A party-above you

It is 2 minutes to 12 o'clock, and the flat of above you is having party.

Ah neh music
Ah neh dance.
Pounding the dance floor-which is my ceiling.

DO you think i should go up with a cleaver or a broomstick.

My peace in this block of flat of civilised neighbour get disrupted because of this stupid ah neh. Damn it.

Need to learn a thing or two about Feng Shui

I need to learn a thing or two about Feng Shui.

I think I am moving to the "best Feng Shui" in town location, so good that i will never let my mum know what is in front of us, and what is behind us. Can imagine her indulging in worrying about it.

Based on common sense, the area will be terribly "Yin", and would have an aura of "hatred" in the air. So, how can I make it a cheerful and bright place? Will my personality (ahem!!!) be a good Feng Shui cure?

Let me tell you what is in my area: a hospital, a railway track for the tube, a prison, and a spooky overhead bridge which had wire mesh almost totally covering it. What else? To prevent people from jumping from the bridge into the track. That is not a bridge I would use, thank goodness. I felt not right the moment I went there, even before I had time to "process" what the wire meshes means.

But bright side? The apartment looks really decent, and i like the previous occupant, and best of all, no "funny feeling". I think it should be alright. I like the space and the location, and NO more carpets!!!!

Speaking about "funny" feeling, I made a note to avoid the 5th floor of the hotel I stay in my recent trip. Thank goodness I was on the 10th floor. The lift would open on the 5th floor often, even in day time, and almost every time at night! When it opens, no one would be there, and best thing is the chamber maids look away!!! It also takes sometime to close, when you press the close door button? Mechanical problems?? I felt that it did not seem "right", and confirmed my suspicion when one of the chamber maid whispered to the other that thank goodness, she has not "seen anything" yet!!

New home soon.

Viewed the allocated apartment this morning. Not that bad!

Thank goodness. Not facing the hospital directly, facing the college instead. Train tracks still a problem, but it is something which we will have to live with.

Space is huge, compared to what we have at the moment. Finally, we will have a proper living room. We have been living without a living room for more than 1 year now.

I hope that we can stay in this place for a couple of years. Hate to move anymore.

No water to shower....

Shower is broken

So, I either have to

1. use the bath tub-slow. Not what you want to do everyday. How to wash my hair PROPERLY?
2. dun bath
3. bath sam hui style. Too bad the you tube video is removed already, otherwise I would have put it here! Basically I have to make use of a basin and a towel. Sigh. I dont think I have used this method for the past 20 years? Only remember doing something like this when there was a long drought when I was a small kid.

And the landlord is suddenly busy again. A few says ago, he was super efficient in calling the management people, who in turn told us they could turn up at before 8 am to inspect the flat to detect reasons for the mould. Woah... suddenly so efficient? For months, they don't do anything, and now?

Happy New Year!!!

...........this year's new year had been busy....

cooking...
eating...
meeting friends...
going to crash with people in Chinatown...

and then...........

shiver...
sweat...
shiver...
sweat...
cough cough...
sore throat.

Yes, I am sick on 2nd day of chinese new year.

I already felt more tired than usual on new year eve and 1st day of CNY. I was still at work when I realised that i felt damn cold. I even put on my coat and still felt cold. At the end I have to give up.... pull up the white flag and go home.

Now, I am in between the shiver and sweat cycle... My headache is killing me.....

Going back to snooze.......

Oh yeah, my chicken wing and peanut butter cookie was very popular!!!
Hehehh

Making peanut cookies

This is the first time I have ever made peanut cookies on my own. Ok, it is the first time I make cookie, unless you count the ready made cookie MIX from betty crocker.

As usual, I look for recipes with least ingredients and steps.

tried the recipe obtained from masak masak

Peanut Cookies

150 grams toasted peanuts, finely grinded
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
150 grams plain flour
125 grams icing sugar
4 to 4 1/2 ounces of cooking oil (sunflower)
1 small egg yolk
Pinch of salt

I used the salted peanuts from Sainsbury. turned out quite good!

