the path less trodden

I've been blog hopping quite a lot lately, and every page I visit, people seem to be doing the same one particular thing.

And I'm gonna try it today :

scarf : Tie Rack

top : Paul Smith

jeans : dvb for Rock&Republic

bag : Longchamp Le Pliage

Yikess!! Ok, so my wardrobe ain't that great, or fancy for that matter.

Nobody will be interested anyway.

That'll probably be my first and last attempt. Hehe.

Anyhow, the real topic for the day is a colleague's farewell.

She was on annual leave for five weeks before, for a dance workshop in the States. 

That was when I came into the picture and took over all her jobs. 

So my internship is actually replacing someone, doing her work, rather than learning about the business.

But then again, I don't have any complaint as I reckon I learn more quickly doing real tasks. I started communicating with counter parties and providers, quoting contractual agreements since day one.

Was I scared? Of course.

Do I love it? Oh yes!

But when she came back to the office last week, she brought a good (or bad) news for souvenir.

She wants to become a professional dancer! and was leaving the office.

Now that she's got everything, the road seems clear and unwound.

Won a dancing competition. Check. Feature in a dancing film. check.

attend seminar and workshops, meet the gurus. check. check. check

So, last Friday, we went out for lunch to celebrate her new career.

- I couldn't fast, so I coyly accepted her invitation for lunch. lol. -

She's an inspiration, I daresay.

She's very courageous to leave behind a secure, well-paid job in order to pursue her passion and dream.

This is a person who graduated with a first class honour in engineering.

From a reputable university in the uk.

Worked with high ranked companies in the country.

Paid, of course, well enough to feed her family for 15 more years.

Nevertheless, she's a woman to be looked up to.

Brrrppp.. excuse me =D

Mobile broadband

As previously mentioned, I am currently on mobile broadband.

Yes, limited data usage, limited speed etc etc

But that's the best option so far.

Due to some unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances, we are getting our home broadband later than expected.

Much later than promised, in fact.

I was piqued when refused attention by the Seller. 

He was rude, ignorant and everything in between.

I have already sent a super long complaint to the broadband provider anyway, so let's not talk about it anymore.

*smile* and reach up for the sky.

Anyhow! I'm sure these pictures would leave most girls out there jaw-dropped.

That's my dongle, and it's PINK.

I'm loving it. It makes me wanna go online every second lol.

Oh, and I finally skyped with my mum!!

Never thought I can skype through mobile broadband.

Oxford

I'm having enough in my plate right now, that the last thing I'd want to do is just swallow everything in and throw up later.

That's not how I deal with undesirable decisions and unexpected outcomes.

My focus is to become an sensible intelligent woman who does not succumb to foolish acts.

So I found a way to put the nasty, inexplicable stuff underneath all the nice beautiful decorations, for me to look back ten years to come and laugh.

I did what I gotta do.

Go.Out.And.Have.Some.Fun

And we've chosen Oxford to carve some smiles and crack some laughs.

The initial plan was actually to go further north, but cancellation was unavoidable at the very last minute.

However, Oxford is just as good as the north.

The Sunday sky was blue and the Sun was at its brightest.

The buildings are breathtaking, very Medieval-ish (ok I don't really know how to describe), even at the city centre.

Pic credit to Acip

Pic credit to Acip

I am blessed to be surrounded by fun friends who entertain round the clock. We just couldn't stop talking and laughing.

These are the people who would agree to go fruit picking with you, who would choose a free entry farm, with the no-eating-while-picking rule, but end up plucking and munching all the way through the rows of fruits.

The bucket is half empty before you know it.

And they stop by the washroom before going to the cashier.

Pic credit to Acip

Ohh!! We found a weird-looking fruit, no one knows what they are.

They look like apples, but with bright green skin. Not quite round, not quite hard.

We made everyone guess, and the winner was Gooseberries!!

Which apparently exist, thanks to Wiki, but we were all wrong. Boo..

We went back to the city around six, but all the shops along the streets were already close.

Anyway, guess what I found in Oxford? Well, it's nothing unusual.

A Book.

Of course!! *Slap forehead*

And I just had to add nerd to the sensible intelligent list.

Oh, we packed sandwiches too with labels, how cute?

A-maze-ing

I've figured out long ago why me and history can never get along,

like water in a cup of oil.

And a very long list of reasons appeared.

1. I don't remember dates.

2. I'm terrible at memorising names.

3. Numbers make me go giddy.

4. If you have more than one name, chances are I'm gonna just smile and nod and smile again whenever we meet.

5. I've got everything mixed up in that little space of my brain, hence I'm never a fan of sequential stories.

6. No I can't remember names.

7. What? Which one? When?? Who..??

However, sometimes, the stories themselves are really interesting and entertaining.

They are worth that five minutes of your life, read or listened to.

For example

So, when a giant bush came out in the middle of Trafalgar Sq last week,

with the promise of a free ride back to London West End in the 19th century, I was excited.

And the long queue got me more intrigued.

It was the final day, I knew I had to go before they take it down.

Soon we were already in the line, soaked and cold.

I took my glasses out, a pen and a notebook.

Tried that nerdy high school student look, but couldn't pull it off.

I gave up and put everything back in.

And, the first signboard I saw?

Read the history in the first photo.

Fascinating eh?

Then, my office, The Strand.

Ohh.. let's try this.

