A Chai Latte at The Forum and the Left Hand of God

Woke at 2:45 in the afternoon after receiving a text from Kirsty inviting me for a meet up in The Forum for a coffee and also to return her books that she left behind yesterday after dinner. Yes, 1445 hours. I did however get to sleep at about 0700 hours, having spent most of the night reading novels. I’ve been going to The Millennium Library quite often to borrow books for casual and professional reading. So far I’ve almost read the whole of the Andy McNab and Chris Ryan military series that they have written. They both used to be in the same SAS squad which got ambushed in the early 90s in the Middle-East, and were the only two to survive (as far as I can recall). It was a quick bath (I used the shower gel that Harbi bought for me) and an equally brief teeth brushing and then a brisk walk to The Forum. I ended up arriving about twenty minutes late, but we managed to have a good chat for about an hour and a half.

The Forum in its glory.

The ceiling caught my eye

Outside view

It’s always nice meeting new people; I find that my life is vibrantly coloured by my closest friends, and I make new ones everywhere I go no matter what I am doing. Kirsty used to work in the charity sector. She worked in the British Skin Foundation (which according to her inside scoop has approximately SIX full-time staff working on projects in the whole of the UK!), but wanted a more meaningful insight and experience in working with street children. She also was acquainted with Laura Hillier, who I used to volunteer with in Manchester. It’s funny how small the world is; one moment you’re laughing it up in Manchester drinking copious amounts of white wine with Laura and getting slightly tipsy and another moment you’re sat on the opposite end of the country chatting with someone about her! I think I am starting to become a believer of the theory of the “six degrees of separation”: the theory that everyone on this planet is connected somehow or another by six steps of friendship (friend of a friend e.g.). At first I was slightly dubious about it, but compelling evidence is starting to arise.

The church directly facing The Forum

After our rather long conversation which involved the makings of a plan to go bowling on Thursday with the usual suspects, I decided to head to the library to return my war books and borrow some more! This time however I chanced by the graphic novels section and randomly picked up a comic. It just so happened to be a graphic adaptation of “Prototype”, a computer game that I used to play back home in Malaysia. Of course, it went without saying that I immediately clutched it to my breast and borrowed it in addition to two other books from McNab as well as a book called “The Left Hand of God”.

Behold: the Millennium Library!

“The Left Hand of God” is a fantasy story involving a young lad of fourteen years who has been brought up in the vilest of conditions; in a religious sect where Christianity is twisted to become a horrible conviction. The people who you would normally call “pastors” or “deacons” or “priests” in real life were called “Redeemers” in the story. They absolutely reeked of depravity; torturing and hitting the boys for even the slightest mistake and feeding them loathsome food made out of random body parts and fats of animals. Anyway, this kid called Cale escapes from the Redeemers and saves a damsel in distress (classic!), and goes about learning for the first time what it is like to trust someone, to live in society and to carry one’s self in an appropriate manner. The story however is rather dark in essence; the writer encroaches on elements of death, violence, sex and the perverted aspect of human nature. Definitely not for under-18s, unless you feel somewhat curious in your young life and would like to know more about torture in the olden days of bows and swords.

Anyway, enough of the book reviews; Katelyn has missed her flight after the poor excuse of British transportation made it so that she arrived considerably late… too late as a matter of fact; by the time she arrived, getting on the flight was about as likely as me writing a dissertation in 20 minutes. So, off she headed back to Norwich. I managed to invite her for dinner tomorrow along with her new friends Ikki and Derald. I’m thinking maybe curry chicken (I won’t be so brash to say “Malaysian curry” for fear of being called out by Derald who is also a Malaysian).

The worst thing happened to me when I returned home. I was thinking of a lovely bolognaise for dinner,  and of course went about buying the suitable ingredients from Tesco. Imagine my great dismay when I returned home and found out that I had bought everything to the dot except for the chopped tomatoes! It was another trip to Tesco in a grump and a brisk self-checkout. At least I left the kettle on boil when I left, so it wasn’t a total waste of productivity.

