Beltane Fire Festival

Beltane Fire Festival is a Celtic pagan celebration for the arrival of summer.

Driven by my own curiosity towards the Celtic pagan culture and the rumuors of naked people on the Calton Hill, together with my friends, we paid £3 each to join this event.

On the way up the hill, at the entrance, a BIG signboard caught my eyes.

"NO GLASS BOTTLES ALLOWED"

In front of it, there were a table, a box of white plastic bottles (like those you usually see in pharmacy) and a few police officers each with a corkscrew in their hand. Soon after that I spotted one officer stopping a young man who was holding a bottle of whisky and he opened up the glassbottle and poured the whisky into those plastic bottles. How weird it is to see people get drunk by drinking from a pharmacy's bottle!~ ^Grinz ^

The weather was extremely windy. If it were not the extra KG's I have gained here in Edinburgh, I could have already been blown away to somewhere else.

~Finally.. I see an advantage of my extra FATS~

And here it goes...the exotic Beltane!

The ceremony kicked off with pagan symbols lit on the Calton Hill pillars,

and deafening drums.

The place was extremely crowded and everyone were squeezing and sandwiching each other. Most of the time, people just held up their cameras and took shots of the pillars and witnessed the event from their camera screens.

Sarah insisted to carry me on her back!

White women walking down from the stage. With the May Queen.

May Queen leads the procession around the Calton Hill to visit four different stations namely the Wind, Water, Earth and Fire before being ambushed by the wild Red Men and the killing of her consort, The Green Man.

- May Queen in white (her flowery dress is so beautiful!)

- The Green Man (if you dun spot him immediately, he was actually the walking tree), May Queen took him as her Consort to signify fertility

- The Blue Men (They cleared the path for May Queen during the procession, I was pushed by one of them when I was standing in their way), represents wisdom

The white puppet dragon (somehow looks like Albino Chinese Dragon) at Wind Station.

Performances at the Fire station.

The Naked Wild Red People making human pyramid.

The Killing and Revival of the Green Man in the hands of WhiteWomen to symbolise the youth and new summer. Green Man was 'killed' by the tearings off of his 'leafy' garments.

We left before the start of the final bonfire as it was too cold and windy although we waited at the fire site one hour before the procession reached.

Somehow, Mmm.. I feel the Beltane Festival is like the angmoh version of the colourful procession of the Chinese deities back home, with many Taoism's god and goddess parading on the roads.

Beltane is definitely interesting and I should consider whether to volunteer in it next year so I could have the chance to wear the beautiful dress wore by the White Women . ^Winks^

GHOST in my room!!!

I always hold on to this principle, if I were to live alone with no roommates or siblings in my room, no point frightening myself or make my imaginations go wild at night by watching horror movies.

It was yesterday night, I was forced to watch a horror movie by my flatmates.

After the movie, I came back to my room and as usual, I stayed up late. I took out my notes. Trying hard to focus my mind away from all those scary scenes.

Pssssseeeee....Hssssseee....

Suddenly, I heard some noise. As if some 'creature' is moving, wiggling through bushes, and making some hissing sounds. The noise petrified me for a moment. I tried to sit still.

Pssssseeeee....Hssssseee....

Again, I heard it. The moving, wiggling sound. This time, I heard some heavy breathing sound too. No mistake! It was REAL! It came from my room!

Could it be... eeeerr.... A snake? A person? Or worst still, A GHOST? Nonono, it can't be. A snake can't climb so high up to my flat, even a person will find it too difficult sometimes. A person can't make him/herself invisible to me in my room for it's size. A ghost might sound too ridiculuos. But it could be true though since Edinburgh is well known for it's haunted city. But please, not a ghost.

Holding back my breath, I looked around in my room.

Nothing!!!

I plunged myself back into my chair again, in front of my labtop.

To my SURPRISE, I noticed the sound came from my labtop!! Oh no, what could that be. After scanning through my taskbar at the bottom of my screen, I found no program that can actually make sounds to be audible. It was only EEMeC, Microsoft Words and Wordweb.

