nostalgia.

Day 84: The Phantom of the Opera!

2007-02-12T23:54:00.000Z

I went to see The Phantom of the Opera tonight. I managed to buy my ticket last minute for £41, down from £45. The show was incredible! www.thephantomoftheopera.com

Day 83: Guitars, Beef and Chocolates.

2007-02-11T23:26:00.000Z

I have always been writing songs for people. Finally, the day has come when someone has written a song for me! Thanks to Lydia Loh. Evidently my classic hits such as Postman Pat and Love Song for Sweetie have touched the lives of many! Hahaha.

After church I went for a pub lunch with Wei Wei. My first and last Sunday Roast in ages. The food was pretty good, but the beer was crap! Nevertheless, I downed my pint like a good sport.

After lunch I went to Harrods to window shop and check out the guitar exhibition. I ended up buying a box of chocolates. I never knew chocolates could be so expensive; I did the math and realized I was paying £8.50 per 100g! It took the toll on my wallet width alright. The guitars at the exhibition were crazy! Most were custom Fenders, but there were also many vintage pieces.

Day 82: Greenwich & Malaysian Night

2007-02-10T23:00:00.000Z

I visited Greenwich today with my cell. Greenwich is the 'G' in GMT and is the solution to the latitude problem. I stood on the zero meridian line! I saw John Harrison's original clock prototypes! There are numerous other attractions in Greenwich such as a painted hall, Trinity College of Music, Maritime Musuem, etc.

At night I went to Malaysian Night with Lydia and Zun Hui, a UCL Malaysian Student Union drama production. We took some crazy pictures!

Day 81: Tate Modern!

2007-02-09T22:45:00.000Z

I went to the Tate Modern today, a museum of modern and contemporary art. The highlight was The Unilever Series by Carsten Höller; a series of slides.

Day 78 - 80: Snow!

2007-02-08T22:35:00.000Z

It snowed non-stop from the middle of the night till mid-morning. 4 inches! I made a massive snowball on the way to the tube station.

Day 77: Tally the Bill!

2007-02-05T22:17:00.000Z

So concludes my European travels.

Destinations: Paris Rome Barcelona Milan Hamburg Amsterdam

Total Damage to Dad's Mastercard: A$2015.15

Total Cash Burnt: Approximately £300

Day 75 - 76: Amsterdam!

2007-02-04T23:51:00.000Z

This weekend I went to explore Amsterdam, Holland, on my own. It was awesome!

But before I can talk about the holiday itself, I must describe my transport pangs first.

I rocked up at Stansted Airport bright and early on Saturday morning. Somehow I could not find my flight on the screen. I soon realized that I had gone to the wrong airport! What a blunder. My flight was actually from Luton Airport, departing in an hour's time. Needless to say, I missed my flight.

I was feeling rotten, especially since this was the weekend that I had 2 sets of free unused return Europe flights. (My tickets to Milan came with a free return flight to Hamburg, but I didn't know about the free Hamburg flight so I paid for my Hamburg flight. The tickets to Hamburg were also under the buy-one-get-one-free promotion, resulting in me ending up with 2 sets of free flights wasted.)

I booked the very next flight to Amsterdam from Stansted for a whopping £78. What a waste. But at least I got to Amsterdam.

Total single flights unused: 5
Total worth of flights wasted: £140

But wait, there's more!

On the way back from Amsterdam, my flight got delayed by an hour. Once I got to London, my train was delayed by half an hour. I missed the last tube home and had to take a night bus. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on the night bus, waking up at the end of the line! I took a minicab from there, reaching home at about 2am.

How lovely huh.

OK, on to the holiday itself.