The facial products that Harbi has purchased me have worked absolute wonders on my skin; already my acne is starting to go down and previously stubborn cysts have started draining. I know, I know… I really shouldn’t be talking about my face as a guy much less so my pus-ridden cysts, so I won’t dwell too much on that. But I will say thanks Harbi, and hopefully see you in London should transportation prove efficient enough for me to make a safe trip without delays or derailments!

WORK

The security firm I work with has not offered me any new shifts as of two weeks ago at Knowhere. They must be really full on staff at the moment, or maybe I’m just a crap doorman! I’m fine with both though; as much as I like arguing my point with surprising thick-headed people and drunken students, I find that I have more pressing things to attend to such as the family I have in Norwich. I received two emails from my future course conveners for next term; surprise surprise, we have preliminary readings to do during the holidays! Am I glad we start on the 17^th of January so I can have a look through all of them to ascertain as to whether I’m really suited for the courses I have chosen (Contemporary World Development, Conflict Peace and Security and Industrialisation and Development). Actually, the only module I can change my mind on is Conflict, Peace and Security; the other two are compulsory modules, so I guess I’ll have to grit my teeth and get to them if I find out I don’t flow with them. I’m sure I will however; I have enjoyed all my modules so far including Governance, Democracy and Development (although I’m not too sure how I did in the essay but would be very happy with a pass).  

Lo and behold, it’s three in the morning, and I don’t feel sleep whatsoever. Looks like I’ll be going to bed at seven again. I hope I get up in time to procure the necessary ingredients from Sainsbury for tomorrow’s feast. No worries though; I’ll have other late night stragglers for company and I have my novels!

And finally, I leave you with something I painstakingly created last night:

My Bike Ride down Avenue Road two months ago.

Stay safe,

Goodbye 2010 (Part 2)

I had an absolutely fantastic night on Friday! Got up at about one in the afternoon and proceeded to waste the day away by watching TV shows on my computer until a terrible sense of realization hit me; I had provided my Manchester student ID instead of my UEA ID when submitting my three pieces of coursework on Wednesday. Mini Heart Attack! I hastily pulled on some clothes (outer clothing  mind you; I’m not a naturist) and cycled with great fervor to campus, where I raced to the teaching office in the Arts Building; all three floors up and announced my spectacular mistake to Penelope Thimbleby seated at the teaching office reception desk. It turned out that she was just about to email me inquiring as to the strange number that I had written on my submission sheet. An overwhelming sense of relief flooded me. The papers had been collected and the pertinent adjustments made to the ID discrepancy. It was then when I received a phone call from Harbi Jama, who enquired as to my availability at half six; he was having a pre-drinks session at his place before heading to the city centre for the ball. I said I would come, but my hunger started gnawing at me big-time so I returned home and cooked myself some nice pasta bolognaise. By the time I had finished eating, it was already ten minutes past six. There was no way I was going to walk there in time to make myself comfortable, have some beverages and then catch a cab back to square one: the city centre (I live very close). I decided to take a nice bath and then dress up and make my way to Assembly House where the event was being held. I arrived in good time, and bumped into Aneel Piryani as I was taking a photo of the place. 

Behold: Assembly House in its Glory!

Sparking Chandeliers inside!

Along with a gothic-style candlestand!

I could not have chosen a better place to hold the End of Term Ball: truly a beautiful place with Victorian-esque pillars and high ceilings. We entered the venue and grabbed our welcome drink of Buck’s fizz (a combination of sparkling wine and orange juice for the uninformed) at which time Katelyn turned up, wearing stockings with snow boots which I found quite absurd. She was also carrying a backpack, which had her bridesmaid shoes in them (mind you, they’re EIGHT years old), and rushed to change into them after we pointed her in the direction of the lavatory/bathroom/restroom/watercloset/toilet/loo/e.g. 