I was again terrified. Don't tell me it is the Sadako in the Ring trying to crawl out from my screen...EEEwwww...too scary to imagine!!!

To ease my mind, I decided to find someone to talk to on MSN or Skype. MSN had no one. So late at night. Skype might have someone in Malaysia whom I can talk to. When I opened my skype. Something caught my eyes immediately.

I freezed again. Soon after that, I burst into laughters. Guess what I see?

This is the 'creature' that make me jumped in the middle of night. Blame it for Skype auto pick-up calls function!

History shown that she called me when I was watching movie in my flatmate's room. Skype picked her call up automatically. And she waited too long and felt asleep. The 'hissing' and 'wiggling' sounds were actually from her body's toss and turn and her blanket's rubbing against the bedsheet. The 'breathing' was from her too.

The next morning, in the lecture, my friend was actually complaning about her noseblock at the night before.

Hmmm.....Maybe Skype should come up with auto hang-up (if owner's not in front of com) function too! :p

Missing You Guys So Much!~

LOVE YOU GUYS LOTS ! MiSSING ALL OF YOU BADLY!

Adrian - The Singapore Lieutenant a.k.a Map Reader a.k.a Video Recorder

Caleb - The Singer whose autism was cured in Italy a.k.a trainstation+hotel+restaurant finder

Christopher - The Handsome a.k.a Daddy who paid all our bills

David - The Michelangelo's sculpture , 6 packs WOhOo!~

Grace - The Bubbly a.k.a Gelato Lover

Jason - The Photographer a.k.a Reporter

PuiLi - The Kind Hearted SoulYitCheong - The Professor a.k.a F4

I am over-excited now!

I seriously am!

Was browsing through friendster 3 hours ago and saw a bulletin post from Jason.

GOSH!!!!! He made 7 videos in total with all the pictures and videos we took during the trip. Each with beautiful background music and synchronized pictures motion!!!! WOOHOO!!!

I was smiling, laughing non-stop. Those memories were simply too sweet.

Was thinking only to post up my Italy pics this weekend for Grace is coming to Edinburgh this Saturday bringing along DVDs with 7 GIGS of pics we took in Italy.

Tonnes and tonnes of thanks to Jason for his hard work and everyone in the trip for making it an unforgettable one! Definitely miss you guys in Aberdeen lots!

And before I forget, In fact, this is our real DAVID! Hehe.
6 packs for u? NONONO!~ heheh..

The following links are the videos:
http://d.turboupload.com/d/524288/Intro.rmvb.html

http://d.turboupload.com/d/524294/Pisa.rmvb.html

http://d.turboupload.com/d/524297/Florence.rmvb.html

http://d.turboupload.com/d/524302/rome.rmvb.html

http://d.turboupload.com/d/524306/Venice.rmvb.html

http://d.turboupload.com/d/524309/milan.rmvb.html

http://d.turboupload.com/d/524311/Credits.rmvb.html

P/S: Florence, ROme and Venice series are highly recommended. Another reminder, to download from this website might take some time, be patient with it. And also, when you are at that page, scroll down to the middle, and there you will see this 40 seconds countdown thingy. Wait for it to end and voila, the link to download. Hope you enjoy them!~

Post of Italy trip will be up by this weekend!

Shhh...Silence Please!

Silence please OR be a voice admist the silence?

Is silence really golden?

This question struck me during this morning lecture .

Today, something happened in lecture.

A girl who sat at the front row actually interrupted the lecture and pointed at a group of boys sitting on opposite row much higher up than hers and requested the lecturer to keep them silent. And of course, the lecture theatre was silence for a few seconds for everyone is shocked by the action of the 'brave soul'. Including the lecturer. He lost his chain of thoughts and took a while before continuing with his speech. Many students chuckled. And the lecture went on smoothly after that.

