This is why i'll be F.A.T ...

BEN & JERRY'S ICE CREAM

But I bought this in IKEA on Saturday..

WEIGHING SCALE!!!

Let's just hope that the weighing scale will reallyyyy help me :D

Alnwick: Garden and Castle

This is a self-explanatory post with minimal captions due to the fact that owner of this blog, Dionn Lee is currently busy preparing for her dissertation proposal before leaving to Manchester for a 5days 4 nights trip.

#1 On the way to Alnwick.

and nope, we don't know the guy behind us

#2 Alnwick Garden 

#3 Alnwick Garden

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11 The newly opened Cherry Orchard (350 Tai Haku cherry trees)

#12 The Rose Garden

#13 isn't it beautiful?

#14 Pink rose :)

#15 The Poison Garden

I didnt went it because i'm afraid of dead

nolah, because to go in, we have to follow the guide and listen to their long stories..

so we're just plain lazy (and maybe a little scare of dead)

#16 This isn't poisonous

#17 The Treehouse, which is one of the largest tree houses in the world

#18 Angela-Dionn-Joyce

From Alnwick Garden, we have to walk to the castle which takes approximately 15 minutes :)

#19 Alnwick Castle

#20

Alnwick Castle has been used as a setting for numerous films. Among the famous films are Harry Potter!

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
  [source: wikipedia.com]

#21

#22 This is the setting for the scene above!

#23 Outer Bailey
This is also the place Harry Potter learnt to fly :)

#24

#25

#26

Actually both the garden and castle are really huge, it's just that I'm very lazy to upload more photos. There are a lot of interesting things to see and do there; like you can actually dressed yourself up in Harry Potter's outfit, etc. I would feel that this trip is quite worth the money considering we're only paying £20 for coach travel and entrance tickets to both places.

Little things that makes me happyyy..

1) Skype with my Furby baby

#1 Showing off newly groomed fur

#2 "Mami, when you wanna cum back?"

#3 "But summer holidei is still so ronggggg"

#4 "Take care mami! i be good baobei"

2) MSN with my nephew

#1 Using MSN because he wants to play with those emoticons,etc

#2

3) Early Xmas gift for self :)

#1 Tinkerbell tin case with 5 marshmallows

I'm so going to buy the Hello Kitty's tin box next time. and probably the mug too. it's so cute but very expensive :(

4) Junk foods

#1 Chips, biscuits(!), chocolates(!!!), etc

5) Ben & Jerry's Ice-Cream

:) :) :)

But you know what makes me unhappy/angry? Flatmate that floods the bathroom floor. Inconsiderate flatmate that stupidly flushed the toilet roll cylinder and it's stuck there now. Long journals. Dissertation proposal due in less than 2 weeks.

and i'm very angry with myself too because i kept delaying my proposal and procrastinate!!

kthxbai! off to read journals (lie)

29 days later...

Few days ago, while I was still in my dreamland, I was awake by a really loud, sharp and annoying fire alarms. At 5am T__T The whole building has to be evacuated. Wearing only my pyjama, I managed to grab a jacket and walked all the way down to ground floor with my eyes half opened. Luckily I didn't trip or anything like that.

3 fire engines arrived. But we didn't smell anything burning or so. After about an hour in the cold, we're safe to return to the flat. From what I've heard, it's the stove in one of the flat that causes the fire alarm.

I mean seriously, you mean there's someone out there who is probably a worst cook than me?

Wow.

I remembered back home when I attempted cooking instant noodles, all the soup got dried up and the noodles stuck to the pot so I have to throw everything away. Heck, I can't even break an egg T_____T

Cooking has never been my forte. But I do love to eat. Before I came here, I was quite worried about food. Ha, I can't even cook I'm just going to starve to death drinking milo with biscuits everyday. Obviously eating out is a perfect choice but it's extremely costly too.

It's October 11th tomorrow. Which means, I've been here for exactly a month long :) And here am I, still alive blogging ;)

So this blog post is going to surprise all of you today! I'm going to show you pictures of food which Joyce and I prepared and cooked during our 1 month stay here.

