Christmas Eve 2006

Christmas has never been a dreary occasion for me. I LOVE Christmas. Every year, my friends and I will come up with something; be it a countdown, party, or gathering. My parents are just too lazy to go out anywhere. They rather watch TV or sleep at home. They always come up with the same old excuse by complaining that they're too old for all these things. Hehe. Christmas 2006 is no different. Oh wait! I think it's slightly different this year: My parents volunteered to countdown in a restaurant-The Ship! They probably want to spend more time with me since I'm back for only 2 weeks. That's the advantage of being the eldest i.e. the first one to be away from home. Everyone will be delighted to see you when you're back! =) Anyway, they chose 'The Ship' for a very splendid reason: it reminisces the good ol' days! We (as in my lovely parents, Heng Yong, Jessica and I) will normally countdown for Christmas in 'The Ship' during our childhood days. That place really mean a lot to us. As for Caroline and Adeline, it will be their first time. They were really hyper and excited. It's really pleasing to see them brimming from ear to ear.

Flashback: Christmas Eve 2005.
I had friends visiting me, everyone wearing the 'Santa Hat', a Christmas cake and the usual Christmas present-exchange thing. Below are some of the pictures:

See the Christmas cake with 2 tiny marshmallows!

Christmas Presents

Christmas Eve 2006.
As mentioned earlier on, it's slightly special. Initially, I assumed my parents would be in their "Ahh. Christmas, I'm lazy to go out" mood, so I've already planned and promised a dinner with my friends. Hence, I went for dinner with them and then countdown with parents! =) Cool huh?! lol.

When I met my family in 'The Ship', they all had their party packs ready; waiting patiently for the clock to strike 12. Immediately when the clock struck 12, people started singing the Christmas Song and my sisters (the 2 younger ones) were squeaking and squealing away. The rest of us stood up; trying to join the crowd and looking at our dear sisters enjoying themselves. For that, yes! We are too old for it. We can't be squeaking like them. It'll be really odd. Hehehe. We really enjoyed ourselves though!

Gathering at Miin Lyn's place after the dinner

My Christmas Present!

My Family!
Top -> from left: Jessica, Me, Heng Yong
Bottom -> from left: Adeline, Mom, Dad, Caroline

Caroline suggested me to take this picture :S

Look at the amount of soft toys my sisters have! Crazy :S

And, of course....

My Christmas gift for my sisters!

P.S. There are some other 'interesting' things which happened in between of course but due to lack of time and laziness, I shall not elaborate further. Hehe.

Home Sweet Home

At last! After 3 gruelling months in Imperial, I'm back home =) Initially, I thought I would regret coming back since it's only like what?! less than 3 weeks for me? Thankfully, I made the right choice. Life is good for now. Beit Hall was really empty on the day after the end of term. I guess I'll be really homesick if I'm still there.

I'm really good now. The 12 hour journey from Heathrow, London to KLIA didn't bore me this time. Surprisingly, I didn't really sleep throughout the journey. I guess it's the rush of adrenalin through my body which makes me feel awake. The excitement of being home and meeting everyone I've missed for the past few months was building up in me.

Upon arrival, I've received SMS-es from my friends welcoming me back to Malaysia. I got really agitated then. As I had things to do, I did not reply them. First thing, I text my parents telling them that I've arrived safely. At that time, they were still at home and were surprised that my flight arrived early. Hastily, they rushed to the airport (They arrived in the airport before I collected my luggage!). Dad drove really fast according to my siblings. They were really excited to see me. And, I tried to be at my best so as not to disappoint them when they meet me.

And, when I met them, my mom said she couldn't even recognise me! At that instant, doubts flooded my mind, "It is something really good or bad?" I knew she was going to say I look thinner. I've already tried my best NOT to look thin before I came back. No matter how hard I try, people (parents, particularly) will still think that I look thinner since I'm back from a foreign country. I don't understand why they think that I stint on food; which I didn't! Weird huh?

Interesting Things that happened

There are just too many things going on recently and I'm really too lazy to blog about each and every one of them. I'll probably just include pictures and describe a wee bit about it =)

Friday(8/12/06)
Attended the "eat all you can" lunch at Pizza Hut with my friends. Supposed to beat the record held by the members of the Outdoor Club last year. This is how jobless we get. lol.

the 4 of us in Pizza Hut.

On that same day, I was supposed to attend my department's Christmas Dinner but tickets were all sold out :( couldn't go. Had curry for dinner in a Japanese Restaurant instead. Well, of course don't expect it to be as nice as the one back home. The curry tasted a little awkward but it's not too bad!

Curry Chicken Rice!