Guess that helps to alleviate the homesickness due to CNY. Peanut cookie is a CNY favourite because it sounds auspicious :) Hua sheng!

"suck-up" post

I had udon with miso soup tonight. Hubby was so SWEET. He bought the miso soup base when I complained that I regret not buying it on Saturday. I was suprised!! Cannot imagine him walking into a Japanese grocery shop and buy miso! Difficult to imagine him walking into any shops, unless it is to get his instant noodles.

Miso base + vege + udon + prawns + seaweed = simple healthy fare done under 5 minutes. Yumm.

(must praise praise, otherwise next time he wont do this again)

Bag of lies.....samsoon-ing again...

Today, I had an "argument" . Well it was almost like an argument. And it is because....
since the store was quite empty, and I did not get any RED points again (and again and again), I turned back to the cashier and said....

"err, I think am supposed to get a red point here".

Damn ah neh. He told me that I had to bring a TEXCO Bag for Lies. I thought he made a mistake and pointed out to him it should be "any bag", and he insisted it wasn't, until I pointed out the big advertisement right in front of him. Then he changed tactic. No, it is any plastic bag! I looked again?Where got plastic?

(the picture just acts as an illustration, as the exact wording happen to be the same as this company's.)

Any plastic bag??? It is any bag, not any plastic bag!

He pointed to the pictures!!! Then he got the cheek to say that my handbag is not a "bag" (what is it then? I wish I could say, you are right- It is an LV, not a "bag"! too bad, not LV :P....), I don't need a bag etc etc. I showed him- 2 pints of milk, 1 big loaf of bread and 1 big sinful packet of biscuit- I would have needed a bag if I did not put them in my handbag. I was thinking, "you expect me to pile them high on my head and sashay home, is it?"

I was very angry , but swallowed my anger. I did not know the exact wordings of the green club card thing, and he might be really right. So, either he got the rules wrong, or the rules are really not according to what seemed to be advertised, which is not his fault. Even if he got it wrong-bad training? Not his fault too.

I had been a cashier for 2-3 months before my A-levels, and know what it is like to be a cashier. There are many abusive customers in this world, who would bully people like cashiers. Therefore, never in my life, had I been rude to cashiers or sales assistants. I know sometimes they have to follow stupid rules. And I would not want him to lose his job or something. (yeah, that is me. I know his name, but I am not mean enough to do something that endangers his rice bowl).

So I told he guy,

".....well, it is ok. It is not your fault if the rules are that way...".

I turned and was going to go off, but he was not about to let me off so easily. As I type this, i am telling my husband he reminds me of A, my ex-housemate. He was exactly like that.

Imagine Wong fei hong (if you don't know who he is, time to watch some Cantonese films) and some thugs. Thug in the wrong, but wanted to fight with Wong fei hong. Wong fei hong won the fight, but let thug off. Like all villains and cowards in films- the moment Wang fei hong turned his back, the thug crawled up and tried to stab Wang Fei Hong from the back.

I had my Wong Fei Hong moment.

He thought he was winning the "war", and had the cheek to tell me that i was not helping to save the environment because I did not bring a plastic bag, and recycle it. His colleagues stood around me- arms folded, or on the waist, putting on pressure. All darker, taller and meaner looking than me-of course. I can recognize the pressure tactic. .. Expect me to run off?

That made me really angry!!!

I was like... are you saying customers like me, who makes a point not to take a new bag whenever possible and would rather walk home with their milk and bread in hand not saving the environment? If we put the purchases into our bag, and not a "recycled" plastic bag, we are not saving the environment? We are saving a plastic bag whenever we do this!

I tried to leave, while he continued provoking me, winning, because he was not giving me a point, and his colleagues stood next to me with hands on the waist pose. It was aggressive. It was bullying. One stupid woman told me that I got it wrong, my hand bag is not a bag. Finally, a man, seeing me "surrounded", asked me what was happening, and I told him all I did was asked about my point, and I was given all those "reasons".

