I really did enjoy my RML BS at St Helen's tonight. God to know Edd (he's a theology student in a seminary) and we did have great sharing. It was great to learn from his experiences and his reason of thought. Also, i got to know a sister who stays just 2 levels below me, that's pretty cool. Ok...time to go do more readings for tmr's lecture...
As i'm typing this blog entry right now, my left calf is hurting like mad. I think there's a tad too much lactic acid built up in that area. THe reason? I ran to Alex's place to gym and after gym, i ran back to my hall. I guess the chill factor is one of the major cause of that ailment.
The following 2 pics are my masterpieces of yesterday's lunch and dinner. YES i know they were all stir-fry noodles but i really am falling in love with the taste. The first one was with an egg and mushrooms. The second one was with chicken breast and mushrooms plus lettuce. Nice hor? hahahahaha.
It's really funny how i have been blogging about FOOD when i ought to blog about PLACES in London. I think my blog is becoming a cooking blog or an arsenal of recipes hahaha. I was just commenting on Tim's blog that all he posted were his experiences at the beach, at museum, at gatherings while mine were food, food and more food. Ok... i need to divert my attention elsewhere... shall come out with something other than food.
I felt so stupid in my lecture today. Why is it that the people here seem to know everything?? From the production country of cocoa for Cadbury to the Angel of the South... i mean... what?? AND PEOPLE DO KNOW!!! I felt so stupid.
Saturday was spent at Ive's hall, visiting East Street Market along the way. When i came out of the tube station, i was greeted by a magnificent building in front of me. On closer scrutiny, i realised it was C.H. Spurgeon's church. HOW COOL IS THAT!! So i took a few photos of the church to make my bro and sis back home green with envy. Hee hee hee. YES IT'S SPURGEON!! THE PRINCE OF PREACHERS!
After which i left a bit early to go for lubiao in the late afternoon. A pic of the typical route from Hammersmith tube station to CCiL.
It was great to be able to mingle with brothers and sisters after Sunday service. Played table-tennis and they were commenting my skills improved alot. hahaha. Oh well, look out aik keong and yibin... let's play a game when i come back. =P
Anyway, i think i was such a klutz yesterday. Almost triggered off the fire alarm in the morning. Ok... this was what happened. I was trying to master the skill of multi-tasking during cooking (aka cooking many dishes at the same time) and halfway i forgot to keep a lookout on this pie which i put in the oven. Suddenly i smell something burnt and when i opened the oven, bellows of smoke emerged out of the compartment filling the kitchen with a patch of gloom. In shock, i dashed across the kitchen to open all the windows and doors... thank God the fire alarm was not triggered or else i will be in serious trouble. *phew* But oh well, the pie was completely charred and its only 40 pence anyway. (plus the fact its not a main dish hee hee) Second thing was that i rushed off to church giving myself 1.5 hours transportation time so that i could go to the Tesco mart in the vicinity for some grocery shopping. So when i changed from Jubilee line to District line at Westminster, i took the wrong directional train and i did not realise that mistake until 4 stations had passed by (i was too engrossed in my book). Oh well, but still do thank God so much that i did allow for extra transportation time beforehand thus i was able to attend service in time.
Woke up just now and i was shocked that i could not see anything outside the window. Thinking that i might be due to the condensation of the window, i climbed out of bed to try to wipe it off. But obviously it was not... Oh gosh... it looks so cold outside that i felt lazy to get out of my hall. Oh well.... i better go now... =)
Went to Barclay's to open my bank account today. Thank God they accepted my application and now i have a saving account in UK. But seriously speaking, to open a bank account in UK is an ordeal and i can definitely testify to that.
THe afternoon was spent exploring Hampstead with Sok Ee. Was planning to find the Hampstead Hall which aik keong used to stay. According to Wikipedia, the area of Hampstead has the most number of millionaires in London and that many famous celebrities live here. Some examples would be Agatha Christie, Kate Winslet, T.S. Eliot, Jonathan Ross, Elizabeth Taylor etc etc. When we stepped out of West Hampstead Underground, we were greeted by an aroma that came out of a sandwich shop. I was so tempted to buy a sandwich on the spot if not for my lunch previously. It was reasonably priced too, unlike the exorbitant cost of food in central London. Along the way, we passed by a cemetery and decided to go explore. I've always have a unique interest in cemeteries as one could understand the history and culture of the place just by looking at the architecture and inscriptions on the tombstones. It's such a place of serenity that i would love to just sit on the bench in the middle of the cemetery to read. I know it sounds pretty morbid but i really would love to do it... =)
That's a pic of St Luke's church just right opposite the Hampstead Hall.
