coldest winter

the winter this year is exceptionally cold. In all the years I am here, the newspapers always talk about a white christmas and the big freeze.

For the week running up to Christmas, we had subzero temperatures at night in London, with maximum daily temperature around 1-3C. It snowed, and the roads & pavements remain frozen in London unless gritted. Unfortunately, it became warmer at christmas day, about 5-6C. Only some lucky Scots finally got a white christmas.

It seems that a white christmas was a regular feature just decades ago.

LONDON SNOWED!!!!!

And guess what, my bones told me that!

I woke up at 5 plus am, with my bones aching all over. I felt DAMN!!! It is acting up again. But then I realised, it is that type of feeling when it snowed last year.

Believed me or not, I actually got myself out of the bed, go the the window, and pull up the blind.

Taaaa daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Since I slept at 2+ am, could not believe my eyes! I saw things flying past the street lights. And Blink blink.. rub rub eyes.. gosh! The houses in front are covered with something, the trees look fat.. and wait a minute! It is SNOWING!!!! And I yelled to hubby

"It is snowing. It is snowing!!!"

Of course he thought I was pulling his leg, until he saw me pulling out the camera. heheYeah, that is the street light which alerted me of things "flying past"..." I was so tempted to go out, but gave up the idea as I was dead tired.

After a few snaps.. off I went back to bed. I was just hoping that snow would still be there.

The moment I woke up this morning, I rushed to the window and had a very pleasant surprise!!!I was like.. the reward of not living in central LONDON!!! Woah ahahaha. Another photo from my window.....

And these are taken on my way to work.Walking in snow and slush is not fun. Lots of efforts just to ensure I dont slip and fall. So tiring.


And because someone had time to kill.. he went to take photos in the canals nearby.UNFAIR!!!These are my favourites..................love the reflections on the water...

And hubby says it is gonna snow tonight. BBC says"

Wednesday 24 January WEATHER WARNING Ice will be a widespread problem tonight and through Thursday morning's rush hour across much of central and north-eastern England. Valid until 1000GMT.
Wednesday 24 January WEATHER WARNING Heavy snow showers are expected to affect parts of Kent and East Sussex this evening and overnight. By Thursday morning's rush hour there could be a covering of 5-10cms of snow in a few places. Some travel disruption is possible Valid until 1000GMT. "

Sure or not? Anyway, my bones have not detected it yet! But to play safe, i shall sleep early!!! Woahhahahah. I suddenly love london again.

snow, sleet, and a profound code.............

This means SLEET.. and the bottom means SNOW!!
The weather prediction says SLEET, but I am hoping mad that it would snow!! After all I moved out of the darned central London atmosphere where all snow turn to sleet, thanks to the heating and pollution!! Last year, it sleeted when it was supposed to have rained, and it snowed when it was supposed to be sleeting.

It is supposed to be sleeting from about 7-9am tomorrow, and I will be a good gal, sleep early, and be ready to catch the snow/sleet. Sleet is still fun, there is something fun about ice raining on you and then melt.... ahhhh..

Why cant they have a snow storm and announce the closure of school/businesses? I got good supply of hot chocolate. It better snow and sleet as much as needed, cos when ET comes, we need to go out to play.

Today, the bitter cold chilled my brains to think....

nu cai jiu shi nu cai. zai na li dou shi nu cai. bu ru zai ge leng qing de hou gong li, bei yi ge bian tai (qi shi hao ke lian) de tai jian qi fu, hao guo cao zhe yao huan xin zhu zi. Xin zhu zi de gong li ke neng hui you geng duo bian tai de tai jian, mei tian dou zai zheng feng chi chu....... and OMG, what it some of them are jia tai jian???? Da dao ni shi wo huo....Bu shi geng ke pa ma?? Wo zi shi qiu you yi xie jian jian dan dan, ping ping an an, kuai kuai le le de ri zi, bu xiang gen ta men xua zhe me duo hua zao.

Hahaha.. with all the broken han yu pin yin, whoever can decode what I wrote is definitely my good friend. Hahaha

Yeah, it was so cold that I felt dizzy when I reached the office this morning. No kidding. It was damn cold!!!

The "storm" .............

Today is all about the wind, the storm.

I went to work late, as I did not feel like walking 30 minutes in strong wind and rain. The wind was shockingly strong this morning, that I felt "pushed" back by it. I think that was probably the milder part of the morning. Once I arrived in the office, the wind just picked up.