He looked at my stuff, my biscuit jotting out of my bag, and told them off! Ridiculous! They were "thieving".. blah blah blah.... and told me that this is a situation where people would have yelled "fuck you!!" to them. haha. He really got tactic. Say it in a way where they can obviously hear, but cannot complain that he is an abusive customer. And the dogs? The dogs were wagging their tail and smiling when a moment ago, they were so aggressive. 1-2 years ago, I would have cried, feel helpless, being bullied. But now, I recognized that it was a bullying tactic. I don't want to get into trouble, but don't want to break down and cry either in front of them either. Gosh, did I grow up, or just got old?

Hubby is really worried about me now. Because the man would have angered them, and might want to take out their anger on me. Sigh. He was in a TXXXX when someone argued with a cashier (the man was quite abusive), and they pulled down the shutters, dragged the man to the back. Anyway, glad that he was not there. He thought that he might not be able to withstand that kind of provocation, and got into trouble. Yeah, I know, many people that I know would have.

I know this is a foreign country. I should stay out of trouble. But at the same time, I know that if I were to just cry, or worse still apologise when I am not in the wrong, the moment I am bullied-every other gal or woman of my same built or skin color will get the same treatment from these beasts. I cant win them, I know, but I am not prepared to take this shit without saying a word either. They should know once in a while, there will be a crazy woman like me who would have told them off.

Enjoy their "any bag" promotion here. Again, TEXCO being very small, don't have any website where I can do a link. So, you can see a similar promotion here

Texco said:
"We all know we are using too many carrier bags. That's why from now on, we'll give you a RED Clubcut Point* every time you re-use a bag. It really doesn't matter what kind of bag it is. As long as you're helping the environment by not using new carrier bags, we'll give you Red Clubcut Points in return."

Any lawyers?
Can my big hand bag be considered a bag?

Any English Teachers?
If my hand bag is not a bag, what should I call it then? It is brandless, so I cannot call it "my LV", or "my Gucci".

Any environmentalists??
Am I helping the environment by not using new carrier bags if I carry my milk in using my bare hands? Would I burn calories this way and therefore release more CO2?

A year without A&A

This year will be much better than last year. Although this house is mouldy, and may cause me to have asthma, skin allergy.................(blah blah blah).........................................and some say lung cancer... .. I no longer have A&A!!!

Hahaha. I almost forgot my good fortune until read poor Bisoumoi's blog. My heart went out to her-"small gal" in London.

I am "big", but still get "towered" by A&A, and decimated by A's shouting whenever she disagreed. When you are short, if people look DOWN at/on you and shout.... you will be too stunned to reply! Thanks to her, I learned the technique to never sit down when she/we wanted to "talk", and stand at least 3 feet away. Away from her flying knives. Serious, knife! She liked to gesture with the knife in her hand and point it at you when she asked you questions. Can you disagree when the knife is just inches away from your throat??? I did seriously worry about what this crazy couple could do! This stand away technique is now applied to that guy at work, who is a master is body language and positioning!!!!

Gone are my A& A days.

ET no longer have to be worried. Sorry to make you worry so much ET. It probably was not as bad as what you heard on the phone.

I can now sleep soundly. Eat without worrying my stuff are contaminated. Breathe without fear that there might be TB in the air, as that bastard (err... actually he is really a bastard-by birth, so I always felt bad whenever hubby gets really angry and referred to him as "The bastard". "A" had one day "ops!" out to me; after he gave her bruises on her arms , cheek and maybe other places that I could not see) got to clear tonnes of phlegm a day-shooting then into the sink/out of the balcony into the field-even if the sink contained plates or vege soaked in a container. I also don't wake up from afternoon naps with men in work clothes in my kitchen-drinking beer, and peeing in my toilet.