(we only cook for dinner)

#1 Microwaved Baked Beans+Scramble Eggs

-We're suppose to cook pasta for dinner that night. But the stove decided to die on us. So that explained the miserable baked beans -.-

#2 Breakfast

-Hehe, this is the only time(during our 3rd day I think) we ate such breakfast. Now we just settled for milk+cereal, hot drink+bread or crumpets for breakfast. Easy and fast :)

#3 Mushroom+Mussels Pasta

-I cooked this all by myself. It didnt taste that great lahhh...but still edible. First time okay!

#4 Mee Soup(w. Mussels & Ham) + Stir-Fry Vegetables

#5 Broccolis+Carrot

- This is my first attempt cooking vegetables! And I did great! Huge credit goes to the oyster sauce.

#6 Drumsticks+Potatoes in brown gravy sauce

-credits to Joyce

#7 Potatoes+Carrots Porridge+Marmite

#8 Drumsticks in Sweet&Sour Sauce(Joyce) + Cabbages(Me)

-Hello! I am a cabbage wtf. Nolah, name in brackets are just to indicate who cooked what :)

#9 Simple Fried Rice

#10 Pork Sausages Pasta

-2nd attempt. Too much water. But tasted okay ;)

#11 Garlic Naan + Potatoes Curry

(eh paiseh we bought this)

#12 Drumsticks(same as #6) + Long Beans Fried Eggs(Me)

#13 Drumsticks(same as above) + Long Beans, Carrots

#14 Pork Sausages + Leftover Long Beans, Carrots

#15 Fish(Joyce)+Lettuce(Me)

#16 Chicken +Potatoes;Carrot

#17 another type of Fried Rice

#18 Pork Sausages+Broccoli;Carrots

#19 Cabbages(Joyce) + Chicken w Eggs(Me)

-the chicken with eggs is damn sedap can? I learned that from some drama :)

#20 Potatoes w Mushrooms + Baked Beans;Eggs

#21 Lettuces+Fish

#22 Fried Noodles

-credits to Joyce for this awesome noodles!

#23 Tomatoes+Eggs (Me)

-i totally love this! huge credit goes to the butter :P

#24 Same as above + Cauliflowers(Joyce)

I know how some dishes/ingredients are just repeating; sorry we're both clueless cooks. But sometimes, I'm amazed by my own cooking skills.

Hmm..maybe cooking is just my hidden/undiscover talent all this while wtf.

However, cooking comes with a price. I always hurt myself during preparations.

Let's see..I have:

• cut my own nails when cutting vegetables. Luckily my nails are long enough. Otherwise I might just have to blog with only 8 or less fingers now ;(
• cut myself while using a peeler
  
• ytd, I cut my thumb while washing a fork. The cut is about 1cm long and it hurts badly. Forks are mean and evil :(

Obviously there're some bimbotic moments where I stay 232789 metres away from the stove because I'm afraid of the oil, etc :D

So, what do you think of the food?

ps: please share some recipes with me if you have any! Chia E-Ling, are you reading this???

pss: about the instant noodles, it was quite some time ago. and yes, I do cook delicious instant noodles now.

But I still can't break an egg :)

Till then!

Tynemouth-Cullercoats

Few weeks ago (19Sept09), the chaplaincy organised a trip to the Coast-Tynemouth and Cullercoats.

Since that's my second weekends in Newcastle, I've decided to join the trip. It's free and we only have to pay for the Metro ticket which costs £3.80 return.

#1 This is me, with my Metro ticket teeheee

#2 Waiting for the train

#3 In the Metro wtf

It was my first time (and only time so far) taking Metro ;) and the Metro is just like our KTM. I expected it to be like those in Hong Kong or Taipei (or at least like Spore). But oh well!

#4 Market at Tynemouth Station. It's like a flea market where they sell all sort of stuffs; mostly vintage, 2nd hand items, etc. You can really find some good vintage, oldies stuffs here.

There's this stall that sell lots of Polly Pocket. I really love it! I used to have one when I'm young.

#5 Tynemouth

#6 Everywhere I go, sitting on the green grass for a photograph is a must ;)

#7 Tynemouth Longsands

From the station, we have to walked about 20mins to the coast. From there, we were told to walk further down(probably another 15mins). They didnt tell us where we're heading to. So I assumed that there's more attractions.