From the office window, I got distracted with the sound of the wind and also the sound of the sheds in the allotments cracking. The nicest shed, the most posh of it all; white metal type, was blown off and flattened. No kidding. We watches as the wind uprooted the shed, and see it slowly crumbled and finally flattened. To our surprise, the wooden "poor" looking sheds which looked like they were put together with scraps of wood were alright! Sounds like something from the 3 little pig.

Extremely cold and foggy day!!

That picture was stolen from Bisoumoi's blog.

It was much much more foggy at my place, and I bet much more cold as well. It has got to be the coldest morning I had to be outside, and walked to work. By the time I arrived, my thighs and calves were NUMB with cold, despite my usual tights, pants and coat. I know that sounds not a lot, but tights have been practically enough for me to survive the previous winter. I was not standing still, mind you, I was walking really really fast.

The morning seemed so surreal. The cars were frozen with a thick layer of ice. The fields, roofs and trees' twigs were white. There were even ice on the path, and ice forming on the roof of my colleagues' cars (who probably arrived 1/2 hour earlier). I wanted very much to flip out my handphone to take a photo, but chickened out. My mind was still fresh with the image of SH's chilblains!!! Now I fully believe that central London could me many more degrees warmer than the outskirts.

Hmmm. shall I brave the cold this weekend to go out?? I could watch a nice Christmas musical, meet some friends, buy my tang yuans, and have been promised juicy gossips by a guy who usually does not gossip. Which means, if he is gossiping, that it got to be worth gossiping... hmmmm...

Argh.. tomorrow is going to be colder than today. sigh. Another day of walking in near 0 temperature. Maximum day temperature is only 2C. On Friday, max temp =2C, min temp =-1C.

My winter foot wear

The past few days have been really cold. Glad that I have my winter clothing shopping partially done. Have my coat for work, my tights to keep my pins warm etc etc, and yeah, bought boots too!!!

I like my boots. Got them from Clarks. £39.90, if I remember correctly. Still considered very cheap!!!

When I wear them, I feel ....

1. warmer
   
2. taller, therefore slimmer
   
3. sexier (bleah!!!)
4. more stylo-mylo
5. I walk with more confidence??

It is just 1.25 -inch heel, but is "high" compared to the completely flat shoes I usually wear. I think I will buy another pair- a total non-slip, ice resistant flattie. 1.25 inch is till too high, and a bit too dangerous (for me) when the roads get really icy!!!

At home, my best investment is these shoe-socks!!!

Fleece!!! Very warm, soft and cozy!!! Got them from Primark for £1!!! The bottom part has some rubber "dots", that prevent it from slipping. After wearing it many times and it get smelly, just need to dump into washing machine.Hygienic. Not like those cozy indoor "shoes", looks warm and everything, but is a nightmare to wash and dry.

They are so cute that I was so tempted to post a pair to each friend of mine... but I cant see how they are going to make use of it. Maybe I get a pair for Phi when she comes here :).

Keeps my feet from freezing, and I could keep my heater at a lower temp with these!

Nah... dont look at those fat fat legs.... just look at those cute prints...They are a bit too small for me, because the larger sizes were all sold out!!! Over here, my shoe size is the most popular!!! hahahahahahaha..........Buying shoes is a breeze in UK!!! Hated those shops that didn't stock my size.

cold long winter walks

we have shifted..

and I am now braving myself to cold long winter walks.. to work.

Can it sound any more exciting?
Nope. The only motivation is figuring out how much I earn per hour x 3, and also remembering the bills that need to be paid now that we shifted.

The walk takes more than 1/2 hour each way, pass cottages, B&Bs... charming little houses of varying sizes and occupied by people with various level of wealth. At one section of the road, you could smell, £££, looking at the Jags and Mercs park at the roadside, driveway. At one section, you see smaller single storey cottages, with bicycles (students?, environmentalists?), or some battered car.

In short, this area seemed peaceful. Laidback. Nice. Village feel with all the mod cons.
If you keep on looking, you could almost fool yourself that you are a tourist and not walking to work :) Lovely. I could retire here, and choose my dinners from the three take outs- one Indian, one chinese and one fish and chip. Heathrow 15-20 minutes away, and London 40 mins away by car.

But.... the weather is getting colder, and it is really difficult to dress appropriately to walk more than 1/2 hour. Wear a coat, and you would sweat. No coat, and you will definitely shiver, esp when wind blows. And what happens when it rains? Gosh. I need BOOTS!!!!!