ET no longer have to be worried why the hell my housemate bang on my front door so loudly, without stop, even when I was shouting back, "I am coming, I am coming, hold on please"- just to get me open it for him; and then suddenly opened my bedroom door without knocking. He just wanted to see you, ET. I had taken longer than usual to open the door for him, and he heard me talking to you! He was probably convinced I hid someone in my room (probably naked men) and wanted to see who I was talking to. He did not know there is a thing called cell phone! If he knocked the door, you could have flattened like the Incredible Woman, and hid under the divan of my bed, or crawled into my drawer. I am safe now in my own home. I moved out. That is A for you. Psychologically damaged kid. Forever suspicious. Think that people would steal/cheat because he does that to others. Pity him. Pity both of them.

A, the female-beautiful, rich, DOCTOR (must emhasize this, since she always emphasize it). Only daughter of a pretty rich man.

A beautiful life ruined by her inferiority complex because of some really tragic history-she blurted out to me the day A hit her. Although I dont really like her because she is very scheming, I also have a soft spot for her. Even now, sometimes I wonder if she is ok. I think she is good natured deep down inside. I really pitied her. She thinks no good men would want her, and always "try to do good". She ended up picking up A. (Do good by picking up stray cats and dogs, sistas! Not men!) A had been telling her she is ugly. (My foot! I give her 8.5/10, at least! I don't mind living 5 years shorter to look like her). Her life is now dedicated to "saving A". Gosh. I used to wish her luck. But after a year living with them, I knew this guy is up to no good, and he is not good natured at all! She will have a sad life with him. Mark my words.

A the male-damn handsome! But... spent a part of his life in the infamous orphanages. I think he shows signs of being a psycho. Sadistic. Scary. Really Scary. You have a guy here who did not consider a gal as his gf, but beat up a "cheap woman" because she talked to other men, ie his boss? A was slapped because the guy at the Turkish shop round the corner recognized her and said "Hello!" I did not dare to talk to him at all, after A told me she was slapped because A believed the only reason a woman would talk to a man is to seduce and get F-ed!!! OMG! Hello!!! Wake up!!! He already had a history of brutally beating up his wife! To my shock, A thinks that he loves her. He hit her lightly; when he used to kick and beat up his wife badly, even while she was pregnant!!!!

I was like????STOCKHOLM's syndrome!!!!

"You stupid woman, he needed you now. He does not even know how to get around on his own! He cant even read maps and sign boards!"

..... of course I kept that to myself, or I might have been murdered.

Enough of psyhoanalysis.

Bottom line is...I shall never ever... never ever stay with other R. They look so good on the surface, you never know what you are going to get.

new year effect...

Must be because it is 1st January, and I am too broke to go out. That is why I am flooding my blog with posts.

Just this morning, we were so sad/angry/disappointed (can't exactly describe the feeling!) that the flags of X country is flying as part of EU. It is as if proof that crime/fraud/lies work, and law abiding people like us are stupid! Yes, in their own words, stupid. Hubby and I are stupid. The English are stupid (and dirty too!).

• Darn, one doctor who got what she wanted-indefinite right to remain, and now a practicing as a doctor soon. If I go to a church or a temple, I must remember to pray for all the patients who will get treated by her.
• One darned doctor who did not manage to pass those qualifying tests, and blamed it on the inferior medical system in England, and decided she did not need to study or pay fees, when all she got to do was to wait for 2008.
• One pathetic doctor who tried to do funny things with the council tax and put down our names (and removed theirs) behind our back, (when we had told them we will pay council taxes, and not cheat,) so that we get into trouble if they get caught, and they saved the tax money.
• One doctor who lied so much, that we were wondering if she was stupid, or she thought we are really so stupid.
• One doctor who told me if I got money, I can get my indefinite right to remain immediately (is that how she got hers??), and paid £1000 per year to "attend" (but never go!) some dubious college for a degree in Biomedical science management, and remained here on a student visa.

• One more guy who could not produce his passport, depended on his NI number card (which got me really suspicious when mid last year, there was big news about NI fraud and illegal immigrants).
• One more guy who probably had a criminal record in his own country, , beaten and abandoned his wife and blamed his actions on her producing a son for him and forced him to marry her. He might as well said he revenged because he was raped!
  