I would have to say I enjoyed myself thoroughly during the party, especially when Adetola showed up wearing a flashy white African outfit with an equally gaudy golden hat! I actually stole that hat for about half an hour, photobombing and dancing with it perched precariously at an angle. Am yet to find photos of myself in precarious situations! We took turns pushing each other into the centre of the dance floor and watching them squirm in discomfort and embarrassment before breaking out into a random dance of flailing limbs finally ending with a long-suffering leer at the person who pushed them in. This continued in the same vein until I remembered that I had to go and see Ikki (my Japanese friend whom I met during the first term in UEA) in the Bell Hotel. So I excused myself and off I went, trudging along the icy footpaths, slipping and sliding all the way to the venue. The atmosphere was pleasant enough when I arrived, and I spent the next 30 minutes congratulating him and chit-chatting with the rest of his friends (who happen to make up a large part of the South-East Asian Society’s Committee). It was then when I met a fellow Malaysian by the name of Derald, who was studying Actuarial Science after spending a year in INTO. He knew Johnathan Beechey too, which I found quite amazing (which I really shouldn’t because he does Acturial Science too). It’s funny how small the world is. One moment you’re sitting at a mamak stall in Kuala Lumpur sipping teh ais (iced milk tea), eating roti canai (Malaysian style bread) enjoying the air-conditioner while complaining about the heat, and another moment you’re sitting in a nice warm lounge ten thousand kilometers away in a foreign country, while snowflakes gently flutter down outside the window conversing casually with a fellow Malaysian about winter plans. Brings about a sense of euphoria, methinks. 

We made plans to meet at his place for sushi dinner on Saturday, and then we went our separate ways; Ikki’s gang heading for Mercy and myself in the direction of the Dev Ball to complete our merrymaking. Everything was as I had left it; Raj was still dancing in his nice grey Cambridge suit and Harbi had ditched his cummerbund for higher dancing efficiency. Eventually, the fun ended at about half eleven, and I went outside slightly ahead of everyone to catch some fresh air with Aneel. Suddenly, mischief struck me. I made two absolute monsters of snowballs and lay in wait for the next person I knew brave enough to leave Assembly House. It happened to be Adetola, and I pelted him twice successively, ran around like a headless chicken trying to avoid his revenge, made peace with each other, and subsequently made the decision to ambush Raj as he came out. It was a success; we assailed him with a flurry of snowballs, and Ade took the opportunity to sneak up behind him and rub snow into his hair, which brought about screams of rage from said victim and a chase across the snow-covered lawn. I would gladly have done that over and over again just to hear his scream! 

Just before I shaped the two gigantic snowballs

Frozen Fountain

We went to a club called Mustard, and got free shots of Vodka but didn’t spend too much time there. After that, Harbi and Raj really wanted to go to Havana but I was a bit reluctant as the security company I work for has a contract with the club and I know some of the staff there. I decided to go and grab a bite to eat at a Kebab shop down Prince of Wales Road, and Katelyn as well as Camille decided to join me. We had to pass Havana to get to the Kebab shop so we decided to stick with the main group and say our goodbyes there. However as luck would have it, Adetola got refused entry because he hadn’t brought his passport with him, and Raj, being in a somewhat inebriated state, tried to argue incessantly with the doorman, who I recognized as one of my colleagues! He looked over at me; we made eye contact and smiled at each other. It was then when I decided to talk to Raj and tell him to calm down before he got himself into trouble. There were also two police officers patrolling the street as well, getting up and personal with drunken people and I really didn’t want poor Raj to get on the wrong side of the law! I ended up asking Harbi if he could take care of Raj while three of us headed to Prince of Wales. 

After a satiating meal of a Donner Kebab and a side order of chips, we decided to head home. A brief moment of panic was observed as Camille spotted her bus and ran toward it, only to have it leave her in a wake of ice-chippings as it pulled away without a shred of consideration for a young lady stuck at a bus stop at about two in the morning. Katelyn walked out of her way just so that she could have more time to talk with us which I thought was pretty sweet, but we parted right outside Marks and Spencer’s. I then walked Camille to her bus stop and we spent the next twenty minutes waiting for the next bus and talking about random things. Then it was off home and a nice sleep in bed. 