Highlights:

Incredible live jazz at the Alto Cafe
Tour of a windmill (Molen van Sloten)
Fantastic fresh extra cold beer from Heineken brewery
Extensive art collections, especially Van Gogh Museum and Rembrandt House
Diamond tour at Gassan Diamonds
Canal boat tour
Picturesque city with its numerous canals
Serene suburbs with their small houses, calm and greenery

FOOD FOOD FOOD Highlights:

On Saturday I had 3 Heinekens for breakfast on an empty stomach. I went red as a lobster instantly! In the evening, the mexican restaurant I had dinner at made a mistake with my order, serving my ribs without chips and salad. They were apologetic and gave me a whole second plate of ribs, chips and salad! On top of that I had an appetizer and dessert. I was full to the top!

In Amsterdam they take public toilets very literally. There are male urinals on the streets, out in the open!

Day 74: Panna Cotta.

2007-02-02T19:45:00.000Z

I had my first panna cotta today at lunch. It's an Italian dessert made from cream reduced by a quarter by cooking in a saucepan. I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, it's a bit plain I think.

Day 73: Glorify.

2007-02-01T23:42:00.000Z

Led worship at cell today, but no guitar! Acapella. Haha.

Day 72: Card.

2007-01-31T21:09:00.000Z

I made my first online purchase today with my own card. It's a nice feeling not having to borrow one or use my Dad's!

Day 71: Just my luck.

2007-01-30T21:16:00.000Z

I left work early at 1pm today to sort out my national insurance number myself and to submit a form to my RBS branch.

It was a painfully long 1.5hour journey to the JobCentre.
With a bursting bladder I had to walk a mile to the nearest filthy toilet and back.
Waited in the JobCentre for 2 hours.
Had an argument with the manager over my passport name.
Walked a mile to the nearest RBS, only to find it had just closed a mere 10min ago.
Waved frantically from outside to get someone's attention and asked if I could simply drop off a form, but was refused.
From outside RBS, I posted my form to RBS. Ridiculous.

Day 70: Sick.

2007-01-29T21:07:00.000Z

I've been feeling feverish all day. I think it's the accumulated lack of rest that's getting to me. I normally catch up on sleep on Saturday mornings, but have been unable to do so in recent weeks because of all the weekend traveling.

Last night I only slept 3 hours because I got back from the airport late. Mad long immigration queue. Literally over 1000 people waiting to get their passports stamped. There were heads as far as the eye could see!

I'm sleeping early tonight. But first: Panadol x2.

Day 68-69: Hamburg!

2007-01-28T23:45:00.000Z

I spent the weekend in Hamburg, Germany. Another solo trip. The weather was really cold, sub-zero, but I was well-prepared, wrapping myself up in 4 layers of clothing!

North German traditional cuisine can get really weird. They're into herring, which has a strong smell. In their dishes they often mix the fish and red meat, leaving your taste buds bewildered. I must say though, the Germans really know how to make a good sausage!

The Hamburg parliament house is really grand. Classy. I like it. I think the interior is even nicer than the palace of Versailles in Paris, though not as big. Who's ever heard of leather wallpaper?

The highlight of the trip was Fishmarkt. The place is really happening on Sunday mornings. It's more than just a market. In the hall there's a stage and live band, beer, coffee, wieners and loads of crazy happy people dancing about and having a good time!

Day 66-67: Customer Service.

2007-01-26T22:35:00.000Z

I spent Thursday and Friday on the phone to RBS internal services, trying to get my bank account, salary and national insurance number sorted. It had been dragging on for way too long.

It took 2 months and I even had to lodge a complaint, but I finally managed to get my bank account opened, with £50 compensation for the crap service I suffered.

I finally got paid proper for the first time, 2 months into employment!

Unfortunately, the national insurance number didn't go too well. I found out that after a month of waiting they still had not applied for my number as promised! Plus the operator had the audacity to hang up on me when I asked for a contact to address a formal complain to. Appalling.

Day 65: Winter Wonderland!

2007-01-24T23:44:00.000Z

I stepped out of the house this morning and was greeted by the most breathtaking sight.

A picture paints a thousand words... (8000 below!)

Day 63-64: Eyesight.

