fortune teller

i saw a tarot card reader today.

she had set herself up on a corner of a bookshop that was about to close. and since i had always wanted to have my future read, i leapt at my (very expensive) chance.

i came away from the table with only a hazy recollection of what the lady was talking about. at one point through my 20 minutes, i remember wishing i had brought a pen and paper with me to write down the things she said. a voice recorder would have been even better.

but oh wells, all i have now is my very unreliable memory.

i asked her about my career. the younger me would have found this exceedingly odd. i always imagined myself asking more frivolous stuff, like about my love life.

but i guess the pressing question in my mind is whether i really ought to practice law, or should i be doing something else.

it was the reader (i shall just call her "reader" because its fewer words and letters) who suggested i ask these questions (if i continue with law, will i be successful? if i change fields, what will it be and when will i know?) when i told her i wanted to ask about my career. it slightly surprised me how she managed to get to the root of my problem so explicitly when i gave her minimal information. but then again, she's supposed to be clairvoyant after all.


as for the answers i received, they were much more vague.

all i can remember is that she said if i did stick to this field, i would find success. but if i did change fields, i too would find success. (yes, i do think she might have been playing it safe there) but she did say that i might have problems with the oncoming exams (a not so good card), she also mentioned traveling. that i might take a gap year off next year or something. and err... that when i was done with traveling, would be offered a junior position somewhere, but it was not in the UK.

what else... hmm...

she mentioned me meeting a guy next year who would be instrumental in deciding which field i should go into, should i decide to change fields. this guy could also be a romantic interest.

she kept saying that she sensed that i was a romantic. and at one point, when we were asking about how successful i would be in law, she suddenly burst out saying something along the lines of "would you rather just get married and have children??" which kinda surprised me, but i did find myself nodding. LOL
and she said she saw me marrying in about 4 years time with 3-4 kids. hmm... random.

she also said that i could consider journalism. she kept asking if i was creative. i didnt really answer that though because i didnt think i was particularly creative.

gosh, i really cant remember what else she said.

oh ya, she asked if i was the visual type of person. like i would see things and realize things that others usually wouldnt think of. then she gave the example of sitting in a train opposite a guy with funny ears and noticing the ears. i said yes. but on afterthought, wouldnt most people?

before we ended, i suddenly asked if she could see my aura (it was in the pamphlet ok!). she said mine was pink and orange. pink was good stuff like charisma, but orange was stress. hmm... i never thought of myself as particularly stressed. :(

and i guess thats it!

of how a sponsorship fell onto my lap

im not sure if i've mentioned this before, but i choose my dining nights based on the menu. and tonights meal certainly did not disappoint! it was by far the best food i've had of all my dining sessions :D

this was the menu:

Cream of Artichoke Soup laced with Truffle Oil

***

Grilled Seabass, Chive Mash & Fennel Cream

***

Sirloin of Beef Chasseur

Braised New Potatoes

Boiled Courgettes

***

Panna Cotta with Roasted Pineapple

***

Dessert & Coffee

the seabass was delicious and the steak was perfect. it was medium rare and extremely tender, just the way i like it :D

oh and i think i should explain what the dinings are in case you have been reading and dont understand what im talking about.

in order to be called to the bar, it is not enough to just take the bar vocational course, we have to join an inn (there are 4 inns to choose from. i chose lincolns because it has the highest number of malaysians) as well. it is the inns that will call us to the bar. but in order to qualify, we will need to attend a certain number of qualifying sessions (12 i think) and these qualifying sessions are called dinings.

ok, thats my explanation, meaning thats what i think is right, but feel free to correct me if im wrong =p

anways, back to my title, tonight was sponsorship night. i didnt have a sponsor, but i went anyway because the menu was good (and totally worth even if i had to be alone and not have anyone to talk to because everyone else was trying to get to know their sponsors).

so there i was, sitting there sponsorless, when the barrister diagonally opposite me asked me if i had a sponsor. i said no, and he offered to be my sponsor even though he was already sponsoring 3 other students! woohoo! am i lucky or what (or is he just collecting students???)! hahaha...

oh btw, a sponsor is basically a mentor for the students. some really lucky/brilliant students manage to get pupillages with their mentors help, or even from their mentors!

i originally didnt bother applying to have a sponsor because im not that into law anyway and dont have super deep questions to ask, nor would i want to be sucked into a deep conversation about politics/laws/whatever else, but since i got offered a sponsorship without even applying for one, i'd be a fool to reject! who knows, a pupillage might fall into my lap next ;)

domus dining

i had dining at lincolns inn tonight and it went pretty well :D

the highlight was that i sat opposite CHERIE BLAIR! (ok fine, opposite diagonally, but details details, who cares! wtf)

i didnt talk much to her though... the guys next and opposite her were hogging all her attention, talking about super deep stuff that my shallow brain cant handle, so i talked to the girls next to and opposite me instead. wtf

i had a sudden thought... god forbid she google alerts her name and is reading this right now.
*shrivels in mortification*

anyway, she was really nice though, i just didnt dare say much lest my lack of knowledge becomes apparent :(

oh and the food tonight was excellent! my favourite was the 2nd course where we had salmon on toast (except that the bread was called croque). i think the chocolate in the dessert was overkill though my new friends seemed to not be able to get enough of it.