And this is Hampstead Hall. It's quite a distance to the nearby tube station and i have to say that the location is pretty ulu. However, it's a nice neighbourhood (with lots of gated communities and securitised compounds) and one feels pretty safe to run around in the night.
We visited the super large Sainsbury at Finchley Road and went off our separate ways. This evening, i tried another experiment with my dinner. As i was pretty sick of eating chicken everyday, i decided to change my taste to turkey meat instead. Amazingly, turkey is pretty cheap here too. What i did was, i put some margarine into the saucepan to melt. After which i added in chopped garlic to fry it in a way. The mixture was then poured onto the turkey breast meat which were placed on the grilling pan. Herbs and black pepper was then distributed onto the meat before sending it into grill. After grilling for 5 minutes (the garlic and herbs should 'melt' into the margarine/butter), the tray was transferred into the oven (200 deg) for another 10-15 minutes. At the same time, the garlic bread was placed in the oven (190 deg) for 15 minutes. One error which i made was that i should not wrap the bread with aluminium foil. The moisture in the bread was unable to escape thus it did not turned out crispy and brown. Will try without next time. The meal turned out surprisingly good.
Can't wait to create my next recipe. =)
PS: I've just completed my first blog entry of my trip to Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. I will be posting it to their actual dates for easy referencing for myself. Do go to December 2007 archives to take a look. The first post is on 13th Dec 2007. Enjoy
Today is Chicken Rice Day at Melissa's hall. Shall let the photos speak for themselves.
Preparing the chicken stock
A close-up to the chicken thighs boiling inside
Adding spring onions to the cabbage egg
And WALA... our sumptuous meal.
Various pose of our lunch.
That's Melissa
Sok Ee...
Ives.... And Me... =)
Theology class today was pretty interesting. We were dealing with the doctrine of creation and there were much more issues involved than just ex nihilo. Some problems in regard to this doctrine is that it is impossible to envisage the totality of the world and its Creator. Also, the means to the existence of creation consist of many analogies with their own justifications and critiques. The more interesting thing was that i just had a module on evolution of the world and living things the day before. How apt.
This photo was taken on the way home, on Waterloo Bridge.
I decided to try out stir-fry noodles for dinner. Frankly speaking, i had no idea how to cook the dish for i have never done it before so its a pure trial and error kind of experiment. Surprisingly, it did turn out really well... unexpected man. Let me try to recall the recipe:
1)Boil the noodles until they turn soft before dipping them into icy cold water and dry them immediately for the Q-ness
2)Cut a few garlics and half an onion into small pieces
3)Diced the chicken (i used a turkey breast in this case cos its cheaper)
4)Add in oil and fry the garlics and onions
5)put in the turkey/chicken and cook them
6)throw in an egg
7)add in veg
8)pour Hoi Sin Sauce, add a pinch of salt, sesame oil, soy sauce
9)Pour the noodles in and stir fry
10)Add in Chili oil and black pepper
11) Serve
After the sumptuous dinner, its time to hit the gym. Yes, i've been hitting the gym 4 times a week thanks to the hospitality of Alex.
Oh, before i forget, Prof Chang sent me an email this afternoon. Was pretty touched that he actually made the effort to send an email to me and melissa. So nice... *touched*
Today's ecological biogeography lecture was really interesting and as usual, the theory of evolution was based upon many assumptions again. It is really worth pondering over the fact that people seems to take this THEORY as a TRUTH when there are so many missing gaps in it that could not be explained. Sometimes i really felt like correcting the lecturer that he shouldn't speak of evolution as if its a fact because its afterall just a THEORY and you shouldn't talk about a THEORY as if it is Newton's Law. Moving swiftly on...
