White Chinese New Year

It's been snowing since yesterday! And it's real snow this time, as opposed to the 'fake' snow last year, which just falls for a short while and then turns into slush quickly. This snow is still here and everything is buried under a blanket of white. It's really beautiful.













This was taken yesterday morning from one of the practice rooms.










This afternoon. Everywhere looked so magically transformed. I love how the clock tower was veiled in white.










Pretty. Looks like a scene from the countryside/forest eh? (Ignore the fence haha) It's actually just the road along which I walk to and from uni. I love to see snow on branches. And also bare branches against the sky. It's a little morbid and sad, but they are also amazingly beautiful in a way I can't describe.










By the time I reached home at about 6pm today, the snow on the ground was so thick that I couldn't see the footpath any more. It's so magical! Everything's white!

Had a good day today, basically. Apart from getting quite soaked and cold from walking in the snow, and being quite tired at the end of the week, everything else was good. The concert was good, I didn't screw up my piece except for a tiny detail at the beginning (so tiny that I think possibly only those who've heard me during the run-through will notice). I also didn't screw up while playing for a singer, other than a slight stumble somewhere when I wasn't concentrating enough. Fortunately I managed not to let it sound too obvious and regained my momentum quite quickly. Possibly good luck on a day when I've only had five hours' sleep and have had hour after hour of lessons/discussions just before the concert.

And while rushing home after a lesson ended at 5pm, I just knew I was going to be late for work at 6pm. But the snow turned into a blessing when the boss' wife sms-ed to say they've decided to close the restaurant tonight. Sweet :) I actually had time to cook myself a proper meal, finally, five weeks since the start of term! It really has been so horrible that I've resorted to eating quick-cook stuff like pasta, instant noodles, frozen pizzas, cookies and mostly sandwiches or breakfast cereals, no matter how unhealthy I think they are. I couldn't be bothered.

Ok, going to sleep early tonight. I'm letting myself off because no longer can my brain take any more analysis of the piece a classmate and I have to do for Monday's seminar. We both agree that we've got the hardest movement of the whole piece he set for the class. Sigh, got to get up early tomorrow when I really want to sleep in, especially in such cold weather. But I've got loads to do!

Oh yea, and I'm going for the Chinese New Year dinner next Sunday, but have nothing to wear. Gotta find time to go shopping, but when? This is such a hassle. But I don't want to be MIA again like last year, and anyway where's the fun in staying home by myself on Chinese New Year?

Survivor XXII Ep.3

Third day of our no-heater existence in this house. The boiler is still not fixed (landlord called at 4pm to say he's coming with someone tomorrow), and day by day it's getting colder.

The first day was not that bad, since the house still had what little of the remaining heat left. The second day was ok, I survived sleeping wearing a jumper over what I usually wear, although I kept waking up during the night feeling cold. Which can't be a good thing...

Because tonight, I think maybe I will just be kept awake forever from the cold. The house now feels as cold as it is outside (as in, wearing a t-shirt + jumper + trackpants around the house feels the same as wearing a t-shirt + winter jacket + jeans outside). And 'smoke' comes out of our house sometimes when we talk. Especially when we yawn. This is really bad. I guess, in order to not feel so miserable, I could count my blessings and thank my lucky stars that we can still take a warm shower.

XG, NH and I were absolutely frozen after being drenched from a sudden heavy downpour right as we were walking out of our landlord's shop (very much like Singapore's mama shops) after paying our rent. We took shelter under the building next to it for a while, but when it just went on and on we began our freezing walk home in the rain. NH and I were lucky to have been wearing jackets with hoods, but even so our faces got drenched due to the strong wind.

Once we reached home we couldn't stand the cold anymore and turned the oven to the highest temperature and left its door open in order to heat up the kitchen. And we ordered curry for dinner. In order to warm up, NH suggested we 'make it hot'... as in, order the curries that are as spicy as possible. So XG ordered a Prawn Balti, a Chicken Madras and a Mutton Vindaloo. Balti has become a very popular thing in UK, and it's something (a way of cooking) that was started in Birmingham. Of the three curries we ate, Balti was the mildest and Vindaloo was the spiciest. I think Vindaloo would be something like a devil's curry, or maybe a bit spicier (?? not sure...). Madras would be like a normal curry, but with a stronger tumeric taste (maybe something like the strongly-smells-of-tumeric kind of Indian curries, but milder??). Balti was not really spicy... maybe like not-spicy-enough curry lor.

The Vindaloo rocked. We warmed up real fast. And also started shivering real fast, once we finished dinner. XG went to spend the night at his girlfriend's house, leaving NH and I to suffer here... sigh... gonna be a long night...

Freezing

The boiler that's akin to the heart of the heating system of my house broke down yesterday. For the last couple of days it's been producing lots of noise (lots more than usual) when turned on, but nobody suspected anything to be wrong with it.

