spent new year's eve at darwin college with the rest of the s'poreans left in cam.
potluck!
games!
fun :)

can't believe its already 2006
scary.
where did 2005 go?
amazing.
nonetheless 2005 is probably the most bizzare and eventful year of my life thus far- did lots of new things and experienced so much.
and through it all i can see God's hand and how he has lead me through the year.
step by step.
through all the uncertainties and doubts.
thank you Lord.

a recap of this amazing year!

Jan:
-got a job as a Patient Care Assistant (ie doc's assistant in the clinics)in NUH
-started salsa in Attitude

Feb:
-intro to merengue at Attitude
-discovered xenbar

March:
-started lessons at xen, relearnt everything salsa i learnt at attitude.
-release of A level results!
-end of job at NUH

April:
-started work as a Bio teacher in hc the day after my NUH job ended
-bought my first pair of 3.5" salsa shoes

May:
-my birthday :)
-end of job at hc
-offers from dsta and a.*
-rejection by nus med sch

June:
-london trip to visit my relatives
-bought my first salsa skirt. now i have 5 :)
-sent in the ucas form to accept my cambridge offer

July:
-started teaching PW in hc
-officially became an a.* scholar after the award ceremony

August:
-end of job in hc
-passed my driving test
-cumsa fresher's chalet ;)
-started helping to write a bio assesment book

September:
-finished my contribution to the book
-met up with a lot of ppl, had farewell parties.
-the 4 of us finally went for lunch together. finally.
-last dance at xen
-left s'pore and flew to england

Oct:
-started sch in cambridge
-got on the salsa team

Nov:
-Nottingham dance comp
-last day of sch (!)

Dec:
-cccf housesparty
-paris-brussels-amsterdam trip
-Christmas at my aunt's place
-end of a very eventful year!

yay :)
thank you Lord for this fantastic year.

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the holy One
Give thanks because He's risen, Jesus Christ, the Son

day 8- brussels to amsterdam, sex museum, red light district


we reached amsterdam in the evening, and went straight to our hostel where we met xizhen!


we then took a boat ride across river Ij and back again.


a sign on the boat! it says "no drugs"


'nuff said.


well we were in amsterdam. so we walked through their most famous tourist attraction- the red light (literally) district.

day 9- Anne Frank Museum, Van Gogh museum, hidden church

woke up very early to rush to the anne frank museum to beat the queue!
the weather was fantastic- the sun was shining brightly so there were many photo opportunities- everything was beautiful!


one of the many canals that run through amsterdam.


5 of us on the bridge! we had to take the photo hurriedly cos we were rushing to the musuem.


boats!


we visited the house in which anne frank lived. i enjoyed the tour very much cos it was very informative and really gave me a lot of insight into their lives. i wanna read her diary! it was thought-provoking as well- an altogether fantastic museum worth every cent of the expensive ticket.

got lunch.. then made our way to the Van Gogh museum.


saw a heart made of ice on the pavement on the way there.


we saw a flower market as well. in winter!


Van Gogh Musuem :) apparently there is this group that studied type of paints he used and the stuff he used to prime his canvas- using TEM and SEM and some other techniques so that they can better preserve his paintings! apparently he was fascinated with Japanese prints and drew heavily from them for inspiration for some of his paintings.


outdoor ice-skating rink! yes it was cold enough.. brr


passed by the heineken brewery on the way to the hidden church.


bridge in front of the brewery.

we made it to the hidden church about 30 mins before it closed.
we didn't want to pay 5 euros for 20 mins.
so hk spoke to the guy there.
and he was really nice!
he allowed us to go in for a quick look around for free!
wow.
the church was considered hidden cos it was located in the top floors of on of the houses by the river- so from the outside it just looked like any other house. but on the inside, it looked very much like a church- complete with a grand organ.

day 10- amsterdam to england

woke up at 7 am
took the train to the airport.
took an easyjet :) flight back to england.
took a coach back to cam.
got some stuff from yf's room, then my aunt picked me up and brought me to her house.
and there i stayed till 27th dec.
and now i'm back in cam!


easyjet!

day 8- Atomium and shopping!

