed hectic life

recently many things happen to spur me thinking about school. hmm i actually didnt go visit vs when i was back in dec, oh well, but i did meet mr khoo with john jabez and seth. but oh well recently mr jason lai has been talking to me on facebook, and VSNPCC also got its 10th year consecutive gold, which signifies 10 years of real hard work, so yea really does bring back some memories of the times there. yea giving announcements almost every assembly, as jinjian and firdaus didnt like to do announcer duties. but the dynamics of vs is changing everyday la. i remember we being in programme department for first SLI in 2006 (leading tradition). SLI is into its 5th year this year. CAN YOU IMAGINE. we kept saying inaugural, but now its like first landmark. yea we have all grown up, not forgetting between vs and now there is 3 years when we shared doing totally different things, be it in different JCs, or in NS. but look now, we are still in touch. haha so this is something very hard to come by!

and also in vj when i did crazy things like OG head and heading odac, which was like one of the best and biggest accomplishments of my life. we started DARE, with divided interests, some wanted it more than the others. but im really thankful darryl actually headed it well and we saw through it till its completion. of course i do recall the low parts like the sponsorship saga, the periodic conflicts and washing the bicycles till late at night. those were the days. and it is heartwarming (although i really really want to be there) to know they might be going around visiting for CNY.

ah CNY, talking about that, you must be wondering how am i going to celebrate it? i assume you are. we are definitely going to hang out, have a GREAT FEAST. haha and i am going to try bake some new year cookies. i know some people are already making peanut cookie, pineapple tarts etc. YUM YUM lets make it happen! first CNY overseas without family, it will be a whole new experience.

nothing much spectacular happened this week actually, only we are reviving churchill cookouts, me, meiyi, zihan, zhengwei. haha although its 3 year 3s and im the only first years, but its still nice hanging out with them! so yea enjoy more great dinners to come!

Of dilemmas and new perspectives

2010-02-01T00:08:00.006Z

This week wasn’t the best one, but memorable I guess. Well school was relatively tougher with more practicals and the week was packed with formals and meet ups with friend. Yesterday I felt so drained I fell asleep straight as I lay on my bed, and only woke up the next morning. Oh well, still handling the workload well, but something this week made me thought a lot about a lot of stuff.

Cambridge University Malaysian and Singaporean Association (CUMSA) elections are just about to kick start next week, and now it’s the nomination and sending of manifestos phase. I never really thought much about running for a position before, and honestly I wasn’t as passionate about the organisation compared to others I once belonged or belong to now. But giving it a second thought, I realised that it may indeed be what I had always enjoyed to do: being involved.

I started to find out more and talked to people, and I realised that there are many things about the organisation that I felt for, and wanted to do better. I wasn’t looking at a major position, but just a small contributing member, since I too was a member of the VJC alumni in UK (Victorians in Europe). Many around me wanted to run too, and I could see that they were a lot more into it than I was. I was not very sure myself. Then speaking to Darryl on facebook, I realise that I will most likely regret it if I don’t at least try. So I finally set myself on writing a manifesto.

Only to find out that the Annual General Meeting clashed with my VJ CNY event, which I had already promised I was going for. Not a big deal I thought initially, but those already in the committee thought otherwise. It was a massive struggle for me to decide whether I should just go for it, or settle for nothing, as it was obviously easier to justify it with the clashes in dates.

But people like Zheng Wei urged me to take it up, as it was a rewarding experience. I knew it will help me develop as an individual, and help me pick up useful skills for the future. I haven’t been so tied for a very long time. I usually don’t think that much when it comes to this, but this time I felt a severe lack in confidence and direction as to where I am heading towards.

I knew I didn’t want my university years to end up with a degree and nothing else. I wanted to maximise it and participate. At the same time, things at CUMSA don’t seem to go my way. VinE was good but there was a limit to my contributions since it was based in London. Frisbee captaincy is hand-picked by seniors, and significantly dependent on skills I would suppose, an area which I am still trying to improve on.
Then I was informed of something that made things a lot easier for me. To end this draining dilemma, I was told that it was written in the constitution that absentees of AGM are forbidden to run for any position. With that, I could only settle with not running, but I guess I was relieved the decision was made for me.

