found-my studio!

We found a studio flat about 15 minutes away from my new office. :)

I could walk there , when it is not too cold, and I am not too scared of the dark. So, my schedule will go like this

7.45: alarm rings.... snooze snooze snooze... put on my massage belt, and sleep again.

8:05 wash face, quick shower

8.15: change, do my facial stuff

8.20: drink coffee

8.25: walk to work

8.40: arrive at work, make coffee... read papers

9.00 start work.

When I get reallly lazy:

12.30: take bus home

12:40: sleep

1:05 eat sandwich

1:20: go back to work

13:00 work

5:00 walk home

5:15: sleep

Yay!!!! :D But poor hubby needs to travel for more than 1.5 hours each way to his office :(. Well, at least he is stronger than me.

Ok, lets see what I got for £525 exc bills in Zone 6 London.

Location wise, not super good, cos there is only one bus, but it is only a 10 min bus ride to reach towncentre and the Tube. But the area seems safe and populated with students/academics/professionals. If we got a car, it will be superconvenient to go everywhere!

The studio is really small, but much bigger than most we have seen. I get a proper kitchen, which will have ovens and stuff like that, and I don't have to share!!! Kitchen is small, but big enough for me to put all the sauces that I want to. The only bad thing about it is i dont think it is big enough for us to eat there, and no extractor to take out the smell of my sambal belacan.

The stove is those electric hot plate type, so I got to get a new wok. My cheap and super convenient £5 something wok from See Woo has a round base, and cant be used anymore. Sob sob..... There goes the yummiest fried rice. I swear that this wok is so perfect with fried rice and stir fried vege, that it taste better than those Tefal stuff. I think I got to give the wok away. Sigh......

Because of the new stove, I will need to buy a new wok, and also a set of pots and pans. Place is not new, and not that furnished, so I will need some curtains (it faces a busy road), a new set of cutlery, bowls and plates. Might also need to buy some appliances if the landlord does not give them to us. Got to buy a new kettle, and maybe a toaster. Luckily these stuff can be bought a around £5 each from Sainsbury or Tesco. There goes my first pay cheque.

The bathroom got a bathtub. Quiet big, but no proper ventilation. The whole place is not that new, so we really got to clean it up before moving in. I hate yellowish sinks and tubs. Yucks! I am gonna BLEACH them white, sparkling white and put on new shower curtains. Yellowish, moldy curtains are just so yucks, and really bad for your health.

The "room" is carpeted. So, hubby will have to do that vacumm thingy. I dont know how to clean carpets, and now trying to find out which solutions blah blah blah to clean it. I dont want dustmites in my house. That means I will spend $$, er ££££ buying stuff to clean that carpet thing. Sigh.....

I remember coughing my lungs out when my hubby did not put on proper protective sheet over the current bed when I arrived last November. I had to practically stripped the whole bed, open the windows to expose it to the sun, washed everything in 60C++ water and tumbled dried them at the highest heat level. My cough improved after that.

Hmmm.. I am also wondering how is it like to sleep on a sofa bed everyday. Is it good for my back? Dont know, lets see.

All in all, I am a happy gal now. :D No need to live in a "da zha yuan" and make my kong kong getting worried about me in Heaven. Third floor flat with a security phone lock at the entrance, means no one but the people in my same block could even reach my doorstep. Safe! Secured. No one can climb in through the window too. Plus, we liked the resort like layout of the flats in the area. It is just like those layout you will see in the seaside resorts. Relaxed. Oh, did i tell you the buildings were in those "red brick" colour? Loved it. :)

Bills will be scary when you dont share. Broadband and phone will come up to around £25, at least, cos we need to rent BT phone line for £11 to get a broadband. If we want a TV, the problem is not in buying a TV (cheap, can get for about £60 or less), but paying TV license of £120!!!! OK, BBC produces good documentary, so no complains about paying £10 per month to watch them, but it is £120 up front! If we move in 6 months, we waste £60- the cost of a coat which I liked. The winter bills for electricity will be scary, esp when we use convection stove. No more slow cooked soup-only pan fried egg and ham ha...haa..... And I think we got to buy a microwave oven for heating food. Heating food with electric hot plate is damn ineffecient use of energy. We also got to pay for the gas for the central heating!!! Ops, almost forgot that the council tax will come up to almost £90 per month!