Dinner at Ikki’s

After a very fulfilling slumber, I woke at approximately twelve in the afternoon and proceeded to spend the next three hours watching TV shows and reading books in bed. It was only when the sky started turning blue that I thought it would be good if I actually got up and freshened up before dinner at Ikki’s place. I texted Harbi and Katelyn but decided not to contact Raj as he probably had a hangover from hell and would be working on his essays (poor fellow!). Harbi was burnt out after work and couldn’t make it so it was just me and Katelyn. I met her at the Forum at about six in the evening and we proceeded to Ikki’s place. We got a bit lost; my GPS simply refused to work, and we ended up going round in circles until we finally arrived at his house on Bury road. 

Derald, Faisal and Anya (L to R)

Side profile of Ikki engrossed in his monopoly!

The sushi was absolutely fantastic! I regret that I forgot to take pictures of the food; so engrossed was I in consuming it. I must have eaten my weight in food that night; had so many sushi rolls and Japanese radishes and Chinese bread (mantou) followed by ice-cream for dessert; it’s amazing that he didn’t ask us for any cash! We played monopoly deal, which is basically a playing-card version of monopoly, and many laughs were had. We stayed till about midnight, and I decided that we had better make a move lest we overstay our welcome. It was a nice trudge back to Mary Chapman court, where I said goodbye to Katelyn for the year 2010 and a idyllic walk back home. 

Church!

I woke at about two in the afternoon today; so fatigued was I after staying up till six in the morning reading a novel. I readied myself for church, and just managed to catch the bus after saying bye to Harbi in his workplace. He gave me a Christmas present of a nice facial cleanser, moisturizer and shower gel! Thanks to him, I will be able to enjoy many acne free months. And also, it’s not the gift but the thought that counts J.

Today’s sermon was about how our relationship with God is that which requires maintenance, such as a normal relationship with another person. Pastor Tom Rawls was on the ball as usual, delivering a vibrant and motivating message. After the service, I was milling about in the foyer when I got invited to spend Christmas Day at a family’s house. I found that extremely generous and selfless of them because what person would simply invite a complete stranger over to their place to spend the day? And to top it off, Pastor Rawls himself came up to me and further invited me to his place on Boxing Day! I have to admit I was very touched by this gesture of thoughtfulness and compassion, and will never forget it.  It’s my first Christmas away from home and I think I’ve mentioned it to a lot of people; John Lee I think must have gone and spread the word. Thanks to him I get to spend Christmas with lovely company and good food!

I'll just leave this here Mr Novak

I think this term’s passed very quickly; it seems only a few weeks ago when I stepped out of the train into Norwich rail station, into a whole new world of possibilities. After twelve weeks, I feel as though I have done everything but comprehend the subject of what International Development truly is. Applications to internships, jobs and placements are the norm of my life now as well as spending copious hours in the library doing readings for seminars and lectures. Now it’s going to be 2011 in a little over a week, and I’ve made so many great friends (some I would even call family). I’ve also managed to purchase cheap tickets to Reading to see my uncle and cousins who I haven’t spent enough time with ever since I came to the UK. Looks like we’ll be spending New Year's Eve together!

2010!! Part 1

No photo of the day for this post.

