last trip for  awhile…all this city/town hopping is burning a hole in my already crummy pocket…but guess where i was?

*picture = hint*

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CHESTERRRRRR~! (^-^)b finally got there after a year of procrastinating to go visit Inga…anyhoo, with all the recent phototaking, i had forgotten to charge the camera (i usually run out of space before battery but ever since i borrowed a larger SD card, its been other other way around and i keep forgetting!) so…the one day i wanted and was ALLOWED to get all tourist-y like…my camera refused to work..m(_ _)m

it’s alright~ main purpose there was to visit “The Cheese Shop” (^-^); so i got my cheeses (a garlic staffordshire cheese and halloumi) and we made off to go see the Museum & Amphitheater before going down to sit by River Dee with some Ice Cream…weather was pretty horrid so we hurriedly crossed the river, took a picture with the craving and headed for shelter at Inga’s place..

she also made lunch! and gave me tea (^-^); pai seh but…i’m kinda feeling realllllly fortunate now…the accommodation at Chester Uni for International Students is pretty bad and is TINY! something always appeared to be broken and they only have a fridge half the size of the one we had last year for practically the same number of people…and even that was broken for a couple of weeks…

so, granted it’s not my place to complain about it…i’m just finding it really unfair…=_=

OH OH OH OH OH!!! I’ve finally seen THE picture! Remember the house we thatched last summer? 

IT SURVIVED FINLAND’S HARSH WINTER!!!!!

YES!!!!!

it’s been awhile…yet again…(^-^); but summer’s been busy! with work, travelling and my random weekend runaways. Not too sure if my last post was before or after my trip to Italy earlier this month (EDIT: it was before! xD)…

Since then, every week has been spent somewhere, doing something…it’s been really productive! and now that i’m back from Cambridge after chatting with the newly graduated bunch, i’m kind of all fired up to get started with work already. I think it was absolutely AWESOME we all got to meet up again as a bunch. All thanks to Inga! (^-^)b

so yes, as with anything with these guys, i’ve tried something new again…hahaha, these are the cycling instructors who have not forgotten the *ahem* 5 hours to cycle back from Kierriki…or the fall into the nettle bush… m(_ _)m in fact, it might have been the nettle bush that spurred me to learn how cycle…but anyhoo! we all went punting!!! (^.~) we left it to the expert to get us through the first half of the journey…

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beautiful day! this was the FANTASTIC weather the ENTIRE time we were there (^-^)b i now hope for Tom’s sake that the weather carries on like that because parading in the rain in furry graduate gear doesn’t sound very appealing.

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the entire route was beautiful! with every new bridge we passed (there were tons) the scenery changed. There was this part in particular that reminded me of Clarke Quay xD i think i might just be a -little- bit more home sick then i thought….

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LOL! but the fun part only began on the return journey…when i took control of the punt…HAHAHAHAHA…oh dear lord, that was probably the worst idea i had all year. the punt kept colliding into the sides of the bank, into unsuspecting ducks and geese…and more memorably…into other punts!

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Laura, Inga and Phillipa all took their turns after me too..LOL! switching punters in the middle of the river is probably the most horrifying thing EVER. not because we’re afraid of getting hurt falling in, but because it’s generally hard to accomplish and really hurts the pride when you pull in to moor and everyone’s soaked! lol, but we were fine under Phillipa’s awesome steering! erm….this is just her feet, but you get the idea.

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We did some sight seeing around the colleges after Phillipa and her friend, Melissa, left to pack…she rejoined us for dinner later at one of the BEST asian restaurant i’ve dined in since coming to the UK. it’s called Asia (^-^); but the service was spectacular and so was the food! just a tad pricey though…a bowl of rice set me back £2.05! however, taking the rest of the meal into consideration, it was well worth it!

Sent Phillipa off the train station after this, and went back to the hotel to rest our feet….it probably was not a very good idea on my part to decide to use this trip to break in the boots…(^.^); After abit, we left to meet up with Tom again for a drink at the Eagle, a pub that the discovery of DNA was announced at apparently. It was also here that i learnt what ‘pennying’ is the hard way.

because i take FOREVER to finish any drink, both Tom and Laura popped pennies into my drink and i had to down it…it was all in good time because the pub was about to close in 5 too… ‘When in Rome’ right…so i did and dear god…that short walk around cambridge’s allies in search of the few remaining gas lamps in the UK was the hardest thing i had to do in a long time. 

still, i must say i had the best sleep EVER that night…got back, showered and just knocked out till the next morning when we visited the Uni’s Anthropology and Archaeology Museum along with the Fitzwilliam. In the middle, we stopped for the famous Chelsea Buns! Just LOOK at them!