Last evening NH and I were having fried rice for dinner (irrelevant I know), and then he suddenly noticed that the boiler was leaking. So we put one of my big mixing bowls under it (I think I will wash it ten times before using again, the water stinks) to catch the water and turned off heating. So that began our pathetic no-heating lives, smack in the middle of winter. With double-glazed windows that don't seem to work (with double-glazed windows you wouldn't have condensation droplets on either side of the window, but ours have condensation on both sides, hence the mould in my room; we suspect the landlord cut corners).

And then YR dropped by for a short visit (he was just kaypoh to know about how NH's romantic holiday went), and when he saw how pathetic the mixing bowl was (it was filling up fast) he came up with a great idea. We constructed a 'water slide' out of aluminium foil, raised it at one end with the mixing bowl and in the middle with a baking tray (mine again...) so that the water would flow into the kitchen sink.

When we called the landlord, he was in London celebrating the New Year and said he would send someone here to fix it today. And when I came home after work today, it still wasn't fixed. The guy tried but failed, so he said he would ask the agent (of the boiler's brand) to come tomorrow. Argh. British efficiency is rubbish. Why isn't there any 24-hour emergency thingy, especially in winter!!! Furthermore, the landlord's brother said he'd send someone here to loan us some portable electrical heaters but hasn't come round by now.

The whole boiler is also switched off now so that no more water will flow into it, which also means we don't even have domestic hot water. Was complaining that I would definitely not survive without bathing, and even contemplated taking a cold shower. But taking a cold shower in mid-winter is different from taking one during the good ol' days at band camps. I don't think I could survive being drenched in cold water in an already cold room.

Then, thinking back on one day last year... I recalled my 'babies' (I babysitted someone's kids). Their heating system had broken down and the only way the kids could take a bath was for the parents to boil huge pots of hot water in the kitchen, then carry them upstairs to the bathroom. Hot water was then mixed with cold so that the kids could have warm water. So I decided to do the same.

Using NH's kettle, boiled about half a pail of water and after mixing it with water from the shower... I was left wondering why the water was still so hot. And then, it hit me. I realised that the shower in the bathroom I always use, unlike the one the other housemates always use, was an electrical one. Which means I could still have warm water for showering. Dang. Even NH didn't realise it when I told him I was going to boil water. Because he and the other housemates all find 'my' bathroom too small (oh come on, it's just narrow but the shower area is about the same, why are guys more fussy than a girl??), they never use it. Or only when the other bathroom is occupied. Muahaha all the better, my own private bathroom! And I don't have to share with them! (Would rather not go into detail how disgusting their bathroom sometimes looks...)

When I told NH that my shower works he took a bath immediately hehe. And because neither of us fancied washing our hands blue from doing the dishes with no domestic hot water, we ordered pizza delivery for dinner. A little spendthrift, but whatever, take it as celebrating new year lor.

Some ways to (slightly) lower living costs

1. Switch the heater to timer mode
Only use heating from 5pm to 12 midnight and 5am to 9am. This saves a lot of spending on gas. This actually started out in my head as a rant about how cold my house is, but I know it's also saving me quite a lot.

2. Walk
Walk to anywhere manageable (e.g. average maximum distance of an hour on foot). I used to do this all the time last year, but being rather short of time this year, I'd rather pay to take the train and save some of my precious time.

3. Buy groceries from 'cheap places'
Some places have lower prices, especially if buying in bulk. And if it's too far to carry too heavy a load home, over here we have the 'family saver' thing for bus fares where three to five people can get together and pay less for their bus fares.

4. Only buy snacks when needed
I only buy snacks when I feel like snacking, as opposed to last year when every trip I made to buy groceries included the compulsory buying of snacks. It not only adds to grocery spendings, it also means I eat more. But I guess it doesn't really help a lot when I feel like snacking all the time anyway.

5. Find a job
Part-time jobs are great. The only drawback is having to manage my time well so that I don't neglect school work. Which is not a big problem for me I guess, since even if I wasn't working I'd be slacking instead of doing work. So why not spend the slacking time earning some cash and then really stressing myself out thinking there's no way I'll ever finish the school work on time? Non-clerical/office jobs are also good fat-burners, especially jobs like store assistants, waitressing, cooking, cleaning etc.

6. Try not to splurge
Very common sense. I haven't bought a single piece of clothing since I came here this year. Neither have I eaten at any fast-food places which are so tempting and mouth-watering each time I walk past them. My stomach always starts churning and I think I'd be salivating if not for fear of looking disgusting in public, but I convince myself that I could whip up a tasty, healthier meal at home for half the price anyway. But I've been out for dinner with a few friends a couple of times at some chinese restaurants, although each time I try to spend less than ten pounds (which is quite reasonable compared to if I ate out very often with friends in Singapore).

But oh! I'm so going to splurge on Boxing Day! I can't wait for Boxing Day sales... ooh I want a new pair of jeans. Some sweaters, a jacket (maybe?), things I can wear in spring, things I can wear in summer... I can't wait. I'm starting to save up now, keeping my salary safe and using as little of it as I can. It would be better still if I got to spend the day with him, even just as a friend. The act of him asking if I wanted to go to the sales together, when we were getting ready for work and casually chatting about the sales, shows that at the very least he cares (as a friend). Right? I think I'm thinking too much... *blush* am I too love-deprived or what?!