Pleasantly surprised to see the books i've order from Amazon arrived early this morning. Hope to get down to them soon...amidst all the unread readings of my modules...
Cooked spaghetti for lunch at Mel's place this afternoon. As usual, the chefs were at work again.
It was a sumptuous meal for me... so much so that i have to put off dinner till 9pm. Had a swim with Dickson and friends in the evening... now aching all over... hee... alrite...time to do some readings.. tata... and its chicken rice day at mel's place tmr =)
*I wonder why the wind is always so strong at night. Its practically howling outside my window every night.. brrrr...
I realised something about myself. I'm seriously bad in expressing my thoughts and ideas. It's really funny because sometimes i do want to express my views on some of the issues brought up by the lecturer but i dare not due to my bad verbal expression. Sigh... oh well... what to do?
Anyway, i took this pic on my way to Alex's house for gym session. Melissa and I were walking on the bridge across Thames when i was mesmerised by the eventide sky. LOOK LOOK!! i have 2 parcels!!
My textbooks for my theology module. If you find the name Alister E. McGrath familiar, he is the writer of the book Dawkin's Delusion.
This is a video footage of some fireworks event that happened outside my window few weeks ago.
Will be visiting Bryan at Warwick with Hong Cheong on Valentines Day. =)
It was Japanese Curry day at Sok Ee's dorm. Although it was a pretty long walk from Waterloo, i was pleasantly surprised at the beauty of Brian Creamer house. Oh man... i should've come to stay at this cute cottage-like dorm as compared to my eeeeks Wolfson House. But i guess i shouldn't complain cos my place is very central and accessible to lots of places... plus its close to Alex's place (for gym and swim) so i shall now zip my mouth.
Lunch was terrific. Japanese Curry (potatoes, mushrooms, onions) and grilled chicken and broccoli. It was indeed a sumptuous meal which costed each of us 80 pence. Its indeed economical to cook for large number of people. And how can i forget the strawberries i bought from the roadside. Its like super huge and pretty sweet. One box for only 1 pound!! I mean... that's a real kill man. Alright... shall plan what to do tmr.
See the size of my strawberry... heh heh That's Ives working on the broccoli and onion. Poor him, kept 'tear'-ing bcos of the onions.
Sok Ee working on the chicken... looks good The joy of cooking!! Well... seems like Ives doesn't agree with it
Testing to see if the juices run clear
The LOBO melissa. hahaha... ok.... she did cooked the broccoli and it turned out pretty well. =) And tadah!!!... our well-deserved lunch. The food was so much Sok Ee had to tupperware the leftovers for her dinner the next day.
Woke up at 4am in the morning to take a train to Heathrow Airport Terminal 3 to pick up 2 of my buddies... JAREDS!! To my horror, the Jubilee line is suspended from Waterloo Station onwards. I have no choice but to take Northern line to transfer to Picadilly line. Set off at 5 and reached the airport at 7. I sure do hope i don't have to do this again.
Its great to see both jareds again, though i find it hard to differentiate whether my primary motive is really that of meeting them or whether its more of the goods that they have brought up for me. Hee hee hee. That's a photo of Jared and I in the tube on our way to Gloucester Rd Station. After dumping their stuff at Jared's friend's apartment (Eugene), we set off to find our breakfast venue before i have to rush off to school. Brought them to Muffinski in Covent Garden which was a recommendation from aik. Decided to try if it is really that good...
Jared Goh ordered leek and potato soup with an apple and cinnamon muffin, Jared Wong ordered a spinach and cheese muffin with cappucino, and i ordered a honey and banana muffin with hot chocolate. The verdict?
The muffins were so so so so great. Best muffins i've ever had. Though pricey, its taste was yummilicious. I would actually place my bet on my honey and banana muffin. The texture is just so wonderful, not so sweet not so bland, and it doesn't give you that 'eat too much will get sick of it' kind of feeling. Jared's spinach and cheese muffin, though sounds pretty gross (at least to me) tasted surprisingly not bad. The fusion of cheesiness and saltiness with the tinge of organic spinach taste harmonised beautifully on the taste buds. 4* out of 5.
The Salvation Army International Headquarters... didn't know it's here.