So, cleaning stuff to buy:

Kitchen spray- Mrs Muscles- Lemon flavour
Toilet cleaner-Harpic/Duck
Carpet cleaner-????
Descaler-for kitchen and tubs

Searching for my new London home............

My past two days were spent looking for a new home. :(

I walked miles miles and miles. sigh.....


THAT DREAM HOUSE
Yesterday, when i finally found my "dream house",and rushed all the way to the agents' office to pay deposit, we realised that they made a mistake with price. £650pcm not 525 pcm exclusive all bills, means it would add up to £800++ in winter just on rent and bills! We can "make it", since I am starting work, but we saw no point spending so much! Sigh....

That was a really really lovely home. There is a small patch of grass which you can put two chairs and a table for breakfast or plant some flowers. Even if you dun plant anything, you can"borrow" the view of the neighbours's garden. I think it is a nice neighbourhood, since the neighbours keep immaculate gardens and dogs. :)

That cottage has a small living room-which is big enough for a 3 seater and another 2 seater (ie friends can crash there comfortably), a nice kitchen, and a bedroom upstairs which had a huge wardrobe, and a writing table which spans across the window, overlooking the neighbourhood which is filled with cream and stone coloured "cottages"(no excuse for writer's block). It is near the recreation grounds, and on my way to buy groceries/work I would pass the nicely kept grounds, a CLEAR stream, and also an ancient street which is very Oxford-ish. There is also a very lovely, small church along the way. The cottage is 10 minutes away from the Tube, town centre and the LIBRARY!!!!

Argh!!!!!!!....Hmmm.. I am starting to regret abit about not taking that one. We still have not found a place to move to! Stress!

When i earn more $, and $150 more pounds is like chicken feed to me, I will get a cottage there :D

THAT POOR MAN'S GROUNDS
If you watch chinese/Hong Kong shows, you will know that once upon a time, when the times were bad, families live in houses which were once grand. Those big houses were converted to many small "homes" which are effectively a room plus small living with/without kitchen. These were called "da zha yuan". There was one near kong kong house as well. Once a grand house for some important Brits, it was shared by many families. Each has one "room", and they share the compounds. I went there once or twice, only to get chided by mum and kong kong when they found out. That was a complicated place, and I should not go there. Anyway, I was too scared to go again. That big house was dark, had weird characters, and there were many ghost stories. Rumors said the Japs did things there, and in another two big bungalows in nearby.

I saw a "studio flat" in Hounslow- (where? check out Bend it like Beckham!). Incidentally, that was one of the first place I got very familiar with, thanks to that show on tv. The realisty is not much of a difference, that place is populated mainly by Pakistanis and Indians-Banglas? Rows of nice sub-urb semi-Ds ofr detached houses line the major roads. In fact, it is like any of the better off landed property areas in Malaysia/Singapore.

That was where the "da zha yuan" is. An investment minded Pakistani converted one of these nice semi-Ds into many "studios". There were at least 6 studios, maybe even more. Even the servant's quarters/garage had been converted into a "studio", and a Filipino family was staying there. We were offered two choices. A "flat" upstairs which is actually a room that is 3/4 of my bedroom size at home, and a shower/toilet where I cant straight in, let alone my hubby. That was a no-no. My hubby would get brain damage from banging his head onto the ceiling when going to toilet. Imagine, he won't be able to stand straight easing himself, or brushing his teeth, or bathing. That is not all, we also got to share kitchen with others. Nope. Even when it is well within out budget. But still not cheap you know, 550pcm for that location, that size!!!

