From LEicester, With Love...

Negaraku,
Tanah tumpahnya darahku...

- National Anthem, Malaysia -

Whoops, made a mistake there...i was in a com room, when a lecturer announced that there's a class in progress...i was too busy reading other things to update my blog..hehhehe, my bad..biaselaa...kepochi...always wants to know what's going on...so, rushed to the next available com room...3 floors up!! anyway, i have till about 12.45p.m so that's about an hour from now to upload segala-galanye yang terbuku di dalam minda selama almost 1 week...

phew...penat, penat...ok....HOW'S EVERYONE??????????? i'm missing u guys loads and loads!!! thanks Aptie for updating...that was sweet , altho' i know u copied that of ur website..u lazy bum!! hehehe...thanks dear! so, people, here i am at Uni of Leicester (told you i was gonna reveal it sooner or later!) i arrived on the 17th September (Tuesday) with my dad, got him settled at his hotel, which is about 15 minutes walk from my accomodations...then went on to my residence halls for the orientation programme...

i shall not bore you with details from the orientation programme (banyak yang i dah lupe pun!) hehehe...but i've made a few friends...Amanda from China (undergraduate) and Noq from Thailand (postgraduate), and Suhaimi from Brunei...on Saturday i moved to my permanent accomodation and now i'm housed with 9 other students, with a shower, 2 toilets and kitchen to share...my housemates , so far, are Taa, masters in genetics, also from Thailand (she claimes her name is to long to pronounce so asked me to call her that), Joyc, masters in law, an African American, and 3 other Chinese girls, i've forgotten their names...heheheh...whoops...the rest are probably coming in next week when term starts...

i've met 2 malaysians!! yayyyy!!!..i was so relieved that i started talking in MAlay straight away...one, Kak Ina, who's gonna do a Phd in Econs, here with her family and was teaching at KUSTEM...another is KAk Hani, also a lecturer at UITM, who's also doing the same programme...as a matter of fact, they got the same supervisor! KAk Hani also brought her family along, but her husband will also be studying....i met a Malaysian celup..hehehe..Kak Nadiah, who's a Malay, but grew up all her life in Saudi, who met her husband, also a Malay, but who also grew up in Saudi all his life!! i was like, what are the odds?! but she doesn't uunderstand Malay too well, and doesn't know which part of Terengganu she goes back to whenever she goes back to Malaysia..so kire celup laa tu...ehheheh...

hmm..LEicester...is not a big place...ok sized...the uni is about a mile from town..possible to walk all the way down to cuz its on a hill...i suppose, it's a great environment for studying *screws nose*...but when i got to town and saw people walking around, then i started to breathe easily...for me, nothing soothes the eyes as much as looking at the familiar shops...aaahhh, M & S, BHS, Gap, Woolworths, Boots, WHSmith....*shrugs* what can i say? retail therapy helps...but i don't shop...seriously, i don't!! for one thing, i'm too busy converting in my head...i tell you, i'm now an expert on Sifir 6...well, to be on the safe side of burning a huge hole of my parents' pockets, thats what i would do...plus the fact that i'm with my dad...he's kinda careful with spending...read: careful...sangat...now with my mom, if we're on holidays, hehehe..kire tutup mata sebelah laa bile shopping..but with my dad, hmm...we'll walk around, and around looking for the best prices, not exactly the best quality tho', until we find something that satisfies his budget..oh btw, did i mention that he spend weeks scouring the town of Mekah to get a pair of sunglasses?! tak lawa sangat pun!...so far, we've frequented those 1 pound shops (Poundland), those 89p or less shops...just so i can get my pots and pans and other benda2 remeh temeh...oh well, at least he didn't insist on getting me clothes from discount stores too...that would be too much...ehhehe...got stuff from the shopping list for the family back home to...

The uni itself is nice..most buildings are located really close to each other, so its only a short walk away...now, to compare ngan UNITEN, u need a vehicle to move around, i mean if ur not terribly athletic, like moi..but here...keter oun takleh masuk...and kat UNITEN, u macam ade gerbang pintu nak masuk, sama mcam UITM, UM, UKM...but here...the entrance gates are just roads with those palang where u swipe ur card..no big signboards or crests...just amodest one...hmm...ade 2 atm, a few cafeterias, bookshop, student union building, ade travel shop...rose bushes *sigh*...