we visited the Atomium early in the morning.
it snowed once we got to the theme park near the Atomium!
for a while at least.
the playground there was covered in snow.
so nice :)


being swaku asians we had to take photos in the playground, much to the amusement of a cleaner nearby.


the atomium was closed so we could only take photos with it from a distance.


and then it started to hail. little balls of ice :S

went to stay at my aunt's house immediately after arriving back in england.
spent Christmas there.
no, i didn't have a white Christmas cos it didn't snow where she lived.
in fact it was sunny.
it snowed on the 27th though- 2 days after Christmas!
Christmas this year was very different from that of previous years.
learnt and experienced lots of new things.


went to a nearby village on the 21st to watch my uncle play in a brass band for a short carol session. all the villagers were there and ppl we singing along. quite quaint.


23 dec- i learnt to bake minced pies! i baked half the pies here, and my aunt's mother-in-law(a lovely english lady) baked the other half.


desserts she baked! log cake and Christmas cake


my aunt made a wreath- those holly leaves were from her garden.


went to church on Christmas eve with my aunt's family and her in-laws. it was a carol service so it was rather different from the Christmas service in bpmc.


Christmas tree! a real tree :)


25 dec- Christmas day! woke up to discover that the stocking i put by my bed at night had been filled with goodies :) had a light breakfast then helped set a long table for the Christmas lunch


fantastic home-cooked food. yum :)


we each had 2 crackers to pull!


there was a whistle and a paper hat in the cracker!


26 dec- boxing day. it was rather cold so my cousin lit a fire in the fireplace at night.


27 dec- went to my aunt's fren's place for lunch. and then it started to snow! so we went out to the garden and had a snowball fight :)


i made a snowball! :)


after the Christmas lunch we rested a while and played some games.
then we sat by the tree and opened presents.
there were 11 of us (cos another family joined us)
so we would think that each person gives every other person a present.
so there will be 110 presents under the tree.
but no.
some of them gave 2-3 presents to the same person.
so if 7 ppl gave 2 presents to each of the 11 ppl then there would have been 180 presents under the tree.
so it started at 230 pm.
we sat by the tree.
one person stood up, went to the tree, picked up a random present, and gave it to the person it was meant for. (all the presents are labelled)
the person opens the present in front of everyone, then goes to the tree and picks another present up and gives it to the person it is meant for.
and the process continues.
it was a slow process.
it ended at 5pm.


now i'm back at cambridge.
in a temporary room near my college.
i'll be here for 2.5 weeks.
i feel like a nomad.
in the month of dec i've lived in 7 different places/rooms.
i feel like a nomad.
i can't settle down.
i want my old room back!!!
:(

day 7- Basilica, European Parliament, Grand Palace museum, Faberge Exhibition, Palace of Justice, returned to Etang Noir to shop, then back to Grand Place to shop, Christmas market for dinner (yet again)

we did many many things cos we woke up an hour earlier than usual to get to the European Parliament in time for the guided tour.
it was raining in the morning so i didn't really take any photos of the Basilica in the day.


huixin and i outside the European Parliament! brussels is the capital of europe (learnt that from yijin's blog!) so happy to be able to see the EU hq- thats the reason why i wanted to go to brussels in the first place :)


there was a guided tour, and we were given audio guides. we got to keep the earphones! we sat in the debate chamber (shown in the photo) for like 15 mins listening to the commentary. since there are so many countries in the EU, anything that is said during the parliamentary sessions has to be translated into over 20 languages! so a person is considered lucky if he can speak for 2 mins (thats the max). the grey windows in the background house the translators. more countries will join the EU soon. wonder wat will happen when the number of translators required outnumber the number of booths available. hmm.