Visited Tate Modern in the late afternoon. Pretty cool admiring the artworks of Pablo Piccaso, Francis Bacon as well as the other contemporary artists.
Oh well, it seems like having a fire alarm evacuation at 4am in the morning was not enough, it has to happen in my school campus during lecture. Just before the lecturer could start her lecture, there went the fire alarm for everyone to evacuate the building. Oh gosh... i was so not pleased with this fire evacuation activity going on... its pretty driving me nuts. I really should draw a table noting down the frequency of fire alarm in a week to keep track. It might be useful for research purposes. Poor fireman in London... sigh =(
Its no queer sight to see man in moustache dressing up in sailormoon suit with stockings on the streets. i do see one of them wearing a suit as his top, but a mini-skirt and high-heels as his bottom. I really do wonder what kind of statement they are trying to put across.
Delays are rampant in the underground tube stations. it seems like signals in some stations are always failing leading to the disruption of tube services. Sometimes, due to circumstances, your tube might need to halt halfway in your journey forcing you find alternative route.
*** Although indeed the urban culture pictures one of a civilized society as Plato puts it "the coming of city is the coming of culture", it does not quench that anti-urbanism fire in me. Yes indeed, the urban consists of a plethora of fine-living culture like arts, theatrical works, philosophy etc but the current societal state of debauchery found in the urban seems to make an anti-thesis of that. Gunshootings, robbing, murder, rape are no new headlines in the papers. Most of the people i know of in my dorm treats religion and morality as laughing stock and their lives revolved around being drunk (judging from the bottles of whisky and vodka on the kitchen table every night) and being high (thru cannabis or alcohol). THis is what the urban offer them... this is what the avant-garde urban culture offer them.
However, i will be terribly wrong if i hold on to one side of the story. This doesn't mean that the rural should be seen as an Edenic reality as compared to the urban. The core of the problem is not exactly the societal trend nor the physicality of the area, but that of the human heart. THe heart is deceitful above all things and is desperately wicked, who can understand it? This revelation of God through the prophet Jeremiah stands true against the test of time. Any good thing that is in the hands of Man will be prostituted to fulfil his own self-desires... and that includes lust, greed, pride etc. It just saddens me that a place like London, with a rich history of Christianity, will end up having so many people with their hearts hardened towards the light of the gospel.
SOmetimes i do try to measure what i've learnt in geography to the Bible. How funny it seems that most of the theories always revolve around environmental determinism and never on the human heart. This is something to ponder about.
ANyway, did i say that last week there's a firealarm at 4.30am in the morning due to some prankster leaving the stove and oven on causing smoke to trigger off the alarm? And did i mention about last Saturday when a water fight broke out at 2.30am outside my corridor creating lots of mess and din? It happened this morning again, at 4 am, the fire alarm was triggered off and i have to evacuate the building. I just am very angry at the fact that some people could be so childish to play such a prank. SOmetimes i do think if its the fact that most of these people never see life as serious as it is. Its such a paradox that everyone knows that death is an inevitable stage of life but everyone lives their lives as if death will never come to them. I mean i myself can tolerate small pranks but not pranks that involve a life-saving machine. WHat if one day there comes a real fire and because of this history of pranks that have taken place, the tenants do not treat the alarm seriously and they got burnt as a result... its not funny.
I sure do hope it doesn't happen again. And i really feel sorry for the residence manager, for she is a nice lady and she has to endure such terrible things.
The 2 Jareds are coming!! Am looking forward to see them =)
Grrrrr... the fire alarm set off at 4 plus in the morning. In the midst of evacuating the building, i realised i wore my boots the wrong way. Brrrr... its freezing outside. Anyway, its a funny sight to see everyone in their bedrobes and 'funky' slippers gathering at the entrance of the building. Hahaha... at least i have my jumper on. Apparently we did smell some smoke which apparently came from the 8th floor. I think i might want to ask the residence manager later for more details on the 'fire'.
Yesterday was spent touring Greenwich Park and visiting the ROyal Observatory for the 'line'. ANd once again, melissa, ives and i had our pre-packed lunch at the park in the freezing cold. We really need to reconsider this practice of ours... hmmm... probably postpone this activity to spring.