#8 Cullercoats

#9 Church@Cullercoats

#10

And then, all of us gathered at this hall where refreshments are being served. However, it is too crowded and there's not even enough space of us to stand. So nevermind. Joyce, Angela & I decided to miss the refreshments (although the cakes are very tempting) and wait outside.

#11 Inside the church

#12

Then we were lead into the church where we hear them sings (and we have to sing-a-long too), etc.

Aha, now I know the real motive of this trip organised by the chaplaincy. But nevermind, it was quite a good experience and I did really enjoy myself walking along the coast.

After we're done in the church, it's free and easy! I didnt want to go back yet (so soon -.-) so we decided to walk around and go back by ourselves later.

#13 Walking/Cam-whoring around the garden

#14

Everywhere you go in Newcastle, flowers are everywhere. It's really colorful and romantic. Love it! If I would to compile a flowers' album by now, it will easily exceed 500 photos.

#15 Flowers are romantic

#16 I like the shade of pink

#18 Angela-Me-Joyce

#19 Another i-wanna-sit-on-the-grass photo to mark the end of this post

ps: I shall update more often before I start getting real busy preparing for my dissertation :S

pss: I'm doing great here. Just abit homesick at times sigh

pss: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone :D

My Crib

(or a place where I 'hibernate' most of the time)

This is my permanent home here in Newcastle, United Kingdom for at least 9 months.

It's located at Stoddart Street, Shieldfield.

It takes me about 10mins of walk to university. Or if I'm late or in a rush, it only takes 7mins (timed).

Walking to the city centre is a little bit further. It takes me about 15mins. But that's alright, since I really dont mind the walking (i can exercise and burn some calories!).

However, sometimes the weather is too cold to bear. What's more unbearable is when it's cold and windy. It makes the walking a little burdensome. It would be easier if the wind could easily blow me to the uni.

Sigh, I don't know what would I do during winter -.-

This is Stephenson Building. My hall of residence. You can't see my bedroom from the picture above. Initially, this hall isn't my first choice for accommodation. I was really disappointed at first because I didn't get my first choice of accommodation.

Nevertheless, I really love this place now and I'm glad I got this hall(which is probably my 4th or 5th choice) over my first choice of accommodation ;)

Below are some pictures of my bedroom. I would say that I'm really happy with my bedroom. It's larger than the average one and it's also one of the biggest room in the flat ^^

This is my bed, bedside table and my footwear. Originally the bedside table isn't located there. I painstakingly moved it next to my bed. The bedside table is crazily heavy :(

A bookshelf and study table. I've already arranged everything of mine accordingly. The lowest rack on the bookshelf are my toiletries, facial products, and some make-up tools. The middle rack are again some of my toiletries and dried food. As you can see, I've got nothing to put on the highest rack yet except for my mineral water bottles. And yea, the highest rack abit too high.

The pin-up board which it's more full and messy now with more papers and receipts. This is also the place where I put all my accessories on (hairclips, headband, necklace, earrings, etc)

This is my closet. It's quite small for me although I didn't bring much clothes with me here. I really regret for not bring more tops and dresses here because I'm lacking of clothings now.

Shopping sounds like a perfect idea but let me tell you, i'm here for 2weeks already and I've only shopped once. Was planning to shop again this week but then I've spent my money to visit Harry Potter's Hogwart tomorrow. It's expensive so I have to sacrifice my shopping spree this week :(

I'm really lucky because my room is the only room in the flat that comes with a full-length size mirror :D Love it!

This is the view from my bedroom. Although this view is not spectacular but it's convenient because I can easily check out on the weather in the morning before deciding what to wear.

Overall, I'm really satisfy with my room because it's so spacious! I can say that it's so spacious that it can fit another queen-sized bed in here. So my room will be spacious enough that my sis or mum can stay with me when they're here for a visit next time.

Luckily it's big enough lah if not i'm gonna have claustrophobia -.-

This is our shared kitchen and dining hall. The kitchen is really big compare to other halls of residence. This is also the place where I spent most of my time eating breakfast and cooking dinner.