• One guy who was smart enough to hook up the only daughter of a "rich man", and told me on the first day I arrived how rich his gf was.
• One smart aleck who would check the metres-electricity and gas meters the moment he arrived home.. and then displayed his smartness by saying.. "oh, you washed clothes!".. and then bluff about how little his friend spends on electricity.
• One bloody slimy guy who pretended he could not understand English whenever we tried to talk to him, and he is on the wrong side.
• One complete idiot who used metres of masking tape to fix the shower head to his favorite position and told me it was spoiled, and implied I had spoiled it ("Don't change position.. blah blah... it is alright, I fixed it with the tape").
• One idiot who bluffed that he fixed the shower head with silicon when his "lie" was exposed-- I removed the masking tape and found it working perfectly. (Hello.. I know more these stuff than you do, ok? I am my dad's gal.)
  
• One snake-y guy who would act as if we are in the wrong by saying "it is alright, no problem, next time don't do again", whenever he did something wrong/stupid. The shower head incidence is just one of many examples.
  
• One hypocrite who complained about things being not neat/dry enough, being clean blah blah blah, when he shoots his phelgm into the sink which contained cups and bowls, and scratch his ass hole and "the front part" while cutting cucumbers for the salads. (One day I thought why don't he take out the other cucumber and cut it as well. Cure another place of itches ... BAD evil me) Oh, did I mention he was my alarm clock? I woke up - at first from his slamming of the doors , and then from his daily phlegm clearance at the balcony, right outside my room.

Their hygiene was so good that if they fall sick, we never managed to escape it.These people don't wash their hands. Yes, the doctor too! I had to go around with disinfectant wet tissue in my pocket (trying to be discreet, and not make them feel bad), and disinfect door knobs, taps, toilet seats. Call me paranoid, but how would you feel someone blow his/her nose (sometimes with bare hands), dont wash their hands properly, and touch this and that? You don't do this when you have a flu! Ewwww Ewww..............That is why good luck to patients who see her! She "borrowed" my basin-meant to wash my delicate stuff for his (infected) feet soaks, and expected me to still wash my lingerie there!

I can never finish with talking about them and did not realise how stressed I was, and how much I lived in fear. At one time, I would set my alarm clock to 4 30 pm. At 4:30 pm, I would go to toilet, bring in a cup of water (and biscuits etc), and hide in my room until hubby comes home. I would wait for the sounds of the idiot coming home, and hoped that it was 1 person, not a few!

I feel sorry for the guy who took over our room. He was chosen from more than 30 people who viewed our room for some reasons. Like hubby, he looked terribly bookish and a new kid in town. He was lucky though, we were around, and they did not cheat him an extra £10 per week. But of course, he must have been surprised (by now) that one half of the professional couple is actually a "painter"-not that kind which contribute works to the National Gallery.. The doctor who had implied she was a medical lecturer is actually working as a masseur/"carer"/phlebotomist.

We had a really beautiful place, but housemates from hell

The steam cleaner was good

Good... not as powerful as i hoped. But for £15 quid, it has finished cleaning 1 coat, 2 jackets and 1 scarf so far. If I send these to dry clean, it would be £5-10 quid per piece. So, what more could I ask?

Thank goodness for the Italian guy who discovered steam cleaning!

Life as a tenant-a price to pay to roam the world

"If you want to roam the world, you got to put up with the life as a tenant, ie renting your home."

That is what I have been telling myself, bravely. Sigh.. at one point, I almost cried on my while walking home, thinking how every step would bring me closer to a hell hole, a toxic home which might do unrepairable damage to my health, both in the near future and in years to come.

The mould is still there, and it still bothers me. With the advice of people from CAB, we managed to coaxed/persuade/threatened (haha) landlord to come and check it out and do something about it, and not just push the blame to "the way we live".

