Open Mic Night at Mooch

I have been going to Song Writing Society doing random covers and jamming for quite a while, and one of them decided to include me into their performance plan. This is Mooch, a University pub for students to chill and drink. They host varies events and activities, e.g. the open mic night on every alternate Tuesday.

Mooch bar, not too crowded tonight:

The open mic is organized by Band Soc. They set up mics and sound system in the pub and students get to perform in front of the 'crowd'. Performers normally made bookings to make sure they get a slot, but if there is still time, any random student can come up and do a song or two. Most... or all performers just did guitar and vocals (I wonder why is keyboard/piano is such an infamous thing in UK). We're the only 'band' with keyboard.

I've already know performing behind the speakers without monitor is tough, but another thing that turn me off is this keyboard from Band Soc. Not to say that it's a bad tool, but it's really important for musicians to use a weapon that we're familiar. Anyway, I kinda enjoyed practicing and performing with these 2 guys.

The Scientist & Tears in Heaven

I guess because we're the only team with an extra instrument, we got the last slot. So it was pretty late at night, but there are still enthusiastic students coming up to perform. Someone even bought me a drink after we performed~

Free beer:

"This is what the Lord Almighty says: If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here."
-Zechariah 3:7-

In the midst of a stressful semester, it's kinda fun to take some time out to do this sorta of stuff. Well, at least I really enjoyed performing in a new environment and with new people. They are not difficult people to work with, but after all the fun, it's time to get back to real work >_<. May the Lord bless me for balance work time and fun, Amen.

Goose Fair

Goose Fair marks my 1 year anniversary of arriving the UK, although it's 1 week earlier than last year. It's an annual fun fair held in Nottingham, famous for it's rides, with some food and game stalls. The fair dates back more than 700 years, the name is derived from the thousands geese that was driven from Lincolnshire to be sold in Nottinghamshire.

The only thing I bought is the churros, not as good as the one in Spain, but still nice. There are actually a lot of different food, from Chinese to Middle Eastern.

All sorts of food stalls:

Besides food, it's all different type of games which wins you stuffed toys. This is so typical fun fair =.= ring throwing, basketball, shooting cans with guns... Personally, I'm not gonna spend £2 or more to play these kinda games, and I won't be able to bring those big things back home.

Do they have any other rewards other than stuffed toys?

Well, I've been to Alton's Tower, thus the rides look not really interesting (and it costs £3-£5 per ride X_X). The only thing that really caught my attention is the bungee ball that they basically sling you upward and let you bounce in the mid air with two straps tying the ball... but it's too expensive (£10) and the queue is pretty long. Probably I'm just not in the mood.

Different rides and the bungee ball:

"The Lord will send a famine through the land — not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord"
-Amos 8:11-

It's so crowded at Goose Fair, but kinda fun to be in the atmosphere where families having an outing together and friends being crazy here and there. Pray that this new semester will be a fun one, with lots of new friends and new experiences, Amen.

Alton Towers

Me and Shi Wei are lucky to found an offer on PostGrad Student Association to Alton Towers for £15 with free transport. Both of us and Wen Loong went for it, the 2nd most visited theme park in UK. After 90 minutes bus ride, we're here at Alton Towers. Although it's Monday, it's still pretty crowded.

Good thing we get it from PGSA, so we don't have to queue for ticket:

This is actually my first time in a theme park, Thirteen and Rita were my first ride. It was super scary~ while I'm in front of the gate, watching the people on the ride dash off in super speed, but as I was tightly seated, just scream as loud as I can, and it's actually awesomely fun! Each rides took us almost 30 minutes queue time.

Not too bad for a queue, we even went for Ice Age 4D short movie:

Then we went for Hex and Nemesis:Sub-Terra. It's suppose to be scary, but I found it pretty entertaining/funny. There really are people came out crying from Sub-Terra. Then, after some mild stuffs, we're back to the exciting rides. I really really really like Nemesis and Air, both took longer queue time, but worth the wait. I guess I'm kinda high dy.

