Saturday, January 06, 2007

Christmas 2006 and New Year 2007

It's been a great month! Just relaxing, waking up late, watch shows (Mythbusters (all geeks and non-geeks would love this show!) and Guess Guess Guess (Taiwan variety show hosted by Jacky Wu, darn funny!). First Christmas and New Year celebrated outside Malaysia. Wow... just the thought of it and the journey the Lord has brought me along these past years... quite overwhelming.. The sense of gratitude to God, my family, my cell members in Malaysia, friends in Malaysia, in UK and in Edinburgh. I really do feel so blessed.

Just a quick update on what I did during Christmas and New Year. Spent 6 days in South of England (Cambridge, Reading, Didcot and London) with my MMU buddies and chums. Went down on the 23rd Dec. The amazing thing was that I didnt sleep at all the previous night. Guess what I did? I actually played Mah Jong!!! Yes. Of all things to pick up in UK, the last I expected was Mah jong but somehow I did. And I learned it from these kids who are like 2-3 years younger than me!! Except 1 guy la...my fellowship leader whereby the word young would be an understatement when used to describe him:P

Anyway, I'm digressing. Just played monopoly, poker, Risk (Lord of the Rings version, so darn complicated since you have know the middle-earth map instead of the world map), tai di and bridge (this is another new game I've learned, very very addictive and so fun). Guess, life in UK is mostly about indoors, so you really gotta learn to love indoor games, board and card based (it's not the end of this story yet, btw:P). Helped Chuan to cook a roast duck as well:

Noticed the end product on the table. Edible and not too bad. Receipe was given by Chuan (long haired gay guy on my left in the photo)'s friend who owns a restaurant in Cambridge.

Did some shopping in Reading in London as well. Bought a big bag pack (70+10 litre), 2 new shirts from NEXT and a new windproof/waterproof/heat-containing jacket, which surprising comes with a secret function:


Oh yes! It makes nice sound effects for kung fu moves. As you can see, when Siow Yuen (our host in Reading) held her digicam in video mode, I was "obliged" to do a demo:P More photos here.


Had some duck and char siew at London Chinatown day after boxing day. Photo taken by Shirley Ong, whose camera obviously have some problem since it made everyone in the photo look fatter than normal:))

Went back to Edinburgh to celebrate New Year. Attended this year's Torchlight Procession, a yearly Edinburgh celebration. If you're in Edinburgh on 29 Dec, you must attend this! Everyone will meet at the Parliament Square near Royal Mile. You can buy torches for £5 each (it's for charity) and everyone will start walking down the Mound, along Princess Street towards Carlton Hill. Then a small (and I mean really small) Viking ship will be set on fire. They'll also set fire to a bear (not a real one la, it's made of straw, I think). Then fireworks willl be set off. Wow, it's quite a view to see fireworks from really close by. Nice!










Apologies! Got side comments in the video. Not very professional, I know!

Spent New Year eve's eve at Glasgow, a good brother treated a few of us to watch Night at the Musuem at the Imax Theatre in the Glasgow Science Centre. It was absolutely fantastic! The generosity and graciousness of the people I've met here is so amazing sometimes! Went to look around Glasgow's shopping area. The sales by then had trickled down, so didnt buy anymore stuff (I know I'm sounding a bit girlish but hey, who doesnt like buying stuff man!)

New Year eve was spent at a friend's place as it was his birthday as well. We played a game called Citadel which is quite cool. We're all quite addicted to it cause we've subsequently played 2 more times and I believe there are many more to come:))

New Year day itself was spent playing mah jong, citadel and watching some movies... all indoor activities..again;)

Well, semester's starting again. Back to work again. Choosing my project next week. Hope to choose an interesting one. Postings would be reducing soon.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Loved your kungfu moves. Kind of amusing seeing Chuan being so cool in the background while you did your stunts.

ngyahloon said...

hehehe, i think it's because i was doing it the whole night since I bought the jacket:P

Unknown said...

real glad to know that you are enjoying pretty much in UK. That's what life is supposed to be. Work hard and play hard as well. Happy to see Chuan as well. Have not contacted with him for....some time already! So, chuan...when you see this, you know what to do huh? :)