Apparently, an actor was murdered in the train station near the street,

and it is believed that the staircase is still haunted by his ghost.

Until today.

But there are two stations close to the office, 

Embankment and Charing Cross.

I wonder which one of those.

I'm pretty sure it's not the latter, because there's where I stop every morning, and go back in the evening.

Sheessh, the thought alone is mind-dusturbing.

Anyway, we managed to find the way out, yeaayayay!!

Dragon

Being in the gas business is really amazing because...

You get to wear this!!

Well, the whole attire is rather normal for me as an engineering student.

I even have my own hard hat.

and gloves. and the safety goggles too.

But these accountants looked like they just hit the jackpot.

And they couldn't stop asking me to take pictures.

We had fun touring, while learning.

I've been receiving love letters emails from this terminal every morning.

I've been replying to strangers everyday, talking about stuff I've never seen.

To meet them, and see the jetty, the tank, the pipeline before my eyes are something I've been waiting for since the first day I came into the company.

And finally last weekend, I found myself on the train to Wales.

We passed Cardiff, and I wished I could stop by to see the city.

The calmer London everyone has been talking about.

One day I will.

Wales is indeed a beautiful country.

A perfect gateway spot for weekend, and summer.

You can imagine how thrilled we were to finally get out of London,

the busy roads,

the noisy streets,

and just chill in a neighbour country, so near yet so different.

I instantly became friend with an old couple next door, who live a couple of miles away, but wanted to spend time together outside their home.

Sweet. Right?

But it was raining when we arrived,

so much for my shades and floral scarf,

Hola, Amigos

Pheww... that was a long hiatus.

A very long indeed.

Anyway, we just moved into a new house.

Well, it's been two weeks since we checked in,

but we haven't got internet installed yet,

which explains the long hiatus.

So, here, welcome to my humble abode.

pic credit to Man

I'm on mobile broadband now,

waiting patiently for the engineers to come,

to set up our phone line and TV connections.

Well..

Mobile broadband means limited data usage.

Which also means slower connection.

And, limited image uploads.

But I've gotta live with it for another two weeks.

I can't complain. There's no use.

The house is great, in and out.

Nice location, lovely neighbours and wonderful rooms.

Altogether, it's a home.

I'm sitting comfortably on the couch,

in front of the TV,

feet on coffee table, notebook on laps,

at the time of writing.

Ahh... I couldn't ask for a better weekend,

Trafalgar Square

I love working in the city,

I have no complaints whatsoever. Really.

The tube ride in the morning gives me a little hint of independence.

The overflowing inbox and emails to the counter parties makes me a little bit more efficient and organised.

And learning non-technical stuffs adds a little flavour to the mundane daily life of this engineering student.

Overall, I love it here. I do.

But, I just hope I wouldn't have to start working four days after I finished exams.

If only I could turn back time, I would've rejected the offer to come into office straight away.

I would've delayed it. Too excited back then, maybe?

I wished I had more time to spend with friends.

Be it to visit places, or just hanging out at home.
Especially Man.

If only time machine does exist,
I would've gone back to three weeks ago.

I'm sorry to sound too whiny, it's the hormone. Hehe.

Okay. Enough of that.

Anyway,

The office was rather empty and quiet today.

The bosses were not around.

And I didn't have much work to do.

I arrived at nine, 

sent some info across to commercial department,

checked incoming invoices,

read and replied emails from BG and Dragon,

couriered out invitations and goodie bags for our upcoming event,

and watched Humza playing with his new iPhone 4.

The rest of the morning?

Joined Gavin admiring Humza's cool iPhone apps.

There was no point sitting in the office anymore,

so I dragged myself to Trafalgar Square.

At least I could find people with different actions there.

People who don't keep on checking his new iphone every two seconds.

People with words other than invoices, zero send outs, gas price, nominations, etc.

And the weather was just perfect.

This place, by the way, brings about thousands of memories.

My first time here was almost twelve years ago,

with my family, when we were staying in Wales.

I remember feeding the pigeons.

And running about with my sisters.

Dad taking pictures of us chasing the birds.

Laughing.

Oh, Old times.

Then, I used to come here with Man.

During the winter evening.

There was no pigeons anymore.

But the dark sky was as beautiful as ever.

We just sat there by the fountain, talking.

It was our first date.

I think? Hehe.

But now, he's leaving the country for good in a couple of weeks.
And I won't be seeing him for the next twelve months.

Anyway, I can see the office from here, in case the boss comes back.

Then I need to rush fifty miles per hour. Hehe.

Ohh, and they're setting up the big screen for world cup final !!

It's this Sunday.

Ina will be here, we can go and watch. Weehee.

So,

Espanyol vs Holland?

Germany / Holland?

We'll find out tomorrow.

Went back to my workstation after lunch,

And what did I do fo the rest of the afternoon?

Exchanging apps with Humza. Haha.

Food. Again.

Isn't it super duper big??

And we were meant to finish all.

Just the 4 of us.

The aftermath,

Bluurrppp..!!

A few weeks ago, I was one size smaller than usual.
I think I've gained enough to return to the old wardrobe.
Fatty Bum Bum Me.
Hehe.

Ohh!! Tell me what's the difference,
between Cinderella and the English football team?
A gift awaits for the one with the correct answer.
I'm feeling generous.

Red Sea Restaurant, Uxbridge Road.