Thursday, July 14, 2011

UK day 305- thank you for everything!!! =)

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

i had just closed my bank account.

and i realize... im glad that everything is over. simply relieved.

i just dont understand why does it have to take more than 3days for any debit usage to deduct the money from any account. i was told that 'that's why we tell customer not to use their debit card a week before closing the account' unfortunately, i had never heard that before. so ridiculous!

how freaking slow the way they work here. thought the lady was friendly, i was perplexed when she said 'i will pass this form to customer service, and after the amount is cleared-hopefully they will close the account for you'

?? what ?? hopefully ?? i asked and laugh nervously, 'what do you mean by hopefully??'

cut thing short- again- im just simply relieved that im leaving UK tomorrow.

back from bristol-bath-stonehedge-london!


my cousin and her basket of bacteria-virus- soft toy (YES, they are all carton version of bacteria virus! and she recognize each one of them correctly! really a doctor-in-making!)


final holiday trip!

went to bristol to find my cousin. met a china girl travelling on her own in the train and we had a nice chat.

bristol was rainy for the whole day that day. after we enjoyed our pasta, we just stroll around for a while and head back to my cousin's flat for a nice sleep followed by pizza dinner. cosy!

second day we went to 2 small charming villages called Castle Combe and Lacock. a cloudy day followed by sunny summer sky <3 and we saw a couple getting married at Castle combe. real nice small warm gathering.

Lacock is a village previously owned privately by Matilda Talbot-but she donated it to national trust. we visited Lacock Abbey -a small castle-look-alike-home, which is shocking inside.

such a lavish, bloody rich awesome-ness. even by my-modern standard. imagine how rich they were during those days!

third day we visited the famous Stonehedge! i love the journey much more than the destination. seriously, it is just some rock to my eyes. but the english gentle hills on the way-or the horse carving on the hill-visible from miles away- are so much more interesting!

we also visited Bath-and definitely went in to the Roman Bath complex.

bloody hell. Roman are definitely people who knows how to enjoy life-starting few hundreds year back!

forth day i bit cousin goodbye and head to london for a day trip!

thanks God for the awesome sunny day, i spent most of my time in Hyde park, oozing.. reading book, lying on the grass.

(something that you must do while visiting UK during its summer!)

----
and so now had done 75% of my packing, time to sleep!

Friday, July 8, 2011

back from cotswold!

in front of a very cute house at Chipping campden
-----

ma lau and i once again back from a solo trip to cotswold!

Thanks God for your guidance, this trip has been a great one.

although weather forecast it will be 60% possibility of rain, it was a great first day.

went to a beautiful village called Moreton-in-Marsh, then catch bus to Chipping Campden and enjoyed a stroll. the village is totally charming, everybody is so friendly. it is full with grandpa or grandma couple everywhere! they look you in the eye and without any hesitancy smile at you.

so warm.

one lady even stopped and chatted with me when i was resting at the garden chair waiting for my bus.

stayed over one night at Stow-on-the-wold, and had a surprising dinner.

i was sitting alone at a restaurant waiting for my meal, and saw a lady smiling at me. surprisingly, she walked over and invited me to join her table.

she said she had seen me the whole day in the few villages. and i indeed remember her and her hubby because both of them are into taking pictures

the lady using DSLR and hubby using compact digital camera. it is really an unusual scene for westerner. i realize most of the time they-unlike us asian-are more into 'absorbing the moment' and really seldom see them holding camera taking outdoor scenery. moreover, it is rather unique to see both of them are taking pictures using two cameras. normally it will be just the wife or just the husband.

Dennis and Peter are Australian from Tasmania, on their 7weeks holiday (gosh! see how different they are to us generally! i am always amazed at how they can go holiday for such a long period of time!) they went to south africa, cruise to europe countries, and exploring UK.

im really blessed, really a pleasant dinner. (especially that australian accent are much more easier to catch hahaha...and it is easier for me to be understood by them ^^)

and the girls in my room are really nice people too. the atmosphere is just...warm and cheerful.

all are travelling on their own, two girls from US, one i didn't get chance to ask, and later on at night a daughter and mother (quite an old lady-grandma with DSLR! cool!) the daughter is so cute 'LOOK! the moon is out!' and so excitedly taking pictures of it. and another lady 'you know, it's the same moon'

talked to one of the US girl, a medical student who went to volunteer in west africa for a year before decided that she wants to be doctor to help human race. how courageous! medical study is so so so so so not easy and takes a loooooooooong time! she took biology during college, and well-kinda connected to medical study.

and i just know that in US, you need to take college of 4 years before they let you into university of medical studies of 4 years, and then you have to do residency 5years if you want to continue into specialist. or else, it is still need 2years of residency (internship) to get license to start practice.

omg.omg.omg. God bless her.

another girl is on 6moths of holiday (WHAT?!) it is a pity i didn't get to talk to her more, wish to hear more of her stories =)

and it is a pity i just dont have a nice moment to ask for their facebook-to keep in touch perhaps?

the mood was just the happiest hostel ever. probably something to do with the village charm. just like what Dennis said. everybody is just so much more friendlier.

-------
and i realize, in this life you will always meet lots of people with whom probably you will only meet them once in your life. kinda bitter sweet. thank you all for making my journey a real pleasant one!


Sunday, July 3, 2011

july has come!

im flying back indonesia in another 2 weeks time!

and now i have to write an apology letter to an old friend. damn old messiness that i feel i have enough courage to face it up.

often i would wish for courage to be able to grow like how you grow a plant. and have a ready-to-eat-leaves to charge you with its energy when you feel too small to handle something.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

back from scotland!

back from scotland 4days tour!

interesting sun that doesnt go down until 9.30 at night, and the sky that's still bright till 10.30

awesome mountains and valley with little cottage here and there-totally what i had always seen in fairy tales illustration.

met awesome people on the tour group, and enjoyed myself alot

walked myself into graveyard twice a day and think of Nobody -from The Graveyard book by Neil Gaiman's book.

it's my first time travelling alone and i thanked God for protecting me all the while.

although first day was grey and wet, the following 3 days was totally awesome UK summer days.

and now i will try to upload some of those- 1250+pictures i had randomly taken from these last 4 days!

-----

today officially the other 2 housemates moved out from the flat. seeing the kitchen so empty i feel alone -lonelier than ever. it's funny to feel this way because actually we hardly met or talked but it feels better knowing somebody is around than when it is not. or is it right?

feeble mind. unnecessary sufferings. i will try to control you.

-----

2 old friends chat with me for a while-out of the blue. thank you for cheering me up with those silly youtube videos.

-----
and im goin for a day trip tomorrow to the birth place of william shakespeare. said to be little english village that's nearby birmingham.

hope it's another sunny day tomorrow!