:: Day 339 :: Regain the lost of courage

For another one month, I am here in Glasgow for a year already. It is unbelievable how time passes by so fast… I am sorry that I have abandoned this blog for so long, no excuse is acceptable, but I need to apologized cause I have been busy for many things, problems kept arising, and I need time to solve it one by one… Today, another mission on my list – CHECKED!

Now, updates:
Studies: Dissertation submitted; awaiting results - :: Fingers crossed ::
Work: Working as a counter staff at a Chinese take-away shop
- shorter working hours
- better pay
- easier job scope
- However, looking for another job for extra $$...
Health: Lost some weight – back to the usual me again…
Life: Dull, nothing special, wish could go for travel soon, need some real relaxation…

Just rented a room today in Glasgow, that’s the mission checked and solved, another 6 days at my hall, moving out soon. 01-09-2010 to 31-08-2011, another year in Glasgow, planned. Life has been difficult for the past few weeks, a lot of problems and things to solve. It was harder than I ever imagined… I read my first ever post of this blog before I started typing, and I realized how determined I was when I decided to come here to Glasgow. It was just like days ago that I decided to come and now it has been a year already. Looking back at what I wrote, listening to the song representing the feelings of that time and thought of my family, friends – I came here with full support. I came here all alone with no fear, problems-free, full of courage and faith. I regained it all today. I walked around after paying the deposit for the room, listening to that same old song, thought of my family and friends again – I want to say ‘thank you’, because – I regained those all because of you all. LCY, you make me believe that you girls will always be around no matter what; you reminded me of my purpose being here; you reminded me that family should always come first. And yes, they still do, so do you. Thank you.

I met an old best friend that came all the way from Malaysia today. It has been 4 years since I last met her. I always believe that true friend last forever, just like us both. Chatted like usual, it’s the same old us. All the times we had in KL, in Liverpool, all came running in my mind. She has been a really good friend and she is still one. I once thought that coming here alone is no big deal, but her sister made me realized that it is not. It takes a lot of courage, and I lost it once. I hope that I can fully regain the courage I had when I first came here, and I want to start it today, bit by bit. “NMY, you have survived for a year, you can survive the next one”, I told myself. It has never been difficult from the beginning doing it alone, what makes it difficult now, correct?

Dear all, please give me the courage to continue, to survive,
to strive through all the difficulties I need to face ahead.
‘God never said life would be easy, he just promised it would be worth it…’

And I hope it really does…

I went back to Malaysia a month ago and everything is still the same. Other than the huge renovation of my house, my room, which I love it more now, everything stays the same. Same warmth, same sense of security, I love home. And I miss it a lot now, wondering when I will be back again… But just as the lyrics in the song:

“Dad, Mom, Bro, please give me a little more time to prove it all to you;
please forgive me of my limited ability and the need to work harder…”

Don’t have many photos to show or to tell any story, but hopefully I will have some soon. And I wish it would be my... I don't know... third? Graduation photos... :: Fingers crossed :: I don’t quite know what to write about anymore, and I feel the way I blogged is so out of practice. Yes, out of practice and practice makes perfect. Should do it more often, but no promise. :P

Usual ending, I want to share a few songs that are very meaningful. Yes, a few. I hope you guys will like it, and find it as helpful and supportive as I do. Until then~

生活的压力 真大
爸爸妈妈多苦也撑起了一个家
我的一点点 挫败
说历尽沧桑仍微不足道啊

请给我多一点时间证明给你们看
请原谅我的能力有限再要努力啊

现实的考验 我们说好一起面对
不管多久多远绝对不喊累
期待 彼此更美好的明天
我们说好谁也不放弃谁
(3:38 - 3:44) WOH~~~~~~~~~!
所有的心愿 会实现...

This song goes out to all those special people in my heart.
But that one person that matters the most, you know who you are.
Doesn't matter for now, doesn't matter later.
All I gotta do is make that call. Turn around, there you are.
And so to you from the bottom of my heart, I wanna say one thing.
Thank you.

昨天会被今天明天来取代 动心的感情不会淘汰 关心常在...
就算你我在热闹喧哗中走散 友情会第一时间赶来...

:: Glasgow - Week 3 :: - And baby girl I say okay okay~

Hi mates, how ya'll doing? I really want to blog earlier, but I fell sick for the past few days and getting better now, no worries! Okie now, my updates for the past whole week...