This evening, EEMeC threads was boiling. Many opinions were posted up. Silence in lectures has always been an issue in my medschool. Some condemned the 'brave soul' being more disrupting than those boys but some seconded her righteous indignation. Personally, I do not find these noise disturbing. Pointing at those boys was rather rude I reckon. However, her action could still be justified given she does not possess good selective hearing skill and expertise in making constructive comments.

Living in the UK for almost 3 quarter of a year have allowed me to adapt well to silence in the surrounding. My room is very much quieter now. No more laughters from my sisters and brother, no more foods on the dining table on time, no naggings from parents, etc. Missing all of them badly though.

However I am now again alone in my room. Silence is good supposingly only when one needs to study or to sleep. Have not been alone throughout this 3 weeks easter holidays. 1st week, Italy trips, 9 of us, talked lots of craps together. 2nd week, despite back in Edinburgh, yet still busy with msn-ing & skype-ing & catching up with frens. 3rd week, had good company from my KDU mates (bubbly Adelynn and wise Zhixin-thanks alot). Feeling uneasy at the silence suddenly.

Noise is good and a voice admist the silence is very much appreciated at times.

Easter Holidays - Part I

This is my first Easter Holidays. It was definitely AWESOME, BEST, CHUN-ted, MARVELLOUS, and UNFORGETTABLE, but sadly, there are 9 hours more before it officially ends. This easter holidays is ranked the best of all despite it is only 3 weeks in duration.

Have just checked my EEMeC (Edinburgh Electronic Medical Curriculum) and it shows:

Semester 2

Week 12 Monday 17 April

09:00 - 09:50 Introduction An overview of the module

12:10 - 13:00 Lecture The extracellular matric

Only medical school has lectures after easter and before the exams in May. I still have to wake up early, attend lectures and study whereas my flatmates Sarah is enjoying her stay back in France, Lindsay is relaxing in the flat most of the time and Lauren is planning where to go in Scotland with her parents who are coming next week....Argghhhh.... Feel so cheated. Why doesn't med course has the same holidays as other courses?

Lectures always start at 9a.m and I had missed almost 75% of them. Somehow I'm just not a morning person. However, my yellow coloured 'Learning Objectives' sheets can do better than those Starbucks or Coffee Bean or Espresso or Nescafe. Read through them yesterday night in order to have a better understanding of what am I supposed to study for the coming exams. And I found that I can't even finished reading them in a night, not to mention the contents of my curriculum.

Tomorrow is the start for a new module, 'Bones and Joints' after 'Cardiovascular' and 'Respiratory'. I have made up my mind. This time I'm serious, to wake up for lectures every morning so that I can get 'educated' in lectures and when exams come, I have lesser to study on my own.

I have finally started with my revision. In fact, it is not even a revision but a 'learning' session instead because most of the contents I have read so far have only came across me for the first time.

To be continue....

The Passion of the Christ

Despite the movie has ended an hour ago , those scenes were simply too heart-wrenching and are still vividly appearing in my mind.

The movie was too BLOODY and 'geli'. Most of the time I was either covering my eyes or closing my ears. Thanks to James (a friend of mine in Edinburgh who is an extremely committed Catholics and is super-knowledgable on Christianity stuffs) for being my tutor for the movie. Should have brought him along during my Vatican trip.

Before the movie, my knowledge on Jesus Christ history and his crucifiction was zero. I could only identify him in famous frescos by spotting a scar on his ribs for an Aberdeen friend had once told me that a Roman soldier pierced Jesus' side with a spear to make sure he had died after the crucifiction. He also told me about this movie and insisted that I shouldn't watch it because there will be some 'bloody' scenes that I definitely cannot stand and might cry. Well, he was right.

Haiz...Curiosity is the main killer.

But, without James enlightenments, I wouldn't have learnt these facts. Some might be too simple and common to some of you but I have not learn till James explained them.