Not good, I know, I haven’t really faced the BIGGER ISSUE, which is the lack of self-belief and direction. But I guess I learnt a lot more from this struggle too. I know I still have it in me to try to stay involved and I want to maximise my time in university. Although I won’t be elected into CUMSA, this has taught me to strive for greater things elsewhere. I will not shy away from future opportunities.

Wen Xiu is asking for helpers in Summer for UKSSC convention in Singapore. I thought it would be challenging and enriching to take it up, so I might just do!
Alright! So much for a decision that was made for me. Here are the interesting things which happened this week:

1) Clare Formal (28/1): great way to meet up with friends and catch up. The main course was quite good, some guinea fowl thing that was really tender, unlike the usual chicken that the halls served which was dry.

2) Pembroke Formal (29/1): I have to say the food was excellent, expected high standards but it was really really met and exceeded. Super loved the dessert! Played interesting name games with the gang later, met more new people again. (Yes I haven’t exhausted new faces in the Singaporean freshers)

3) SNOW SNOW¬! overnight somemore, waking up to a sea of white, thinking to yourself: 'hmm.. they must have stayed up all night to paint the whole time white'. not so exciting when you actually try to cycle and keep falling down. heh i personally fell twice =(

4) Asian Food Festival: CUMSA event, really good with a lot of effort put in! So much food that I just felt super bloated and lethargic after that

There was self made cold plate, bak kut teh, chicken rice, oyster veg, laksa, meat braised with dark sauce, bur bur cha cha and onde onde!
Kudos to the laksa, dark sauce meet and onde onde, my favourites!
Satisfied =D

5) Celebrating sister's birthday over skype. hmm.. refreshing! xD yes she is 21, and we got her a special present! it's amazing how we are all growing up unknowingly.

6) More involvement with VinE. The theme for the annual VinE Night is out: “90’s Nostalgia”. While trying to research for ideas to design the logo, I came across youtube videos of greatest hits in the 90s and channel 8 drama series theme songs, which really brought back tons of memories!

Here’s a few for you to reminisce the good old days!

Under One Roof http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMxZgQvvrB4
PCK Pte Ltd http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkaFQPhXcVM

Power Rangers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PrUQKi2imA&feature=related

Emo Song with all the cartoons http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_wqBa27Rlk&feature=fvw
Magic School Bus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKJCutTZNqo
Sesame Street http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WpZ2kkaGQI&feature=related

早安老师 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I66UznosoR8
双天自尊 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrYNRG-RTPE&feature=related

敢敢做个开心人 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN5ZrxGZpyU&feature=related

福满人间 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTd2C4vYLTY
播音人 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBZBkuf6Ipc&feature=related

豆腐街 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lseMPDM54S4&feature=related

老师总是比我早 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODiqo_tl6kw&feature=related
Uncle当自强 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWRgwBnbcqk&feature=related

煎煎大家乐 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBD0nRj4cnA&feature=related
Best of 90's music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMpK7FPn5Sc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0M0bwrSI6w&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwZIzVHGOLk&feature=related

And here's my design for VinE night. initial stages

week two was not weak too

2010-01-25T00:34:00.008Z

i can't believe it is only 2 weeks, seems like i have left singapore forever already. then again, looking at this 2 weeks, every single day time passed super fast, so it's kind of weird.

this week i had 2 pracs, so not so bad, but next week i have 3 pracs (5h each) so haha if i can survive that this term shouldn't be a problem. major things this week is that I just got back 3 out of 4 papers, and they turned out fine, alot better than expected given i was struggling to find time to study and to spend time with family and friends like EUUUs. but not to be complacent, given one of the papers was actually my christmas holiday homework, so there's nothing much to celebrate! yeah but i sort of get what exam in a formal setting is like (i did 4 essays in 3 hours =x) so more mentally prepared now.

ok enough about the boring academic stuff. last sunday (17/1) was the 800th anniversary lights and fire show so i went out with a bunch of singaporeans and took alot of pretty pictures!