oh and we had like 4 differently sized glasses and 4 sets of cutlery, not to mention the dessert spoons. damn atas. hahahahahaah

and there was a part of the dinner towards the end when we all raised our glasses of port and said "to the queen!". super atas weiiii *sakai*

ok la, thats all. i have 4 more dinings this sem, but they wont be as interesting coz i bet cherie blair wont be there anymore and also coz the domus dinner is the fanciest dinning night already. there is a grande dinner, but im not going to that one.

i've been caked

im not sure which lecturer came up with this, but basically anyone whose phone goes off in class (or any other similar transgression), gets caked.

this means that for the next lesson, they will have to bring cake for everyone in class.

so the other day, my phone went off and i got caked.

personally, it was the perfect excuse for me to start baking again ;)

so i whipped out my "hummingbird bakery" recipe book (that i got for about 3 or 4 pounds at a book sale) and got busy.

i chose a chocolate cake and although i didnt have a few ingredients, i substituted =p

i used soya milk instead of whole milk coz that was all i could find in the fridge (domo arigato jo!) and completely omitted the vanilla essence because i ran out of it and was too lazy to go out and buy some. also i made up my own frosting that was wayyy too liquid and in the end i barely used any of it.

BUT the cake still turned out great! really moist and chocolatey! i do wanna try it again with the proper ingredients though... im sure it'll taste much richer! :D

sorry, no pics, maybe next time =p

i finally have internet! no more barging into jo's room to bug her while she tries to watch house =p

ok, so i havent posted any pics of my new place, so one of the 1st things i did was to transfer pics from my phone to flickr. and in doing so, i discovered half a zillion old pictures that i'd nearly all but forgotten.

so from a couple of selected pictures, i'll sum up my year ;)


ok, so i kinda lied. this was recently transferred from my mum's phone and taken circa 2006.
it me, chump n cherie.
chump has no eyes!
do we look alike?


this was taken early 2007. i was bored and snapped a photo of myself on my mum's phone n was surprised to see how anorexic (and boobless) i looked, so i took more!
alas, i was 48kg then and have since gained about 5kg :(


CNY 2008

and finally we come to this year's pics.

blue monday @ sushi king.
witness my gluttony!


nah, i didnt eat all that alone!


this was the worst batch of bread ever!

subway was a huge part of my life for some time.
for awhile, it seemed like all i ever did was go to work and go home.
and that's thali's arm.
i loved the people there, it almost made up for the pitiful salary. almost.


my trip to manchester!
where bernie allowed me to ride his bike and i nearly got myself killed several times.


eye of manchester.
this was my phone's wallpaper for some time.


the stupid "michelin starred british food restaurant".
please remind me about this incident the next time bernie suggests a place to eat...


in this picture, i was trying on a pair of high waisted shorts but wasnt sure about them.
i ended up not buying them coz i decided i couldnt pull it off.

yes, i was very much into knee high socks for a time.
(i miss my long hair T_T)


giving high waisted shorts another shot.
and i do quite regret not buying them T_T


my 1st ever cap!
im not a hat person, so when i found a cap that fit me, i was soo happy, i bought it immediately. only to have friends tell me that the hat was still too big for me T_T
oh the sorrows of a small head.
(i miss my long hair T_T)


this was when it was summer.
i didnt think it was gonna be cold, so i just wore the cardigan n skirt out. it got really chilly, so i pulled my scarf out and got laughed at again because my whole outfit just looked wierd. like my top half was in winter and my bottom half was in summer. T_T
why do i always get laughed at T__T


exam time!


and then graduation


one of the biggest roses i have ever seen!


jeannie's birthday
(i wonder how many of u have noticed by now that my chronology is shit)
have i mentioned how much i miss my long hair? i miss my long hair.


@ anson's birthday


and thats anson with a very chubby me.
48kg, where did u go!


my brief addiction to ebay.


taken last month when kiong, stella and i decided to take a night stroll around london


lets all laugh at kiong's beggar shirt, that he's very proud of coz his nipples can be seen. wtf
not to mention that knowing kiong, his shirt prolly cost a bomb.

my phone's wallpaper is now of the london eye. sans people of course.

and finally we've reached the pictures of my new room.

view from the doorway.


according to jo, it looks like i've lived here all my life.
but i've only been here a month =p


my cupboard and table.

maybe i'll post up pics of the kitchen next time :)

so i STILL dont have internet. oh joy.

its 5pm and i have a day off tomorrow. so what do i do? go to the library and do legal research. exciting.

pardon the negativity, im not in the best of moods.

the freshers party is tomorrow, but i doubt im going.

i went clubbing last friday and its taken me the whole weekend to recover. i used to club several times a week and now i cant even do it once a week! damn im old.

in addition, i've caught a cold :(

yes yes, woe is me, whine whine whine.

on the bright side, i think im gonna be up for a new experience soon. but then again, im not sure if this is good or bad news.

im wondering what i should do tomorrow:
a) follow jo to court in the morning
b) stay in bed as long as possible
c) go to uni to do my legal research

we'll see...