2007-01-23T23:45:00.000Z

My eyesight has deteriorated noticeably in the past 2 days. Worrying! Too little rest and too many computer screens for way too long.

Day 60-61: Milan!

2007-01-21T22:19:00.000Z

I spent the weekend in Milan. It was fun! I am starting to love traveling alone. You enjoy complete freedom and independence; go wherever you want whenever you want, eat whatever you want whenever you want, do whatever you want whenever you want! It's a great opportunity to get away from everything and everyone and just spend quality time with me.

In Milan there is nothing much of cultural significance to sight-see other than Duomo, the massive church in the city centre. When I arrived in the city, I passed by Duomo on the way to the hotel. I still had my luggage with me. I thought that since I was already there I'd might as well explore it despite having to drag my luggage along. Mistake. Initially it was fine when I explored the interior. But later I bought a ticket to go to rooftop. Trouble. I did not realize how tall the building was! It was exhausting carrying my 12kg of baggage up the narrow stairwell which turned out to be 10+ storeys long!

When I got to the hotel I was told their single rooms were overbooked and they did not have a single room to honour my booking. My heart sunk. Just as I was losing hope, he then proceeded to say he's giving me a double room instead!! Free upgrade to double room!! Yipeeeee!!!

Milan is over-rated. It's only great for shopping, especially if you are into designer labels. I went easy on my wallet and settled for the Zara sale.

McDonald's in Italy sells the Baci McFlurry. It is delizioso!! Each and every indulgent spoonful is an incredible experience for the taste buds. Makes life worth living! Hahaha. Seriously, they should really start selling them in McDonald's all round the world!

Day 58-59: Pay Problems.

2007-01-19T21:29:00.000Z

I’m having complications with my pay. I still haven’t been paid proper because I don’t have a UK bank account. I’ve been trying to open an account since I arrived in London, but have been unable to do so mainly because I don’t have proof of address. I have literally tried applying to every retail bank in London, but to no avail. My last hope is my application with RBS, which is still pending. Please pray that this application will come through.

I just received my first pay slip today and was pleasantly surprised to find they are paying me more than they initially promised. But, I was utterly horrified to find I had been severely over-taxed by £1300!! Horrendous. I am still trying to get my National Insurance Number, which I require in order to get taxed the right amount. For over a month now, I have been waiting for RBS to apply for one on my behalf. They are taking ages! Annoying. I am going to a JobCentre next week in person to try and get one myself. Please pray that they will grant me one promptly and that I will be able to obtain a refund of the tax I overpaid!

Day 56-57: The Icons In London.

2007-01-17T23:56:00.000Z

I went to see The Icons In London tonight with some friends.

"Las-Vegas impressionist Greg London brings his entertaining show to his hometown. Musical impressionist Greg London takes on over 30 instantly recognizable stars such as Elvis Presley, Rod Stewart, David Bowie, Tina Turner, James Blunt, Louis Armstrong, Ozzie Osborne, Robbie Williams and even Kermit the Frog in his West End debut."

I must say he was pretty good. I got my ticket for just £2 because a friend of a friend had free tickets. It was well worth it!

Day 55: Les Miserables.

2007-01-15T23:47:00.000Z

I watched Les Miserables tonight at Queen's Theater with a colleague. It was spectacular! No wonder it's been running for over two decades. The singing was fantastic and the music was brilliant!

I got my Dress Circle ticket worth £50 for just £31 from a half-price outlet. I want to watch it again some time...

www.lesmis.com

Day 54: Art.

2007-01-14T23:01:00.000Z

I visited the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery today. I saw the David Hockney exhibition and a collection of modern masters' paintings from Manet to Picasso.

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
http://www.npg.org.uk/

Day 53: Super Saturday!

2007-01-13T23:31:00.000Z

Today I went to work for a full day of in-house training. It was great, it tied together a lot of the ideas and concepts I had been reading about in the past weeks. The best part was the free gifts! Everyone got a free Waterman pen and a bottle of quality French wine!

