Before you start to think I did an Amelia Earheart, this is a chronicle of what I've been up to in the past 10 days...
...I have been to Southampton and celebrated CNY away from Cardiff. Went there on Friday evening and spent the weekend with my ex-classmate Jennifer who I hadn't seen in 5 years!
Southampton is a thriving and energetic city by the port. One of Soton's many historical claims to fame is that it was where Titanic made its maiden voyage. They even had a museum showcasing everything Titanic-related, which geek centrals and trivial people like me found quite interesting ;P. We went to the harbour on Saturday morning, followed by a visit to the shops in town and West Quay shopping mall (as well as Asda on many occasions, during which Jen introduced me to peanut butter Kit Kat!) before heading back home to Swaythling, where Jen resides. Later in the day, I was also given a very comprehensive tour of the Soton Uni campus and found the entire complex rather modern and somewhat futuristic. The "fish tank" at Jubilee Sports Complex is the perfect place to leng-chai spot! From there, we went further to a Roath Park lookalike near Jen's house and had a relaxing afternoon stroll along the river. One of the most bizzare incidents that happened during our walk in the park was this dog who came from behind and gave the bend of my knee a bite. Thank God I was wearing thick jeans and went away unscathed!
Stupid dog, why did you do that for? Was that your way of lamenting Feb 17 as the last day of your year? Hokay, so what was I supposed to do about that?! It was funny how I didn't scream for England considering I'm never comfortable near dogs. Jen blamed it on my slow reflex which I whole-heartedly agree.
All of us were looking forward to the Reunion Dinner. One of Jen's housemate (Xiao Xiao) had her mom over for New Year so we were fortunate to have tasted Xiao Ma Ma's renowned dumpling dish (jiao zhi). Everyone had fun making dumplings and that added to the new year spirit. Geraldine, another of Jen's friend even had CNY songs playing in the background so that felt very much like home, even though we're 6600 miles away! I lost count of the number of people who congregated at Jen's house for dinner that night but it was very atmospheric. It was a pleasant change of environment for me because majority of them were mainland Chinese people, which meant I had to put on my best Mandarin, which isn't very good to be honest. I got tongue-tied pretty much in every sentence, but aiyar, they understand me means can lah...you should see the puzzled looks on their faces when the 4 Malaysians speak to one another - a mish-mash of English, cha-pa-lang Mandarin, Canto, Malay, Hokkien all rolled into one!
As usual, Sunday came without prompting (much to my annoyance because I had a great time at Soton). And yes, I hear you, time flies when you're having fun. Anyway, many many thanks to Jen for her thoroughly wonderful hospitality! Couldn't ask for a better host!
In the last 10 days, I've also celebrated Shrove Tuesday / Mardi Gras although I was mainly there for the food :). Apparently, Shrove Day is 40 days and 40 nights before Easter minus the Saturdays leading to the big day, and since it's more commonly known as Pancake Day, that's what I'll remember it as. In fact, Nicola - my floormate who loves baking - actually took the effort of making pancakes for everyone on the floor so we had a great time drowning ourselves in pancakes. So much so this greedy girl suffered from indigestion after that. Argh :(
The rest of the time was spent preparing for a hospital interview that I've been asked by Worthing Hospital to attend on Thursday, all the way in Brighton. Aiyar, don't shake your head and tsk lah, I didn't go there for fun, I went there on business!
When I was first told of the venue, I almost wanted to say no because it's an f-ing 4 and 1/2 hours from Cardiff, and if you multiply it by 2 for the to and fro journey, that's 9 hours of butt being stationary on the bus/coach. So, you think it's fun? Think twice before you chide me about going to Brighton, again!
As much as I hated the long journey, I couldn't say no. It was (one of my) only chances of getting a hospital placement this summer and I wasn't gonna let the long ride get in my way. But it was a high price to pay for a hospital offer though. Poor Adeline had to skip all lectures on Thursday to leave Cardiff at 9am so to reach Brighton in time for a 2.20pm interview, after which she had to endure another 4 and 1/2 bus+train ride to reach Cardiff at 10.30pm to get enough rest so that she could attend lectures the next morning. And if that wasn't bad enough, she had been set back 40 quid for all the train and coach tickets! Wuu-huu, literally blood, sweat and tears...
The interview was alright I guess. I think I did ok (considering the vast amount of effort I put in prior to it) and fingers crossed they'd be impressed to give me a place.
I left the hospital at 3pm, and I wasn't due to take the train back until 6pm, so what's a girl to do? Weather was horribly wet that entire day (across the UK I'd say), so that put me off going to the seafront or even the shops. Decided to call up my friend Nickson and he dragged Andrew along (his fellow coursemate cum flatmate) to go for a cuppa at Costa coffee at the Laines. I was surprised to find that they didn't have any classes, but upon further probing, they said they did have a lecture at 5-6, but they weren't planning on going because the lecturer sucked and I was a good reason for them to skive. Pah, what a bunch of t**ts, using me as an excuse! Nonetheless, I had a lovely time yakking, yakking and yakking. I wish we could just sit there and talk for England but we all know that's a lot to ask!
Reached Cardiff safe and sound on Thursday night and Friday just came and go *snap*, like that.
I thought I'd give myself a break after such a hectic week, so I went and book a ticket for a comedy show at St David's Hall on Friday evening at 7.30pm (yes Sola, that's where I was heading to when I bumped into you at the staircase, not some hot date you think it was!).
You see, what happened was I received a newsletter from New Theatre about this comedy show called Defending the Caveman on Friday itself, and since they offer ReAct members (which I am one) discounted tickets at 5GBP, I thought why not just go for it. Actually went alone coz it was a last-minute thing, and no one was particularly interested in a comedy, so yeah, these are times a singleton sometimes think "hmm, I could probably do with a man?" :P
Anyway, the show is a smash hit comedy about men and women, and it lived true to its billing of being a hysterical take on lives, loves and relationships. Basically, a manifestation of "men are from mars, women are from venus" in a comedy show. I'm really glad I went for it and had my funny bone tickled consistently for almost 2 and 1/2 hours with wise-cracking, "how come I never thought of it that way" jokes and funny anecdotes. It gave me a whole new perspective of men to say the very least!
So yup, that was a whirlwind 10 days for me. And oh, it doesn't stop there, I have a whole load of practical write-ups, time-tests and presentations to be working (and worrying) on so wish me luck!
Any supply of energy is much appreciated!
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