Good Morning Paris!

So after Dublin our next stop was Paris.
The French motorists were always rushing about. Hmmm. They don't give way to pedestrians. Hmmm. Unlike ol' Manchester. And they just had to step on the gas while we were crossing the road which sent us screaming in a frenzy like a bunch of mad people. It was super embarrassing. Anyway, what do you expect in a big city like this right?

We travelled around Paris using the tubes which were very, very efficient, I must say. The longest I ever waited for one was 5 minutes!! But the underground air is musty and smells of... pee. Most probably some drunkard peed there. Eeeew.

Uh-oh I'm bad mouthing Paris. Hehe.
Hellooo... This is PARIS I'm talking about! Who cares about the transport!
Everyone goes there because it's so glamorous :)



Eiffel tower. As if you don't know.



Notre Dame. This is where the Disney character, Quasimodo from 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' lived.


Ooooh... and this is my favourite place on Earth. Super duper love Disneyland. It was worth every penny I paid. More expensive than my Westlife concert ticket lor.


Champ Elysees. There... it's that famous street with all the branded stuff along it. Yer... no nicer picture of me. Couldn't open my eyes... too sunny. (Don't be vain. Don't be vain.)


This is Arc de Triomphe. See lah... they were doing some restoration works. Spoil the picture. (Arc, don't be vain.)


The National Opera-Opera Bastille. The plot in the novel 'The Phantom of the Opera' apparently took place here. See... got people taking wedding photos here!! I also want!!!


Nah... the overprotected and overrated Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo da Vinci.


Foie gras. My Mum was like, 'You ate foie gras? Do you know how they make it? They force feed the geese so that they can harvest bigger livers,' when I told her. T___T I will never, never, never, ever eat it again.


Escargots (snails). Eeeew... I could feel them crawling in my stomach after eating them. And no, I did not puke.

Nice yummy foods:
1. Creme brulee
2. Macaron

Okay, you can go and try them now. Bye bye.
You see lah... I didn't do any work again. Later I have a full dress rehearsal (for Mnight) some more.

Greetings from Dublin

Hello hello... :)

Me went for a uber nice long break during the Easter holidays. I wanted to blog after coming back but I was quite preoccupied with dance practices. Yeah... me and my smart idea of performing for Mnight. Super hard work okay.

And you know what! I FORGOT my PIN number because I didn't use my card for 12 days. Now I have zero cash(I use that card to withdraw money) and I can't pay using my card. T____T
*speechless* I ended up owing everyone around me like the Malay proverb 'hutang keliling pinggang'. Hehe. Ok lah, I'll find time to go to the bank. [Whispers]I'm left with five euros from my trip though. :) See... I didn't spend all my money after all. Smart consumer leh.

I have a lot of assignments to complete. T___T But I keep putting them off. Procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate!!! *vomit* I will start TONIGHT!

Lemme show you some pictures of Dublin. Will upload pictures of Paris and Amsterdam next. Save the best for last. :)

Cliffs of Moher

The Burren. This whole place is made up of granite. Apparently the grass over here grows throughout winter because granite retains heat. (I was listening to the tour guide up to this point... and then I fell asleep. Sigh. I paid the tour company to sleep on their bus.)


Connemara. The winds were so strong I literally flew the moment I stepped down from the bus. (P.S. I'm light!!! Hohohoho.)

Kylemore Abbey. An English man from Manchester built this for his wife but she passed away not long after that. She contracted some disease when they were on holiday at some place.

Wow, I remember quite a lot. I'm impressed with myself :) *claps* No wonder I forgot my PIN.


St. James park
Sorry, it's supposed to be St. Stephen's Park. St. James' is in London.


A statue of Molly Malone. I don't know who she is but she had lala in the basket.

The famous Guinness Storehouse. I drank beer and got a little red in the face. Please... I had only two mouthfuls. Sigh. I'm such a goody-two-shoes. Yay!!

Posers. I likey. Haha.

Cheers!!

Till then. Don't miss me too much. Muacksss.

Yesterday and Today

I went to the gym for a workout yesterday :) (You know, since I'm gaining so much weight like nobody's business and I've already begun to see the signs, for example, puffy cheeks and a really flabby tummy)

This is the second step to a healthy lifestyle. (I'm already practising the first one-eating healthily. I eat OATS for breakfast everyday to lower my cholesterol level, okay...)