Spent the afternoon touring Natural History Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum with Melissa. It was indeed a very enriching trip considering the exhibits were all of standard. Looking back at the museums we had in Singapore, i would say we still have lots of improvement to be done. Anyway, i have taken too many photos to be uploaded to the blog, so i will just try to put some that's all. =)
At the entrance of the Natural History Museum
That's a big monstrous fish you've got there
One of the exhibits at Victoria and Albert Museum
This is a modern art exhibition.
An exhibit on the religious items of the Netherlands
A gigantic gateway featuring Christ, the Apostles and the Evangelists
Night was spent at Brick Lane having a 'curry' dinner with Hong Cheong and Alex. I wonder why must choose such 'dangerous' place of all places. Anyway, the food was good albeit pricey (what to do? its london). We also managed to find the 24hr bagel shop. It was really cheap... .one bagel for 20 pence. WOW! But still, i wouldn't dare to go buy the bagels for fear of being robbed at that gangland. Alright, a few pics to satisfy the readers.
Ok...i shall give a boring account of what i've done today. i ran 2.4km from St Thomas Street to Waterloo (Whitehouse Apartment) to gym with Alex in the morning. After which we cooked lunch to eat. It was indeed amazing to know that pigs liver sells real cheap in London. One big packet of liver costs only 66 pence (equivalent to S$1.80) and the reason might be due to the fact that Londoners don't really fancy that kind of exotic stuff. Haha... one more cheap dish to whip up for my daily meals. =P
That being said, today was not as cold as the previous days. Take a look below.
This is a photoshoot (from my room's window) of today
Another shot of today
A photoshoot of yesterday. Can you spot the difference?
Anyway, we went to check out Borough Market (which was pretty a stone's throw away from my dorm Wolfson House) in the afternoon. It was pretty crowded and there was a variety of stuff to be seen. However, the prices stated at each stores ain't that cheap to begin with.
The crowded Borough Market selling all sorts of 'unidentified' stuff.
Look!! Turkish Delights! I never knew how Turkish Delights look like. I must really try them one day.
No prize for guessing. Rabbits. Hey aik keong, you can use this pic to threaten your music students. Haha. Rabbit stew anyone?
some really odd-looking vegetable. Hmmm....
After that, i went for lubiao. Had a nice fellowship and dinner before coming back to my dorm again. Ok... time to think of what to eat for lunch tmr. Hee. =P
Oh... a list of to-visits:
1)National Gallery
2)British Museum
3)Tate Modern
4)Natural History Museum
5)Science Museum
6)Victoria and Albert Museum
7)National Portrait Gallery
8)Somerset House
9)Royal Observatory
10)Imperial War Museum
Why do i list down all museums and galleries? Well, all of them have one thing in common.... they are admission free. Hahaha... i admit i am a cheapo Singaporean... but at the same time one that appreciates art. =P
As i am typing this blog entry, the wind is howling and the rain is falling outside the window. It is pretty cold but i'm glad i have a heater in my room. Hee. I officially declare that i've kind of settled in and really want to thank Alex for his hospitality here in London (and of cos his hospitality includes gym =P ). Alright, i'm getting pretty tired and sleepy. Guess i will update more next time. In the meantime, don't miss me too much.
Want to thank all my beloved dearest bro and sis in fellowship: Huijun, Yeefei, Chuling, Jianming, Yiqiang, Yongkai, Yibin, Jasmin, Rebecca, Auntie and Jimmy for sending me off on New Year's Eve. Really misses you guys lots already. Hope to see you guys soon in June. =)
And how can i forget the ever-so-sweet-and-pretty-noisy Huishi, Uncle Leon and mingli (plus jared wong weiming and jared goh wee siong). Thank you guys for coming really =)
Can you believe that my dorm is just a stone's throw away from Thames River? That's the Tower Bridge you see from afar.
The majestic St Paul Cathedral.
I know this is kind of stupid but i do not know that this is Big Ben until i went online to wikipedia it out. Hahaha. That's the London Eye behind the Big Ben.
YES IT'S SPURGEON!! THE PRINCE OF PREACHERS!