Yes cooking! People you hear that right. I can cook and it's edible *surprise surprise*

Our shared toilet. We have two shared toilets here...

...and 2 shared bathrooms.

Although there are 7 of us altogether in this flat, thankfully most of the time the toilet and bathroom are not occupied. And what's more important is that it's always clean. So I'm a happy resident here :) :)

Besides that, my room is really cold although there's no fan or air-conditioner. Sometimes, I almost freeze in my own room :( Of course there's heater in my room but ah, up until today i don't know how it works T___T

I think I'll probably freeze during winter, in my own bedroom.

ps: For the first 6 weeks, I only have 1 class perweek. And it's only an hour. So i'm like crazily freeeeee here -.- Need to explore more!!

Okay, maybe I should seriously be determined enough to look for a part-time job!

Mr.J II French-Italian Restaurant

aka Secret Restaurant

Nope, this is not the same restaurant as the one I've blogged earlier. It's the same name (but note the roman)and open by the same person (Jay Chou ♥).

However, this restaurant carries a different theme.

And a very special one I can say :)

It's the Secret themed!

Secret (traditional Chinese: 不能說的秘密; simplified Chinese: 不能说的秘密; pinyin: Bùnéng shuō de mìmì), also known by its translation The Secret That Cannot Be Told, is a 2007 Taiwanese romance film. It is the directorial debut feature film of Taiwanese musician Jay Chou, who also stars in and co-wrote the movie.^[1]

The film has won several awards, including The 2007 44th Golden Horse Award, Best Visual Effects, The Outstanding Taiwanese Film of the Year, and Best Original Film Song-from Wikipedia

Once again, we're there early for dinner so it's not crowded, another perfect pictures opportunity.

The setting in this restaurant is abit simpler with a very high ceiling.

But that doesn't matter because once inside, you can relate yourself to the movie Secret.

Jay's precious piano

It says something like, "Pls dont play the piano to avoid you from going back to the past 20years-Ye Xiang Lun"

Cute right?

a picture with the piano IS A MUST! Don't care how i look like liao

Some of Jay's awards which he won from Secret. It's so nice of him to display the awards so that fans like me can see them :)

But cannot touch one because it's locked in the cabinet.

merchandises #1

merchandises #2

some non-Jay related displays

A very non-related item: no idea why there's a huge optimus prime in the restaurant. Haha, but it looks cool though.

note the error? lols

You can purchase the heart-shaped card, write a msg and hang it there. It's for some charity. I bought the card, and keep it :P

Didn't take much photos in this restaurant because we were really hungry and we're lacking of time. (and oh, i still have zero make-up on!)

But nvm, there's always next time.

starters/appetizers

escargots

dessert

paiseh ah, no name for each of the dishes, because I forgot them and couldnt find it in the menu from the website (all in Chinese characters very hard to read -.-)

Also, a picture of myself in the Secret uniform(which is also the waiter's uniform) is a must.

I wanted to take pictures with the waitress because they look so cute in the uniform. Mana tau, they said they have extra uniform can borrow me :)

(but i also took photos with one of the waitress la)

Overall, the food is not bad and the price is pretty reasonable. The price is cheaper here in this branch because it's located in a university ;)

Below are the pictures of the merchandises I bought in the restaurant. I've already bought most of the items from the branch in Guang Fu earlier.

However, there's some items that are only sold in this branch. So, i bought more :)

postcards, poker cards, magnets, lollipop, etc

Just like the price of the food, merchandises sold in this branch are cheaper than the one in Guang Fu.

Ah-ha, let me show you the most expensive keychain i've ever bought in Taipei:

Ta-dah!

This keychain costs RM50 T__T So expensive i dunno why i bought it lols. On top of the RM50, i also paid additional for the shipping from Taipei-KL okay because when i want to purchase it, they ran out of stocks.

Aih, i should have just forget about it T_____T

But oh well!

Mr.J II French-Italian Restaurant is located at:

No.250, Wu Xing Street (inside Taipei Medical University)

Opening Hours: 11.30-22.00

Tel: (02) 2377 9090

Website: http://www.mrj-tw.com (click on the 'door' on the right side of the homepage)

Note: Click here for Mr.J French Italian Restaurant (GuangFu Branch)