CIMG3519SUGARY GOODNESS! we all had to clean our faces after this..lol, there is no easy way to consume this, but it was worth the hassle…like fudge though, this should probably only be eaten conservatively…(^-^); SOOOOOOO SWEEEEEEEEEEET!

Inga has the other with Phillipa…but anyhoo, last group picture in the park~ 

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:( i like cambridgeeeeeeeee! *runs back*

been awhile? (^-^); nothing much to post about…

still working on the roof of the thatched house…still the same feeling of disbelief that i’ll be leaving for sg soon…

i kinda want to travel uk while it’s still ‘warm’…but…tons to look forward to when i get back too…KCP gathering the day after i get back (^_____^)

i like my hat (^-^) we kinda settled on the idea that i’m an imported daughter of Genghis Khan…lol..

anyhoo~~~~! yesterday was the first of 3 days of the stoneage marketplace event kierikki is holding…and we got to dress up!!! still with shoes and gloves on because building the house barefooted on the wooden ladder and with saws and knives lying around isn’t too smart…=_=

there was wrestling (stone age?), flint knapping, archery…etc etc…live demonstrations by the professionals too~! which i mostly missed (T-T) but, laura’s got my camera and is video-ing it today/now actually…so…we’ll see? (^-^)

end of the day…hahaha, the wrestlers/professionals and us just hanging around having coffee and salmon…we’ll be going to the stone age steam room later today too…looking forward to that and finishing the roof!

it’s the end of week 5 and it’s still not done (we had estimated it would take 2.5 weeks tops!) but…as inga would put it…

who cares?

can’t believe i’ve been here for a month lioa…

more then that….i can’t believe i’ve been here for a month and the house STILL isn’t done

=_= the streak of bad weather we’ve been having…haix…

today’s good though…i’m just in a very ‘haix’ kind of mood because i kinda just lost ALL the photos from this week…don’t know how that happened because i really didn’t delete all the photos leh…was just about to upload it to my com and it was all plugged in, but when i opened the drive, it was empty…

empty…

and i got some really nice comparison photos for my report too…all gone larh….

i know…shit happens, rama rama…but…heart pain lar

haix….anyhoo, i’m here and will be going to get some more photos to replace the ones i’ve lost…no comparison shots, but at least i can get some new ones…

i’ve lost the photos of my sitting on the top of the rood too!!!

nooooooooo…this means i’ve got to do it again?!?!?!?!

*pales*

oh oh oh, and news! i’ll be heading up north to the laplands to visit the santa claus village!!! how cool is that?!?!? x

1) Learn to Cycle = DONE
2) Like Milk/Cheese = DONE
3) Become completely vegetarian = DONE
4) Trampoline = DONE
5) Go into a sauna (Sah-oo-na) = DONE xD

and….

6) Jump into a pond AFTER a sauna = DONE!!!!

lol, it really helps to sooth the aching muscles after a hard day’s work of picking flowers…yep! picking flowers~ we all spent half the day with our necks craned upwards picking the flowers off the reed roof from the inside because they are a fire hazard (would have been much easier to have just chopped all off them off before using it…but we never thought of that)

it’s a NEVER-ENDING TASK!

cut some, more pop out…

sian sia~~~~

so yeah, got back and went for a sauna and (at the recommendation of both Tom and Philippa) slowlyyyyyyy dipped myself into the pond (well, they did say to just jump ~.~ )…it was TERRIBLE! prolonged agony that it (=_=); so to warm up, we went for another sauna and i JUMPED into the pond..

hahaha…

it was FREEZINGGGGGGG *attempts a faked liverpudlian accent*

but after 2 seconds, it was GREAT! i even got the Panda brand white choco that i bargained for…xD

mnnnn…andddddd just to prove i really am in Finland on work, i found a couple fragments of bones and quartz flakes AND a quartz tool! *jumps around*

my FIRST find ever though was a burnt rock which i have permission to keep because they would have thrown it away anyway (T-T) xP

so! lunch is almost over and i’ve gotta round some internet surfing time up so…laterzzzz

today….i’ve managed to cut myself with a stone age pot sherd…

=_=

not with the saw/knifes/dagger-like-things…but an ancient pot sherd…

whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

hahaha, we went slightly crazy with the choco for abit….you would if you were 9km away from the closest supermarket!!! (^-^)/

12 days since i’ve been in Finland and i’ve FINALLY been able to connect to the internet with my own computer after cycling for 4km with my laptop and an hour of configuring the connection….BUT!