Saturday(9/12/06)
Had our first full dress rehearsal for lion dance. It was kinda cool really! Unfortunately, with the costumes, it's really difficult for me to perform the stunts. What more, the head is not exactly THAT light you know!!

Me doing the "2 leg stand". Cool right?!

Lion Dance Team

Later that evening, met up with Cindy and Yin Mei. Since Cindy will be flying back home the following day, we decided to go Harrods, have dinner and oh! I have to give Yin Mei the credit for this: She made red bean soup for the 2 of us and invited us over. That's awfully sweet of her.

Yin Mei, Cindy and I at a Japanese Restaurant (forgot the name, AGAIN!)

At a funfair in Leicester Square. Reminisces my childhood days.

Cindy and I

Yin Mei and I at her kitchen

Hmm, I think you'll get sick of us if I continue posting more pictures. Okay, next...


Tuesday(12/12/06)
My hall had a Christmas Party at 8pm but I had to stay back at college to do some programming since I'll be having test the following day. How sad right? :( Anyway, when I got back around 10pm, my hallmates cheered me up! They seriously made my day. I expected them NOT to know my name honestly since most of the time I'm out. By the way, they call me "Heng". Some will call me Heng Kai.

What happened was, when I actually stepped into the kitchen, they went "HENG!!!!! Surprise! Christmas present for you!" I stood frozen to the ground. I was astonished!

Nice right? Christmas tree in my kitchen!

My hallmates and I

My Christmas Present! :D

Wednesday(13/12/06)
Went to Oxford for a musical theatre - CATS! Since we had a test in the morning, we couldn't go there early and hence, arrived late (3.30pm). It was almost dark already by then :( Oh for those who don't know, in UK, when it's 5pm, it's like Malaysia's 8pm! Yes, it's THAT dark! Sun sets early here. Because of that, we don't get to take a lot of pictures in Oxford. We didn't get to go in to see the Radcliffe Building and others.

Me in Exeter College, Oxford.

In Oxford!


CATS Musical Theatre

Top (from left): Ambarish, Me, Stella, Shi Chian, Deng Wei
Bottom (from left): Audrey, Siew Ping, Jee Wayn

Hope you like what you saw! =)

And, FINALLY! I'm going back TOMORROW! Can't wait to meet up lots of people seriously. I miss my parents, relatives, friends and everyone related closely to me!! Hope to see you people soon. I'm excited.

Nintendo Wii

Some would probably think I'm insane. Here is what happened: I thought of getting a Nintendo Wii for my family and since they will be releasing it at 12am, I decided to go Oxford Street (hoping that I would be the lucky one) to get it. And, common sense tells you that it's merely impossible to get one if you are going to go there at 12am. I reach at 12.15am. That's even worse. Some people had been queuing since 7pm or even earlier than that. Silly me. When I've reached Oxford Street, HMV was closed already. Sigh. Couldn't even go in to have a look. Some people were still crazy enough to stand outside (they just LOVE the Wii) to wait.

HMV in Oxford Street

Anyway, I predicted that I would not be that lucky either. I just want to go out. No idea why. And, my purpose of going there was to have dinner as well. I slept in the evening and skipped dinner. Anyway, should I get a Nintendo Wii? Part of me tells me that I should but the other part suggests that I shouldn't. Being indecisive here.

On my way back (in the bus), I met this Chinese couple who managed to grab a set. According to them, they bought it for £180. Is it worth it? Should I get it for my family as Christmas present?

Busy Week

Sorry for not being able to blog for the past week. I was seriously tied up with tests, projects etc.. (using it as an excuse to get away lol).

Not that my week was mundane, really! It was rather exhilarating, indeed. Ah, if I were to blog about every event which happened last week, it'll be too lengthy. I shall provide a summary:

27 Nov: Kavitha had her birthday celebration. Food was great. Met loads of cool new people!
28 Nov: Christmas Test. Screwed.
29 Nov: My sister, Caroline's birthday! Too bad I can't celebrate with her back home :(
30 Nov: Cheryl and Anita's birthday. We had a gathering at Starbucks; Cheryl and Anita had their own plans, so we planned to meet up and hang around! lol. That night, went for my first musical theatre: Les Miserables.
1 Dec: LSE's Malam Bakti. Gosh! No one should miss it. Really had a good laugh that night.

And now, as for this week, my personal tutor-Prof Peter Cheung, was kind enough to bring us(his tutees) for a dinner at an Italian Restaurant in South Kensington. (can't recall the name of the shop)

Prof Peter Cheung (the one sitting next to me) and his tutees

Oh! Not to forget, my hall's Christmas Party! It will be on this Saturday and I seriously got no idea of what to get for my hallmate. By the way, it's a guy not a girl unfortunately. Lucky draw! Any suggestions people? Something different, preferably.