1. A crucified person died because of lungs collapse. When one is nailed onto a cross, he will try to stand on his feet to support his weight. However, usually those criminals will have their knees broken by soldiers. And two hands that streched widely apart will not support one's weight and will eventually lead to compression of the lungs and hence inability to breathe.
2. After the crucifiction, the legs of the two thieves were broken while Jesus's legs wasn't. This was supposed to concord with the prophecy that not one bone of Jesus shall be broken.
3. Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus at a young age of 16.
4. Catholics take biscuits and wine in an occasion (I forgot what was it) for a reason. For wine represents Jesus's blood and biscuits represent Jesus's body.
5. Some people crucified after Jesus (including some saints) chose to have the cross arranged in different ways from Jesus's. E.g A 'X' instead of a 'T' ; some chose to be hanged upside down on a cross.
6. Satan in the movie was actually a fallen angel. Etc.....

And I would like to wish that Aberdeen friend to get well soon, heard he is sick.

Bon voyage to Sarah my flatmate. 10 days she will be away in France and this means no cookies, breads, pies or some nice French foods for me and a flatmate I can kacau late at night. Gonna miss her.

Good news is that Adelynn and ZhiXin will be coming from Warwick and London respectively tomorrow. Look forward to their arrivals and shopping+chatting+cooking in the next 5 days.

Never Try to Argue With A Phone Company

Was in Italy 1 week ago and brought along my O2 phone.

Before I went on the trip, I was reminded for MANY times by my hsemate for
- not to pick up any calls or
- not to make any calls using UK O2 line.

Okay, I had that in mind but I still brought along my UK line just in case anything big happened back in Edinburgh, I could be informed and kept updated.

I was told that in EU countries, O2 sms is really handy and you won't get charged by using them .
(As some of you might not know, I am currently using a O2 phone plan with 1000 free minutes and 200 free texts a month.)

And of course, I happily sms-ed some people back in the UK during my trip when I was too bored and also when I need to coordinate our meeting time with my travelmates.

During my trip, there were 2 other guys who had the same phone plan as mine and they were complaining all the while for having no receptions of mobile network.

I even teased them for using lousy phone. But I don't mean to offend them, just for the sake of teasing. ^WINKS^

But disaster has not start until I come back.

The next day after Italy trip, I log in to O2 website to check how many SMS I have left after the trip and something on my bill caught my eye. I stunned in front of my com for a few seconds...

....... £13.00 .......

What is that???

The explanation next to it was EU Roaming Charges.

I almost fainted. I did nothing with my phone but I still need to pay for the roaming charges??? What is this. I think it's those two guys turn now to tease me.

I wanted to call up O2 and ask about this. I am not trying to be a nuisance or be fussy over 13 quids. But I really feel cheated for having to pay for the roaming services.

I talked to a friend in Edinburgh yesterday and he told me his experiences with O2.

He has got the same phone plan as mine and he used it to call someone in India. Supposingly those calls are free since he has got 1000 free minutes every month. But he ended up got charged 200 pounds for all his calls. He tried to argue with O2 but was told that the particular number he called was charged because it is a premium number (something we dun understand) . Really dun understand O2.

We checked the O2 contract after that and O2 did state that we can't call premium numbers with free minutes. But how they expect us to know what number is premium and what is not. Stupid. And my fren told me, not to argue with a phone company, they will alwiz come up with stupid explanations. I totally agree.

I have decided not to call up O2 anymore.

I dun wan to hold the phone for 3 minutes, and listen to stupid explanations for 15 minutes and , got told in the end that I still have to pay.

My precious energy shall not be wasted that way.

Lesson to learn: Off my phone next time when I am on Europe trip.

Faraway

A song by Nickelback.

Love this song so much since I first heard it.

Love this video clip to bits.