this is where they are putting us up at…an old school house…lol, i was expecting something really run down and scary looking…but i have my own room (the living room xD) and we have our fridge restocked everyday! and…this is where i work everyday~~~

it’s simply AMAAAAAAAAAAAAZING! xD

well, it hasn’t been looking so amazing the past week because it’s been pouring and we’ve had to work in the rain and cold….(mind you, we’re building a house…lol, i suppose that COUNTS as experimental archaeology because we’re reconstructing a stone age house)

well, day one was pretty much spent settling in…SOME of us HAD been traveling for 30 hours (me =_=) got to the airport here and realised that the language barrier COULD pose quite a bit of a problem…all 4 of us were a little peeved…well..not pissed peeved….just exhausted peeved…one guy was also missing and we weren’t told he had opted out of the programme so we were waiting at EVERY airport and stop along the way…hoping to find him….

day 2 was introductions…we’ve been working on building a roof for a thatched house…we began with nothing but the main wooden frame 9 days ago and it now looks like…

*beams*

i’m so proud…lol…falling off the top of the house suddenly seems ALMOST worth it…so has falling like 28000 times learning how to cycle so i don’t have to spend 2 hours walking to and from work everyday (which i kinda did for one week after scraping my knee and bruising my entire bum and earning myself 28 bruises from the pedels constantly hitting my shin….)

yeah….

so now…both Siim and Sam (our ‘instructors’ in building the house) have left and it’s only the 3 of us (Inga who works as an archaeologist for the site, Tom whose another student on the programme and I) to finish off the house…T-T i’ve managed to fall off the ceiling on the inside of the house 2 hours after Siim left..so….i have no idea how i’m gonna survive the next week finishing the house….lol

anyhoo…i smell lunch (did i mention we get hotel food for lunch EVERYDAY! pays to work at an archaeological site and hotel establishment) and i’m kinda running low on power…so…

i’ll be BACK!

(that’s Siim, Inga, Tom and I…i don’t have photos of Laura and Philippa on my cam)

yep, today’s Saturday (ok, it’s 12.30am only, but still! it’s sat! xP )

which meanssssssssss

1 more day till i leave liverpool!!!

haha, and i haven’t packed anything…(^-^); haven’t got the foggiest what i should be bringing other then the obvious stuff larh…so, i just hope i don’t mess up on my first day? (^-^); ehehehe…

anyhoo, while waiting for the laundry to be done, i figured i’d settle in and watch a movie…haha, of course i had to go for the basketball one…needed something light (NOT Infernal Affairs like, although i LOVED the movie, edge of seat man…edge of sear) it was kinda like your usual teen flick i guess…good coach gone bad meets horrible team and has to turn them around. he obviously does…happy ending…

the end~~~~

*nods*

exactly what i needed since i’ve been rather tightly strung these past few days…

yep, gonna sleep early tonight and wake up early to sort out all my documents, files, assessment sheets and PACK!

long day ahead of me from tml on out…

ta~

同样的机场不同世界
同样的咖啡不同味觉
同样的我和我都少了一些
看飞机划过天空不见了

用你给我的翅膀飞我懂这不是伤悲
再高都不会累我们都说好了
用你给我的翅膀飞我感觉己够安慰
乌云也不再多我们也不为谁掉眼泪

空气中藏著你的香味
回忆里躲著你的眼泪
最后拥抱的温暖还有一些
我拖著行李往前一直走

用你给我的翅膀飞我懂这不是伤悲
再高都不会累我们都说好了
用你给我的翅膀飞我感觉己够安慰
乌云也不再多我们也不为谁掉眼泪

看一看回忆是云朵一朵朵的飘过
若想要回头就无法傲翔

用你给我的翅膀飞我懂这不是伤悲
再高都不会累我们都说好了
用你给我的翅膀飞我感觉己够安慰
乌云也不再多我们也不为谁掉眼泪

乌云也不再多我们也不为谁掉眼泪

=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=

i’m bored…i’ve stopped cooking already, so it’s TV dinners for me till i leave this sunday afternoon.

3 days 16 hours 11 minutes 36 seconds till i leave for london

mwahahahahaha

i’ll be in finland next monday larh! can you imagine?!?! NEXT MONDAY!

everyone else is already digging on some site in the UK, and i’m still bumming around (kinda feel bad and totally restless) well, to make up for it, i’m actually doing an additional 2 weeks then the stipulated requirement for graduation…haha…am also already planning to do museum work next summer (either in the UK or SG…or actually, anywhere in the world!) to broaden experience?

(^-^);> we don’t have any conservation or sustainability modules so, must find a way to make up for that (although i’ve already covered abit of that in Macau last last year…but still…kiasu is kiasu) xP

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