The best 2 rides in Alton Towers for me:

We were hesitating if we should go for Ripsaw, we can see people getting wet. Anyway, we did go for it and it's actually super fun with water shooting at us. After getting all wet, we went for Sonic, which spins locally while going through maze-like roller coaster track. It's like a dry spin machine for us :P

Ripsaw and Sonic which ends our day:

Haha, a very exciting day having fun and escaping from work. Overall~ 2 random statements pop up after this Alton Towers trip.

• There will time when we feel scared, worry, regret... have faith and move on, coz you're gonna experience a crazy and fun ride very soon!
• Life does throw us left and right, flip us upside down mercilessly like a roller coaster, but nothing much to worry, just let go your hands and shout out for joy, God is holding.

"And he measured the length of the inner sanctuary; it was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits across the end of the main hall. He said to me, This is the Most Holy Place."
-Ezekiel 41:4-

I really really appreciate this day of not doing anything for research and just being thrown around, life is all about excitement and fun! Now I've been to another famous attraction in UK, hope that the list goes on. Thank God for blessing our safety and the weather all day long! Amen.

Robin Hood Festival

Globe Cafe organized a trip to Sherwood Forest for Robin Hood Festival. It's like 45 minutes drive from uni, an annual event that last for a week. Pretty cool, it's a normal park which they setup tents and booths, the staffs wear olden Britain clothes which adds to the flavor of Robin Hood era.

All sorts of English instruments demo, looks like DOTA secret shop:

There's this Major Oak Tree that lives for 1000 years old. The games and stalls are all around this area, which make it super crowded, but it's quite a nice atmosphere. Someone did an archery show at the oak tree, but his accuracy was so so...

Major Oak Tree and game stalls:

Other than that, there is circus arts and open air theater, a very festive setting. The circus group performs dances and simple acrobatics with live English traditional music. The theater tells the story of Robin Hood with kids from the audience as the actors (children in UK are really good).

Circus art and theater performances:

The highlights of the day are falconry and jousting performance. There were so many people gathered at this big field for the events. Falconry is where this bird tamer do tricks with falcons, vulture and owl. They made a whole drama of knight fights and Robin Hood story, but jousting alone is already a good show.

Falconry and Jousting:

"And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord"
-Ezekiel 38:23-

Knowing those legends are actually quite interesting, and see how people still celebrate it nowadays. Overall, it's a fun day out with some Globe Cafe members and I'm thankful for the nice weather, Amen.

Globe Cafe BBQ

It's a really good weather today and the Globe Cafe people are having a BBQ at one of the member's house (Meadow Road). It's my first time walking so deep into Beeston, google map will take care of the direction. I'm quite surprise that it's actually a pretty big house that is hosting this. Yeah~ tonnes of nice soft drink and all kinds of meat+bread+sauce.

Time to eat!!!

The crowd wasn't very big, probably less than 20, but a pretty good mix for me. There're students from China and Hong Kong which I can converse pretty will with. The couple that host this BBQ actually is moving to Indonesia next year, so we sorta practice some Malay as well. It's actually a good idea to move a screen out for the guys to watch the Olympic events.

Good time of fellowship:

When you thought the main courses are really good, here comes the desserts. We had various types of cakes and puddings, my personal favourite is the mix fruit salad. The sky gets dark earlier now, it's just around 9pm and it's almost all black. After a short chat and some more Olympics show, we're done for the day.

I love the UK culture of having dessert after meal:

"For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near."
-Ezekiel 30:3-

I actually really like the people in Globe cafe, probably coz of the small group that everyone can relate to each other easier. The local church members here are actually friendlier as well, a great group to relax from all sorts of problems out there, Amen.

Olympic Event in London

Because of some pressure from Wei Ern, I've decided to try my luck for an Olympic event. I never expect to get badminton men's double semi-final ticket for £30, (add £6 for deliver, still not bad). Left home at 4.30am, another 2 hours train to London, excited for my first trip alone.

