Life is like a Glass Cup

Yup. You got that right. We, human beings, are made of glass. Human beings, more specifically, our life, is so fragile that you wouldn’t know what will happen to you the very next second. You might fall down the stairs, you might strike lottery, or an airplane might crash right into your house! You’ll never know!

The reason I’m being so pessimistic all of a sudden is because of an incident that happened. While scrolling Facebook, I usually glimpse through the newest updates first before really looking into them. And so I saw a few of my friends commenting on another friend’s wall, and I thought it was birthday wishes. After looking more thoroughly only that I realized the comments were R.I.P’s and we miss you’s. I stunned. I really stunned.

She was my secondary friend and was in the same uniform body as I was. So I think our friendship can be considered quite ok that time. Even though we didn’t contact after secondary school, I can still feel the pain in my heart as she was still one of my friend. And just like that, God has executed his plans on her and took her to a better place.

I don’t know why this incident suddenly strikes me that I can’t take everything for granted. I kinda (note: kinda) despise some of the people who keep saying FML. “Oh, I chipped my RM100++ manicure, FML.” “OMG, the LV/Gucci I LOOOVE to death is out of stock! FML!” You’re already darn lucky to be able to breathe! Some people can’t even have the chance to have their nails chipped.

There is this one thing that I really dread the most, I dare not even mention it. Sometimes, when I have nothing to do, I will think about my future when I’m like 30 or 40 of age, I will think about my parents, I will cry. Like really cry. That’s why I really really treasure my parents now. I sometimes regretted for being so rebellious during secondary school. If only time could rewind back. If only.

A Peep into A Roman Medieval City

York, located right in the center of UK, a city with Gothic cathedral and medieval city walls, was the place I went for a day trip.

York Minster, a medieval Gothic cathedral

The Clifford's Tower, a symbol of the power of England's medieval kings.

Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma Gate, said to be the shortest street in York but with the longest name. Weird fact but true.

The National Railway Museum.

It has replicas of trains from the old times to the Japanese Bullet Train, it explains the history of trains and railways, and also exhibits train engines. Best of all, the entrance fee is free. =) Who doesn't like free stuff.

So we walked around the city and these are some of the random photos I took.

The Hospitium. A place for Yorkers to host functions. And I thought it was some fella's house before this.

I feel that squirrels there are more daring. They are not afraid of humans, apparently!

A metal compass, on the ground.

Me with one of the ruins.

York Railway

Royal York Hotel

I just realized that I did not know what are the names of pictures/buildings I took, right until now when I'm typing this post. Tsk-tsk. I suck at blogging.

I'm gonna go hide and cry. Goodbye.

Jipaban - My 2010 Santarina

Jingle bells…Jingle bells !

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus is comiiiiing to town…!

It’s the time of the year, folks! The time of Santa Claus, presents, Christmas carols, Christmas trees decorations and of course a whole lot of joy and happiness!

Christmas is one of my FAVOURITE celebrations (apart from Chinese New Year *coughangpaomoneycough* ). Walking into the mall, seeing all the Christmas decorations, listening to Christmas carols, it really lightens up my mood and the world seem so peaceful. And with all the Christmas and yearend sales, my shopping mode directly switches on! I usually start thinking what presents to buy for my love ones a month earlier. Presents are easier to buy for my parents, but when it comes to my boy, I usually have a harder time thinking what to get. Cause you know boys, other than football and girls and more football, and more girls, I don't know what are they interested at. (Not applicable to all boys)

Fortunately, Nuffnang is having this contest where I can win a perfect gift for my love one AND at the same time, win some cash for myself! Che-Ching!

But first I will have to sign up for a Jipaban account.

What is Jibapan, you ask?

Jipaban means a million in Hokkien language.

Jipaban is also a customizable online shopping mall!

You can even build your own shopping mall buy placing your favourite stores at your mall.

So after looking up and down Jipaban, I found the perfect gift for my boy, which is a Duffy and Shelliemay Marine Keychain from Minimaos, costing RM99 only.

Photo credits : Jipaban - Minimaos

You might be wondering why would I give a doll to a boy. He might definitely will not be interested.

It’s not the present that counts; it’s the thought that counts. The story behind Duffy and Shelliemay is the reason I had chosen this gift. The story goes like this…

A teddy bear was presented by Minnie to Mickey before he went on a sea voyage as a companion. So Mickey decided to call him Duffy and brought Duffy travelling around the world. Minnie then makes a friend for Duffy, which is Shelliemay, and presented it to Duffy. Duffy was shy upon accepting this gift and said “Nice to meet you, Shelliemay.”

Yup. A very short and simple story. Duffy and Shelliemay is a craze in Japan.

The reason I would like to present my boy with this gift, is because my boy will not always be by my side. Of course he is not going on a sea voyage (I won’t allow him anyways =) ), but he will be in a different state due to work most of the time. I will be presenting him with Shelliemay as a companion and a reminder that I will always be by his side. And I will be keeping Duffy, to remind me that he will always be by my side. And if he doesn’t like it, I will force him to like it. Teehee.

Before ending this post, a photo of me and my boy. Not a very clear one though.

Hope that I will be the lucky one and Merry Christmas to all !

Of Duchess's Treasures and Maze Garden

Me and my friends decided to go visit Chatsworth House one Sunday morning; Located at Derbyshire, it is around 1 hour from Sheffield by bus. This house belongs to the Cavendish family, and I didn't know this fact till now.

Interior ceiling of the house. Some fascinating art.

Other random stuff inside the house.

The Duke's dining room.

The Garden and its Maze.

I can't possibly take a helicopter-view photo of the maze. So this was taken from a pamphlet.

The Cascade

Abrupt ending. Goodbye. =)

First Day Trip

So I had the chance to join a day trip and it was my first day trip in UK, which is to...

Yup. Cambridge.

All along I thought Cambridge was just a university's name located in...Cambridge. But apparently Cambridge is a university town located with lots of renowned colleges/universities. This shows how weak my geography level is. Sigh.

So upon reaching there, we were brought to a dock on River Cam which is full with a type of boat called punt.

In case you don't know how does a punt look like, it looks like this.

Rows and rows of punts.

If the boat is called a punt, are the people who drive these punts called punter?

Some scenery while enjoying the punt ride (which costed £5 per person).

Punters having a break.

Buildings beside River Cam.

Some cute little ducks by the river.

There are a lot of bridges around River Cam.

Clare Bridge.

The Mathematical Bridge.

I was told by my punter that it was built using only nuts and bolts. Hmmm...Wonder if it is still true, with all the weather and stuff.

Bridge of Sighs.

My punter. He's 20 years old and studies at Sheffield University. =) Which is different from mine, mine is Sheffield Hallam.

He was like some kind of star for like 10 minutes cause we all were taking turns taking picture with him. Haha.

We then went to the Fitzwilliam Museum.

Some random statue inside the museum.

Next up is...

Some cute pink shells which caught my eyes.

Me with an unknown fossil. Not really interested in this kind of stuff.

We then went and visited the colleges. Entrance fees are required. But we all "kiam-siap" (stingy) people are not willing to pay, so we waited for the guards to be busy with their stuff or when guards are nowhere to be seen, and quickly ran in.

First college.

I love this building ! How does grass grow on walls?

If you're wondering what's inside the plastic bag, it's strawberries.

Second college we "broke" into.

It seems like I photo-shopped myself into the background. But I swear I did not !

Some other random pictures which I'm lazy to label.

Overall, nice and beautiful town, but it's congested with people, maybe it's the weekend. I still prefer Sheffield though. =)