OK. We wanted a bigger one! We were offered one for 650pcm-the ground floor unit, which felt exactly like "da zha yuan". Size is ok, but we have neighbours who will share the compounds, and walk pass out unit. Privacy? That is an issue for me. My hubby is concerned about those police warnings, cos there was an arson attack in another unit. What if the mad guy(s) decide to throw kerosene in our unit?

Other "studio flats" we viewed were actually converted from garages/kitchen of some Pakis family. How will it be like to live with them, feels like some servants family living next to the boss.......

And that Hounslow area really live up to the reputation-full of pakis.. and the planes wow!!!!

Imagine how noisy it is!

I told my husband "Lok, we got a clear view of the wheels!!!!". If our eyes are fast enough, can count the windows. Maybe hubby can wave a flag at the plane I am in from the garden, and I could see him??

And Heathrow is definitely one of the busiest airport. It had to be!! We counted one plave whizing past us every 10-15 s. Whionggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg........................

The first time I had one over my head, I was so shocked..., that the agent was laughing at my reaction. I think the babies in this area will have hearing problems. I think I will end up shouting at people all the time.

sigh. .............. I got to walk many more miles to find a place called home.

If only I cound spare £150 more. NVM. I just got to "REN". I just got to keep on looking at adverts for properties going for sale at £150K to £200K and tell myself. If I save some money, we will be able to get one of those 2-3 years later. No more renting. When we leave, we will be landlords... and it will be our turn to squeeze money out of some poor newcomers to pay the installments of our flat. Muah hhahahahaha (evil-GRIN)

In London again..........

After what seemed like eternity, I landed in Heathrow airport on Friday morning. 13 plus hours of siiting there in my seat, next to two hunks. That means I had to sleep carefully and not lean on someone's arm and drool on his shirt. Well that was not possible, cos that guy got really BAD BREATH!!. Whenever he turned and faced me, I felt like grabbing that vomit bag and eiorkkkkkkkkkkk.... when he exhales!!! Gosh! I was so tempted to take out the toothbrush from my overnight kit and offered it to him, or share my Mentos with him.

So, I had to sleep with my face turned against the window, and landed with terrible neck and headache.

The flight had taken off smoothly, despite rather intensive checks. Airport staff was extremely, unusually courteous that night, thanks to me chosing the the last day of IMF meeting, and the flight was full of delegates. I also had no problems with my luggages althought it was slightly overweight.

My theory? DRESS WELL! Why the heck do you think i purposely take out my best jacket and put in on just before checking in? My reward for the hassles? My check in was a breeze. No one ask me questions. No one wanted to check the weight of my cabin luggage. I should have taken more risk and smuggled 2 more bottles of sambal belacan.

Oh ya, I also smuggled a mooncake!!! There was a Bengawan Solo shop near the gate, and I managed to get one. :)

That was the trip. BA got really really little leg rooms. Seemed even smaller space than Qantas, but I was a happy, well fed-gal. I always got my meals first, because I ordered special, low fat meal. Of you want to eat first, then order special meals. :D

I also got my socks from the overnight kit. Hubby was so happy. He really loved those socks, thin, light but extremely warm for winter. To him, BA socks is the best.

My past two days were spent looking for a new home. :(

I walked miles miles and miles. sigh.....

A reward

Today I rewarded my self with two things
1) a facial
2) an ice cream

I have never fell asleep during facials/massages before. The insecurity of lying naked or semi-naked in front of a stranger will not allow me to let my guard down and snooze. What if she decide to whip out her latest 3.2 Megapixel camera phone and snap away? Worse still, camera phones are no longer camera phones. They promise "DVD" quality video recording. .... I wont want to be a Yo*T*be star ....

Today, I dozed off.... somewhere during the EXTRACTION!!!

I was semi awake when I got my shoulder massage... and then.. I doze off again.

Well... I snored.

I SNORED!!!!!!! in that "treatment" room! Heck, I can hear the sounds from next door if a chair was moved.. I snored. that prof thinks that I should check Yo*T*be now. I might be a star already.