I am going to go for 2 of their college's formal hall next week. so yea it is ON MAN. and frisbee is also picking up with 2 weekday trainings and 1 weekend match. the weather has turned warmer (but still single digit) this days and is unlikely that we will meet snow already. so im hoping for less rain and more sun!

i have also been trying to make up the victorians in europe (VinE) website. not too good, quite failure as a webmaster cause i really can't do html for nuts. now trying to change it to wordpress to facilitate making it up, but can't even do that. sigh, i really need hanteng's help. hope something can be done!

in anyways i have been designing a new logo for VinE, tell me what you think oh and more food pictures haha!

(lent)ement

2010-01-17T13:09:00.005Z

finally settled in. things unpacked, lectures started, jet lag gone, body clock accustomed, fully winter suited up, geared for the cold, getting the hang of the cambridge tempo once again.

term started not so good with a progress test on tues. well it was ok i guess, i felt i had prepared it to my best considering the numerous amounts of distractions back in singapore heh =D. needed more time to write more in essays, but as wyemin aptly puts it: 'don't you always need more time in exams!' haha yes i will learn to be more succinct in my answers in the future.

tues and wed were really great days. i did nothing much, just unpacked and lived life with a slow tempo. cooked quite a spread as you can see in the photos below. just try to enjoy the lack of work before work started to accumulate.

they say this term will be a little more hectic then the previous, considering more practicals (2 or 3 a week alternately). will definitely have lesser time to myself, to go and run and stuff, but oh well TIME MANAGEMENT IS THE KEY! quite excited about some of the topics that will be learnt this term too. for cells it is my favourite bits on genetics and cancer, while in evolution the animal bits are coming up. will be another intellectually fruitful term i hope.

first 3 days of lectures went ok, with many practicals cancelled as they are only starting next week. so again it is quite jalan jalan for me, just taking time to eat well, and to do extra reading. good la, it's like pacing for the long run, like that then will have stamina. cepat jalan in the weeks to come! fortunately there will be a break in the middle, well not an official one, but it's CNY, and i know it will be a rejuvenating period with lots of goodies and meeting up with friends, so looking forward to it (week 4-5, already midway then)

yesterday churchill had a cookout, in conjunction with new hall again as usual. there was a lot of good food. especially herbal chicken. wow it's like ginseng and wolfberries, don't even know how people can actually do such things here. but really amazing and i ate alot. and the sweet and sour sauce from scratch, was also omggzZed super tasty. the pictures below tell more!

frisbee starts next week, quite excited about it. my jersey is in! they call it stash here, but still the same. very happy cause it marks an identity and a sense of belonging. hurray for more great frisbee to come!

ok more updates sooner, but SO FAR SO GOOD!

'lentement' is a french word meaning slow tempo

chapter two

2010-01-09T13:18:00.002Z

one month back in singapore passed by quickly. enjoyed the warmth of the sun, family and friends, spicy hot chilli. no not enough, how can we ever complain that it's too much! i really don't feel like going back at this moment. i feel i need more time. i feel that people here need more time with me.

they say the second time will probably not be as hard as the first, i think otherwise. having been in cambridge for 2.5 months already, i understand how lonely certain times of the days may get. i understand how strong i have to be having none of my closest friends and my family around me. now that i have to leave all this warmth and be back to embrace that coldness, i have a thousands reason to reject it. but it has to be done i know, and after being back, i know that i will always return to that same old feeling with everyone here.

part and parcel of studying overseas, these are the not so UP parts about it, but going back will also give me a greater chance to find a root there, to develop new lasting friendships, and to find new purpose! 2.5 months was like an adaptation phase, and i look forward to it blossoming this new term. not just with the foreign locals, but with the local foreigners (if you know what i mean).

alright, just about to leave home to changi airport t3. going to embark on one full day of flying, but yea it will be the start of a new chapter, of calvin in cambridge, lent term 2010.

2009, a year of changes.

2009-12-31T17:08:00.001Z

the year started, fresh from A levels. who would knew it would turn to be a year of unexpected changes?

i bade temporal farewell to the journey of academia to embrace a life of regimentation and discipline. the days before bmt was filled with apprehension and dread. then on january 8th, i finally enlisted. but thankfully for a bunch of new found buddies, life in tekong was made a whole lot easier. no matter how tough the training may be, how bad they treated us, we can always look forward to going back to my bunk to the familiar faces.