FARAWAY

This time, This place

Misused, Mistakes

Too long, Too late

Who was I to make you wait

Just one chance Just one breath

Just in case there's just one left

'Cause you know,you know, you know

[CHORUS]

That I love you

I have loved you all along

And I miss you

Been far away for far too long

I keep dreaming you'll be with me

and you'll never go

Stop breathing if

I don't see you anymore

On my knees, I'll ask

Last chance for one last dance

'Cause with you, I'd withstand

All of hell to hold your hand

I'd give it all

I'd give for us

Give anything but I won't give up'

Cause you know,you know, you know

[CHORUS]

So far away

Been far away for far too long

So far away

Been far away for far too long

But you know, you know, you know

I wanted

I wanted you to stay

'Cause I needed

I need to hear you say

That I love you

I have loved you all along

And I forgive you

For being away for far too long

So keep breathing

'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore

Believe it

Hold on to me and, never let me go

Keep breathing

'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore

Believe it

Hold on to me and, never let me go

Keep breathing

Hold on to me and, never let me go

Keep breathing

Hold on to me and, never let me go

Would like to dedicate this song to a particular someone back in Malaysia. I have never had the chance to say sorry to you.

*****This time, This place ; Misused, Mistakes ; Too long, Too late*****

You said everything between us was a mistake. If it really was, it must be a beautiful mistake that I would want to remember for life.

Who was I to make you wait. Our paths have gone too divert from each other.

I have been far away for far too long and I keep dreaming you will be with me one day, walk in my pace and you'll never go .

Yet, I was wrong.

Who was I to make you change. Two years with me might be too long for you.

I tried not to give up and keep breathing. However, the situation all these while has been too suffocating for me. I am sorry for giving up and not being strong enough.

Hope legends at Trevi Fountain is true and allows my wishes to come true one day.

My Standard Breakfast

Ever since I am back in Edinburgh from Italy, I tell myself no more bread stuffs in one month time for I have had so many Paninis (Italian sandwiches) in Italy and am very sick of them. I never like breads but in order to survive in Italy, I can only choose either pasta or bread. And since bread is alwiz handy... I have no other choice. Argghh....

Easter holidays is meant for revisions... but I am simply too lazy to start laying my fingers on my books or notes.

And everyday, I eat only 2 meals, good way of losing weight huh!

Breakfast I called it, is the 1st meal of my day. I usually have it btn 2-4pm for I only wake up at around 1pm. Due to the absence of my gonna-be hsemate, (she's away for hols in Amsterdam), I have to eat breakfast alone.

I have decided not to waste much time on preparing breakfast and I have been eating the same stuffs for almost a week. Simple and easy.

















Just in case you are wondering what my breakfast is,

From L-R
- potato salad & coleslaw & tortellini (angmoh
wan tan) with Pesto sauce;
- tea in the cup;
- half boiled eggs in the bowl,


It takes me less than 10 minutes to prepare them.
So ppl on Msn, if i say I need to go prepare my breakfast, I won't be away for long and will be right back in the most 10 minutes time.

Standard procedures everyday.......

1st minute:
- boil water
- put 2 eggs in a pot
- place the pot on a hot plate, turn the hot plate on

2nd minute:
- pour hot water into the pot, and leave it for 5 minutes. Only 5 minutes, no more than that, or else the eggs will become hard boiled and taste *Yucky!~

**************** While waiting the eggs to boil ****************

3rd minute:
- Take out a teabag(try Tetley, it's nice), put it in a cup, add a bit of sugar (not too much, I am watching my diet carefully nowadays, so I dun put on weight anymore), and pour in hot water.

4th minute:
- Prepare another pot, pour in hot water. Throw in Tortellini (it's a kind of pasta, I called it angmoh wan tan with cheese and ham fillings. I love them)

5th minute:
- It takes one minute for all tortellinis to float on the surface, take them out.
- Add a spoonful of Pesto sauce and mix it well with tortellinis.

6th minute:
- As for the Potato salad and coleslaw, I dun make them, buy them from Tesco. Take out from fridge and it's ready to serve. hehhe...

7th minute:
- Eggs are done.