It was very clear when they came in, that we live in horrible conditions. Just look at the way his wife and son rubbed their noses!!

They brought along their dehumidifier, and the indicator showed how damp the flat is was! The readiniwas high seventies, when teh humidity outside is only in the sixties! That was with the windows slightly open, and the heaters blasting away.

They also found dampness in the loft, and promised us to call the management of the estate to check it out. They did not give very conclusive answers to what they are going to do with the broken/loose tiles which logs water in the bathroom, and the faulty washing machine. (Typical of LANDLORD, very very unwilling to fork $$$ or £££ for anything!!!)

Hope it will all turn out well. With the dehumidifier cum air purifier on, this place is more livable. I am less itchy, sneezy, and cough less. From last afternoon to the time before we went to bed (about 12), the dehumidifer extracted about 3 litres of water (some our small flat!!), and it is still going crazy trying to extract more. I shudder when I think of the electricity bills. 400W machine, running 24 hours a day. No joke.

TMD breakthrough....the mould effect

I had a TMD breakthrough.

I wrote(or rather typed) "TMD", in a moment of fury, depression and exasperation with my mould problems. But Blogger decided to eat up that post! TMD ! Why is the whole world suddenly turning against me!

Tomorrow we are seeing the solicitor. Yes, the solicitor. No joke. I am glad we made the appointment anyway, despite landlord sounding more amiable last night. One hour ago, he called to report sick and will not be able to look into the problem till he gets well. Dragging his feet?

I would not want to malign a good person, but I have had enough.
My damage so far??

1. Whole wardrobe of clothes (That is a lot of £££££)! 2 belts and some pieces thrown away. Others sent for dry clean/HOT water laundry cum tumble dry.
2. My clothes shrunk
3. I smell like a walking tea tree
4. I have to take leave from work
5. I have itchy watery eyes, itchy skin, itchy nose, and I cough in the mornings. I sneeze a lot, an would be an embarassment in front of clients!
6. My coats/jackets got mould stains-which is doing fantastic effects to my image and my health
7. I have a cooking phobia-On Mon night I cooked a pot of rice (with all ingredients thrown in to minimise amount of "cooking")---> Tuesday morning wake up to one big patch (more than 2 metres!) of fury mould on the ceiling of the kitchen where the steam might have hit.
8. My house is living hell. I am most comfortable away from home. I wasted my time in the mall sitting at the chairs together with old folks who had no where else to go in the afternoon, trying to avoid going home.
9. I fear for the rest of my properties! Our laptops, our books!
10. We got no place to even hang our clothes and towels in the bathroom while we are bathing, because the towel hanger has mould!

Worst still, we cannot even buy new things to replace the damaged ones, because they will grow mould as well.

Therefore, I suffer with indignant no-action while seeing people happily doing their christmas shopping and buying loads of stuff which were on offer at TK Maxx and the officer's club. I dont even dare to buy more edible stuff like flour, or rice to keep at home. I live on canned food, and bresh baguette. Eating non-fresh bread is inviting fungal poisoning-slow death due to liver cancer. If I die of liver or lung cancer, can I sue the landlord? ALfatoxin IS an established carcinogen, and a super potent one. Enough to get people like LYC to swear off her favourite peanuts. Other mould toxins are coming out with more and more proof of toxicity. Why am I putting up with this.

Mold city!!!

Mold ie fungi.. is just like mushrooms (their cousins). Have you heard something like of "like mushroom after rain"?

Overnight, we discovered so many patches of mold in our room-black toxic mold!
Maybe that is why my nose has been feeling really stuffy and I asked hubby to vacuum the house.

I did not notice anything when I went out this morning, but when I came back... I noticed so many patches!!! Did they appear while I was shopping?? Damn!!

I suspected some potential problems when the landlord came last time, he was looking at ceilings checking corners.

Everything ok? Any problems with the ceilings and walls? These are newly done.

Ohh thanks. They are ok.

That is good!

Hmmm... if you are renting, and you got this conversation with your landlord, you better beware.