Day 50-52: Cell Visitation.

2007-01-12T23:00:00.000Z

I visited a Hillsong Connect Group on Wednesday, Angel cell on Thursday and Oxford Circus cell on Friday. I like them all! What to do! Choices choices...

Day 48-49: Visiting the Loh's.

2007-01-09T23:50:00.000Z

On Tuesday night I went to the Loh's for dinner. After a sumptuous meal of baked salmon, curry and yogurt prepared by Kevin and Lina, Lydia and I let each other hear the songs we've each written. We did not have enough time to get through all of them, since she has about 40 self-compositions to date and I have over a dozen. But they did somehow persuade me to play such classic favourites like Love Song for Sweetie and Postman Pat, filling the room with hysterical laughter!

We also looked at some old photo albums. This one picture really cracked me up. Look at Anthony!

Day 47: Hillsong London.

2007-01-07T23:42:00.000Z

I visited Hillsong London today. The service was great! I must say, the music, lights and multimedia were fantastic. The worship was powerful. I want to go again! www.hillsong.co.uk

Day 46: Grooming.

2007-01-06T23:18:00.000Z

I finally cut my hair today. Cut it quite short, barely long enough to style. Almost a crude cut. Hopefully I won't have to cut my hair till I get back to Singapore. The cost of services in London is high high high! Even this cheap haircut cost £6, which works out to over S$18!

My face has been peeling as a result of the cold dry air, so I bought some facial moisturizer. But what good does moisturizer do if the face is not clean in the first place right? So I bought cleanser/toner too! Hahaha. Feel like a metro. :S

Day 42-45: Blue Man Group.

2007-01-05T23:36:00.000Z

I went to see Blue Man Group tonight. It was a great show. All drummers would enjoy it. It is a mix of comedy, theatre and musical. The original price of the ticket was ₤45, but I got mine for just ₤25 from a half-price ticket booth. Still quite expensive! http://www.blueman.com/

The most horrible thing happened this morning when I bought an English breakfast from the office canteen for ₤2.05. I paid with a ₤20 note, realised I had quite a lot of coins in my pocket, paid the cashier ₤2.10 in coins for convenience, then: he returned me just ₤0.05 but in my sleepy+hungry state I did not realise the error! Only later in the evening when I was buying the Blue Man Group tickets did I realise my wallet was short of ₤20, but the canteen had shut by then! I am going to have to try to claim my money back on Monday morning, I sure hope they give it to me.

Imagine paying for a $2 plate of kuay-teow and forgetting to collect your change. This is worse than that; ₤20 is worth over $60!

Day 39-41: Happy New Year from Rome!

2007-01-01T23:30:00.000Z

I decided to go to Rome for a solo holiday over the long new year weekend. It was awesome! I had loads of superb hot fresh pizza. Cheap and yum. Also had gelato, panninis and pasta, but the pizza was the best!

I paid heaps for my return airfare because it's peak travel season. At least I managed to get a good rate on the 4-star hotel, Eurostars International Palace. www.eurostarsinternationalpalace.com

At midnight on 1 January 2007 there was a lavish fireworks display that went on for about an hour! I could hear them going off, but unfortunately couldn't see much of anything because the streets there are so narrow and buildings so close to each other that your view is obstructed unless you are in a fairly open space.

Did you know that Rome has drinking water fountains and taps all around? Water is pumped from the mountains and that fresh mineral water flows constantly out of fountains and taps! I am usually rather picky about what water I drink, but had no problems with this water. It tasted much better than any tap water I've tried.