8th minute:
- Yummmyy yummmyyy...it's me enjoying my breakfast happily in my room... ;)


Easy isn't it. *Grinz*

I Belong in London???

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock.A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything.No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

I came across this quiz in my fren's blog. She belongs in Rome, what a lovely city.

Whereas me, it says I belong in London. Sounds so stupid to me. London is alwiz a place I dislike the most.

Crowded shopping places, jammed roads, bad air quality, noisy environment, super-fast-pace subway, unfriendly ppl...etc. Went down to London a few days ago after my Italy trip. It wasnt the my 1st time there, was there twice before this.

Before I applied to come to the UK, everyone tells me that I definitely belong in London, the reasons given were nth more than London has many clubs which suit me as a 'clubber' , many shopping streets which will be my paradise as a 'shopper'... haiz...Never like London, I alwiz tell myself it's the last place I will choose to live in. Although I do shop a lot but I am definitely not a 'clubber'. But I dun deny the subway system in London is simply too great and brilliant; and London definitely has a great variety of food.

Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland seems to be a better place for me, although it might be a boring city at times. Has fallen in love with Scotland at the first sight, the first time I was here in Glasgow for my interview in it's Uni.
Scotland seems like the place I longed for since I was a kid. Snow mountains afar, green lawns, small cottage-like houses, beautiful bagpipes music in the wind...

Edinburgh is definitely a beautiful place despite my complaints about it at times. Begin to love this city. It is spring time now and the sun is still shining brightly at 4pm. In Malaysia, we have sunset at 7pm, but here, to my surprise, sun dun set till 8.30pm. In Winter, it was crazy, sunset at 2pm. For someone who is a sleeping pig like me, I dun wake up till 1pm during the weekends. So when I pulled open my curtain at 1pm, I only see sunlight for one hour before it turns dark again, how scary it was. And ppl usually get SAD which is the seasonal affected disorder that associates with depressions during the shift of the seasons. Luckily I din get it.

BUt spring time is lovely. Feel rather Malaysia though, and there are flowers all over the grounds. Heheh..before this, I was actually thinkning if I could spot one or two rodents popping out from the ground, gnawing some seeds. *grinz* BUt dun see any so far. It's just me in my own fairyland again.

Time for meals. Hope I can do some work today.

I have many unfinished tasks atm:
- Triumph in the Skies series, it's a super cool series about Pilots and was filmed in Rome
- Clear up my table
- Vacuum my room

And to-do-list
- Watch Gladiator
- Read Angels and Demons
- Read Wisley
- STUDY

Hope today is a productive day.

My 3rd Blog

This is my 3rd blog. Well, u might find me stupid for being a not-so-keen-blogger yet having so many blogs. I Can explain....

My 1st blog has got deserted for quite some times due to my laziness and inconsistency. I seldom got enthu over certain thing unless it is smth that really ineterests me. Well, blogging used to be one, but soon after I had my 1st blog, I dun post things up so often. My english isnt so good, to post up articles without grammatical errors is simply too tiring, and I really feel stupid for posting up my life for others to read...

PErhaps it's just me, not to expose too much to others, not even frens around me..well, someone might said it's a typical scorpion act for they hate being transparent in front of others and are alwiz secretive. Well, i quite agree with it.

My 2nd blog is the stupidest thing ever. It was a frenster blog, but it's so weird that i cant access it through my uni internet server. I can access eevryone else frenster blog but not my own one. Sigh, i gave up...

This 3rd blog is my own world, a place where i crap, i post stuffs when i am bored, i write things that i wish to get them out from my head but not wanting too many ppl to know except those who are simply very close to me. Not everyone knows bout this blog. Sometimes it's just good to have a peaceful land to write down your own mind and thinking at the same time not wanting anyone to get hurt or to feel uncomfortable .

If you have access to this blog, feel free to post up ur comments or whateva things u want to tell me. Thanks for being there and being my close frens. I really appreciate frenships with u guys although i dun usually show it. I am just not good at expressing my own feelings...