Latest headline" Latest Yo*T*be craze:
"Video of a snoring-over-weighted- woman; taken during her facial, when someone was squeezing her pimples... Net citizens are debating whether it is possible, it cant be real. The ladies say extraction= pain!!! How can one fall asleep???"

The other possible outcome is me replacing miss *d* Choi as the spokeswoman of this "spa". Videos of me snoring away shows how skillful the facialist is.. and all the stressed out aunties/career women/ kept woman professional wives** will turn to this spa to relax.

Well, my first reward turn out to be a potential embrassment I got to watch out for.. sigh....

Ok. The second one is simple. I walked pass Anderson's of Denmark.. and I thought! Heck! I have been postponing it for ages...I am going to get a year older soon, and I should have tasted that!

There i go, shelling out $4 for a scoop of RUM and RAISIN ice-cream!!! I was soooo happily eating it, I even took a photo of it. I was happily licking it... up and down... while walking up and down the mall.......

:D

.....



.....but when I told the prof my exploit, she almost fainted... but quickly recovered to analysed it calmly, logically.. from different angles.

"Someone might have taken your photo, worse still, video! You can check Yo* T*be now!"

Then it occurs to me......... Shit!!

That would have been a video that mummies (living, nagging ones) would approve of.

Just show that video to your kids and tell them "Look, see-lah. She like (mummies dun say like-s) eat ice-cream. Enjoy!Enjoy!. See now? How fat!??? Fat fat already. No more ice-cream ok, unless you want to be fat fat".

Sigh............


.........sigh...........



who is the fella who put a camera in a phone????

... sigh.......



But on an optimistic note, I might clinch a deal to be the spokes person for Anderson of Denmark. Spa X might also think that I am more effective that *d* Choi.

Then I will get free ice-cream, and free-slimming, and free facial!!

So... did anyone sent my video to YOU TUBE???

** it is not easy being a kept woman. Have you been reading the JUICY important gossips news?? Moral of the story is dont work bekept for an "intelligent" man. I am sure you will need to de-stress if you do.

My luggage weight

as it stands, 13 kg. Just clothes + that spinex. still need to add the oto trimax, my books and all the food pkus that 1 kg of cosmetics.

When I came back my laptop plus gadgets were already 7 kg :P

Looks like i can only buy light weight stuff, or things that cant be found/terribly expensive in London.

Shortlisted two musts:

Baby scallops-200gm will do
Taho sambal belacan. 3 bottles? 1 for MS, 1 for ZK one for ourselves :(

ANother distress to my distressed soul

... the grass cutter...

Damn, Today is tueday, the grass cutting day.

I have no idea why they must cut grass, and work precisely on time at 8am, and I dont know why it takes so long to finsih.

I only know it is noisy, and interupt my train of thoughts....

And this laptop is too old to be able to take running a statistical package + internet surfing + working on Excel + Word + using the media player at the same time. It hangs!!!!

SO... I have no choice but to listen to that darned grass cutter....
grass cutter...


my brain is so dead that I cant find another word to describe the grass cutter.

Rudely disrupted!!!!

Some idiot, left the car at the carpark, and its alarm had been blaring away for 2 hours!!!
It is enough to induce bad headache , let alone me trying to think and get some work done!

Finally it is off now... from 7pm! 2 hours!

YOu cant watch tv-cant hear
you cant rest-irritated
you cant sleep!!
you cant work! how to think???

Why technology have not kept up for those car alarms?

Why cant the owner receive an sms to be alerted?
why cant that bloody owner off it with an sms?

9pm, thank goodness it is off now!

Imagine those kids, i mean those poor mums trying to pacify crying babies. No joke!

Now I know why low floor is bad.
Facing the car pack is worse!!

Temporary distractions- work and play!!

Temporary distractions in the midst of stress should be good for your health.

:D

Used that OTO thing to relieve mu super aching shoulders. Ok lah, not too bad, but human hands would be better. So my target is to finish as early as possible, and then run for a human hand massage!! I still have 1 session left.:)

The other distraction is to dream a bit about where to go.

