Cheers mate

All things good and bad come to an end, someday.
As much as I hate to bring this blog to a close, I can be secured for the openings of the experiences, lessons, friendships and memories that I have had these 6 months. They remain open to me, and I hope, to you as well.

There are far too many 'Thank you-s' to say, too many people to thank,
but it is still a thank you to one and all (this is the part where we are suppose to have a group hug)

Thanks for staying by Angus for the past 6 months, and sharing in his moments of joy,
sorrow, pain and comfort
It has been a joy sharing my life with you, and also talking to everyone at
that little corner at the right side which made this little history of mine special.

I hope you be well, and you continue to be well.
Here's a little uk culture for you, Cheers!

Day 186 Goodbye London

London did not feel like London, portobello market looks different, the streets start to look unfamiliar once again for some reason, but yes it's London, I could recognise the sky, the London sky, that somehow remain unchanged.

In a few hours time, i'll be leaving this little 'paradise' that I have been in, for the past 6 months. In actual fact, I have already 'left' ever since I was 'displaced' from my hall and when the school term came to an end. My normal day to day routine has ever since been 'disrupted.' And to a certain extent, that sense of place (that is rooted to Oxford street- Goldsmid house) has been contested. That's perhaps how normads feel? A wandering fella in a place where he doesn't own anything, but one thing i own- the memories.

After 'dumping' our 'barang barang' (trying to socialise back to Singlish here) at Summer's place in the morning, Meng Kiat went to visit the London zoo at Camden (He wants to see gorillas from different parts of the world) while I stayed behind at Summer's place to just spend my last few hours chilling out instead.

Summer cooked me lunch, and boy was it as good as her Mum's cooking! I remember I used to devour her mum's cooking back when I was that little fat boy (Now still fat la!)

The last 'supper' ??

I decided to walk down Portobello market (which is only a few metres away) after lunch to do some last minute 'walk walk.'

Bought this street sign which I will not only hang on my wall in Singapore, but i'll engrave them in my brain and heart too!

The clock strikes 1pm, and the time has come for the final good-bye

Summer sent us to the tube station, this picture of her carrying my guitar makes her look like a Indie rocker babe man!

Good-bye Summer, I'm going home to embrace a hotter, wetter and more humind summer

My luggage exceeded by far more than the given weightage. The girl at the counter insisted that I need to pay £120 worth of fine to get my baggage up on board.. for a moment, I was devastated! I was about to reach out for my barclays card to accept the fine, but MengKiat suggested that I try appealing through the customs officer from SQ. The counter girl heard our conversation and said 'There's no point in appealing, you have exceeded our baggage allowance and you have to pay no matter what..' My heart has sanked to the bottom of the sea on hearing that...

'But thanks be to God who always lead us into victory....'

Despite the circumstance, I walked to the customs office and approached the first officer I saw.

Her name I remember was 'Joe Chan,' probably a HongKong national. I explained to her my problem and the next thing she did, she walked to my check in counter and told the counter girl 'Let him pass...' and that was it... the £120 remained in my wallet. Thank God!

13 hours later......... (The first time I set foot on Terminal 3 Changi Airport)

I'm Home

Day 185- Last day in London

My last official FULL day in London, feels kind of weird. Somehow the places you've been to and the things you usually see don't appear to look like what they normally should. The university feels like somewhere else, Oxford street which i walk on everyday looks different for some reason. Perhaps it's the play of my own feelings, and through that certain emotion, it played with the 'lens' which I begin to see London today.

Meng Kiat went for the university tour in Oxford, while I had my own university tour back in UCL to settle some final administrative stuff

The Geography department's computer lab

Met up with Summer and Peggy for lunch before waving the last goodbyes

After which I went to Camden town to have my last dose of marijuana (Nah I'm kidding) or rather... to be stopped by the regular raggae boys who ask me 'Would you like some wheat inside the house? what about some 'apples'? '

And the time has finally come... and is here, to bring my whole London experience to a high 'closure.' Catching my FAVOURITE musician/guitarist play live! JOHN MAYER!!!!!!! I would have left much earlier back for Singapore if not for this concert. I was like rationing on bread and water the past few days because everything is running low on reserves. All for the LOVE of Mayer! But I guess it's a once in a life time thing, he probably will not come down to Singapore given the minute market we have... and it is sad that his style of music don't really cater to the Singaporean crowd. Back home, it seems like the Mat rockers get more attention then my Johnny May.

