Of lemons and lemonade

Today is just one of those days, when you're engulfed in a cocoon of crapiness and not knowing why. Felt really moody and pissed off today for no apparent reason. I blame the weather. Was walking back after a long tiring day, and it started to rain. Wind was crazy as well and I got home soaked, thinking what a perfect end it was to the day.

But it did got me thinking for a bit. The rain was pouring down but I kept walking and eventually reached home. Seem very profound to me at the point in time. Hopefully things will look up tomorrow.

D'italiane Kitchen @ Sunway Giza

Took my sister here before flying over to Edinburgh. We've walked past this place a couple of times and thought that it looked nice. It was nice spending some time with the sister because the whole boarding school things makes that a little hard. Can't wait to see her in a month's time when the whole family comes over!

I thought the food was reasonably good. We were a little ambitious in regards to our stomach capacity. Ended up having to tapau most of the food and I was stuffed by the end of the day. Style of food is very similar to Alexis but doesn't taste as good, but that's just me being fussy.

KTJ in Edinburgh

We met last week for dinner and decided to give that whole home cooked thing a whiz. I think that it's important for us to meet up every now and then so that we don't loose touch despite being in different social groups now. All of us study different courses and live at different areas so we don't exactly get to bump into each other coincidentally.

The menu was: gyoza, stir fry beef in black bean sauce, pan fried prawns with chilli, chicken curry, roasted chicken, banana fritters, and cheesecake with raspberries and strawberries. So you can see that we had one proper Chinese-restaurant-esque dinner with seven courses. That was one fantastic dinner and I really enjoyed myself. Thing about cooking on your own is that you always have one dish only (Well, don't cook myself three course meals on a daily basis). Who knew us guys would have such competency in the kitchen. At least we can have comfort in knowing that it would be very unlikely for us to go hungry in the years to come. 

It was also nice catching up, and seeing what everyone's been up to. I get this sense of familiarity every time I'm around the KTJ kaki, feels like we never left school. It is like coming home after a long day, crashing into bed and knowing that all is well with the world.

Silver Spoon Cafe @ Miri, Sarawak

This seem like so long ago thinking about it. A couple of KTJ friends (Azelli, Ben, Hui Yii, Wan Jun) took me around during my visit to Miri. It's one of the perks of having friends from all over the country, you'll always have someone to look for on your travels around the mother land. 

They brought me to this cafe whose concept reminded me instantly of fusion style restaurants like Delicious and Ben's. Decor is very contemporary; an interesting contrast to the coffee shop look which seems to be the norm around town, not that there's anything wrong with that. I just thought that it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Autumn

The telltale signs started a few weeks ago; bare branches, shorter days, and the noticeable drop in temperature. It's crazy! Just yesterday I woke up really late at around two in the afternoon, and the sun started to set an hour after that. Days tend to be more bleak than usual, if that is even possible. Pictures you see up here are those rare days when we get really nice sun and I make it a point to take the camera out. But I guess it makes you appreciate these days more as the sun seem to have the ability to remove the Edinburgh's dull exterior, revealing it's beauty that usually pass you by on a daily basis. Like photography, it's all about the lighting bro. 

Last week was a hectic one. Had this report due on Friday and exams looming around the corner so I was just taking some time to sort things out. I never knew that writing a report would take so much time and I think it's because of the whole referencing thing which I'm new to. Also getting more involved with the newspaper so that means attending meetings and sending out assignments.  All I needed was to take a step back from everything else and focus on the essential things that really need to get done. That's how I roll. 

Looking forward to seeing the family in December. They'll be coming up a day after I'm done with exams. I've been told that Christmas in Edinburgh is magical; ice sculpture, German markets, and the whole Princes Street Garden gets turned into a giant skating rink. Things are relatively warm right now but I might just get that white Christmas every Asian kid dreams about. I really am enjoying life over her but there are those moments when I wish I was back home in Malaysia. These moments tend to come around when it starts raining on my walk back. Where is the car when you need it?! Speaking of Malaysia, eating out here is so expensive. You know, a plate of hokkien mee here is still more expensive than from back home even BEFORE conversion, £6 vs Rm 4. Ridiculous prices that I am still paying for. Sigh.

Sorting life out

Just finished that six page report today so I'm just gonna chill for a bit. Here comes the weekend!

Japan Trip: Disneyland Night Parade

So busy right now I'm not even kidding. Until then, hope you like these pictures.

In Transit

Tokyo Disneyland @ Japan

Tokyo Disneyland was on our to-visit list when we were in Japan. Mom and dad have had their fair share of Disneyland experiences so it was just me and my sister running all over the place. We were extremely efficient in maximizing our time and we had this intricate plan of which ride to go first and which show to catch right after.