AUTUMN!!= colours=no hot weather=no throngs of tourists and screaming kids=wearing thicker clothing to hide my waistline.

The available of so many choices of of day trip from London.

I am set on going to CAmbridge :D

Visit Parliament hill again, just to see how this place look like in Autumn. You will never believe that there is a "village" in London, and there is a HEATH, where you could take nature walks.

End October will get to go Copenhagen, hopefully, because of work.

The nature of my work means work is work. Business trip = dashing across the airport to the hotel. Attend meetings, understand requirements, and hole up in hotel room/conference room to abuse my laptop, while ignoring sights, sales, cute guys, whatever that is outside... and then dash back again, making full use of time between check in and boarding to abuse my laptop. Thank goodness laptop batteries still dont last that long, and I will get to "enjoy" the flight when the battery is dead. So... no souvenirs? Nope. There is even nothing for myself, in all teh bussiness trips I have taken in my life! I can get you the DOM from the tax free shop if you want to :P

Sigh.... The bed in hotel rooms are meant for my super cheap cheap but still going strong "Polo" cabin bag, and to lay out those papers. Sob sob.

I think my supp and the gang will be going there too. So.... well. Lets see where I get to go, and sneak away from work to join them.

Mid November hopefully Phi will visit. :D Then I will have the excuse to play tour guide and bring her to places that I have not been to before.. like... errrr that Cotswolds!!!

December???? errrr... what about Switzerland???? Haloooo..... I am hitting XX this year, and I still havent been there??? What happened to my dreams???

Ok.. stop day dreaming. BAck to abusing the laptop. Sigh...........

Sometimes i think my mum should have sent me to be the aprrehentice of a chicken rice seller rather than to school. Chicken rice sellers earn more money. Yeah long work hours, who doesnt work long hours. NO holidays. They can, it they want to. Chicken rice sellers can open more shops.... I cant clone myself and get my clones to do a few more jobs so that I get more money.

Daughter of Harrow teacher killed

BBC NEWS | England | London | Daughter of Harrow teacher killed


So scary.... sort of mentally short-listed this as an area to hunt for the new aparment. The killer is a student from Oxford University.

sigh.........

LOndon is just too happening.

Anyway... back to work. Still haven't finished work! Just coming online to check the baggage allowance. So happy to find out that i should be able to check in online using the BA site. But.... I start to get worried about my 1 kg of toner and cleanser. Haha. Everyone is talking about sending me off at the airport, due to the amount of cosmetics/skincare which might have to be left behind.

Heck, I dont care. It is almost half the UK price!

Argh, he is going to CAmbridge without me....

Suddenly realised the cryptic message....

"See you on Monday".

Huh? What happened to Sunday?

Now I realised, that gang is visiting Cambridge, without me!!!

That is soooooo darn unfair!!!!

I shall revenge, and go to Copenhagen without him. Danish guys are tall and cute. Who needs to bring hubbies?

Muah hahahahahaha.

Never cross a woman.

And never irritate a STRESSED up woman.

sorry... but I am in a cave!

I really start to feel a little guilty.

My behaviour in the past 1 week had been horrible.

I know I have been bad.

I had "disappeared" from the radar.

Prople cant call me, You dont see me on MSN, and I dont read emails. :P

Perhaps this is why you guys came to check my blog? Haha, I noticed that the blog counter jumped quite a lot even when I posted nothing.

Well, dont you all blame me. I am not even talking coherently to hubby, to his great annoyance. I think I am mad.

Well, I am still alive. I recovered from my fever for 4-5 days ago.

A few days ago, my brain was fried up analysing the data, (or maybe fried by the feve) and contact lenses dropped out of my eyes after my 14-computer screen staring days.

"Those days" were terrible.

I made mistakes. Deleted a whole chunck of codes which I had painstaking done!!!! The software was probably developed by some geek who never need to press the "undo" button.
When that happened, I woke up for "morning" walk after just 4 hours of "sleep".

I "brew" ideas until I couldn't asleep properly.

Now I am so tired. I am supposed to stop and rest for the week.

