You have no idea how thrilled I was when I saw the egg stand upright for the first time right in front of my eyes. I've waited two years. TWO YEARS to do it. This morning when Averse told me in class about today being "li chun", I got all excited. Once I reached home (several hours later), I totally forgot. Then around 10pm he asked me over msn. I got Wye Han and Max to follow me and we rushed over to Apple's place - well....because we've got no eggs in our house.

            So Averse, Apple and Poh Nee came downstairs to 'play' with us too. Yay!! I'm still a little hyped about it. We ended up balancing all 5 eggs available for standing (lol) courtesy of Poh Nee. There was a tall-ish egg which was rather challenging. We were wondering at one point whether or not the shape would affect it being able to stand or not. But Max showed us his skills! He balanced it well =)

                All the happy people go "Yea-eaahh"

              Week 2 is coming to an end and it already feels like I've been attending classes for a long time. As expected, loads of assignments - Creative Strategy for Advertising even requires weekly assignments. I like all the subjects I'm taking this sem. My lecturers are pretty good as well....nearly all at least. I anticipate lots of stressed up me moments so I'm trying to convince myself as much as possible to take things easy and remember that university life is all a learning process. It's not all about the grades. It's not all about answering tutorial questions. It's not all about doing the best presentation. It's about learning - in a fun way. Well, I guess if you perceive something in a certain way, you're most likely to act in that direction. 
     
               DPS is in the planning for upcoming activities this sem and next. Hopefully we get the green light (and all the greens we need in it) from DSA to carry out another drama production. UTAR Ball is coming up in March. Public Performance Club initiated by Ms Ina is also aiming for a very exciting project end of March or beginning April. Dance Club's event is also coming up in ... goodness, is it in March?

               Aside from that, I've got my own things I like to do - tv series: Glee, Apprentice (oooh celebrity apprentince is quite the terror), baking: dozens of recipes waiting, photos: sorting them all out - I've got some in Amelia's external hd even lol, closet: rearranging. Then of course there's those things you simply can't miss like spending time with family, the boyfriend, the girls, etc.

                I must say that I know how to fairy dust my life quite well, sometimes even overdozing myself with too many must-dos and want-to-dos. Well, how else to live the life God has blessed us with, right? I choooooose to make this last undergrad year a pretty darn fantastic one. Now who's with me?

Some of the things in England that fascinate me and of which I wish was available here:

1. Public transportation - (a) What is normally heard is true. It really is that easy to use public transportation. Trains and subways are your best friends. You just need to familiarize with the different routes and find the best possible way to get to your destination. Lesson learnt a little too late: Learn how to read the subway map first. There was one day when the guys were recuperating from their fever and cold back home and so Yan and I decided to brave London on our own. After puchasing our day passes at Hatfield train station, both of us stood in front of the subway map on the wall and stared at it fumbling through our London guide book and some other pamphlets of places we wanted to visit. We stared. And stared. And stared. Until one of the workers there came over and offered his help. Lol. It was funny. He was very nice indeed. He taught us how to look for our various destinations on the map and how to pick the shortest route. Thank You, God. (b) I like it how the subway personnels or subway train drivers immediately explain to passengers what went wrong if there is a sudden jerk on the train or something like that. And oh, I have to share something with you. Well, whenever the train doors are about to shut, they have their personnel making the announcement to keep away from the doors, etc. As expected, the tone of the announcement can sometimes get a little monotonous. I mean..who can blame them. But there was this one time where I guess somebody on board (or off) was too close or was in the 'danger zone' and the person speaking through the loud speaker went ".... keep away ...... from the dooooooooooooor!!!" just before the signal to leave went off. Lol. I don't know how to put it in to words well. Anyway, we had a good laugh.

2. Fish & Chips - Now, who doesn't love fish and chips there. This was one of the very few things I was longing for before going to the UK. Yumm. Topped with a drizzle of vinegar and sprinkle of salt. Ahhh.... And it's available everywhere.

3. The weather - Yes, at times it was seriously too cold. You can very well tell when I'm freezing. My knuckles turn purplish grey. I suppose every other season aside from winter is pretty darn good. So long as the wind doesn't blow, my ears are covered, and I've got at least 2 (or 3 depending on material) layers of clothes on under my coat, I'm a happy girl strolling down the streets. It's nice that you get to walk everywhere and not worry about entering a nice fancy restaurant or a shopping mall with blotches of sweat on your clothes or eye liner on your cheeks. And it helps you achieve more steps in a day (woohoo for health!). By the way, it's also true that it's less cold when the snow falls. I'm no scientist so I can't understand why. But I'm liking the mystery of it and thus am not finding out why. 

4. Scenery - Beautiful as ever. I'm a very I-heart-my-cottage-home kind of girl and so my eyes really enjoyed admiring the very English brick wall houses there. We were treated to stunning views during our train ride up north to Edinburgh. One of the stops we canceled was Lake District (supposedly one of the most beautiful places in England, if not the best). But we did pass through it. And me-oh-my. It is reaaaal pretty. My parents would so enjoy it me thinks.

5. Shopping, Places to visit, & London as a whole - Awesome.

Photos especially for Jerms

              We took about an hour I reckon to search for Savoy theatre. We went around looking for the best Legally Blonde musical tickets on offer at all the theatre booths at Leicester Square and were told to go directly to the theatre itself for the best seats as there were no half price ones on sale. Relying on Shawn and Don - both of whom have been frequent London visitors - and two iPhone's GPS, we figured that we would be able to direct ourselves there with the help of directions from some random locals. The distance from the booths at Leicester to the Savoy Theatre itself is actually a 10 minute walk at most. We headed in a totally wrong direction. We missed the changing of guards because of this long walk but it came out pretty good in the end. We ended up at Westminster area and managed to take some pictures of Trafalgar Square (I was initially very sad thinking we wouldn't get to see Trafalgar). When we saw ourselves by the River Thames and London Eye, we asked for directions from a police officer who was patrolling on a huge horse. We found our way to the Strand and walked along it to get to Savoy. Madness. Good madness.

              The show itself? SUPERB! Sheridan Smith took the lead role. Duncan James from English boy band Blue was in the show too playing Warner. His voice, well, was good... for a boy band. Anyway, Sheridan did an excellent job portaying Elle Woods. The vibrant colours and stunning voices of the whole show were amazing. It was very lively and upbeat indeed throughout the show and time flew by without you noticing (I checked for the time twice watching Nutcracker). The songs and choreography were done very well. Extra points for the running lights bordering the stage. I'm so glad we made the effort to find the theatre. I nearly gave up. Half way through the search, Shawn kept saying, 'If we manage to find the theatre, I don't care how much the tickets are going to cost. We're watching it.' And yes, thanks to him and the other as well for not giving up, we had such a great night.

             Oh. We also met up with Sookie and Sonny on that same day. Thanks so much both of you! They came all the way from Birmingham just for a night. We had a drink with them before the show and met up again after. Mmm. Dinner (at about 11pm) that night was goooood. We had Chinese at Four Seasons. The peking duck. YUM. They've got really good juicy roast duck as well. And I somehow really fancy their aubergine dish. I had it twice throughout my stay. I think that was the only one food I ate twice.

             That. That was the day before I hopped on the plane to head back home ever so half heartedly.

             Welcome to the life of a third year first trimester uni student. Five subjects. Four days a week. Hurrah?

             I've still got loads to share about my sweet trip to the UK. Soon. Promise. I just finished sorting out the pictures late last night.