I have already caught my first round of winter flu bug, thanks to the stupid guy on the bus last week. That idiot was coughing at my face!!! I should have slapped him for these few days of misery. If i dont get well by this weekend, my copenhagen will be spoiled.

Non coherent babbling.. as usual.

I am drugged. thanks to that flu .........

My first coat, and my first UK job

Cunning shopper..,.Who?Me?

The past week or so was spent desperately getting a working wardrobe. Yeah, the past week or so, which means I bought things before the mid-season sales started!!! I was really reluctant to buy, as I knew teh sales would start 1-2 weeks later. Darn.

But luckily, I learned to be more cunning, or rather.. bitchy?? I am afriad I am learning to be the later one. Uh oh.

I bought a white blouse which I thought was PLAIN but quite nicely cut from M&S for £25. It is a bit ex for a blouse which look like that. I cant help bvut convert to SGD--- 75!!!

But like I said, I am kinda getting shrewed/bitchy whatever, thanks to observing women bring bag loads of clothes for refund. Nah, I am not so LOW as to wear the clothes on with the tags on and then ask for refund. That is was too LOW. I rather wear rags than do that. I just left the tags on, and wash it a day or two before I was going to wear it.

....And before I got a chance to wear that blouse, the sales started. So... I send it back for refund!!! As I paid with credit card, it was not cash refund, but a refund in voucher. So, I can take my £25 voucher to buy stuff at discounted rate now!!! Hehehe.... Hubby have not found out about it- I wonder what is his reaction when he reads this entry.

Hahah.. he better realise I am not so innocent/gullible/goody goody anymore... I am BAD!!

The first COAT............
BTW, I settled on the BLACK one from Dorothy Perkins. :)

This is the FIRST coat in my life!!! £60. Relatively cheap for a coat. But when during sales, it will cost only 1/2 of this!!!
The photo they supplied is a size 8 coat-which did not reflect how it would look like on me. So I EXPANDED the photo above Horizontally......... to get the size 14 effect. Size 14 is a bit tight on me, and will be really tight in middle of winter if I pile on more layers. I think I will not be able to button and freeze to death. So, this kind of reminds/threatens me to lose some weight for freeze to death. I got two more weeks to do so before going to Copenhagen.

FIRST week at work.............
Bless those Brits! The press "log off" at 5.00pm SHARP!! By 5.02, bags are packed, and by 5.05pm, they are at the car-park. Haha!! Needless to say, I love them to pieces.

Compare this to my previous office. Even in those rare 1 or 2 days i magically finished off at 430 pm, I still hanged around, pretended to look busy and only left at 6:30pm (officially to work till 530pm) Even then, people still gave me the "woah, so early??" As if, it is normal/expected of me to leave at 9pm every day? Work now is 830 to 5:00pm. -7.5 hours per day. people dont come late,but they dont leave late. Brilliant!

Things went quite well, although the travel kills me-both in terms of cost and time. On my first day, I took the usual route, and spent almost £10 on it. Then, I took the bus, and saved. Spent £3 on my third day at work, but I was dead tired.

oh ya Copenhagen. ... I am going off end of the month for 6 days!!!

woah ahahahaha.... for work though, which means it is damned stressful. Well, boss is nice, and since Matt (my colleague, a 6 feet 4 inch guy) and I have not been to Copenhagen, she sent us there one day early, so that we could hang around and "play tourist" a bit before slaving it out. Yipee...

This is the first time I ever had got to go one day early and got my hotel paid... haha...
Damn the stupid ex-boss who made me take the 7 am flight out and 11pm flight in. Inhuman!!

.. and I need to shop.. for really decent clothes for that 5 day meeting. 5 sets of really decent clothes... £££££££... before i even get my pay. Damn broke.

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.

Glued to the TV for... WEATHER FORECASTS!

I thought it was a bit weird how the British seems to be sooo obsesses about weather and people actually tune in to get in. I mean, weather forecasts on tv are always indicators of "go to toilet before the drama start after news" kind of thing. This is something that I thought I never would acquire.

but taa daa.. i am infected! Just about a week ago I thought spring was here with tiny buds sprouting all over the trees, and fresh rains came. nOne morning, I was enjoying the new buds in the park and the next morning I woke up after hearing some "noise" and to my suprise; greeted with tiny bits of ice of about 0.5 cm in diameter outside my window. Hmm I was tempted to bring a glass out and make iced coffee if the air is not soo polluted.

