Things about a family. They can make you, yet they can break you. They can love you and look over you, no matter what. They truly care about you, flaws and all, fat or tall.
UK was an amazing experience. My 2nd time over there after 6 years. :D My brother and I flew by Emirates so we had to stop over in Dubai. Burg? No. Long queues leading to the ladies'? Yes. Oh and during the first flight, an old guy next to my brother held up his porno mag (clue: topless women covering... their top parts? -_-") with pride. His wife? Snoring away, or was she pretending not to know him? What a pity for him because the lights were turned off and he could only glare at the ceiling before putting it away.
We arrived in Manchester Airport, the passageway to the arrival hall adorned with Man-U ads including Rooney and his open-mouthed game-face. First thing I noticed about UK was that food was EVERYWHERE - crisps and chocolate vending machines, drinks and sandwiches sold in pharmacies, cafés in every corner etc. My uncle and 6 year old cousin picked us up at the airport and then we went on a 30-minute drive to his home in Hartford, Cheshire. I was psyched at the open countryside and basically went into Jakun-mode when I saw Friesian cows and sheep :O Passed through villages with nice architecture, pretty houses and more meadows and fields. And finally, my uncle's place called Swallow House and it's a cosy home with a nice garden overlooking an open field. :) The next day, we had Indian food and went to a park near the Anderton Boat Lift.
My brother went to settle his new place in London on the 6th, so I stayed in the countryside, tried to study Biology, walked to the shops nearby and my cousin's school and enjoyed the fresh air with 4 layers of clothing. My birthday over there was my first without my parents and family so I felt homesick. I had a Cornetto from my uncle's stash, which was nice. That night, I experienced outside English food for the first time and disliked it. -_-" It was a hearty meal as they call it, but I think the gravy spoiled it for me.
My uncle and I travelled to London by train on the 8th for my brother's graduation ceremony. We dropped my hand-luggage at my brother's flat and rushed off for the ceremony. It took place in a hall at the Institute of Education, nothing too grand. My uncle and I were having a mini-commentary session while awaiting my brother's name to be called. It felt nice to be there, to be part of an occasion and be proud of him XD AHAHAHA. He did well, graduated with first class honours and I certainly hope that I will be able to follow in his footsteps. After the ceremony, we ran to his university campus in the rain for the post-ceremony reception. I drank Pimm's for the first time, mistaking it for punch -_-" and had a few canapés. Being a good sister, I followed my brother outside to help take photos of him and his fellow graduates. :P Basically, I was maneuvering and standing on my toes to rise above the Hong Kong and China fathers who also wanted to capture the moment.
After the reception, we went for dinner at
Pied à
Terre, a fancy 2 Michelin star French restaurant near my brother's place. XD
The bread was GOOOOOOOOOOOOD. You get to choose bread from their bread basket and ALL OF THEM WERE BASICALLY
HEAVEN IN A BUN. The appetisers were amazing, so pretty and yummy. My starter was poached scallops with puréed seaweed sauce and some caviar, which was really filling and tasty. For my main course, I had Icelandic cod with vegetables and special sauce.
THE COD WAS SO SPECIAL AND TASTY AND THE COD OF ALL CODS. Maybe in Iceland, their cod is different, but it tasted extremely fresh and didn't have the taste of normal cod (slightly sweet to me). The sauce for the cod had so many aspects to it, I have no idea how they managed to make it taste like that! I think it was the vegetables which gave off different tastes, or maybe there was more than one sauce. GOD KNOWS. I just know that it was really really really good. XD My uncle went back on the 9p.m. train and I had a quick change before my brother whisked me off to the underground. I got my first Oyster card (my public transport baby) and we took the tube to M&S at Marblearch. :) The thrill of using the London tube is that you are rushing by people who are also rushing and you get to your stop efficiently, managing to even squeeze in some people-watching in the heat of the moment. Thank goodness my brother's flat is directly opposite Euston Station so it is relatively easy to get home and go out and about.
My visit to Oundle was on the next day. I suited up (HAHA. BARNEY! XD) and my brother and I set off for a 2 hour train ride from King's Cross (Harry Potter, I know where is Platform 9 and 3/4) to Peterborough. During the train ride, I had Pret sandwiches which were s0 yummy X3 From Peterborough, we took a 30-minute cab ride to the school. Actually, there are no school gates. The school grounds is actually in the town and the town is part of the school. A little confusing, but that is basically the concept of their school. They have great facilities there and nice school buildings. My personal favourite was the SciTech building which is basically all labs and really up-to-date. They have an electron microscope, atomic force microscope, a new seismograph (which managed to detect the New Zealand quake :O) and a wind tunnel. And that was just the Physics lab :) They have a few animals for Zoology and a greenhouse-ish area for Botany. For Chem, their prep room is 5 times the size of ours. XD EXPERIMENTS! I wish. They also have an athletics track, hockey fields, football fields, various courts for racket sports, an indoor swimming pool and almost a mini-field each for every boarding house. :O COOL. Now, let's see what sports I can play... Err... Nevermind. Had lunch with 4th form girls who towered over me, -_-" THEY'RE A HEAD TALLER THAN ME! Interview wasn't too bad and my brother accompanied me the whole time (even during the interviews). AHAHAHA.