Honestly I didn't know what I was thinking at that time. Jogging Brisk walking certainly isn't the most pleasant thing in the world. Plus I only lost 54 calories after a 20 minute jog which is crap. I feel so cheated. And later that night, I ate a slice of chocolate cake for dessert which I almost immediately regretted but it was so tempting I couldn't resist it. It's so frustrating sometimes. It is so difficult to lose weight but so easy to gain weight. But then again, who said life is fair??

Today, I had pancakes and egg tarts for lunch (high calorie foods again) T_________T
*They were homemade*


Delicious pancake served with bananas, strawberries, hazelnut butter(nutella), and topped with golden syrup.

I know the picture doesn't look too appetizing. I used a blue tint(blue is an appetite suppressant colour) so that you won't feel like eating it and won't drool all over your keyboard. See, it is for your own good.

Sorry, no pictures of the egg tarts.

I baked and played cards the whole day. There goes my 'today'...
Gotta get some work done tonight. *keeping my fingers crossed*

Random fact: I'm beginning to like Professor T. His accent is sooooooo cute and I found out that I can actually understand his lectures if I pay attention. *loves*

Classic death

The Power of Music

Is it just me or has the sudden change in weather induced drowsiness? Mind you, it's already spring. Nice, sunny spring :) It's been a long time since I last took a nap but for the past couple of days, I've been falling asleep while SITTING UPRIGHT in my CHAIR =.=

Something then hit me. I remember reading an article in Reader's Digest about a girl who was suffering from a sleep disorder. She just kept sleeping and sleeping and sleeping. I don't remember what the name of the disorder was but there was no cure. I don't want to die from excessive sleep. T______________T

Something hit me the second time. I realised that I had been listening to soothing, relaxing and calming music for the past week. Well, it was supposed to enhance concentration, something I lack, right? I have got to the bottom of the Sleeping Corrinne Mystery. See. Told you I'm a detective (read:Sherlock Holmes). Just to prove my new theory, I went and searched it online. And then... I stumbled on this page with the title 'The Use of Music to Promote Sleep in Older Women'. I am NOT older women. T_________________T

Another worrying fact is, plants that were exposed to loud, rock music withered and died whereas plants which were exposed to soft, classical music grew faster. (You can read the article here) ZOMG, I'm not hitting the clubs anymore. T_______________T

P.S. I've been to the club only ONCE in my entire twenty years of life.

Work, work, work

See. I'm keeping up with the one-post-a-day routine. Ok, so maybe today is just the second day but so what?? I am still following my blog standards. My blog so needs major reviving.
Right, basically I just need a kick in the butt to get started.

I have a pile of work waiting for me with arms opened wide. T_T
(Of all things) Reflective essay: 'My path so far on the way to becoming a practising pharmacist.' =.= Gag, gag, puke, puke, puke. I don't even know where to start. Because, I'm too awesome for words, ok?!?!

So, I pushed my luck a little too far by asking Mum to do the essay for me. Hehe. Fat chance.
'Cos Mum simply refused. T_T
The answer I got when I asked was, 'think about it'. Thankyouverymuch.
I know... it's my work. I should do it by myself. Plus, this is personal. Blah blah blah. I don't need you to preach to me.
I'm going to do it. Soon. I hate you, Procrastination!

I had a good laugh watching 'How I Met Your Mother' and 'The Nanny' today. How ironic, isn't it? Especially since I remember saying something about how-busy-I-am in my previous post.

Duuhhh. Week six is coming to an end and I have three, THREE!! tests awaiting me in Week seven. I have to cram six weeks of lecture notes in, let's see, four days. How cool is that?!
Serves me right since I haven't been doing any revision whatsoever.

I have a feeling that Mr. Zit is going to attack me face. Again.

Update

It's been awhile since I last updated my blog. I'm a very busy person FYI thankyouverymuch.

Having insomnia now.. T_T
I had practicals today, which means exhaustion. I took a looooong nap like sleeping beauty when I came back and I woke up at 8pm. How do you expect me to go to sleep now?

SIGH.

Anyway... here's the update. It was Aileen's birthday two days ago.
We celebrated it at Bella Italia. Like the name suggests, it was an Italian restaurant. Don't ask me who Bella is. As far as I'm concerned, they have really yummy gelati.

Typical English ambience. Loved it. Those were real candles and I did a little experiment with it. Hehe. When hair is heated, it becomes curly because the disulphide bridges are broken.