BMT 01/09 GRYPHON COMPANY PLATOON 2

we munched on everything, and created common 'enemies' just to make us feel better. days after field camp were memorable, and i really looked forward to booking in. because the people in gryphon platoon 2 gave me a reason to go back to camp.

straight after chinese new year the results for psc interview came out and i knew the year was potentially going to change, i just had to await admission into uni and a level results. by march it was confirmed that the year will end with a twist! i was about to embark on studies in uk, something i had dreamt of doing since JC.

9 weeks passed fast and we quickly moved on to the next phase of army. i recall the first day i stepped into delta wing, lta faizal gave us the ultimate 'welcome to delta wing' treatment. i really felt like giving up officership and just didn't feel any sense of purpose in the so-called prestigious feat, but fortunately i knew i was not alone in the long path towards commissioning. my odac friends, and friends from delta stood alongside and braced every tekaning session, and every outfield. my insecurities were often overwhelming but after sharing i felt a lot better. the purpose was not there but depending on mutual motivation i was able to push on and overcome service term.

OCS SECTION FOUR

special mention goes to section 4. we forged a strong bond almost immediately. its amazing how we functioned so effectively as a section. we are full of meticulous people who took a great deal of effort to make sure everything was of high standards. the section was bonded and everyone was cooperative, it gave me a sense of relief during section trainings because i knew it cant be that bad with each other around. not forgetting the most number of ippt golds in the platoon and the ops order preps which attracted all the big shots of delta wing =) the rest of platoon 2 was excellent too. most were positive, and stresses only made us stronger. i recall how we would sit together to plan for ex warm jacket, which really pulled us together! i dare say the platoon is the most cooperative in the wing, and esp when i was CPS during section field camp they gave me least trouble =DD

OCS 75/09 DELTA WING SERVICE TERM PLATOON 2

disruption came on july 1st, leading to four years of block leave. suddenly it felt like a standstill, because the girls in uni were starting school, and the guys continued their journey in NS. i was alone, accomplishing nothing. i took up a month of relief teaching in vjc. teaching has been my ambition since the longest of time, but never had i had first hand experience. not until now. even though it was only relief, i handled everything from mode of presentation to marking of assignments. it taught me that teaching was no easy task. special thanks to mr ho wei kang, ms chia yueh chin, ms sharon wong and ms angela wu for helping me along the short one month stint.

PSC PRE-DEPARTURE COURSE: SILVER

psc pre-departure course came shortly after. i recall the first time meeting silver people. felt a bit weird in that room in CSC. there were quite a few RJ people who obviously knew each other already, and a few others who were from a variety of schools. i was a bit reserved at first, probably as 6 months of army had degraded my ability to interact well. but OBS was a major turning point. the pack was high spirited and enthusiastic, and we gelled like glue instantly. even after OBS, which the groups were meant for, the group remained super together and kept meeting up, going out once in a while. i remember shokudo and chinatown! even now, we still kept in close contact, so i was really glad silver happened to me during PDC..

THE DEPARTURE

soon the day of departure came on september 26th, it was a major leap forward. i ventured into a new land, away from my family and friends. unknown faces, unfamiliar environments, there was a great need to be independent and to adapt. it was not an easy task, and an inevitable feeling of loneliness haunted me now and then.

SINGAPOREANS IN CAMBRIDGE

thankfully, singaporeans in cambridge gave a feeling of warmth and home, and really make the task of living and studying alone less daunting. the group of us bonded abit by obligation, but i can assure that the way it starts does not justify the way it is going to turn out. i see a group of great people, whom i will share quite a bit of memories in the 4 years to come!

ah, 2009 ended very different from the way it started. a year of changes, from being restricted to a military life to studying in a whole new world away from loved ones. 2010 will promise to be an exciting year with most of it spent in cambridge (the next time i'll be back it will be july) and i may get myself attached to MCYS regarding YOG during summer holidays or get myself on OCIP or something. CHEERS to a year of good things, all the best to all of you reading this to!

singalore! or not

2009-12-16T10:12:00.003Z

it feels so great to be back! and relieving to find out that hanging out with the good old friends feels exactly the same. even though it is only 2.5 months, but it is still assuring that this will persist be it 3 or 4 years!