But the ideas are bubbling!!!!!

So, here am I, stealing my the "prof's" Samyang Udong (see, commiting another sin), chuck it into the microwave, and slurrrp it down. YUMMY!!!!! And filling. Have I Told you that this is the third packet of instant noodle for me for "today"? That is all I have left in my cave.

Ok, back to turn those bubbles into.....WORDS!!!!

Ah... in between those "bubbles", thoughts of

"What would I need buy for my AUTUMN WARDROBE"??

SHould I buy it in Chester/ Bicester/Oxford Street/Kensington High STreet?/Shephard Bush's Primak?

..................so, were those signs of extreme stress?

signs of x-treme stress

Feeling like singing
Turning off MSN, handphone, stop checking mail
Urticaria coming out
Dont even feel like going out at all- even if you give me freemeal
Blogging-when I am not supposed to!!!





p/s..........and grammar getting all mixed up!!!

The massager is not bad, and that "I will only fly SIA" rich gal.

That massager is not bad.

So, who should I claim the money from? From my sister, brother, or hubby?

Suddenly everyone want to get that for me as my birthday present. :)

I used it on my thighs and calves, and it relieved the tightness a little. I improved the stretchability of my muscles a little bit now :)

I have not been feeling well.

Last night was spent sweating, drinking water , and going to the loo.

I think I got a viral infection. Sore throat, itchy nose, headache, and feel that my body is on fire. I drank bowls of water cress soup just now, and happily going to toilet. Still, I am feverish.

Oh yeah, yesterday a rich gal tag along for dinner, and she was happily telling me;

"Nothing will do for me but SIA. I ONLY take SIA. No cheapo airlines for me. To me holiday starts the moment I go leave house".

Note.... she is insinuating that all of us are CHEAPOsss!!!!

Regarding my starvation on my trip back, she got this advise:

"Even economy class got many different subclasses.{Got under-economy class meh???} Probably you got the cheeeeaaaapest section of economy class, that is why they don't serve you dinner. Maybe they give others food, but not people in your section. You bought ChEEEEEEEEEEEap cheap tickets right? Well, I will never even take that airline, I only take SIA. Next time, take SIA- LAH{Rich girl got say "lah" one meh????}!! ...................blah blah blah"

At that point, Tsu was still protesting for me, but I gave up long time much earlier in the conversation. I have met many "I only FLY SIA. I have never and will never take any other airlines" kind of people. I cant stop pitying them.

There are many places that they HAVE NOT seen, and WILL NEVER SEE!!!

Hmmmm....I wonder if SIA paid her lots of money for the free advertisement? :)

Shopping list

ie what I must get in singapore because it cannot be found/too expensive in London

Did I miss out anything? I am sure there is a lot more to add...

FOOD:	Estimated wt	Price
Taho Sambal Belacan 2 bottles		$2.60
Taho Sambal (oily) 2 bottles Need to get 4 bottles		$2.60
Ikan Bilis	500gm	$10
Chinese Mushroom	300gm	$7
Small scallops	200gm	$10
Agar-Agar 5 packs	300gm	$5
Pandan flavouring	100gm	$2
KAYA!!!!!!!!
Japanese food
CLOTHINGS:
Giordano spaghetti strap T(1 piece)		$15
Giordano V-necked T shirts 2pieces)		$30
Byford Socks-1 pack
Long Johns (1 pair)-cotton		$30-$50
Home slippers BBOUGHT 2 pairs	400gm	$4	B
Titanium watch??		$200-300
Titanium glasses???		$300-400
leather wallet, to replace the lost one.
OTHERS:
OTO trimax + spinex	5 kg	$328	B
Sunkiller sunblock- 2 bottles	200gm	$15
Lancome Galateis Clarte 400ml	500gm	62	b
Lancome Toner 200ml BOUGHT 400ML	500gm	62	b
Lamcome's samples-eenought to last through winter	500GM

Slept like a log

Claimed my "birthday present".