Despite the fact that I have enjoyed three very memorable years in Manchester and made so many friends for life, I am compelled to say that these past three MONTHS have been absolute heaven for me in Norwich. I have not looked back since I left Manchester, and even though I still miss everyone there especially my Wing Tsun partners and my mentee Bradley, I am finding Norwichian life extremely relevant to my interests! I have made a few good friends from the US, Northampton, Nigeria and London/Kenya and I am so glad that I chose UEA as a perfect base to do my Masters. Term one has been challenging, and it’s probably not going to let up in Term Two, but I say bring it on! These past three weeks have been spent huddled in a special corner in the library, working fervently on my readings and subsequent essays; the lack of a personal computer meant that I had to do my first essay on university computers, which had the atrocious Internet Explorer installed on it, which INSISTED on hanging the computer every time I chanced upon a PDF file. However, this was soon circumvented by the timely assistance of Christopher Portway who suggested that I install Firefox in the U:\ drive, which worked. Fortunately, my new charger arrived, and I popped down to The Forum (Norwich Central Library) yesterday to do my last essay, and plugged in my laptop as well as my phone charger. Was working solidly for two hours, when a librarian walked by and happened to glance at my various electronic appliances plugged into the electrical sockets by my feet. She came up to me and told me that I had to disconnect it immediately for fear of catastrophic failure and explosion! I very patiently, trying not to laugh, explained to her that I felt at no risk from an adapter that I had purchased 4 days ago, and that my phone charger was unlikely to blow up. However, she was adamant! She insisted that I took these appliances and got them PAT-ed (Portable Appliance Test) for $3 each. I got annoyed and said that there was no way I was going to pay for my phone charger to be tested, promptly packed up and left. I appreciate that the United Kingdom has health and safety procedures put into place to stop idiots from possibly self-harming, but I could not help feeling that today, somehow these rules had made a joke out of the system.  I left in a huff and completed the rest of the essay at home, eventually going to bed at about six in the morning. I woke up at about eleven, mucked about in the house playing computer games and then tried to access my web print at about 2pm, only to find out with panic that it simply would not respond.  Flustered, I rang the university, who told me that there was a 24 hour deadline extension due to the fact that the IT system was down. I was overcome by relief, and am sat here now typing this post, in the hope that I will finish it before I need to go at half four to meet my mentoring supervisor. The UEA website and webmail are still down; what a day for it to occur! But enough about university for the time being; I have done my best and do not wish to bore you with any more Tales of UEA. 

Christmas is nearly upon us! I really hope that the gifts that I purchased on eBay for a few special people. The youth section of the church is running a Secret Santa occasion, and I really hope that the gift that I purchased for my secret… recipient (?) comes on time from a different continent. I know it’s going to be really, really obvious who sent it them when they open the present, but meh. I am seriously considering taking the next train up to Manchester and spending Christmas with my friends there; everyone in Norwich seems to be going away and I don’t fancy spending Christmas and New Years on my own. Yi Xuan Woo and Fariq are all returning to Kuala Lumpur, so much for a meeting in London, Ben Bradley will probably be busy at work so don’t want to bother him, Thomas Maxwell got girlfriend (sic) lor. It seems that the only people available for spending time with are Chun Wai Sin, Kit Perry, the Aus and the Rusties (If the oldest dog returns from the Navy in time). Plans for hiking up Snowdon in the wake of Boxing Day are being set in motion and I hope they are engendered in due time; I would not like to think that all my winter equipment (balaclava, hat, microfleece, waterproofs, etc) have been purchased in vain. As a matter of fact, I think I’d better go order some winter gloves because my leather gloves are just not cutting it in this weather. And also someone let out the tires in my bike again! I wonder who is doing this, and praise the lord that I have a hand pump in my possession, lest I miss all my essay submission deadlines for hindrance of cycling to campus. The snow was good, but unfortunately only lasted two weeks. I would have liked to see some more white, and I don’t mean skin colour.  Hopefully this year we’ll have a White Christmas, although that will probably mean that I won’t be able to cycle as fast as I would like to. 

I really, really hope that I get a positive reply from the Overseas Development Institute regarding my application for a two year fellowship. I sent off my application with the scrutiny and subsequent approval of Dr Ed Anderson; a job in this organization would bring me absolute buckets of joy. The ODI is an independent commission on international development and humanitarian aid. What it does is review policies that international bodies undergo and give its best suggestions about poverty alleviation and sustainable development. It does a lot of work in developing countries. The Fellowship  (of the Ring, NOT!) I applied to basically gives me two years work in a developing country of their choice (I’m not really too fussed; as long as I get the pay and more importantly experience, I would be delighted to go to any hole in the Earth). However, now is not the time to worry! I shall be sending off job applications and internship applications to various international bodies in the hope that perhaps one will see imperfect me as a suitable candidate for their program. Hope for Latvia is still very much on my books; I am hoping to slot in perhaps a 2-3 week voluntary expedition in order to gather information for my dissertation and ultimately experience.  