12 & 13/10/2009 Mon & Tues: As usual, I don't have class on Monday, but I have a discussion with my group mates today for a simple & small presentation on Tuesday. The discussion isn't a successful one I guess, there were a lot of communication barriers between group members. They are good people, just that we didn't work hard enough I guess. And, the presentation didn't went great as well, though the lecturer said every group did great. Somehow I just feel like the presentation sucks. Well, only God knows...

14/10/2009 Wednesday: Today is a very busy day, my bad... I have class from 10am-1pm, and I arranged my English for Business class to be on 2-4pm, Academic Writing II class on 4-6pm. >.<" Well... I thought today is a free day with only 3 hours class, I might as well fully utilize the free time right? So I attended the English classes for the first time, it was fun. Not as difficult as I imagined, and I found that there's more ang mo compared to Chinese where I thought it would be the other way round. Tonight, there is this 'Ceilidh & Supper' for postgraduate students from Department of Marketing (and yes, we are under the Department of Marketing as well). Thought of having a free meal again would be great, but other than free meal, I ended up dancing all night long. >.<" It was fun though; Scottish folk dances with simple steps but extremely tiring as you either have to keep on turning and making rounds, or else keep on skipping, so much more tiring than going for aerobic or Hip Hop class! I don't have much photos with me, because like I've said, I've been dancing all night and I didn't missed any of the dances. I guess I've experienced a real Scottish culture tonight! ^^ And I reached back my hall around quarter past 11pm I guess, seriously a tiring day... 15/10/2009 Thursday: Thought that I've booked for the squash session and will have my very first experience in squash, but end up the staff booked the court for me instead of the coaching session. Zzzz... well, since I'm there already, I went to the gym for some workout. Not too long, around half an hour to 45 minutes, then I headed off to my class again. Keeping my time fully occupied! ^^" 16/10/2009 Friday: Not feeling too good today, feel like going to cough soon. I have a three hour class, then I went to bankS after class. Yes, bankS. I went to RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) for some banking matters, then I went to HSBC to check out my account where I opened during my studies in Liverpool 3 years ago. And yes, it is still active... with 5 pence left inside... >.<" It was damn embarrassing when the bank staff told me so and he is laughing. Damn~ 17 & 18/10/2009 Sat & Sun: Didn't really went anywhere other than went out to buy my cough syrup (not really cough syrup, it's our Pei Pa Kou~) and some food. Got fever for a day, flu for two days... Pei Pa Kou really does help as an early prevention for cough, got it controlled and felt so much better with it~! (sounds like advertisement =.=") Well anyway... I got sick because of my stupidity, didn't cover myself with my jacket after gym that day, and I got a cold. Yes, and that is the reason I blogged late. =P It is a good excuse, isn't it? I'm feeling much more better now, and I'm trying to get the photos or videos taken by my coursemates during Ceilidh. Hopefully can share with ya'll soon. Well in the mean time, I got only one photo to share...

My coursemates who attended the Ceilidh ^^

Before I round up this post of mine, here's one of the song I've been listening lately that I would like to share with ya'll. Love him lots, as usual... ^^ Until then, cheers~

:: Glasgow - Week 2 :: - Ah~ it feels like this...

Ah~~ Another week passed by, time flies, really~ So what have I been doing for this whole week? Let's have a review, haha~ (Just some main things I did okay, other than attending classes)

05/10/2009 Monday: I have no class for today, so I went to do my laundry in the morning. Well, it is actually 'we' went to have our clothes washed. My flatmates and I were thinking that we should share the washing service as it cost us 2 pounds once and since one person won't have that much of clothes to be washed. After the laundry, I took my brunch, then we again headed to the trial aerobic class. Haha~ yea, laugh as you wish... It was fun though, not that difficult as I've imagined. Tiring a bit, because we need to dance non-stop, where I usually get the chance to catch my breath during Hip Hop class, aerobic is really different. But still, it's fun. You don't even need a jacket to walk under the weather of 11degrees after that class, you will feel so warm. Will continue with the aerobic class since I got the free time on Monday for these few weeks, and will see how it goes again when my timetable changes few weeks later.