Weather was scorching from what I remembered because I recall having many a cup of shaved ice. And there you don't get condiments with it like cendol in Malaysia. It was stripped down to the very basics; shaved ice and syrup.

As usual I tend to do a lot of people watching. It was nice seeing parents with their little kids, who look like they're having the happiest day of their life. This is probably going to sound really corny, I really want to have the ability to do that one day; make people feel like it's the happiest day of their lives. One more for the bucket list.

Tynecastle

Tynecastle is the home ground of Scottish football team, Hearts. Went to watch a game over there a few weeks ago with a few friends. It's literally a ten to fifteen walk away from where I live. As you approach the stadium the volume of people on the streets increases noticeably, easily distinguished by the colour of the jacket or scarf that they are wearing.

The game was Hearts against Rangers, who hails from Glasgow. Never been to a live football match before so it was a really interesting first experience. I find it impressive how the crowd seem to have the ability to react in unison; every cheer and every gasp.

Anyway, I'm definitely feeling much better after taking some medications prescribed by my classmate who happens to have a master in Pharmacy. Also managed to get an emergency appointment with the dentist in regards to my swelling cheeks. Turns out that my wisdom tooth is acting up and somehow my gums got infected with bacteria. Throw that in with the cough, flu and fever it meant that my immune system is at an all time low, which explains why the infection became progressively worse. It's got to the extend where you can actually see a physical lump on my face. But I've got medication for that as well so hopefully it'll go down soon.

And I'm leaving for Nottingham tonight. Really looking forward to spending the weekend with good friends in a (hopefully) warmer climate. I'm just assuming that anywhere else below Edinburgh has a good chance of having decent and relatively warm weather. It will be a seven hour bus ride though. Fun times!

Be right back

I actually got more sick today, that runny nose had turned into a full blown fever. And fever in a cold climate; not so much fun. Gums started swelling last night because my wisdom tooth decided that it was time to start acting up. I have Ibuprofen pumping through my veins now to counteract the stabbing pain I get every time I remotely try to close my mouth.

Do excuse the rant, I usually tend to be more pot-of-gold-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow. Heading down to Nottingham this weekend for the annual Malaysian Nottingham Games. Participating in squash so hopefully that goes well. Most of the KTJ kaki will be down there as well so really looking forward to meet some familiar faces and to chat over some nasi lemak. I just hope that things will pick up health-wise by the end of this week.

When it hits home

It took me a while but the maggi goreng that I (successfully) made for supper flipped a switch. Or it could be all the talk on Facebook of meeting up with some good (not so) old friends this coming weekend in Nottingham. 

I miss home =(

The Job

Well, I started working last Wednesday where I take pictures of people at this club called 'The Hive'. Figured that I had to find some way to compensate for all the cash I've burnt so far in Edinburgh. And most of it will go into the 'Summer 2012 Fund'. Never too early to start saving up!

It's funny how I'm forced to learn how to take pictures using flash. If you've been following this space for a while you'll know how much I despise flash photography. I will and always be the natural lighting street/portrait type of person. I had fun though and never thought that I'll actually get the opportunity to work as a photographer; literally a medical student by day and photographer by night. Just not too crazy about the late hours but it's probably going to be just one night a week, depending on the available shifts.

Anyway, I've been quite ill for the past few days and coughing like crazy at lectures. So glad a friend made me Thai curry the other day. Nothing like comfort Asian food when you're sick. I will be having my first exam in about six weeks. Got to start working towards that because it actually counts. Other than that life's been pretty good and I'm starting to cook food in bulk. Just can't be bothered to cook something for every single meal. For the past few days I've been having Gyudon for dinner and lunch. Taste amazing on the first day, and eventually you get tired of it as the days progress. Oh the perks of being a student.

Japan Trip: Shinjuku

Shinjuku is one of the more busier streets in Tokyo (if that's even possible because it's pretty busy everywhere). Tall building, street lights, and people crossing the road in every possible direction; you name it. I love the pulse of the city. All you need to do is pause and observe. Eventually you'll find some kind of order in all that chaos. That is some deep stuff!

I had dinner at one of the Japanese fast food restaurant called Yoshinoya. Their main dish is very simple; beef stew on rice. It was amazing. Taste buds literally screamed in ecstasy (Too much? haha). And it is surprisingly not very hard to replicate at home. I made some today and it turned out really well though I'll remember to lay off the sugar next time. Clearly my idea of a tablespoon is obviously skewed.

Remains of a Conversation

Once while having dinner on my own at a hawker centre, two elderly men joined me and shared the table. They started telling tales of their lives; from what they've learned all these while to challenging what I thought was good food. It's amazing to be given the chance to catch a glimpse of their lives. I remember walking away to order more food and returned later to an empty table. This was all that was left as proof of our conversation.