Brixton Academy. They even have the name John Mayer engraved BIG BIG at the front of the theatre.

When we arrived, there was already a LONG queue. It was like the old Nokia snake game which goes round and round the corners of the building. The ticket I bought was free-standing... both Meng Kiat and I were like... 'Shyzer.. with so many people infront of us, we gonna be way behind and blocked by the tall Ang-mos'

And an unfortunate accident occured in front of us while we were queuing to get in.. Well.. at least some entertainment.. (*hint, London should widen their roads, it's so narrow!)

It was SHOCKING when we entered the theatre. The front was not packed at all! BECAUSE EVERYONE WENT TO BUY BEER! Meng Kiat and I (being Singaporeans, correction, half) quickly dashed to the front and secured a space very near to the stage. SHIOKS! Man... this is a culture shock for us... if it was Singapore, i think people would have packed the front and reserved the spaces with their pathetic tissue paper packets for their friends who came late

Some local brit band opened for Mayer. Never heard of them before though. But boy was their music GOOD! I enjoyed every song .

Just some thoughts here... if this local (brit) band is already so good but sort of 'unknown,' how is it possible that back home (in Singapore) our local bands would aspire to tour the world by competing with these Ang-Mos??? Not trying to put down local musicians here, but think about it, English music came from the Ang-mos, how are we gonna re-package it and sell Ang Mo music back to the 'originals?' So my point is... if you're chinese, sing Chinese song... unless you're just happy staying comfortable in the local scene that is..

ANYWAY! Enough talk about that, looks who's here!

Mayer was just so so so so so GOOD... I have never ever attended a concert gig as kickass before. You MUST catch this guy live if he ever comes. I'll sponsor you half the tickets if you would. He's the best musician/guitarist ever. It was worth every single moment catching him, even if I had to eat worms and drink longkang water for the rest of the month in buying his tickets. The stage lights, the dynamics of the band, the 'feel' of his fingers on the fretboard and the way he pick the strings was just unbelieveable!!!

Mayer with his Gibson ES-335

This was the part where the 'Climax' came. Mayer was playing through his continuum album initially, while he was doing the final solo for 'slow dancing in a burning room,' the lights went off with his last note ringing in the background, once the light came on again, Mayer came in at the chorus of 'Why Georgia' with his acoustic guitar from his 'room for squares' album and the whole crowd went SO CRAZILY HIGH!!!

Not forgetting the signature Spastic face of Mayer

'Gravity... stay the hell away from me...'

And the whole world did change after the concert. Look at the aftermath.

And so will my world be reverted back to the old world once day breaks. Yes, this is my last night in London.And Meng kiat says, 'Hey I'm sure you'll be back someday.'

I sure will, someday, somehow. But I guess the feeling's gonna be different. These 6 months, I came as a 'citizen' and student who lives in London. I experience the bi-weekly fluctuation in prices of the meat and vegetables, gets interrupted by the rain or snow for my usual runs, open the windows when it is getting warmer- I do the 'everyday' thing. The next time I come, I'm just a mere tourist having a 'getaway' These are times I will cherish, and it's really coming to an end

Day 184 - Last 3rd day

The first thing we did in the morning was to return our rented car.
Thank God there were no scratches, dings or anything that was spotted though
i met up with a 'small accident' on one of the roundabouts from Liverpool to London.
I bet many angels must have been crushed in between the 2 cars then


After that, we headed to somewhere around Russell square (which is near my school) and grab some really cheap lunch... Valentia style


The rest of the day had no agenda... as you can see, we're just travelling from place to place and look at how tired they were..

And for the 101th time, I became the tour guide who brings people around the Westminister area to see the London eye, Big Ben... and yeah you have heard it the 102nd time too

And I brought them shopping along Oxford street, the place where 99.999% of my London times were spent.

This probably is the last and very final picture I have with my beloved hall



And it was time to say a temporal goodbye to my dubious brothers before meeting them back in Singapore 2 days later... (What a goodbye) Thanks for spending so much $ to come and look for me and accompany me travel europe. Good times... yeah


Meng Kiat and I decided to stay for 2 more nights because we're catching John Mayer Live the following night!!!! SO eggcited!!! Both of us had dinner @ Chinatown together with Hansen. After which we went down to a nearby arcade to have some fun (This marks the last time I'll be in Chinatown)

And also a last and final 'lomantic' walk along the waterloo bridge.. ah, everything's coming to an end. My London experience.