5 of us in front of all the flags of coutries in the EU. i learnt to appreciate this whole EU concept when i reached amsterdam, cos it suddenly occured to me that i would have had to carry 3 different currencies around had there not been the euro! so i'm very grateful for the euro. the fact that the GBP is stronger is an added bonus :)

the girls then went to the Grand Palace musuem and the guys went to the musical instruments museum.
we saw an authetic advert for corsets! published a long time ago, of course. quite cool. learnt about leoplod I and leoplod II, the kings of belgium.

then i left the museum early to visit the Faberge exhibition!
faberge is one of the best jewellers in history.
he is famous for a set of eggs he made for the russian royal family.
i have no idea how i knew this, but i just did.
so when i saw the poster advertising this exhibition, i knew i had to go.
huixin wanted to spend more time in the palace musuem so i went alone.
it cos 5 euros!
just to look at some jewellery, crockery (made of crystal and other precious metals), clocks, figurines.
and, of course, the eggs.
there were 13 of them i think.
photography wasn't allowed so i couldn't take photos.
but i found this photo online:


one of my fav eggs. i like another egg made out of little leaves. the top part was mobile and could pop out to reveal a clock. v cool. but i couldn't find a pic of it online.


we then met up w the guys and went to see the palace of justice. thats where the courts are. its a huge building built to overshadow all other buildings in the city. we went in to use the toilets cos there was nothing else to do there. oh yes. the palace of justice was built by leoplod I. or leoplod II. or leoplod II built it in honour of his father. the guidebook and the inscriptions on the wall contraticted each other so we couldn't tell.



saw a crane with a chair dangling off it so i had to take a photo.


we were ahead of schedule so we decided to go back to Etang Noir to shop for a bit. on the way there, we saw a truck/van/vehicle driven by santa.


and then we went back to grand place cos i needed to get postcards and also cos we wanted to go back to the Christmas market to get dinner. saw a gay pub there aptly named Homo erectus. a certain male in the group started laughing non-stop once we saw the name of the pub but it took me some time to get it. i only saw it from the evolutionary viewpoint but that certain male person obviously didn't. so i had to look at things from his point of view and ah hah! i got it. quite ingenious really, the guy who thought of the name.


Christmas market we went to! fond memories of that place. nice and Christmas-y :)


a couldron of mulled wine :) had mulled wine from the Chrismas market every night while i was there. i love mulled wine :)

taking a short break from blogging about the past.
ie the trip.
going to talk about the present.
i'm in my aunt's house now, celebrating Christmas with a proper English family.
they have a real Christmas tree, we'll be making a wreath from holly leaves cut from the garden, we baked a fruit cake this afternoon and watched a pantomine in the evening.
it's very different from Singapore.
my aunt's house is filled with Christmas cards. they must have like 50 cards from friends and relatives- cards line every available space- tops of cupboards, window ledges, top of the fireplace...
apparently the sending and receiving of Christmas cards is of great importance- it helps ppl keep in touch.

but amidst all this festivity i feel sad.
sad because the next time i can dance would be when i return to cam.
and thats after Christmas.
so i would have gone for one whole month without salsa!
i feel like a rusty blob of fat.
i dread my first dance when i start again.
its gonna be terrible cos i'm gonna screw up for lack of practice and i don't like that.
i miss the times when i used to dance so so often and train so hard.
i felt like i was learning and improving, albeit slowly.
i miss xen bar.
i miss training under justin and yq.
it was hard work but it was fun.
now i don't get to train anymore- i can only dance socially- at least until term starts again. which is some time away.
bah.
so i really really miss dancing.
i don't even have my shoes with me now- they're back in cam.
argh
sad sad sad.
:(

day 6- chocolate shop, chocolate museum, Grand Place, Manneken Pis, comic museum, Christmas market


revisited the Grand Place again en route to see the Manneken Pis in the day.


chocolate shop selling belgian chocolates. bought lots of chocolates and truffles. apparently the first people to make truffles came from belgium. hence the term belgian chocolates.


we went to a chocolate museum! paid 4 euros to enter. had lots of samples :) :)


the Grand Place in the day! all 5 of us :)


the stock exchange building in the day.


the 3 hc bio ppl w the manneken pis. just like the pic in the hc bio excretion notes!


a comic strip painted onto a random wall on a street!


me in the comic museum. tompson and thompson! from tin tin :)


went back to the Christmas market at night. share a cup of lingonberry juice + vodka with huixin! from this finland stall :)


tried a differnt type of belgium waffle! the brussels waffle :)