I never ran out of things to see or do, for I visited Colliseum, Palace of Justice, St Peters Basilica, Pantheon, Forum, Piazza Navona, Piazza Spagna, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Tritone Fountain, Piazza Barberini, Vatican, Santa Maria Maggiore, Castel Sant' Angelo, Palazzo di Giustizia, Piazza Cavour, Palazzo Madama, Circus Maximus, Domus, Arco do Giano, Quirinale, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Piazza della Repubblica, Ara Pacis, Mausoleo Augusto, Piazza Colona, Palazzo Chigi, Palazza Montecitorio, Colonna Trainana, Mercati Traianei, Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, Arco di Constantino, Trinita dei Monti, Quattro Fontane, San Carlo Quattro Fontane, Palazzo Barberini, Palazzo Venezia, Anagnia Market, Ponte Sant' Angelo, Ponte Umberto I, Ponte Cavour, Piazza del Quirinale and more!

I explored the city mainly on foot and only took the metro a few times. My legs were tired and aching by the end of each day!

Day 36-38: The Lion King!

2006-12-29T23:32:00.000Z

I met Boon and Carmen again back in London. We went to see The Lion King broadway musical in Lyceum Theatre. It cost us about £60 each! But it was an amazing 3 hours. It was my first time attending a live broadway musical.

Having watched the lifetime-classic Disney movie numerous times as a child in the cinema, on video tape, and on even on VCD, having completed the entire Lion King video game by Sega several times over and having owned the sing-along cassette tape with accompanying lyrics book, even after over a decade I was still well familiar with the songs, script and story!

Day 32-35: Barcelona!

2006-12-26T23:37:00.000Z

Went to Barcelona with Boon and Carmen over the long Christmas weekend. It was great fun!We stayed in a really clean and new hotel called Hotel Costanza, which was conveniently located in the heart of the city. We ate so much, but we walked a lot, so at least that undid some of the damage. I had the best ice-cream dessert in my life; chocolate ice-cream, macadamia ice-cream, chopped nuts, chocolate sauce and cream. Delicioso!! Poor Carmen lost her bag, which contained her digital camera. It got stolen right under our noses! We were simply too engrossed with eating our chocolate-sauce dip croissants. YUM! Oh and we discovered that Cava mixed with sugar and an assortment of cut fruits makes for a delicious drink. It's called Sangria. Everytime we had it, Carmen and I would turn into tomato-boy and lobster-girl!

Day 27-31: Getting Cold...

2006-12-22T22:48:00.000Z

The weather has got colder this week. It is around 2 degrees in the day! In the night, temperatures have fallen well below 0 degrees, leaving pavements and cars frozen with a thin coating of ice. It hurts to inhale when I walk to the tube station every morning! The air is just so cold and dry.

There was a kid's Christmas party in the office today. Many people brought their little tykes to work to see Santa. Some of them are so adorable! It was rather chaotic; you could hear squealing, laughing, running feet, the cracking of Christmas crackers, and by mid-day they had created a mess of steamers, crumbs and wrappers all over the carpeted office!

I am going to Barcelona tomorrow to meet Boon and Carmen. I will be there until Tuesday, since I resume work on Wednesday. Hopefully my flight does not get cancelled, there have been many flight cancellations very recently due to thick fog delaying take-off and landing times.

Day 26: Eat, Drink & Be Merry!

2006-12-17T23:50:00.000Z

I stayed over at a friend's place after Narnia Night. When I woke up, I was offered breakfast.

Commence binge!

Breakfast #1 @ Home
- Cereal with Milk
- Cup of Tea

We arrived at church really early, so we decided to chill at the nearby cafe. "Just sit down and have a cup of tea or something..."

Doom.

Breakfast #2 @ Cafe
- 2 Rashers of Bacon
- 2 Fried Eggs
- 2 Slices of Buttered Toast
- 1 Sausage
- 1 Grilled Tomato
- Baked Beans
- Cup of Tea

After church I met Steffi's friend Gillian and her friends for lunch.

Collateral damage.

Lunch #1 @ Imperial China
- Dim Sum too countless to list

Next, I met hungry Boon and Carmen, who had just arrived in London on an empty stomach and wanted to go for a late lunch.

Just my luck.