Romantic isn't it?
That's the characteristic of a Libran (me). Maybe I shall just get married here..
Ooh.. and the waiter was hawt because he had on a really nice uniform with a dark green apron. But no, he didn't propose.

The seven of us that went :)
Miss Birthday Girl is the one in a leopard print blouse. Happy birthday hun.

STOP DOG ABUSE

Mahatma Gandhi once said, 'The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated'.

Last year, it was the case of the abandoning of Pulau Ketam's dogs onto a nearby island, with no food and water, that caught global attention. This year, it is the Selayang Pound Scandal where dogs were purportedly starved to death and their carcasses dumped in garbage bins. Some of the dogs were also claimed to have died from tick fever, seeing as to how the pound was tick-infested. Have our hearts turned as hard as stone? What have the dogs done to deserve such treatment?

I was browsing through a blog (click here) when I came across articles on dog abuse. A dog was beaten up so badly that it had a gaping hole on its head. Both its eyes were eaten out by maggots. A good Samaritan took pity on it and brought it to a vet. Alas, the only thing the vet could do was to euthanise the dog to end its sufferings.

Sad to say, this is not the only story depicting the plight of our dogs that I happened to stumble upon. There was this other story where a dog had to be amputated because it was someone's sick idea of a joke to tie a wire so tightly around the dog's paw that it cut 3 cm into the bone. How would you feel if that was your leg??

Love thy neighbour as thyself, that is one of God's commandments, but how can I love people like this?

Written by a very angry and disappointed me.

The Ultimate Gift

One of the best movies I ever watched.

Not some silly romance movie. Nor is it a horror movie whose ending makes simply no sense at all where after watching it for two hours, I still don't understand what the movie is about-what a waste of time. I can be really picky when it comes to movies. So, when I say it's good, it really is! :)

No spoiler. Watch it for yourselves. It is a very meaningful movie. (It obviously is because I'm singing praises for it)

I attend Student Fellowship (SF) and this movie can relate very much to what I learnt. Don't retaliate even when you know you're right. When the time comes, the truth will be revealed and your accuser will be sorry for what he did to you.

Jason blamed his granddad for his father's death but his granddad just lived with it. He bore that pain every single day of his life. His son is dead and his grandson, Jason, hated him. Eventually, Jason learnt the truth-that his father died in a car crash, although it was already too late. But deep down, I know Jason loved his granddad dearly.

I'm reminded of how temporary life on Earth is. Be thankful for what you have and give thanks. The little girl in the movie was only nine years old but she suffered from Leukemia. She succumbed to the disease in the end.

The girl's mom was of course devastated but she managed to press on. God gave her that strength. I heard this a couple of days ago at SF: when you need God the most and you feel that He isn't there, that is when He is right there beside you, guiding you.

Here's another story.
A man was walking along a beach when he saw two sets of footprints.
So, he asked God, 'whose footprints are these?'
And God replied, 'they belong to you and Me. I will always walk beside you.'

Not long after that, the man faced troubles in life.
One day, while walking along that same beach, he saw some footprints but this time it was only one set of footprints.
He felt abandoned and he asked God, 'why have You left me?'
Here was what God answered him, 'you only saw one set of footprints because that was when I carried you.'

Sorry. That just slipped. I didn't mean to spoil the suspense. You can still watch it. I only revealed 20% of the movie.

Rating: Five stars

Plus point: The actor is cuteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Hehe.

Flabby tum

My first aerobic class was harder than I thought. It actually is more than just exercising along with the music. Oooooh... I barely managed to sweat out the sit ups. What a weakling. Sigh. I ended up laying flat on the mat, immovable, laughing myself silly. WhenwillIbeasfitastheinstructor?

It has been months (in fact, years) since I last exercised. I graduated from secondary school three years back, which means no more P.E. classes (for three years). And I, being a lazy bum, didn't take the initiative to go to the gym. Right. I'm paying the consequences now. I've got a spare tyre around my waist. T________T

Next up, squash lessons. We have a squash court right at the doorstep and coaching is free.

Gonna put my time to better use. (Been playing Spider Solitaire without even once winning. Okay, I'm not so pathetic. I did win on the rare occasion. But my win percentage is only 7%. =.='')

Bye bye, flabby tum.

Gas leak?

I'm now back in my room writing this post. The heaters aren't working and it's icy cold in here. No wonder they gave me the duvet. Read on.

Dear Resident,

Due to a serious gas leak leading to loss of hot water and heating we are required to evacuate Whitworth Park tonight (Monday 8th).