After a spell of 9-10C, I dressed lightly and skipped the scraf. Then one night my face was bitterly stung by the cold "northeasterly wind" . The effect? A patch of my skin near my nose is dead... torn out, and I am waiting for my dear sis to send me my Shiseido moisturiser!!! Luckily got sister. If only got brother.... hmmm.. dunno what he will send. :)

Now I am glued to the BBC news.

SNOW: Kensington Palace and Park, London

Keeping my promise, I am uploading some picture of Kensington park-yeah, the place where silas was found, you Da Vinci Code maniacs.

These pictures are taken near the Round Pond.

The Round Pond must be the most beautiful corner of this park. Position yourself a the correct angle, and you will could see the pond with the swans, and a background with with Kensington palace and other nearby "palaces"- "houses" fit for kings that serve mainly as embassies, or homes to some superlatively rich people.

The best place to stay so that you could access the parks conveniently is Bayswater. This area is dotted with tourist class hotels and also budget hotels for back packers. Certain hotels, like the Hilton faces the park.

Entrance to the park is free, but the palace is not!

more photos of south kensington garden

The autumn leaves on the South Ken Park lawn. A breeze would bring in a nices pictre of rustling leaves and some brids taking flight.

The pics below are taken on a bright sunny afternoon(rare occurence). However,they looks "cloudy", as I am using my Nokia 6100i. Give me a better camera and I give you better pics! (Christmas is coming, hint hint.)

A nice cloud hanging over the round pond. Shadows are people, looking or feeding the feathered creatures.

Below is a brighter pic. different angle. The "dots" are the fat birds, ducks , geese, whatever. (All good for dinner afetr a HOT bath an an hour in the over, according to my SO)






















This is the Broadwalk. It was once the place to be seen. there are many benches along this road, and in sunny days, can reading or simply lazing around with theird dogs here.












This is a picture with Kensington Palace at the background. The pointed spire is a church quite somewhere around Kensington High Street. There are many big "houses"(actually many are embassies) behind Kensington Palace.


This is a pic of two balding trees. Trees and turn bald in just 3-4 days. Amazing!Regreted not taking a picture of the same tree everday to show "progress"!

London: Bird fever, not flu

South Kensington Park in a crisp late autumn morning is just serenely beautiful. In just two short weeks, I witnessed the change of the colour from greenish yellow (which disappointed me- it looked dirty!) to all shades of yellow and the occasional dash of red in some trees. The lawns are composed of grass that is still very green and pattern with shades of yellow leaves which had fallen. With some “hairy” dogs (I swear the dogs here are much more fluffy and hairy) runny across them, it was a very beautiful picture.

My significant other and I headed to the Round Pond, wondering whether we will be catching someone playing some miniature controlled boats.

The pond was obviously busy, but not with boats. There were so many swans and ducks of all sizes and colours. The primitive “China Man” in him immediately thought of the sweet, tender and juicy roast goose we had at Yung Kee and wondered whether the swans would taste that good too. The fat ducks will surely be yummy, may be as good as those at Four Seasons, the famous Chinese restaurant in Bayswater. And oh, look at the pigeons, aren’t they FAT!! Wouldn’t they be perfect for a roasting!


These “rats with wings”, as Londoners call them because of the mess they make, were everywhere. Unlike us urban Asians who shy away from all things that fly and are wild because of the bird flu scare, the Londoners do not seem to be affected. In fact, the papers just reported an increase in “bird feed”- balls of seed, vegetable oil and all things that are delicious for our winged friend. If I were a pigeon, I would fly here too- where we would be fed till fat instead of being fed to some fat tummies; where people feed me with mouth watering seeds instead of salivating at the sight of our fat and feathered bodies.

Children and elderly alike seem to derive much pleasure in feeding the feathered friends (soon to be turned fiends when bird flu strikes). Coming from a place where the reports of bird flu in neighbouring countries resulted in the “precaution” through “culling” of anything (whether wild or domesticated) with two legs and feathered wings, we were pleasantly surprised and at the same time a little worried about the “ignorance” or “recklessness” of people here! Of course, SARS have not struck here and the animal activist would probably equate any of such mass culling to Auswich in animal world.

Other than some cases of bird flu in Romania, I have not heard much of it since I came here. Until the danger of bird flu become really near and obvious, I too would join Londoners in admiring these beautiful feathered creatures, and enjoy guessing which greyish white dots on the pavement is a gum and which are the pigeon “bombs”. My other delight is of course, laughing at my SO paranoia of bird shit.

I guess, I just had to enjoy the serenity before throngs of tourists come to town in spring. With the popular stretch of hotels in Inverness Terrace and Bayswater Road, the place will be crowded!