Right, I think I’ll be off now. I need to be at the mentoring workshop for 5pm, and it takes 15 minutes to get there. I might continue later at night, but adios for now.

Clement.

Sorry for the absence.

Hi guys, really sorry for not updating in over a week and a half. It's just that my computer's adapter failed and I had to wait for a new one to come. Also, I was royally screwed by Royal Mail because of a mix-up in their redelivery system. Thomas Maxwell knows more about this in our little expedition to Roundtree Close: The Royal Mail's lair. 

Things have been very hectic for me. I have officially canceled my Wing Tsun classes because I found that I was unable to cope with 3 nights of my week being taken away, and $80 a month for it. I think I spread myself too thin over my time in UEA, with mentoring, Scouting (which I may stop soon), volunteering, youth group at church and the Masters degree. I have 3 essays due in for the 15th of December and have completed one and a half at this point of time. I really hope I can score good marks for Perspectives on Globalisation and Development Perspectives, however for GDD I will be exuberant with a mark of 60 as I am not so good with that module. So far it's been manageable with my level of understanding on par with the rest of the students. Sometimes I feel like I know nothing when people in lectures and seminars talk about things outside the reading list. I guess I'll have to work very much harder if I want to get a distinction this year round. 

I have applied to the Overseas Development Institute with the blessing of Dr Edward Anderson, who has been a significant source of help and support during my time at UEA. Officially, my personal tutor is Dr Jonathan Pattenden, who is the programme adviser, but I feel that I am closer to Ed in personal and academic terms. This does not in any way reflect in Dr Pattenden's capabilities in being a personal tutor; it's just that I went to Ed first for help and developed a rapport with him. Also, the fact that he is more grounded in Economics and that I did my first degree in exactly that adds to the connection.

I dyed my hair 2 weeks ago, and donations have been flowing in albeit at a staggered rate. Once this overly busy week is over I will be approaching people individually with fundraising requests. Sorry to impose, but I'm sure the loss of 1 or 2 pounds won't hit you as much financially as the rise in tuition fees. I think it's possibly time for me to stop and return to my essay writing after this very short update. Just letting people know that this blog is not dead, and will continue to exist for many more months until I go for my internship (should I be lucky enough to acquire one). I would be very happy if i got an internship either with Hope for Latvia or the Consumer Unity and Trust Society, but will concentrate on more important things for the time being: essays. By the way, to the person who blatantly plagiarised Aneel's work, I bid you caution wherever you step academically this year. You will not go unpunished for your sins.

I will leave you here with a curt good bye and good luck with essays and exams (if you are a student reading).

Clement

My Weekend!

Today's photo:

A bit early, but meh XD.

Grandfather passed away

My grandfather of eighty-odd years passed away peacefully this morning. I received the message from my mom as I was on the way to church, causing me to miss the minibus because I had to text back frantically. He was always kind to me and my brother, and treated my family with love. I am happy that he went this way, living till a ripe old age, but when I think of my grandmother having to live without her partner of more than half a century it really tears my heart up. I will remember him carrying me when I was a child, walking in and out of our house in our village, and will always remember him giving me saga seeds and palm seeds as a toy to play with when I was about seven years old. He will forever have a special place in my heart, and I am glad that I managed to meet up with him before I left to the UK this summer. No father should have to witness the absolute sadness of the death of their child, and that’s what my granddad did when my own dad passed away of a heart attack six years ago. I am so happy that now he and his son will be able to be reunited finally. I just wish I had the chance to say something to him before he went, and now that chance is gone. I will never see him again but he will always remain in my memory and heart. Rest in peace grandpa, I hope you’ll meet with dad in the afterlife to a happy and tearful reunion. We miss you over here already! 