Day 183- Anfield + Back to LONDON!

The first thing in the morning, at 0845hrs, the 4 of us reported punctually at Anfield.

Hey man... it is 'Crouch' not 'Crotch'

The 'Manchester United' Liverpool manager

The non-chalant soccer manager

Guess why PRC Jon is giving that 'Niao' face behind?

Need more clues?

Get it now?

Sarong Party boys in the making...

At the Museum... Jonathan tried to set the Liverpool bird on fire...

Not only the bird...


Anything to do with liverpool in the Museum

Spot the difference

If you can't beat them, join them

The 'Burning' of the Liverpool bird

After burning of the bird, it was a 4-hr drive back to central London.
Caught 'The phantom of the opera' at Majestic theatre together with Kellie, Daphne and Summer.

PRC, Hailer and Kellie

Daphne and I, as well as an Ang Mo who saw a Phantom during the intermission

As usual, everyone was so nicely dressed except me...

The singing was awesome, but somehow... I didn't really enjoy the musical. Man.. but it's my last few nights in London.. must try to enjoy everything I can while I'm still here



Like... Chinatown's roast duck rice

Cassanova Chua

While we still had the rented car with us, we drove around central London. Passing by some of the places i hang out during these 5 months. In a few days time, these places gonna be in my memory bank. The thought of it kind of threw me into an emotional trance...

The University College London @ Night

Day 181- 182 Lake district (VERY BEAUTIFUL) + Liverpool

4 of us woke up wrapped like a caccoon... Lake district is so COLD! and Hey, isn't it supposed to be Summer in the Northern hemisphere in June?!!!

But well, the English breakfast buffet was AWESOME!!

After checking out our rooms, we headed down Ullswater again to get a clearer view of the lake in daylight this time round. BOOTIFUL ISN'T IT???

Come to think of it... Pierce resevoir also look abit like this... just that you don't get
'lup sup' bengs and lians smoking along the pavements and making noises.







The whole lake district area is just so beautiful. Can't even afford to close your eyes to doze off even for a second.. you won't want to anyway. For those of you visiting UK, you MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST visit LAKE DISTRICT.

This picture might look ordinary. But just imagine standing there and looking right through the valley to the very end of the picture. Ok... yes... I am getting overly excited. I AM!





Check out the 'Meandering River' (Geography lesson by MR. Sham)
and look out for 'Hailer Chong' in the picture? (Used as a scale to show how big the area is)




Headed down to Buttermere lake towards the late morning. Another lake that you could just spend the evening sitting there, throwing and skipping stones, talk about life... and just chill. I wished we have had more time to do that.

PO-FAT-sional FOTOgrapher in the making

Still in the making...

The product of the photographer... tsk tsk... Hailer.. this picture look abit wrong leh

This picture looks super nice, not because of the person. But look at the stratified layered clouds!

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the cold chasing sheeps (Eastlife 2008)

Meng kiat is the big culprit that chases any moving object he sees. He even cornered a sheep till it started to PEE because the poor little thing had no where else to run. S.P.C.A would have arrested him long ago if they witness his act.

Last lake before our departure 'Lake Windermere'

Windermere is the largest natural lake in England. It has been one of the country’s most popular places for holidays and summer homes since 1847
Bought some sandwhich from a nearby town, as well as my favourite 'Sensation' Thai chilli flavoured chips from the petrol kiosk. And we decided to have a little picnic by the lake

A Swan joins the company



I really wished we had allocated more time for lake district. 2 days 1 night is definitely not enough to enjoy the beautiful 'Serene' If we had more time, we could sit by the lake, skip more stones, go for hike through the forest in the morning when the mist and fog are just clearing up. Some even reported that they see mouse-deers occasionally in these hikes! I'll be back.



And so its Good-bye to lake district as Hailer Chong raced us to the city of Liverpool. With the sole purpose of visiting 'Anfield'- The Liverpool football club base

After 4.5 hours of drive!!!!!!!!!

What is 'The KOP'???? King Of Pang-sai???

Alas! We missed the last stadium tour for the day!
'Its too late.....'
And Yes, the 2 liverpool birds Hailer and Meng Kiat were DEVASTATED
Jonathan - Sad because he can't see the rival's field
Angus- doesn't seem to have any effect since he knows nuts about soccer.. apart from the ball being black and white and round.