hmm..ape lagi...my hall is near Safeways, a supermarket, and the first day of the orientation, we were brought there for a supermarket tour..hehehe...how cute...but it was funny tho, cuz u can see these students with blank looks on their faces, holding baskets with nothing in them..i was almost afraid to spent, but got myself some buns to have breakfast with and mineral water...oh, by the way, i think the amount of Coke that i had in the past week surpasses the yearly amount i normally consume...gile banyak!! whenever kluar with my dad je, gi makan kebab (staple food) and minum coke..! sheesh...but i've finally tasted the famed Vanilla Coke..yum! satu lagi dgn my dad nie..assal nampak kedai kebab and some Middle-East looking guy behind the counter je, assumes its halal...main belasah je...i was a bit was-was, but tawakal je laa....luckily there are a lot of halal kebab places, so now it's not a worry to me....semalam gi shopping ngan my dad at safeways so got the essential stuff...minyak, garam, gula, roti, cheese, orange juice, sayur sikit...macam masak je!! hehehehe...my mom packed 22, read 22, packets of Maggi in my luggage and 4 huge packets of serunding, Milo and Nestum...so adelaa sikit provision..i'm dying to cook Maggi, sebenarnye...sebabnye, the chinese girls in my house keeps on cooking noodles, and putting vege and meat...i pun nak buat gak!! cam sedap je kalo slurp, slurp maggi tu panas-panas...aaahh, lega noo....hehehehe..nantilaa try..the thing is, i haven't been eating dinner for the past week sebab lunch is usually a heavy affair of kebab and chips...ehehehe, jumpe my dad je, lapar...assal jumpe je, lapar...mesti my dad pelik and amused...gile makan banyak budak nie...

the weather here last week was ok, tak sejuk sangat...at one time it was really sunny and kinda panas...but today dah sejuk sikit...and yesterday, it rained, and rained...we were trapped in town with me and my pots clanking in plastic bags...tadi, masuk lecture hall for induction freezing giler! i thought i was the only one, so konon2 buat macho laa, ingatkan sumer org biase dgn the temperature...tapi, mase Q&a session, someone asked for the heater! ehhehe, my lecuterer pun cakap that he couldn't find the switch, and that it's freezing...heheheh, nasib baik...

to those who made it to the airport to send me off..THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart...sheesh, i dah start tumpah kat rumah when my mom walked in on me mase dinner and said "Baliklaa raya nanti, lama sangat you pergi.." and she cooked my favourite sambal ikan bilis...uwaaa!!! gua pun tambah laa lepas tu, tunjuk macho...my bag was soo super heavy that i was afraid my dad wouldn't be able to handle it..berat gile! yelaa, ngan maggi tu..ehhehe....i think it was about 50kg...kesian my dad, dahlaa hotel die takde lift! nasib baik 1 floor up je....my brother should have come along laa, and so should my mom and sis..oh what the heck, bring the whole kampung along too!

the first night was terrible...when i sat on my bed after a log day, i could hear the silence..the loudness of the silence...orang kata hening...well, memang HENINGGGGGG gile aaa...i was like, coughing, cuz i wanted to hear some noise...it was soo sad..i wanted to leave at one moment then decided...naah, it would be easier when my notebook comes, then i'm gonna listen to ERA. fm the whole day long..muahahahah...but my room now faces the main parking lot, and i could hear people coming and going, so i don't feel too lonely...

however, today my dad leaves for Malaysia, and there goes my final link to my family back home...sedih aa gak..he lepaked at my room till late last night, giving me all the last minute advices...he smsed me this morning telling me he's checking out, and that he'll see me in a months' time...heheheh...that's when he'll bring my notebook up...my cousin in Birmingham is enjoying herself in London with her other cousins...lucky her! nak gi gak! but this week i'll be busy with induction...tengoklaa, maybe go jenguk die kat Birm...

hmm..ape lagi...classes will start next monday..sheesh, macam tak belajar je bile tengok timetable die...got disillusioned for a while..sebab i was expecting, well, at least a week half filled with classes..tengok-tengok...sheesh...moday and tuesday je yang fixed...tu pun 2 jam...waaaa....what am i gonna do with all that free time??!!! i knowlaa, kena study, that's what ur hear for in the first place, dodo....but at one point, i seriously wished i had chosen to go to London instead...oh well, cari kerja laa...hari tu nampak ade vacancy kat town kad Clinton Cards, cam Memory Lane gitu...oh, btw, Leicester is supposed to be famous for this marketplace that has existed about 700 years back..tapinye, when i went there..i was like, heh? nie je?...petaling street and chowkit road is ssooooo much better!! and has better stufff! as a matter of fact, the first place the sprung to my mind when i first saw it was that it looked like Geylang in Singapore..even Geylang was better! oh well, but window shopping was like, heaven...window jelaa....

ok..tu jelaa kot...tak ingat lagi ape nak tulis..actually, should put a warning at the top of the page : Beware!! LoNG Entry Ahead! ehheheh..tapi takpelaa...bile u guys malas nak baca dah, can sambung tomorrow..i should reset the clock for my blog, but malaslaa..will do it later...skarang tgh cam lapar sikit...so, tak tau if sempat nak rush balik amik biscuit, or waste money beli sandwich..hmmm...oh, lupe nak bagitau, my accomodation is the nearest to uni...within 5-10 minutes away...but it's also the OLDEST and UGLIEST but CHEAPEST...so, the balance works for me, i guess...

toodle-loo folks...nanti i update lagi ye...cau ciinnnn caaauuuuu!!!