07/10/2009 Thursday: Today, my groupmates for one of the subject's assignment and I, went around the place we are staying now in Glasgow, called the Merchant City, to complete a small task given by our lecturer. We need to answers some of the questions given by him regarding hospitality based on Merchant City and our experience there. So here's our experience and presentation. Lol~

3 dishes for 6.99 pounds

That's the most affordable ones we found around Merchant City with quite a nice interior there. The food was really nice and it was my very first meal that I spent eating outside since I'm in Glasgow. Well, ain't that bad I guess? Went for a free dinner that night, haha~ It wasn't really meant for us, it was the other residence hall's Welcoming Dinner! Well, but since nobody can recognise us, and it is free, so we are there to 'share' a bit of the food. LOL~ There's quite a lot of them there compared to the Welcoming Dinner of our hall, but still we get to eat a lot. And we are really sorry to those who are the residents there but didn't get to go for the second round of the food. =P I'M SORRY~

08/10/2009 Friday: Had my very first presentation in class today, though it was not a really formal one and no marks will be given, it was just a task afterall. But seriously, the students in the class are really SOMETHING~! I should really work hard! Hmm... I went for Hip Hop trial today, and the instructor just look nothing like the one I imagined. Emm, I'll try to describe here... He is really tall, muscular. He got very short beard and moustache. He wore a cap, with really short hair. He can dance well, teach well. He got his way of teaching and controlling the class. I enjoyed the class a lot, I even stayed for the second session of his class and dance for two hours, warmed up twice. LOL~ Well, it's really fun, and I will definitely continue. ^^

09/10/2009 Saturday: I have no class until Monday, so I woke up real late today. Spent my whole afternoon and night chatting, downloading songs, eating... Gosh~ I'm really wasting my time and money! I SHOULD WORK HARD! WORK HARD! WORK HARDER! AZA~!

Thought of the day: While I was walking back alone to my hall last night after the Hip Hop class, the street was really quiet. I walked real slow and look around... I thought of what I had been doing for the past few months, what I had been thinking, imagine-ing for the past few months. And for that very moment, what I thought of, is... "Ah~ it feels like this... and this is how it really looks like..." Ya, this is how my life looks like now. This is how it feels like when those images running in your mind for a long period of time, comes true...

:: Glasgow - Week 1 ::

It has been a week since my last post and you all must be wondering what have I been doing for the past whole week. So here it goes~

26/9/2009 Saturday: My first weekend in Glasgow where I got no plans for it. So I woke up in the morning, not too late, around 9am I think, took my breakfast, finished chatting, then I head off for a walk around. There was this Merchant City Festival going on for the weekend with food stalls, accessories stalls around and also performances by different bands. It was really fun and entertaining and loads of people walking along the streets, and imagine with the cold breeze blown upon your face, you won't feel irritated to have to squeeze through your way among the crowd. I've took some videos (wanted to do as if its a travel program, but too many people around and I'm too shy to do it in the end) but I don't think I can upload it all here, so I'm going to share only two videos which I kind of like it. What I cay say is,"I LOVE MUSIC~!"

* Please forgive me where the quality of the video is not as good as the original ones because I have to change the file to a smaller file size for me to upload. Thanks!

First Band



Second Band

27/9/2009 Sunday: I went to a Chinese food selling store with my flatmates, where you can get some of the food we have in Malaysia and some other Asian countries. I didn't buy anything at the moment, but at least now I know where the place is. ^^ Nothing much to do for today, so we went home after a lit~tle shopping.

28-29/9/2009 Mon & Tues: I don't have any classes until Wednesday, so I went to open my bank account, settle some of my study-related stuffs. Nothing special happened today, just that my third flatmate has finally arrived and guess what, a girl from China. So far I got some great flatmates, no communications barrier, everything goes well. I showed her some supermarkets nearby where she can get her food, and also showed her the way to school plus the necessary registrations to be made. On Tuesday night, there was this Welcoming Dinner for the students staying at our residence hall, so me and two flatmates of mine went to have a look. WELL... We actually know that there would be free food for us, so we went... WUAHAHA~ Baked macaroni and cheese, the best dinner I had since I arrived in Glasgow! Haha~

I have some inductions to attend on Wednesday, and Thursday was the official day where my classes started. I have classmates from quite of different places, such as Taiwan, Russia, Czech Republic, Germany and so on. Not much of us actually, only around 20 people in our class and only ONE leng zai here. ::sobsob:: Well anyway, we are all from different countries, graduates from different background, different age range as well. What a class~~ As usual, got to know what assignments we would have to do and date to hand-in, it started to get a lit~tle bit stressful... Well, other than studies, health is a very important thing that we should take care of. So on Friday, I got to know that we have free trial to test out the activities provided by the Centre of Sport and Recreation, so I went for the Hip Hop class! Waha! The teacher FFK eventually, but what do you know, things happened for a reason! I met a bunch of Malaysians there and I even found someone that is planning to go to Bristol too~! I don't need to go alone then~! Felt so excited after that, well though we didn't get to attend the class, we still went to work out in the gym for a while, chat for a while and exchanged our contacts. What a coincidence really~!