After much discussion among the panel. We decided to stay for the night in the city of Liverpool. We consulted our GPS and looked for the most 'happening place' in town - 'The Albert dock'

The Albert Dock is a complex of dock buildings and warehouses in Liverpool, England. Designed by Jesse Hartley and Phillip Hardwick, it was opened in 1846, and was the first structure in Britain to built from cast iron, brick and stone, with no structural wood. As a result it was the first non-combustable warehouse system in the world.

Besides being globally known for 'Liverpool football club'
The Beatles came from Liverpool!

In fact, you see more of beatles than LFC everywhere you go!

And 'The Beatles' museum is right where we were, 'The Albert dock'

The t-shirt that Hailer Chong so regretted not buying.. But hey... its 25pounds ok.. that's like $75 SGD for a t-shirt? No way for me..
After loitering around Albert Dock for a awhile, we decided to focus on the problem at hand.. 'Where are we going to sleep tonight?' We did not plan to stay over at Liverpool, we have no accomodation! Are we gonna sleep 'where the streets have no name?' (U2 1989)

And we went on a mission searching for accommodation.

Team 1- Meng Kiat and Jonathan Prawn Tay

Team 2- Hailer Chong + Angus Sham

After 45minutes, team 1 succeeded in finding the cheapest and best accomodation around opposite Albert Dock- Youth Hostel Association (UK)

And Like I said, its all about Beatles here! (Picture taken along hostel corridor)

As a tribute to the all hailed 'Beatles,' we decided to all comb our hair the 'beatles' way

Sorry Jon... you look more like Mao Zedong

After settling down our stuff, we went hunting for the best deal of a dinner in town. And landed up in a real expensive truly authentic English Restaurant. And the reason why it was the best deal was because everyone gets a bottle of white/red wine (your choice) for free.

Spare me please..

So what's up after dinner? Hailer got so high that he started doing crazy stuff The 'Beatles' hairstyle kind of make Hailer look like 'Seth' ... Oh.. but a Evil version of Seth

Shot dedicated to our Arty Farty TY... Tate Liverpool
And more crazy stuff...
BEST PICTURE AWARD - 'The Big Hailer'

And the day ended with us at the casiNO again...

But hey... this is the Biggest CasiNO so far.. and one thing I noticed.. the CasiNO is FULL of Chinese people

Day 179 -180 Manchester + Lake district (BEAUTIFUL!!!)

And so it's goodbye to the beautiful city of Prague,
and also goodbye to our Europe tour :(
And it's heading back to the U.K... this time by plane (At last)

I tried to cheat the air-stewardess because the belt around my waist look so similar to their safety belt.. and I passed with flying colours!

Negative:

Positive:

Once we landed on Luton airport (U.K)

We headed down to the car rental company and off we go on the wheels towards

the city of Manchester

Wah... Meng kiat sleep until so shiok....



1. He is a good sleeper

2. I am a good driver

Take your pick man

Here I am again.. at Old tratford (Manchester)
How exciting for a second time visit, all the more for a soccer non-chalant goon like me!

Well, at least I did something different this visit, I paid 10-quid to attend the soccer stadium and joined the stadium tour! Though I was not very interested, it would be a BIG shame if I leave UK without visiting any stadium

Man... What is this Liverpool fan doing here? Running out of the players den somemore

The ONLY Manchester United Fan in the group.. Jonathan Prawn Tay

Player's changing room

Think if i return to Singapore and hang some MAN-U jersey's in the sauna of some condominium... It will look the same lor...

After the very educating stadium tour, we flew 'ride' straight up to Northern England, just slightly below Edinburgh (Scotland) to stay with 'Serene.' I mean... nature. It was a 4 hour road journey, backside almost tore.

Took this picture while we were 10 minutes away from Lake district, our destination. Man... we might look all rock steady in this picture, but we were freezing to our bones!

Finally... some warmth in the Youth Hostel

After checking in our belongings, we headed to a nearby 'pub' to get some solid food.

I don't think I need to explain how yummy this is

After dinner, we took a short drive down 'Ullswater' - one of the lakes in the lake district area.

The still water, contrasting with the highlands behind was just breath-taking.

I'm very glad that after about 2 weeks of city hopping, its finally back to the heart of Geography. Touring the greenery!


Well.. I guess there was not much to do in such a area when night falls.. so much so that we have to resort to playing Jenga and laugh at each other's stupidity.