Arrive at Wembley Stadium 1 hour earlier, good timing:

Wow, watching live is seriously different from streaming online. The atmosphere is quite grand, and I felt the 'aggressiveness' of audience to cheer. The lighting makes the court looks so cool, before the match starts. First match was Malaysia against China, the Malaysian pair lost but it was a good fight at the second match. Korea and Denmark's match was great, lasted 88 minutes, they receive a standing ovation as the match finished. Women's double was... quite boring as Russia overpowered Canada... like totally.

3 hours of world class badminton matches:

Haha, main objective accomplished. Now I have a whole afternoon til the train back to Nottingham depart. I've did some research last night and I'm gonna try to visit as many places as possible. First off, I've took a quick walk in Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Victoria Albert Museum, I think museums in UK show almost the same things.

Museum visits:

Next stop~ Tower of London, I was hesitating weather should I pay to enter the castle, but since it's so expensive I don't really have enough time, I'll just take some pictures around. Tower Bridge is a must, that's where David Beckham's speedboat passed by when he's delivering the Olympic torch! There're so many people taking picture because of the Olympic logo, SS shots are never too much here.

Teakwondo performance beside the castle:

Finally, I had a fast visit at House of Parliament and Eye of London. The weather looks like it's gonna rain soon, just nice, I've covered most of places and it's almost time to head back too. Kinda being constrained by time coz of the cheap return ticket of £17, but I'm actually very happy this time, a lot better than my previous London trip.

House of Parliament and Eye of London:

"Hear the word of the Sovereign Lord"
-Ezekiel 25:3-

Although weather forecast said it's gonna rain, but I'm blessed with sunny day. Thank God that I'm safe and sound throughout the whole trip, it's very crowded in London now. Definitely a memorable day off, I'm starting to love travelling by myself, Amen.

Spring Time BBQ

Yeah, the sun is pretty hardworking lately and it seems to be a good time for BBQ. I've heard that they did BBQ frequently during spring/summer season in the UK. Zi Jian has been craving for it quite a while, and finally he's doing one at his place.

A lot of girls are invited, I guess that's how Engineers do stuff:

His other 2 housemates are actually our ex-classmates in UNMC. They set up the BBQ pit with bricks and fan it with hair dryer~ haha, it's been a while messing up with Engineers. Kelvin did different flavors of chicken wings, guess UK has trained them well in kitchen as well.

Works by Mechanical Engineers:

Other than the standard chicken wings and sausages, we have capati and 肉干 (bagua). Yey~ awesome food, and I haven't been mixing with classmates for quite a long while. Although the wind is quite cold, we did stand outdoor til we clear up all the food. We hid in the house to warm up and monopoly dealt. Good O Sunday~

Food that you don't usually see:

"Their profits will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food and fine clothes."
-Isaiah 23:18-

For this great time of fellowship, I give thanks to The Lord that all is still well. Seems like the weather is not going to be good again, pray for everyone's journey mercy as they're departing for Easter vacations and also preparing for dissertation. May the peace of God be with us, now and forever, Amen.

Pan Mee Night

I wonder who started craving for pan mee, but the year 4 Pharmacy students are quite hype up for another dinner gathering. Sen Loong, me and Mark used to make pan mee once back in Malaysia, and we're gonna do the same thing again.

Pinching the dough to form noodle kuih:

We have mince pork, ikan bilis (anchovy) and chicken soup this time. Looks like a lot of work but 10 of us working together in a big kitchen can be quite fun too. Oh ya, and also some unknown vegie which I demand for a bowl without those, everyone knows my style :P

Serving soon:

Having Malaysian food in the UK actually feels great, I think I took 3 rounds of pan mee~ we spent the whole night chit chat and play games (housemates rock when it comes to taboo). These are probably the best thing to do on a Sunday night, before hitting back to office for the week again.

Fun time:

"For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery."
-Ecclesiastes 8:6-

Let all the joy and laughter be the reason and fuel to take up the challenge of this semester. Still praying for breakthrough in research and also for a memorable semester to spend with the final semester students, Amen.