*Updates: I'm planning to sign-up for the membership so that I can attend the Hip Hop class, use their gym and get some coaching to play squash as well (if I got the time)! Preety good isn't it?

Well, so far so good on the updates eh? Haha... I'm going to blog about my trip to Mugdock Country Park in my next post, don't want to put everything here now. LOL~ So, until then~ Cheers mate!

:: Glasgow - Day 1 ::

25/9/2009 Friday: My very first day in Glasgow, I woke up kind of early, 8am (3pm Malaysia time) just to surf net and chat. I was planning to go to school to open a bank account as the Bank representatives would be there to help out International Students for that, but in the end I found out I did not have my bank letter from University ready yet. So, in the end, I just went shopping for some food and groceries.

Not too far from where I'm staying, there's this supermarket where we can get some 'not-too-expensive' food. Well, as I did not have any of my pots and pans ready here, I went for the usual food I get for myself when I was in Liverpool - ready meals. LOL~ Well, they have a lot of choices for that, you can get fried rice, pasta, burger, whatever you named it. Well, like I used to say in my blog last time, a photo speaks a thousand words. So now, let me show you how it looks like.

This is the place where I shop

READY MEALS~~!!

& these are what I bought...

Mars Mini Rolls~~~

Instant noodles & Instant rice~~

READY MEAL~~

& Ham~~

Well, this is just for the beginning, alright? Will cook once I got my pots and pans, wuahaha~ =P A real noob I am, I really did not know that this particular supermarket do not provide plastic bags, paper bags, whatever bags, and you have got to bring your own bags!! So, I went back my place with all the dry food in my bag (phew~ luckily I bring along my back pack) and with the frozen food in my hand! >.<" Luckily I did not bought a lot and then my place is just few steps away from the supermarket. Done placing my things back to the flat, I gone off again just for a walk and to have a look for some pots, pans, and a UK number sim card. Did not get any of those, thought of I still have some time to do my 'survey' around; so I end up walking around under a cold weather, then I started to feel hungry. This is what I get for myself and what do you know, it's the shop that we always passed by when we go to class in Liverpool ('WE' refers to ya'll who are there with me that time). Ta~ Da~

3 for a pound~ Greggs doughnuts~

That's all for today, will keep on updating if I got the time. No worries okie? Last, but not least...

The frontal view of where I'm staying

Until then... Adios~

The Departure and Arrival

23/9/2009 8pm: I was already on my way to the airport for check-in. It has been three months since I decided to study overseas, many things happened in this short period of time, happy stuffs sad stuffs, and as days grew nearer to the date of departure, my mind went so blank. Wondering what will happen when I reach there, wondering how is life going to be, and I really hope that everything will be better this time. Just like last time when I went for Liverpool, I have my family who followed me to the airport, and again, only one friend who came to see me off (though it is not the same person). Well, my bad, to depart from KLIA directly save me the money to fly from Penang to KL, but it is better this way. I don't like the sad feeling of farewell, and what do you know, I didn't cry this time... Going to, but didn't... I guess 3 years can really make a person grows up, I do feel the sadness to leave my family and friends, but since I am the one who decided to go abroad and I have all the blessings from everyone, no regrets.

It feels a bit different. and somehow not too different. =.=" Maybe I'm too used to being alone, I don't feel so much of the anxiousness being traveling by myself or no one around me to talk to. It is the night flight I’m taking, 11.15pm, and it takes around 13 hours to reach UK. So I went on board, thinking that it’s almost time to sleep, so I just chose a movie to watch before I go to ‘bed’. Well, I didn’t know that they will be serving us meal like in 1 or 2 hours later, it is freaking supper time already! Like I always said, we should not waste food, so I took my supper – Fish Fettuccine.

I feel so full and not sleepy at all after the meal, so I continue with another movie before I head to sleep. By the time I woke up, it’s already 9am in Malaysia. And then, they served us food again, breakfast. =.=" Guess what, after the breakfast and there's only an hour to go for I will arrive in Amsterdam - Schiphol Airport. I need to wait for 4 hours to transit; so I went out to the departure hall and met up with Dylan. Such a coincidence eh, he will be taking the 12pm flight back to Malaysia. Mind you, it is based on Europe local time. This is what I did before I met up with Dylan, which is 6 o'clock in the morning, Europe time.

