A 9-month Story

6+1 in a flat. The more the merrier, indeed.

Mid Autumn Festival:

About 13 of us prepared several dishes for the best dinner.

Parcel day:

A day where everyone in the flat rushed to the recipient's room to steal things from the parcels. Initially fought to get things back. Then we asked to share.

Infection:

Propagated from Room 2 to Room 3 then to the back (Room 4-7) a few weeks after reaching here. Almost everyone was coughing, sneezing and sniffing due to the change of weather. However, Room 1 was unaffected.

Quarantined:

Room 7 was under 'swine-flu' quarantine by me and Mei Kee when the back started to be infected.

Ill:

But found both of us ill after doing that. Fever, blocked nose and cough. And Room 7 was recovering. Now I understand the karma.

Consultation:

A long, difficult way to the doctor. Prescribed antibiotics. Fast recovering.

MoDeD:

Motivational Deficiency Disorder. The 'strivor analogue' is bejeweled blitz. Few addicts found to have greatly recovered from MoDeD, though hazardous withdrawal symptoms observed.

Bee Story:

Once upon a time there was a bee resting on a loaf of bread. A hand innocently grabbed the bread and found itself swollen in pain for a week.

The hand belongs to me.

Poor bee. Poor me.

Barter system:

Exchanged coats with each other. Have new looks daily without spending much. Brilliant idea but not often implemented.

Volunteering:

Worked in a shop named Save The Children. Love the working atmosphere, the people and for some of us, the donations.

Paintball:

A pain ball experience. Been hit on thigh and suffered blue-black for a few months.

Cooking:

Basically we only have few varieties of dishes using cauliflowers, chinese leaves, bean sprouts, broccoli, pak choi, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, baked beans, eggs, chickens, pork, fishes, prawns, escalopes, garlic, onions, ginger and coke.

Then we decided. No, we can't have similar dishes daily for months. So came in more recipes. Appetite-boosting. But eventually we resumed to what we used to.

Saloon:

Our very first attempt to cut our hair ourselves. Phine and Bing were the main scissor holders.

Improper pronunciation: 

Somehow our language skills deteriorates rather quickly ever since we came here. Find ourselves mixing all the languages we know and tongue-tied easily.

Notice board -- no-ti-bo
Hydrophobicity -- hydrophibicity
母..母..母..母爱
白雪公主 in cantonese and chinese -- Pak suet gong zhu
回教庙
Lobak 糕

Entertainment:

Apart from exploiting the rapid internet line, we had a few karaoke sessions using youtube. What to do when the cost of karaoke there is so expensive.

Phine can only sing 藉口 by Jay Chou. Kinda impressed that she actually memorizes the whole song in pinyin. Yet there will always be someone who sleeps and studies during the session. I was the former one.

And poker too. Funny that each individual's luck changes when playing in different rooms.

Experiment:

Just 6 practicals. But totally mentally-drained. Lecturers were rather demanding. It's over now.

Shifting:

Renovation was required and we moved to Spindles. But not to forget fooling around again on last night in Cherries.

In the kitchen.

In the larger bathroom.

At the corridor.

In Room 3 with everyone's plushies and pillows.

Foreign slang:

Somehow transformed ourselves into Philippines maids in Hong Kong and spoke like them.

Ice-skating:

First experience on the ice. Slippery especially under the rain. 

 

All set. Ready to go.

 

 Tired~

 

 Again..

Lincoln:

Went to the Christmas market there. Searched for christmas present to be exchanged and bought the little biri-biri.

Year-end festivals:

Celebrated Tung Zhi and Christmas together. Made our very own tang yuan with peanuts. Yes we bought, fried, peeled and crushed the peanuts ourselves.

 Mixing.

Almost perfectly crushed.

Insert fillings.

Ginger (top left) and red bean soup.

*Tada*

Turkey too.

A present-exchanging activity was next. Mimi is now in my possession. Glad that Shanice likes the tee I got for her. And my present was a box of chocolate.

And our hostel organisation also held a small celebration for us. With crackers and paper crowns...

All hail the Queen.

CNY:

Just had 2 days for us to celebrate. A reunion dinner with colleagues. A visit to friends' house. A celebration night with friends. And first experience of clubbing.

Dishes prepared by Michelle, Jeanette and Sher Leen.

Steamboat by us.

Gambling is an essential element of cny. Money was provided by Mr Khoo, but was returned to him as well.

Bliss:

When spring came with blooming flowers, someone's love blossoms too. A new member came in to the family. The more the merrier.

Professional development:

Started to have dispensing classes which bring us a step closer to our careers.

Bad feet:

Such pretty shoes can be turned into this.

Another example.

And another example

as an outcome of bad feet and bad dog.

A newcomer came to take over the job.

Wonder how it will look like in near future.

Birmingham:

After volcano eruption in Iceland, a-week trip to Spain was changed to a 2-day trip to Birmingham. Entertainment by Kar Lai during the day whose bag sounded every security alarm. Night in a scary room with virtual guests, perhaps. But the lobby is surprisingly beautiful.

At Bull Ring.

Before leaving.

Exam:

......

Trip marathon:

Several trips that last for 2 weeks. Physically exhausted. No wonder few kg-s were lost.