film is a REAL degree: March 2005

in Bruges but heading to Antwerp (Belgium)

after spending the day in Bruges, my brother and i are setting off for Antwerp once we have bought some chocolate to last us the leg of the trip.

basically spending hours to get here - our train left London Waterloo at 8.39am, meaning we left the house at 7.35am and upon arriving in Brussels we whisked ourselves onto a Metro and onto another train to Bruges - we walked around the town and saw the rows and rows of shops... other than clothes boutiques (and i mean it really was like Oxford Street and Bullring in Birmingham), every other shop was a chocolatier! OoooooOO la la... had lunch at some quaint little cafe and my brother ordered hot chocolate (what else would have done this place the justice?) and it came as a glass of hot milk and a saucer of milk chocolate bits... YUMMY!

took a boat down the river and we got to see the beautiful gothic architecture and i learnt that there are 17 churches in Bruges! and anyway... the guide, who was driving the boat, was kinda cute. managed to sneak a few pictures of him ALL FOR YOUR BENEFIT! perhaps at the end of this we shall have a forum on which nationality has cuter guys. :)

onward bound to fashion capital ANTWERP! ta ta Bruges and all the chocolates... we will meet again in Brussels. all of you who want chocolate AND IT IS FEASIBLE FOR ME TO BUY FOR YOU, place your orders.

My day in London

went down to London today because my brother and i are going to belgium on wednesday. other than pigging out eating bento boxes in chinatown and having a yummy dinner of char kway teow, black bean kway teow and black pepper kway teow (all cooked by my brother and apparently of china house restaurant standard), and napping in the afternoon, i have done pretty much nothing. sooo... i am looking forward to a good day of studying tomorrow. 'why?', you ask. because my brother and i are going to study. his housemate kelvin was already studying when i arrived at his place - like work spread out on the dining table and conscientious work. from an empty house where i did work to keep myself occupied to a house of potential nerds (i think we all are anyway), this might turn out to be a productive holiday! yay!

my brother had some friends over for dinner and after dinner we sat around in his huge room and pam was strumming the guitar trying to figure out the chords for "With All I Am" and everyone was just lounging around reading. it was a nice communal feeling of everyone just relaxing for that time - no one was rushing to be somewhere or to do something. and the lyrics of the song really struck me because prior to that we were talking about the earthquake in Indonesia and it reminded me that He is our focus in life. no matter what comes our way, or how stressed we might be, He is the reason that we live and the reason we sing.

The life of a housewife

for the last few days, i have technically been crashing josh's house because i dont have accomodation on campus during the holidays and i am not exactly paying rent here either. i am what is called, a squatter. anyway, his housemates have been out of town so i've taken over sheena's room and basically the whole house since josh has been playing the piano for the restaurant in stratford for lunch and dinner on friday and saturday, and dinner today. and since he isnt playing in kenilworth, as he usually does, but in stratford, he ends leaving for work at 5pm when it starts at 7.30pm. and for lunch he leaves the house at 10.30-ish and gets back at 3-ish/4. so.... i have the whole house to myself.

remember how i used to say that i am studying in the UK to get housewife training? well... that was what i said in the first term since i used to cook a lot for SOME people (who are very appreciative, i am sure) and this someone was my kitchen guinea pig so that when i do get married, i will be able to whip up wonderful dishes to fill my husband's stomach and brighten his day with my love... the past few days i have seen another aspect of being a housewife. it is the part about being home alone the whole day. dont get me wrong, i like the solitude but sometimes it gets lonely and reading the plays and books that i was supposed to finish during this holiday has been a help to keep my mind occupied. as is sweeping the kitchen floor and cleaning the toilet and ironing clothes. if i ever become a housewife, it will probably be because my husband is a workaholic which is how we can afford to have only him working and this might be my life. will i be happy staying at home all day and be content keeping the house nice and cooking up wonderful dishes or will i get bored after a year?

working has its ups and downs and a lot of the time when i was working i wished i didnt have to get up again to go to work because the day or days before i had a tough time. yet i like the thrill of accomplishing something. perhaps that is why i like uni life because it has a mix of both - the housewife bit in terms of coming back and whipping up yummy dishes before settling down to do some work.

addy thinks i wont become a housewife. and i was thinking just now that perhaps if i do become one, i might just have kids sooner to keep me company. but then, that shouldnt be a motive to start a family. i guess as i grow older, i'll perhaps have a clearer impression of what i want to do careerwise. or will i? hmmm...

Long overdue picture of my yummy chargrilled honey chicken

some time ago i said i made some fabulous chicken and i kept saying i would post a picture but then i never learnt to use Hello! hahaha... obviously i have figured out why i couldnt log in... (blame it on my laptop's HIGH SECURITY... bummer)

anyway... here it is... YUMMY? I THINK SO TOO!