Lunch #2 @ 2nd Chinese Restaurant
- More Dim Sum

I went to the Carols Service at Westminster Chapel in the evening. After the service some of them went to the nearby bar for a drink and I tagged along. I had my first pint of Guinness! It was on-tap. It was a little lighter than I had expected. I rather enjoyed it!

Dinner #1 @ bar
- 1 Pint of Guinness Draught (200 Calories! No wonder it is hailed meal-in-a-glass.)

To conclude the day's eating spree, me and just two others headed down to KFC and shared a family feast. I was really surprised to find that the standard issue here in London is baked beans instead of mash!

Final strike!

Supper #1 @ KFC
- ⅓ Family Feast

Day 25: Narnia Night.

2006-12-16T23:17:00.000Z

Tonight there was an outreach event at EEC with a Narnia theme. Some people actually dressed to theme; there were a few snow queens present! But most of the lazy ones, including myself, simply showed up in normal casual wear. There was food, games and a crazily extravagant raffle in which some very lucky winners walked away with one year of unlimited cinema movies, return tickets to Amsterdam, a 2GB Apple iPod nano, an Acer laptop and more!

Day 23-24: Mr Ng.

2006-12-15T23:37:00.000Z

The weekend's here. Hooray! Here's some pictures of me in work attire...

Day 22: Christmas Party.

2006-12-13T23:16:00.000Z

I attend a youth group called 20 20. We meeet on Wednesday evenings at Westminster Chapel. I really enjoy it because of the relaxed atmosphere, diversity of members, short down-to-earth messages with applicable lessons and exhuberant worship!

There was a "Night Out Before Christmas" party tonight. Performances, food and games. Fun!

Day 20-21: Getting Busier.

2006-12-12T22:27:00.000Z

Work's been getting busier. As I learn more, I'm given more to do. Here's a picture of the desk I sit at. I could not fit all four screens into the photo in one take, so I took multiple shots and strung them together!

Day 19: City Shopping!

2006-12-10T23:14:00.000Z

We had a Jamaican singing + dancing group come over and perform at the church. Quite interesting, but it pretty much turned the service into a show. I would have preferred a normal worship service with praise and a sermon and all.

After church I went sight-seeing + shopping in central London with a childhood friend Munn Yan. She got us lost several times, but we surived in the end! (with sore legs.) She bought a pair of boots and I bought a scarf.

Check out this Alice in Wonderland display we saw at one of the upmarket toy stores!

Day 18: The Kilburn Conmen.

2006-12-09T21:44:00.000Z

Today I went shopping in Kilburn, a nearby suburb, raiding all the £1 shops! It's the most satisfying yet economically sensible way to spend time and money. Hahaha. I bought loads of stuff including: Soap, chocolates, DVD-Rs, a LAN cable and even an umbrella. The umbrella, as I discovered later when I actually had to use it in the rain, is very flimsy and it inverts when the wind blows!! Ooopsie. For £1, what can you expect huh.

The bestest part of the day was watching a conman in action. A bunch of East European, Pakistani and British tricksters teamed up to make quick money by capitalizing on human greed. How? Basically the witty salesman would use sneaky phrasing of words to imply that one would get incredible value for their money, but not actually directly say it. For details of their tactics, do read on...

They made use of an empty closed-down store. They covered all the glass windows with advertisments of £30 iPods, £1 radios, £40 Sony laptops, £2 TVs, £10 cameras and so on. A crowd of over 50 people flocked to the entrance to queue up. The doors swung open and everyone shoved their way in. Canvas sheets were used to block the crowds view of all parts of the store except the makeshift platform, which was used for the salesman's speeches and for displaying items. The whole shop and the salesmen looked super dodgy. The talkative witty Pakistani salesman stood on the platform and gave a very charismatic speech, convincing people that the goods were not stolen, there's a 12-month guarantee, all items are brand new, etc. Talking was not permitted and those under 18 were told to leave. Through sneaky phrasing he then impled that for £5 you could get an iPod, digital camera, PSP, and more. Naturally just about everybody raised their hand when the offer was made. He then collected all their money and gave them a crappy cheap bottle of china perfume. Daylight robbery of £250.