Taken before we left for the UK in 2004. This was the last time my grandfather saw his son (my dad) before my dad passed away in the UK.

The last time we saw him before he passed away. Taken summer 2010 before I left for the UK for my Masters.

Less morbid details

I thought I would take my mind off things by writing (or rather typing) about my weekend and the Friday before. Friday was an awesome day! Woke at about 1100 hours and did a bit of memorizing/reading on the Washington Consensus, and managed to form an idea of how my introduction to the 2500 word essay due in December will turn out. After a few hours of doing this, I felt rather proactive and texted Raj and Katelyn confirming our dinner date for that day. Katelyn of course being her very efficient self replied almost immediately but Raj was silent on the wire. Later I found out on Katelyn’s very accurate guess that he was still asleep when he received my text, because he actually told us that he woke at 3pm and saw the text, apparently jumped straight into the shower, dressed and got the bus to the city centre with great haste! Took some photos while waiting for Katelyn to arrive.

Some steampunk engine.

The church opposite The Forum

Merry go round

The Christmas tree they set up in town hall. Couldn't get the whole thing in the frame, it was that big!

Katelyn and I actually met at about 4pm and went over to Harbi’s workplace, L’Occitane. Bit of a weird name for me because not knowing French, I had no idea what the shop purveyed. Of course when we arrived, we found out that Harbi was a fully fledged cosmetic consultant! He gave me some good advice on dealing with my acne, which he thought wasn’t too serious (phew) and recommended me a cleanser with a RICE base! That’s right, a RICE base. This will certainly be interesting should I acquire it once my existing cleanser is depleted.

A bit of a wander round the city centre, and then Raj finally arrived. We went to Malaysian Delights, a nice hidden restaurant located somewhere off the street near Castle Mall (thank you Thomas Maxwell for bringing me to this wonderful establishment 2 years ago) and realized that we were early by an hour! So it was back to Harbi’s workplace and off to Greggs just round the corner, where some interesting photos were taken by yours truly. Nothing much really happened in Greggs, just a lot of general banter and suggestions for a social on an Ed Anderson scale (which means pretty damn awesome because Dr Anderson is AWESOME!). Then it was accompanying Harbi to his bus stop where he had to catch a bus down to the train station. Arguable because the train station is actually walking distance from L’Occitane and we actually walked all the way up to near Chapelfield for his bus! Pointless no? Harbi don’t argue, you know as well as we do that it was walking distance mate, you were just lazy haha.

Katelyn and Me

Raj looks a little confused there!

Better photo taken!

Then it was bang on off to dinner at Malaysian Delights. The food was good, but it wasn’t really authentic other than the Satay Chicken and Chicken Curry on service (really should have taken photos here but was too hungry, so decided to just eat instead and afterward forgot about photos altogether). And then, there was talk about an authentic cook up at Harbi’s place (sorry we invited ourselves to your house Harbi. Hope you don’t mind!) and international development matters which are slightly too complicated for the average blog reader. Although if you are actually reading my blog it probably means that you’re interested in my life, and therefore know that I am immensely interested in International Development (I spelt it with capitals as testament to how serious I think it is) and International Organisations’ roles in facilitation of regulation and economic policies. But yes, I shall reserve a post for that in future blogs focused on development studies when I develop (see what I did there) a keener sense of the world around development.

Near the end of our meal, the restaurant owner and a scroat/chav (scruffy-looking gentleman dressed in classic chav uniform of baseball cap, sports clothing and trousers tucked into socks) had a bit a disagreement. It seemed that the chav went and ordered a couple of beers and refused to pay, saying that he already had. Of course, this wasn’t lost on the restaurant owner who told him in no uncertain terms to not come back. And of course Mr. Chav had to respond with his own vernacular, and a very interesting scene would have folded out but the restaurant owner was at least 2 heads taller than Mr. Chav, so of course he left without incident (although not quietly. Shouting all the way downstairs more like it!)