first thing i did on the day of arrival was to have a late lunch with my family. all the singaporean goodies like chye tau kuay and char kuay teow with yakun kaya toast. YUM YUM!

then i bugged my parents to bring me to cut that unkempt hair that has never been longer in 19 years. came home to unpack before i left the house to meet up with john cheo again for dinner. good food at a thai restaurant at 313, a new shopping centre at somerset, followed by 1 for 1 mussels at orchard central. spent quite a bit but it's been a while since i've spent some sing dollars so just do it man! had a great talk with john, i just shared what happened to me in cambridge for the last 2 months while i asked him about his turmoil in brunei and jcc.

went home and finally slept at 1am, only to wake up at 5.40pm the next day. SERIOUS jetlagged that i didn't even wake up in between. it was as if the 16 hours passed immediately as my eyes closed. supposed to meet odac to play life 4 dead 2 but in the end i pangsehed them real bad.

still went to meet them because there were activities all thru to the night. after dinner we went to butter factory. yes a club. no not my favourite kind of place, but went there to support fanny for a performance. and also to experience what nightlife in singapore is capable of. quite amusing because in the earlier part of the night no one was dancing and we got bored, so we camped outside for a while, but after midnight it started to go a little crazy

didn't quite like it though, the music was so loud the beats made my heart tremble i felt so nervous. but still was nice to experience it with the odacers. haha so just go and see see. there's always a first time for everything wad. met quite a few ocs people too: seb, gavin, hiok chiou and sheng wei.

sunday went to NLB to watch a local musical drama production with john again. beauty and the beast! every year the best of local actors will come together to do one on a fairy tale, so john decided to tag me along. well i enjoyed myself and was totally cracked up by en lai's rendition of ris low's BIGINI and LEOPARD PREENS. haha he was beauty's sister and super teh..

met a few other vs boys at raffles city after that and just chilled and talked. then listen to them talk about army, kinda wish i was there too. but oh well, since im the only one currently on this path, it is something that i have to go through. they were also super interested about what's going on in my life too, so we had a good talk.

went over to visit my grandparents and aunt after that. haven seen them for more than 2 months now, only communicated thru skype. they cooked many of my favourite dishes for me. feels so great to be home. my grandma has been having problems with her knee, and even went for operation so i was really glad to be able to see her in person. i hope she will really get well soon! bringing her to the doctor tml. =D

on monday i didn't do much, just stayed at home to do my essays and watched quite a bit of tv.

tuesday i finished all my vacation homework, and went out to meet ben chia and daniel ong at night. shocked to see so much changes at parkway! it actually looks quite cool now, there's carls junior and yoshinoya. ate my favourite cai fan and talked alot. ben chia is going to join ocs on monday and is quite sian about it. well it's natural, ocs is really dreadful, i think i will feel the same way in 4 years time when i return.

today i made cheesecake. it is freezing now. did up the VinE website but still very frustrated with the problems it kept giving me. supposed to go and run but it rained and i procrastinated. sigh, quite an uneventful day, i might just do some math later to make it up!

LONDON

2009-12-14T17:36:00.006Z

the last few days in cambridge was quite sian, just waiting for time to pass and the nearing of the departure dates. of course i did spend some quality time with victor, tim and andre savouring good chinese food. luxurious and super bo hua, but i guess it's the end of term and we need to give ourselves a little treat.

i packed my stuff proper and got ready to leave for london with tim, to embark on our short 3 day tour! we arrived at 4.30pm and dragged our luggage in the rain to a hotel near the bus station, only to realise that the rooms with the shared toilets are located at the 4th floor. so i lugged 20kg worth of stuff up those cruel steps of the hotel.

we then left for leicester square to try and purchase tickets for musical!

we ended up watching oliver twist, which was a BLAST! the costumes, the dance, the songs were just amazing. it thrashes movies flat!! really loved all the songs they sang and the choreography, i really want to go and watch more musicals in the future!

that was the end of the first day, only that we went back to victoria (where the hotel was) only to realise that sainsbury had closed, so we had to settle for expensive night snacks at some convenience store that charged high prices!!