You can check out http://www.metropolitantabernacle.org/?page=history to look at the history of Metropolitan Tabernacle.
On the bust towards Ive's Hall.
After which i left a bit early to go for lubiao in the late afternoon. A pic of the typical route from Hammersmith tube station to CCiL.
It was great to be able to mingle with brothers and sisters after Sunday service. Played table-tennis and they were commenting my skills improved alot. hahaha. Oh well, look out aik keong and yibin... let's play a game when i come back. =P
Along the way, we passed by a cemetery and decided to go explore. I've always have a unique interest in cemeteries as one could understand the history and culture of the place just by looking at the architecture and inscriptions on the tombstones. It's such a place of serenity that i would love to just sit on the bench in the middle of the cemetery to read. I know it sounds pretty morbid but i really would love to do it... =)
That's a pic of St Luke's church just right opposite the Hampstead Hall.
And this is Hampstead Hall. It's quite a distance to the nearby tube station and i have to say that the location is pretty ulu. However, it's a nice neighbourhood (with lots of gated communities and securitised compounds) and one feels pretty safe to run around in the night.
We visited the super large Sainsbury at Finchley Road and went off our separate ways. This evening, i tried another experiment with my dinner. As i was pretty sick of eating chicken everyday, i decided to change my taste to turkey meat instead. Amazingly, turkey is pretty cheap here too. What i did was, i put some margarine into the saucepan to melt. After which i added in chopped garlic to fry it in a way. The mixture was then poured onto the turkey breast meat which were placed on the grilling pan. Herbs and black pepper was then distributed onto the meat before sending it into grill. After grilling for 5 minutes (the garlic and herbs should 'melt' into the margarine/butter), the tray was transferred into the oven (200 deg) for another 10-15 minutes. At the same time, the garlic bread was placed in the oven (190 deg) for 15 minutes. One error which i made was that i should not wrap the bread with aluminium foil. The moisture in the bread was unable to escape thus it did not turned out crispy and brown. Will try without next time. The meal turned out surprisingly good.
Can't wait to create my next recipe. =)
A close-up to the chicken thighs boiling inside
Adding spring onions to the cabbage egg
And WALA... our sumptuous meal.
Various pose of our lunch.
Sok Ee...
Ives....
And Me... =)
LOOK LOOK!! i have 2 parcels!!
My textbooks for my theology module. If you find the name Alister E. McGrath familiar, he is the writer of the book Dawkin's Delusion.
That's Ives working on the broccoli and onion. Poor him, kept 'tear'-ing bcos of the onions.
After dumping their stuff at Jared's friend's apartment (Eugene), we set off to find our breakfast venue before i have to rush off to school. Brought them to Muffinski in Covent Garden which was a recommendation from aik. Decided to try if it is really that good...
Jared Goh ordered leek and potato soup with an apple and cinnamon muffin, Jared Wong ordered a spinach and cheese muffin with cappucino, and i ordered a honey and banana muffin with hot chocolate. The verdict?
The muffins were so so so so great. Best muffins i've ever had. Though pricey, its taste was yummilicious. I would actually place my bet on my honey and banana muffin. The texture is just so wonderful, not so sweet not so bland, and it doesn't give you that 'eat too much will get sick of it' kind of feeling. Jared's spinach and cheese muffin, though sounds pretty gross (at least to me) tasted surprisingly not bad. The fusion of cheesiness and saltiness with the tinge of organic spinach taste harmonised beautifully on the taste buds. 4* out of 5.
The Salvation Army International Headquarters... didn't know it's here.
Visited Tate Modern in the late afternoon. Pretty cool admiring the artworks of Pablo Piccaso, Francis Bacon as well as the other contemporary artists.
That's it for now...time to go do my readings...
This is a photoshoot (from my room's window) of today
Another shot of today
A photoshoot of yesterday. Can you spot the difference?
The crowded Borough Market selling all sorts of 'unidentified' stuff.
Look!! Turkish Delights! I never knew how Turkish Delights look like. I must really try them one day.
No prize for guessing. Rabbits. Hey aik keong, you can use this pic to threaten your music students. Haha. Rabbit stew anyone?
some really odd-looking vegetable. Hmmm....