Please be aware that you are not in any danger but...

Pfft. Homeless for the night. And tomorrow's a schooling day. Anyway, I managed to drag my butt out of the chair and headed over to University Place (for the night).

The Residences Management Team behaved in the utmost professional manner, I must say. And no... I didn't get a full body massage. But we were given refreshments. Where there's food, there's a happy Corrinne. :) Sigh. I'm so easily bribed. I even got a duvet because they didn't want to find a frozen corpse in the morning. I really can't help feeling thankful to the team although I know it is their responsibility to maintain the residents' wellbeing. Well, I'm grateful that they didn't just say, 'shoo, shoo, out you go. Hurry along now. And don't come back until tomorrow morning', although they could have easily done that.

Rumours got round that Whitworth Park was gonna explode. *biggest eye rolling action ever*
Human exaggeration!

Sweatness.

Random talk; mcg stands for microgram and not millicentigram like I thought. (Where did that word even come from?) Thank goodness I passed my Math test on units. Today, I realised that I don't know how to convert ounces and pints into millilitres. Hmmm.

Autumn's Concerto

下一站, 幸福 (Autumn's Concerto)


See.. my Mandarin ain't that bad! I'm watching a Taiwanese Idol Drama with no subtitles. :)
That's an accomplishment! But five episodes a day!!!!!! Sigh. I know I've gone overboard.

The whole story's so sad, gosh, with the typical storyline. They (the rich, spoilt brat and the poor, humble girl) fall in love. The guy's gonna die. The (evil) mum's hostility towards the girl. The girl's perseverance. Hmmm... I haven't got to the last episode but they most probably will live happily ever after. It's all predicted!
*playing the role of a movie critic* LOL

Good acting on the part of Vanness Wu, who plays the lead role, (erm-what's-his-name-again?) Ren Guang Xi. He is cool and handsome and so sweet! :-)))))))))))))))))))))))))))
By the way, the theme song's nice.

Recommendable.

Birmingham

Birmingham is awesome. It is the second largest city in the UK after all.

The Bullring bull.

Victoria Square

Aston Villa Football Club

The futuristic looking shopping complex and Selfridges store

Statue of Thomas Attwood in Chamberlain Square



Japanese dinner-chicken karage bento

My holidays are coming to an end. In fact, school reopens TOMORROW! It's just a matter of a few more hours.

But this means that May is coming soon. Which means that I am inching closer to Mark (Westlife). Which means that June is nearing. Which also means that Malaysia awaits me. And this means good food.

Think positive.

*drinking a cup of yummilicious milk*
P.S. Dear Cow, Thank you for your milk (although it makes me fat since I only drink whole milk). I love you so. xxx

Markaholism

I am officially done with exams. Hip, hip, hurray!!

And i will be going to Westlife's concert after all.
Date: 30 May 2010
Venue: Manchester Evening News Arena
Time: 7.30 pm
Price: GBP 44 (floor seating and it is near the stage)



The Handsome Mark (second from left). He is so so so so handsome. The handsomest person that ever lived. OMG. OMG. OMG. I think i am going to faint. My legs have turned into jelly.
To Mark; 'Catch me when i fall?'

Hehe.
*slaps self*

Okay, so i am in love with a celebrity who doesn't even know i exist. Sigh. This is probably the saddest thing that ever happened to me. But worry not, i will survive this dark period-Mark blind and Mark drunk by...

...going to Birmingham tomorrow. :S
Haha. It's so random.

Camwhoring *giggles*

Exams, you stress me out.

When i'm stressed, i eat.
When i'm stressed, the pimples come.
When i'm stressed, i camwhore.
Poor blog.. i only use you to channel those pent up emotions.







Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe.

summary of my fortnight

I know i kinda abandoned my blog again. But here it is, the rebirth! With a new layout! :]

Summary:
Just got back from Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago.
Brought YL, my Ah Ma around Manchester.
Shopped the whole week after Boxing Day. Literally shopped till i dropped.
Counted down to New Year at Albert Square Exchange Square.
Baked a gazillion cakes and muffins.
And i am currently head over heels in love with Mark Feehily from Westlife. (OMG! He is so handsome!) What's not to love about him??
Made a snowman by the name of 'Mark' yesterday.

Oh.. And Happy Belated 2010 y'all!

2010 resolution (and the years to come);
me ----> vegan
LOL

I'm hungry already =.=
Gonna rummage the fridge for F-O-O-D.


-The Mark Obsession-