The OTO Trimax was used all over the place, my aching thighs, my fat fat bums and my bloated tummy. I think it is not too bad!. The Spinex was so so, quite disapoointed that the Infra-red doesn't seem to be powerful enough, so I dont know if it is good enough for my cold feet during winter.

Maybe because I was too tired, or the effectiveness of the massage thing, I slept "early", ie before 1am. Slept like a log. ZZZZZZZZZ

Now got to do work, and also come up with my shopping list :)

SInce this is saturday, almost unavoidable to go out, and do some grocery (and others) shopping. Also will meet up with Tsu to get some letters.

Some photos taken at the Bristish museum in Spring 2006

This is the "court yard" of the british museum. The museum is HUGE, and have lots and lots of displays. Hubby was so bored to be pulled into a museum that he let off guard!! He said that the display is not as good as that one in New York, the New York one has more things to see!!!

I was so angry, that i decided to give him THIS: BIG, HARD, PUNCH!!! , (which had been stolen/robbed carted back by the British from Egypt. How they did it, I wonder. Must have used lots of slaves workers).

He dumped me at home while he went to the Big apple with his friends, and told me I missed nothing. There WAS NOTHING to see in NY, NOTHING INTERESTING in NY!



This is THE roof, which i am nuts about. Haha. When I get a digital camera, I will take a photo of the roof, and use it as my screen saver.
More slabs of huge stones artistic work from Egypt. More slaves work involved. When I look at this Egyptian fella's pharoah's hairstyle, it reminds me of my own hairstyle in Primary 1-3. I did not know my mum had such big hopes for me. Err, is it a pharoh? Why got busts?

London-spring photos

These were one of the first blooms of spring (Ok, I know it is autumn now, i am lazy), taken near Noting Hill Gate. Hubby and I were betting whether the flowers were real or plastic. Yup, we were pathetic.
Pictures of The Broadwalk in South Kensington Park. These were the first "leaves" in spring. It was really amazing, the trees look DIFFERENT every day!!! I loved this place so much.. until my hubby is mugged. I think I will have a phobia of this place now.
These were the tulips in the Flower Walk, kensington park. I missed some of the best blooms, as I did not visit at the right time. April is the time to go out everyday.
The above is just some "bushes". Yes, bushes of "wild flowers". Beautiful?? How I wish to have a garden there! My garden here only can grow "lalang" ie ugly weeds if I ignore it.

Oxford photos... one fine summer's day.

This shop is just at the bus terminal, and the first thing you see when you get off Oxford Tube. Yummy Danish pastry, and powerful cappucino at £1.50 for breakfast. What more can you ask??? Oh yeah, there are free copies of newspapers at the terminal, so you get entertained if you arrive early in one of those £1 Megabus tickets.


Stingy me did not pay money to get into any colleges, so I took this at the entrance.

Errr.. did I tell you I happen to be very very " urgent", and asked the gal on duty whether I could use the toilet? Well, she let me, and I got to walk pass the lawn, free. Ok, I am cheapstake.
This is the sheldonian theatre. I think roof is another Christopher Wren thing. Yeah, that guy who did the St Paul's cathedral in London. The picture below is that of the lawn, behind the church. I was having lunch, drinking coffee, and reading a book there. I stayed in the shades, cos I am no longer young. And spots which appear, dont disappear on their own!!


Another college. It was so long ago I forgot which college. Mary Madgalens' or Christchurch, I forgot. :P

Flight ticket- done

Bought my flight ticket. BA, flight, Qantas booking.

Which means I get the BA flight/service/risk of being blown up by a terrorist, and the miles from Qantas.

Damage to my (husband's) pocket? Only SGD 774. Very cheap for a free maid cum secretary cum clown.

Now it is back to completing the rest of work that need to be done, and doing that SHOPPING list.

Yup, I will bring back lots of things, and i wonder how it is not going to exceed 25 kg?

May be I should discard the suitcase, and use plastic bags also. You know, those blue, red white striped ones that you see in Hong Kong movies, used by those "cousins" from the mainland?
That would perhaps save a couple of kilograms.