The second day began with a visit to the natural history museum. i know museums are probably not the place fun-loving teenagers (haha i'm still a teen ok!) love the most, but i was really overwhelmed by what it had to offer!

the idea of visit emerged as we knew of the darwin centre set up there, and guessed it would probably be useful for us biologists learning about evolution. but the showcases of animals and human behaviour was also elaborate and enriching that we spent a good 6 hours there just looking at the exhibits.

of course the most popular was the exhibit on dinosaurs. one entire section dedicated to these extinct mystical creatures. there were so many fossil figures and interesting games that we felt the need to go through all of them. in the end we still had 1/3 of the museum which we hadn't see, but had to leave to meet the others

we then made our way to university college london (UCL) to meet fellow psc scholars. suyi, jinzhi and zhihao showed us around their colleges and we talked quite abit about life thus far, which felt kinda comfortable cuz you know there are people around you going through the same things and then you won't feel so alone. jinzhi brought us to this cheap pizza place where we shared a pizza. quite funny as most of the locals like had one to their own. CULTURAL SHOCK in a weird way haha. jinzhi then brought us to a sainsburys near her place. we were smarter this time and didn't want to take chances haha. we then went back to our cosy homes as we were tired from one full day of walking. well yea forgot to mention the wifi at the hotel sucked so i couldn't upload any photos or blog about my trip there.

the next day we went to high street kensington to do abit of shopping! nothing much, just loads of walking as usual. but i bought zara shirts for john and wyemin. well it is cheaper even with the exchange rate since its a home brand!

we then walked over to hyde park which was just nearby. this big park with beautiful benches and walkways and gardens. kinda man-made, but still a large area of land dedicated to nature, recreation and leisure. we were rather amused by the swans, seagulls and ducks that flooded the area and were so domesticated that they didn't budge as we ran towards them =D

there were also loads of invasive squirrels that were out to snatch food away from us. they were extremely cute at first, but less so when they came with an ulterior motive hurhur.

tim's friend then brought us around imperial college london, which was uber posh and cool, but expensive too. it's fun visiting all these colleges. haha kinda funny to think that i may actually have ended up studying in imperial since it was my first choice for a long time until the notion of cambridge surfaced upon motivation from teachers.

The tour ended back at hyde park which was super big, and we visited the winter wonderland, a amusement park built for the winter. there were loads of beautiful lightings, rides and eateries and it felt like childhood again just walking around, soaking in the sights and the sounds. we didn't take the rides, but it was still kinda enjoyable just strolling in the wonderland.

Dinner was sainsbury style! haha but i really felt like instant noodles, and we watched friends in the hotel. slept really as the next day we had to wake up at 2am just to take the bus to gatwick airport.

which we did. and it was quite a nasty experience checking in, because there were NO SEATS, and we had excess baggage. WAY EXCESS. fortunately something in me was smart enough to transfer everything to hand carry, which they amazingly didnt check and let us through!

the flights were extremely long and the transit at doha too. imagine a day worth of sitting around. i managed to do quite a bit of work at doha airport, yes my holiday hw! haha so it was at least time well spent. on board qatar airways we were surprised with the GREAT SERVICE AND IN FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT, which kept me occupied throughout the journey. i watched like 5 movies as follows:

DISTRICT 9!! MY FAVOURITE

G FORCE! SUPER CUTE

GI JOE AND RISE OF COBRA: cool graphics

CARS! pixar films always touch the soft spot in you

(500) Days of Summer: this is not a love story

and finally after one whole day of flying and stoning around i finally reached MOTHERLAND! cannot explain how happy and excited i am about being home!

calvin in cambridge is on pause mode for a month, but i will continue to update what happened in this short yet confirm enriching month!

Christ's		Magdalene
Churchill	X	New Hall	X
Clare	X	Newnham
Clare Hall		Pembroke	X
Corpus Christi		Peterhouse
Darwin		Queens'
Downing	X	Robinson
Emmanuel		St. Catharine's
Fitzwilliam		St. Edmund's
Girton		St. John's
Gonville and Caius		Selwyn
Homerton	X	Sidney Sussex
Hughes Hall		Trinity	X
Jesus	X	Trinity Hall
King's		Wolfson	SOON
Lucy Cavendish