"How could anyone be so dumb?" you may wonder. Well, there are a few reasons for this. Firstly, because talking is not permitted, suspicions are not expressed. Due to peer pressure, when most people raise their hand, all raise. When most people stay on in the sale, all stay. Secondly, humans are greedy. When greed is aroused, logic is lost and people become irrational. When the truth is hard to bear, they comfort themselves by living in an illusion, thinking whatever they want to think. Thirdly, it is hard to express in words what exactly went on in the store. His scheme was really quite clever and well-planned, although it may sound stupid here in this post. Words cannot capture the extent of the portrayal of professional skillful deceit.

This was merely the start of a series of increasingly complex shenanigans that went on and on for over 2 hours. By the time he was done with the crowd, he had emptied nearly everyone's wallet and given them worthless items for their money.

No, I was not a victim. I didn't spend a cent. It was very entertaining though!

Day 13 - 17: Cell-Hopping.

2006-12-08T23:15:00.000Z

Work is getting better:

I am not so lost anymore. I read up a lot on structured credit last week, so now at least I have a basic understanding.
My body is adapting to the reduced sleep and rest.
I have finally been given some work to do, so that's good. I'd rather be occupied than idle!

I visited three cells this week. I have not decided which one I want to join, but at least I have identified my preference of the three. I shall do more cell-hopping next week.

I visited this Westminster Chapel youth group called 20 20. They meet on Wednesday nights. I especially enjoyed it. The church and the 20 20 group mainly consist of whites, but despite the discomfort from having to overcome cultural barriers, I really sensed the Spirit of the Lord moving in this vibrant group, even more so than any of the cells I attended. I shall attend this group regularly, and perhaps check out their church service next week or something.

Day 12: University Town.

2006-12-03T23:14:00.000Z

After church, Dad and I went up to Cambridge to visit an ex-colleague of his. It's about a one hour train ride to get there from London. You know how in a lot of textbooks you see this logo? I got to see the actual Cambridge University Press building, where many of those books print from! The campuses there are magnificent. Huge compounds, massive age-old structures, immaculate green lawns.

Day 11: St Albans.

2006-12-02T23:09:00.000Z

The weather was perfect. Fluffy white clouds up in the sky, leaves rustling in the cool breeze, perfect. We started off with a relaxing stroll in the park. The park was populated by ducks, pigeons and geese. I was thinking of Peking duck!! Mmmm... Yumyum! Haha.

Behold: Ye Olde Fighting Cocks. Reputedly England's oldest pub. There are several pubs that claim to be the oldest, no one really knows which is the real one!

Next up was St Albans Cathedral, allegedly home to Britain's largest congregation. The choir happened to be practicing when we entered. The sheer magnificence of the organ and voice ensemble resonating throughout the sanctuary was breathtaking!

Finally, we went to this random waffle shop nearby. I had the bestest waffle I have ever tasted in my entire life! (Yes, better than Gelare!) Crushed hazelnuts, chocolate fudge over a scoop of vanilla icecream on a freshly-made waffle. Simply delectable.

Day 6 - 10: Baffled, Bemused, Bewildered.

2006-12-02T02:50:00.000Z

I started work this week. It's been a long and tiring five days. With each passing day I got more and more tired and sleepy from lack of rest. The hours are long; 8am-6.30pm usually. That means I have to get up at 6am everyday! What joy it brings.

The internship is for 12 weeks. For the first month I'll be with Structured Credit Strategy. You're probably thinking: "What on earth is that?" Well, that was the exact same thing on my mind on Monday morning, believe me. I have completed 2 years of university education and am supposedly ⅔ of the way to earning a commerce degree with 3 majors - 2 of which are finance. One would expect that surely by now I would at least have some idea about structured credit... WRONG!

I don't know anything! Help!!

Confucius say: You know when you know you don't know.