You could be moving into MOULD CITY!!!-Nah, the picture is not art, it is mould.

At the rate the mould appears in our room, we will become like this by the time we come back from our weekend trip. And all our clothings, books (!), will be damaged as well. Darn!!!

We had a fixed term contract with no exit clause, and that is a big big damn. Should not have taken something without break clause. I cant remember why I went through with it. I will have to live here for 6 months.

Even if the mould seems controlled, they will still come back again anytime. They will still be there.. deep in the walls and ceiling waiting to come back and attack.

I am already allergic to many things, if I am allergic to this one, life is going to be really shitty. It ruined my whole damn night. I am supposed to prepare for an important meeting, but all I could do is Googling to see how I could minimise the damage.

I am not going to sleep well tonight.

Not when my brain is running background processing of all the studies which have associated mold with cancer, asthma, allergies, blah blah blah blah. And this is the damn toxic black mold! Gosh. And to think of all the newer studies that are looking at other ways the fungi family is kiling us slowly is more damning! Shit!!!! Damn. Lets hope that the landlord does something about it. I am going to get tea tree oil tomorrow and hope that it would slow the mold growth at least.

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.....

I dont like cities...

So many people. So little green space.

So, can we move to somewhere not so city-ish?

I LUV Oxford, lets move there. :) Anyway, I could work nearby!!!

Guys can travel better, so hubby can join his good friend to take the Oxford Tube to London every day. They would be so tired when they come back, that they will not have time checking out pretty gals on the way home. Meanwhile I could drive around town with his friend's gf, shopping, exploring, eating ice-cream and complaining about the men in our lives.

Sounds perfect. Hmmm.. that sounds tai-tai-ish. Yummy life!

That day, I had to join the queue for the "shuttle bus". Full of sweaty people, pushing, jammed up like sardines. I think a few more pimples popped up as a result. Hmmm.. that means a facial is a must the moment these heat rashes go down.

I don't like to join queues, I dont like crowded places-unless it is a place that I have never been to before-Which means I don't mind queuing at Disneyland.

Of ya, did I tell you that I bought that "Thailand" Prickly heat talcum??
Wow, it is good. cooling. Stop my itchiness, and I have less NEW rashes popping up.
However, I realised (when I was jammed in that bus), that I smelled like a "foreign worker".

yup, a few more months later, i will be a "foreign worker". I wonder if the Brits would think I have a particular smell. hmmmm

If we stay in a village, maybe we can get a bigger place. Maybe we will be nearer to nature. Then I could finally buy a digital camera, and take pictures of the changes in the season. Then maybe things would be cheaper than central London, and we will go the Alps for Christmas. See, so much "potential".

Ok, if those arguments do not work..... then lets try the other way....

Oxfordshire got one of the lowest crime rate in UK. Safe. Not like the previous places that hubby "almost" rented. Kensal, Harrow, blah blah blah. Thank goodness he never considered the infamous Hackney.

I always feel that you get HACKED in Hackney

Cheap, zone 3-ish London, with murders every other week or so. I dont like that. I hate places where the gangsters are not even sophisticated enough to kill properly, or have reasons to kill. If they kill like Chow Yun fatt, I don't mind-lah.

They kill when they try to get your wallet.
They kill if they failed to rape you-blaming you for their inability to rise to the occasion?
Or they kill if they managed to rape you, and they kill you, simply because they kiledl the wrong person.

That kind of places are out. I am a "careless" person, and I want to maintain my couldn't care-less attitude. The only way you could help a careless person stay out of harms' way, is not to stay in a bad area. " Crime prevention" should not be in my mind all the time... That is not how life should be!

Staying in Zone 1 is good, if we are loaded. Otherwise we will be sharing with people again. Chances of meeting people like our Romanian housemates is quite high! Probably we will even meet someone worse!

Hmmm.. with so many reminders of crimes, this posting should have blackmailed hubby into moving to Oxford, or one of the commuter towns on the way. hahahah. Mission accomplished. :D