We parted around 9am so that I could go for boarding, and what surprised me was, I'm taking a Dutch version of Firefly aircraft - Fokker, short-haul airliner to Glasgow. And I end up being the only Chinese on board. >.<" It's not that bad after all. I reached Glasgow International Airport around 11am (UK local time) and the airport pick-up volunteer is a girl from Haerbin, China. She's so happy that I could speak Mandarin (where I feel like:"how come I'm still speaking Mandarin in UK??!!") Well anyway, I reached my accommodation, Andrew Ure Hall around 11.30am or 12noon. The room and house is much more smaller compared to the one I'm staying in Liverpool, but the structure is almost the same. And guess what, my flat mates came from China and Hong Kong, where they both speak Mandarin. =.=" WT-??!! Nevermind, I could go back to Malaysia speaking British's English and Chinese's Chinese. Or I can speak Hong Kong cantonese instead of Malaysian Canto already. Wuahaha... not bad eh...

Before I even unpacked my stuffs, I went off for registration at my school and to familiarize myself with the nearest path to go to school. And I end up going the other way round and spent 30 minutes to reach the registration building. >.<" ~Bloody hell~ Then I got my registration done, got my ID card, got my timetable (where I should get it from the induction, but I missed it because I arrived at Glasgow the same time as the induction is on) Got to know a new friend, a girl from Turkey, very friendly (Ya, I'm more easily close to girls, didn't get to know any Leng Zai Ang Mo yet, so what??!! =P) I went home after that, and started to unpack. And gosh, I spent 3 hours for that and I missed the International Students Meal (Dinner) plus my first dinner in Glasgow is a cup noodle. I shall shop for food and groceries tomorrow! I am really exhausted because after the breakfast on plane, which is on 10am Malaysia time, my next meal is on 3am Malaysia time, and I've gone around to different buildings for different registration purposes under a freaking cold weather. (Not complaining, I like the weather though. ^^)

Well, enough of my departure and arrival story. I would like to take the chance here to say 'THANK YOU' to my best buddies, for the video you girls made for me, I am really touched. 'THANK YOU' for those who spent their precious time to record their blessings for me, appreciate it. Below is what I want to say to you all (based on the video made)...

Byoki: I will never forget you, and I WILL continue dancing if I got the chance. MUAKS~

Shirley: I won't forget you as well, JIA YOU~! But... I still want to see your 'xie zhen'... =P

Mandy: Will help to find a Leng Zai Ang Mo for you (once I got myself one, wuahaha... still Penang kia better lar~) Will definitely look for you all when I'm back, no worries, okie? ^^

Alex: Will continue dancing, but can I don't battle with you when I'm back?? LOL~ Ganbade ne~

Albert: Well, thank you too for being such a patient instructor. Haha...Thanks for all the wishes, WILL definitely keep in touch! ^^

Elaine: Thanks for the wishes, and for sure, I will come back! (got your warning, =P) Jia You!

Chin Yee: Ya, though we have known each other for so long, but we only got closer since you join the dance class. Thank you for always being there listening to all I want to say, and for the support you've given all these while. You too, stay strong, add oil! Like what you said, we work hard for our future now, and then I'll see you soon, either here in Scotland, or back in our old place, Greenlane McD. And yes, who knows we meet in Taiwan for the trip we planned? Take care lot lot and I'll see you in msn.

Ming Inn: Miao, still used to called you so, like how you always address me as your Ar Kong. You are my best family member ever that are always around to listen, keep my secrets, worried about me. And I do hope you'll remember that I'll always be around for you too no matter what, WILL see you on your big day! P/S: In a while crocodile...

Yiwen: Thanks for the wishes, and like CY, though we have been close to each other in secondary school, but after graduation, we only got closer again like 5-6 years later, thanks to Albert's dance class. Well, thinking of you reminds me of food, haha... Though you 747 me damn lots of time, you know I'll be there whenever you need me too. Like you said, what friends are for? Other than for you to FFK, well, I guess you are always up to have some good food with me. So, I'll be back~ wuahahaha...

Thanks again to all the above, and... See ya'll soon... Until then, take care... ^^

Below are some of the photos I would want to share with ya'll. Enjoy~

My room (Before)

My room (After)

Where I'm Staying - City of Glasgow