They didn't give me much of anything to do other than one report, some spreadsheet stuff and editing a powerpoint presentation, so I spent most of the week reading up and Google-ing. Sometimes I would get a headache from the information overload! The office is massive but I have only been acquainted with a handful of people, basically the Structured Credit Strategy team. They certainly aren't the best with introductions! People are just so busy that I have hardly had the chance to interact with anyone. Nearly everybody has lunch at their desk; the mouse in one hand and a sandwich in the other.

As much as I loathe packed lunches, especially those consisting of homemade sandwiches, crazy food prices have forced me to at least try to start a lunchbox routine. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, a standard Burger King value meal costs about £4.50! (£1 = S$3.05) Do the math. Understand now?? Hence I try to bring sandwiches from home and a banana or two... Bleah.

Day 5: Exploring London.

2006-11-28T22:17:00.000Z

Visited my old church today. Emmanuel Evangelical Church (EEC). I could hardly recognize anyone! I was too young and it's been ages since I left. Ps Benny Ho preached there last week when transiting through London on the way back to Perth from Argentina.

After church, Dad and I did some London sight-seeing. The hours of non-stop walking and standing were exhausting, but it was well worth it cos we got to see Big Ben, St Paul's Cathedral, Parliament House, Trafalgar Square, Downing St, Chinatown and more.

It so happened there was a ''Keep TVR British'' protest going on in the city, so the streets were flooded with countless souped up TVRs all growling, grunting and vrooming about. That was quite a sight I must say, certainly not something you see everyday, or any day for that matter.

My old Converse shoes are really old and tattered, to the extent that water can seep in when I step in puddles. I have suffered the torture of walking around for hours with smelly mushy squishy soggy socks many a time! Gone are the days of my affliction, for today was the long-awaited day of redemption from my misery and sorrow: I picked up a pair of white Lonsdale shoes for £30! Not a bad deal considering London's mad-expensive prices.

Day 2-4: Paris!

2006-11-26T21:58:00.000Z

Dad and I went to Paris from Thursday - Saturday. The total cost of our flights and accommodation was under ₤300! Ok on second thought, that's not all that cheap... But we had a great time sight-seeing! The architecture there is simply marvelous...

Day 1: The Adventure Begins.

2006-11-22T22:12:00.000Z

I touched down at Heathrow airport at sunrise, a little groggy from the long flight. I was greeted by a blast of cold wind as I stepped off the plane. Ah. Love it.

Dad picked me up in the rental car and drove us to the house where I will be renting a room. The room is very "cosy"; barely fitting a single bed and wardrobe, separated by 1 metre of walking space. The house is owned by a Malaysian couple from the church. They kindly offered a low monthly rate, inclusive of food! The location is convenient; here's a tube station, fish & chips shop, convenience store and other random outlets 10min walk away. Will do.

We went to visit our old house and old old house; the homes to many of my happy childhood memories. They looked the same from outside, nothing much has changed since we left.

The highlight of the day was visiting my first school; Ladybird Montessori School. I used to go there when I was 2-3 years old. Much to my surprise, my old principal cum teacher at the time, Nicki, was still around! She was very excited to see me. I was her first student, a role model and teacher's pet. (My, how people change! Haha.) As she picked out a copy of the current prospectus, she told me that there was a picture of me in it. True enough, right there on the very first page was a photo of little Andrew with his teacher Nicki, 16 years ago! I was astonished. We later took a picture in a similar pose for fun; doesn't look quite the same; he's aged and I've grown fat! Haha.

To conclude the day's expeditions, Dad and I went to the city. We stopped at Liverpool Street station and explored the surrounding area. The station was bustling with people scurrying about hurriedly. We dropped by the RBS office for a quick look. After a couple of hours of city-exploration, it was getting dark and we had to get going in order to beat the rush hour crowd.

My legs are still aching. Haven't done so much walking and standing in a while haha. 'Twas a great first day! :)