24-4-08 Thursday

24-4-08 Thursday

London Time: 7.04am

Well, slept pretty well yesterday night. Think I’m getting accustomed to the London time. But it’s a damn cold morning. Damn it. One side of my nose is running. Plugged it with a tissue. Problem solved. Well I’m pretty used to the idea of being here for the next 4 months. I think its cause I’m more familiar with the surroundings. Mrs Mary told me that the owner of another apartment would give her a call today and he’ll probably get me to go down tomorrow to view the place. It shouldn’t be too bad cause most of the Rolls Royce interns all go there anyways. Essential thing is that there has to be internet. I’m dying here without internet. I’ll bring my laptop down to Derby City Westfield Shopping Center later and try to use the internet at the starbucks later. Really hope its possible.

Well yesterday wasn’t that eventful. Woke up at around 7am and had the continental breakfast again at 8am. Then I went back up to my room and watched Frasier, The O.C, and Smallville. In between watching the shows I was typing out my last post.

Then at around close to 12pm, I left The Manor Hotel and made my way to Derby City. Well I was actually planning to head down to the library first so that I can book a time slot to use the computer at around 3.30pm. While waiting for the bus, there were a lot of kids who just got off school. Like Singapore, they had to wear uniforms. But holy shit, they look awesome. They all wear blazers and white cotton shirts and black pants. And topped off with a tie. Of course I understand that this wouldn’t be possible in Singapore cause of the bloody hot weather. But yea. I wouldn’t mind dressing like that to school. Also while waiting, there was this tall dude who looked like he was in his 30s? Well he was bald with a mid length blonde beard. He was bloody big sized and he was wearing a sleeveless leather jacket, revealing tattoos on his upper arm. And he wore boots. Boots all the way up to just below his knees. I was scared. He looked like a friggin gangster.


So when the bus 60 came, I got on and managed to get a seat. The scary man got on board as well. So I just sat there in my place hoping nothing would go wrong. But as he got on, he was pretty normal. Well he just asked for his ticket and went to the back and seat down. Nothing gangster-ish about him. And just before a stop before where I was getting off, he got off with a bunch of other people.

One stop later I got off. Knowing which way to go, I walked straight to the library. It felt good to know my way around, but then again it didn’t feel good cause I was all alone. I walked past McDonalds and saw a sign that said Happy Meal for 1.99pounds. That wasn’t very expensive, compared to Singapore prices. So I went in to have a look see. It was really crowded when I got in, and really warm. Then there was this fat lady who looked like she’s in her late 20s. She was talking to another person and yelled “f-k blah blah blah” She said it really loud. Since I wasn’t there to have McDonalds, I went out and walked towards the library.



When I got to the library, there was a lady outside who told me that it was closing. I asked what time does it close and she told me, right now. Well I thought they were taking a lunch break or what. So I looked at the sign that shows the operating hours of the library. Bloody unlucky. On Wednesdays they only operate half day. So they closed at 1pm. And it was 12.58pm at the time. Damn suay.





Feeling damn f-ked up, I went back to Westfield to get some lunch. Looking for the healthiest/cheapest option, I had a Potato with Tex Mex Chicken. That cost me 3.14pounds. Don’t ask me why the 0.14 pounds. I have no idea. The guy who served me looked around my age and he was quite handsome. I’m not gay but yea, he had blonde hair something like Zack Effron from the High School Musical. That was when I noticed something. Most of the staff here were young people around my age. It was very different compared to Singapore. Their service attitude was really good as well. They were very nice and polite. While in Singapore its all the grumpy Aunties that want to get you out of their face once you got your food.

The meal was pretty good. It’s something like a baked potato the size of 2 tennis put together. And the topping was the Tex Mex Chicken. Which had a little sour-ish taste. But it was pretty tasty. I had to force my self to eat finish it cause it was too much for me.


After that I walked around and asked around if there was an internet café. Turns out Westfield Shopping Center didn’t have one. But there was WiFi in the building. So if I had my laptop I could access it for free. So I went to the information counter to check it out. The lady who served me was a girl who looked around my age with retainers in her mouth. She talked kinda funny but was really helpful. She gave me a pamphlet about the WiFi in the building. It said that I had to pay to use the internet. Which was kind of a bummer. But she told me Starbucks has their own internet. So I went over to Starbucks and asked around. The lady at the counter told me that there was WiFi in the building and it was free. She told me if I had a laptop I could access it. And there was a power point at one corner. Thanking her, I left Starbucks thinking I’ll give it a try tomorrow.


So I went back to the bus stop and waited for bus 60. The digital sign showed that the bus wouldn’t be here for at least 15 mins. So I went opposite the busstop to a mobile phone store. Going in, I asked the Indian man at the counter what was the cheapest phone I could use just to make calls. I was looking for one cause it was quite a hassle trying to change SIM cards all the time. He showed me one that costs 30 pounds. It was the old Nokia phone, one of the earliest generations of Nokia models that had colour display. Then I said thank you and went out the shop. I was still contemplating whether or not to get the phone.


Soon enough my bus came and I went back to The Manor Hotel to rest. Though when I got back, I didn’t know why I felt so tired. I tried to read the books given to me by Erica Tyson, about Jet Engines, but couldn’t really concentrate. But I knew I gotta try to read finish the books, at least I’ll be prepared when I start my course next week.

I took an hour’s nap and it was already 6.00pm. Though I wasn’t really hungry I thought I’d better get some dinner before it gets dark. So I went out and walked to the Supermart and bought a Curry Chicken Rice set for 1.50pounds from the supermart. Its those kind where you just heat it up in the microwave and it becomes edible.
I was pretty hungry by the time I got back. So I heated up the Curry Chicken Rice Set and waited. It wasn’t such a good idea buying such a strong smelling dinner back cause my room started to smell of curry.

When it was done, I took it out of the microwave and left it to cool. It was pretty alright I guess. I wouldn’t say it tasted great. The rice was quite hard and stuck together. And the chicken was really tough to eat. The Curry sauce was ok though. It wasn’t too spicy, just a little sour-ish.

After dinner I went to play some PSP and read the Jet Engine book. Then I went to sleep at around 8.30pm. Oh yea. The days are really long here. It gets bright at around 5.30am and gets dark only at around 8.00pm.