In the evening, we went back to London and watched Lion King the Musical. The costumes were fantastic and the singing and music was superb. I enjoyed it immensely! The baboon Rafiki was played by an African woman who could really sing, speed-talk in a certain Afrrican language and be funny at times. The stage and set was well done, a spiral slope could appear from the flat stage and they even had steam vents and many other great props and costumes. I liked the fact that they were not totally covered head-to-toe in a costume, but they utilised different materials to create unique outfits and props for the characters. After the musical, we went to Chinatown for roast duck rice. I finally had SOUP! Well, spicy Sichuan soup which was hot and nice. :)
On the 9th, we had Spanish tapas for lunch on Oxford Street and went shopping. :D Basically, we did a lot of walking, but I'm not complaining. XD IT WAS FUN!
H&M!!! We tried to get an iPhone 4 for my aunty, but it was sold out (surprise, surprise) and there was going to be no stock for another 2 weeks or so. We went to Selfriges for gelato which was cold creamy goodness. For dinner, we had Korean hotpot at Assa in Soho with my brother's flatmate. The pajeon (Korean pancake) was really yummy, crisp on the outside but spongy on the inside. YUM! And that Kimchi soup was good. (
SOUP IS GOOD. Well, at least good soups are.) In Soho, there are many cafes and you can basically see long queues of people waiting to get into clubs and bars and well, let's just say, you also get your fill of interesting characters there. There is this booth/stand in the middle of the avenue and you might be thinking: why are dudes standing there? Well, those dudes are peeing. What the crap. THEY HAVE A PEEING STAND/BOOTH FOR DUDES. -_-" And my brother told me that that pee is deposited in some tank which is then collected by some truck. @!£%£&%^~@?! Look at the bright side, at least that saves them from peeing on the road and sidewalks. -_-" Whatever.
We met up my cousin and her husband for dim sum lunch the next day at Royal China Club. It was really good for London dim sum and the siew mai and ha gao (prawn dumpling) were almost unreal. I couldn't believe that you could get dim sum that delicious in London! :O We then made our way to Selfridges. Somehow, I even managed to get more t-shirts (I think I have a thing for t-shirts) from Zara, YAY! We then walked to Soho to get cupcakes from Hummingbird (THEIR RED VELVET WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING IS TO DIE FOR) and Scoop for gelato (both highly recommended by my cousin Helena who ate gelato almost every other day while she was in London for 2 weeks and still came back skinny as a stick). That gelato could have been the best I have ever had so far. I had Caramello and Hazelnut. Both were smooth and creamy,
delizioso. X3
My brother and I went back to my uncle's place in Hartford the next day by train. The day before I left England, we went to Chester, supposedly to check out a few historic sites. But instead, we went shopping. YAY! HAHA. We had lunch at a French cafe and bought soap. XP My brother got a pair of sandals because my new dog Buddy used his as a chew toy -_-" We then took a train to Crewe and then to Hartford, stopped by the Cooperative for stuff to bring back home and my uncle picked us up to get dinner - fish and chips. First, NEVER BUY FISH & CHIPS WITH YOUR COAT ON unless you absolutely love the smell of oil as your own personal scent (fortunately, we knew that and left ours in the car). Secondly, go get your fish & chips early. Friday is apparently fish & chips night in UK, but it seems like they don't really care much about arteriosclerosis so don't take any chances. Thirdly, their chips portions are BIG - think 2 large chips from McDs but in the form of the thicker and rougher cut chips. :) That's it. I mean, you have to give it a try, right? It wasn't too bad, but that oil really fills you up and gives you an uncomfortable feeling afterwards.
For the last day, we basically stayed in my uncle's house the whole day and cancelled our plans to cycle to the town nearby, Northwich, because it was raining and the weather was slightly unpredictable
and we were lazy. We finished our packing, had an early dinner, said our goodbyes and my uncle sent us to Manchester Airport when he got back from work. In Dubai, we had Pinkberry frozen yoghurt!! Mine was original with strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. I tell you, this is
THE FROZEN YOGHURT. Cast aside your Tutti Fruttis and just try Pinkberry, you will
never go back. XD Sadly, there is no Pinkberry in KL. So... We shall have to wait. Patience is of essence.
Without my brother, I would have been lying asleep on the cafe table in Dubai and missed my flight due to that reason or some other sleep-related reason. Thank God he followed me. I really thank my lucky stars for my brother, not only because he is far more responsible and looks after me, but because he can also be naggy and a pain in the butt at times. What else are siblings for? :P
OKAY. I NEED TO SLEEP NOW. I can't believe that I still have jet-lag. Geez. Good night!