Malaysian Delights.

After dinner, we went outside to such a thick fog that I had to take a photo of the street!

And thus, a good end to a good evening was observed, with us parting ways and saying our farewells till Tuesday where we have Development Perspectives, where I’ll be customarily late by 5 minutes and shuffle to the front row wearing hi vis, and Rajiv to follow after 15 minutes.

Sunday!

Helena was very kind to give me a lift to church, effected by John Lee after I rang him in half a panic asking if there was any way I could possibly get to the Space having missed the bus and expected to attend Ignite (which is the Youth Group for church which I have recently gotten involved in). And of course I arrived 2 minutes before the service started which was quite a relief. Out we went: 5 mature adults and a bunch of gangly, rambunctious and violent teenagers. Jonny Novak (our youth leader) was on the job as usual, delivering the message in a quick and concise way, and then we played a couple of games which the complicity is too complex to be described here!

After the session, I hung around the group killing time because I had to check my CRB forms with Sue Spooner. Joshua Barton was getting involved with my phone and searching random videos in YouTube which involved him falling over while on a bike while I, perhaps being more civilized, decided to have a conversation with Tom Walpole instead. Found out he was an anime fan as well, and he introduced me to an anime series called Katekyou Hitman Reborn! Basically it’s about this kid in high school who finds out that he’s actually the heir of the head of a mafia gang after all the rightful members ahead of him have perished, and the gang has sent over a midget assassin to train him to be a killer. I fib you not; a midget hitman! Ridiculous, but it’s an anime. I’ve seen worse in Naruto and Bleach. Given that it is based in Japan, I found it a little bizarre that a Japanese kid with red hair had any Italian connections until it became apparent that his dad had moved away from Japan to Italy and started up his crime syndicate there. Complicated, and I still find it slightly dubious, but have since told myself not to critically analyse it like university students do. I am now hopelessly addicted to It, as you may have seen on my Facebook status comments. Possibly the last time I listen to a 13 year old who’s equally into anime as me. 

My life is now over.

 

Will have to divide my time up watching Reborn!, typing this blog, Ignite, Hope for Latvia, Work (did I mention that I haven’t actually been fired from the security agency which I had that little disagreement with over a certain nightclub, so I’m still on their books apparently), mentoring and my own little fundraising project. I am getting my hair done tomorrow, and am so excited. Unfortunately I’m running out of cash, and will have to conserve money until my mom returns from my dear grandpa’s funeral in the countryside. 

The rest of the day was spent at Sarah Week’s house and I managed to call my grandma to offer my condolences and find out what was going on. It was then when she told me he died a peaceful death and not to worry about her. I still could not help crying on the phone, though. He was dear to me and I will never forget him (gosh I’m going on like a broken record aren’t I?).

Just before we left for the evening service, I found out that Katelyn had decided to come and see for herself the wonderful church that is Proclaimers. She texted me and told me that she was able to make her way to the minibus pickup place and managed to get to the Space in time for the evening service. I’m so glad that she actually came to see what it was all about. As Pastor Tom Rawls was away for a funeral of a loved one, the message this time was mainly about spreading the word through normal walks of life. Found it fine, but it didn’t have the same familiar vigour that Pastor Rawls radiates when he gives his sermons. Hope he gets back fine!

It was off to the pub after the service, and Matt Webb suggested that we take advantage of Orange Wednesdays to go and see Harry Potter. I don’t usually watch movies in the UK because they’re really, really expensive and because I can easily torrent them off the internet. Yes I said it; I download movies and music off the internet. And so do the rest of the country although they won’t admit it as readily.

So… it’s a Monday night but I’ve not actually done anything interesting today save my essays and reading, and walking all the way downtown just to find out that the bike shop had closed. Looks like I’ll be walking to UEA tomorrow. Will have to get up extra early. Damn!

Clement