Interesting Close to 2006

The year (not the world) is coming to an end. 2006 is the most eventful year for me. Japan and UK filled up a big portion of these eventful days. If you have watched the series 24, you'd realise how Jack Bauer moved from one scene to the other within an hour; at times it is ridiculously unrealistic. Taking the same analogy from 24 except that the passage of time is much more realistic, 2006 was a travelling year for me, new places and new faces. Two developed countries, both have an entirely different culture, customs and language altogether. It was a year that took me on a steep learning curve. A learning phase to adapt, picking a new language, tasting new food, making new friends, discovering new technologies, looking at things in a new perspective and charting new boundaries. It was also a tremendous year for my family too because Baby Brendan was born and added to the Yap family. I have also discovered alot of things about myself and other people; and how much more I valued family relationships, parents, relatives and friends. It was a period of self-discovery to put it simply.

The before and after - changing of season from autumn to winter. Autumn shots were taken from the "FALL-in University" article

I had a chat with a Malaysian undergraduate here recently. He was asking me,

"How do you like Cambridge or England so far?"

"Oh, I like it. Things are in English, much easier for me than I was in Japan. It's international and it's a new place for me. Cambridge is a great experience. But there are also things which I don't like. Definitely you'll discover more of the distinctive characteristics as you stay on, and some of these things which I discovered-some I like it, some I don't...."

"Yup, that's right. Ermm, like what? What about Malaysia? Do you miss Malaysia?"

"The weather la! I just wonder how could anyone get any inspiration here if it's always so wet, gloomy and cold. Miss Malaysia? Yes, of course. You don't know how much I miss Malaysia. I have a newborn nephew whom I can only see from the photos but can't carry. It's so frustrating. I miss my friends, the weather, my pair of Toyota "legs", freedom to roam about at any time and the food, gosh thinking about cheecheongfun, prawn mee and nasi lemak makes my heart grows fonder."

"Haha!"

"Hmm..why did you ask? What about you?"

"Me? Hmm, I have been here for 3 years now. I'm like you, I like this place but I don't see myself permanently in the UK. My family and friends are back at home. I am going home next year to work."

"What?! Don't you wanna work here for a couple of years before going home? After all, you've spent so much for your education."

"I know. You're not the first who asked. You know, some things just can't be explained. At the end of the day, it's the little things, the intangible value of things that matters. I used to tell other Malaysians that UK if you like it, is what you and I know- United Kingdom . But if you don't, it's an Ulu Kelang to you. Maybe this is an Ulu Kelang to me now after being here and looking at how things are"

"O wait, was Ulu Kelang meant to be a good or a bad thing to you? Because Ulu Kelang seems to be a good place for me. That's where I discovered a good place for sup ekor, nasi lemak and it has the national zoo! Errm, sooo...isn't Ulu Kelang...ermm..good?.." I asked thoughtfully......**

**Scratch the surface and think beyond the conversation....**

Photos courtesy of Eskandar. Two pictures showing the extent of damage on his kitchen microwave

O yes, guess what other interesting things unfolded?! Two days ago, we had a real fire alarm. A kitchen located a few blocks away from mine was fuming. Not sure if it was burning but the exam season really got everyone worked up and behaving strangely somehow. You see weird things happening in Cambridge suddenly. I have a story about myself too. Recently I had been so bogged down with assignments, I was thinking and thinking hard about it that when I bathed, I shampooed my hair twice unknowingly until later on. Then, a microwave in Eskandar's block kitchen exploded. The above two pictures were taken by him and I was thinking it was only appropriate that I put it in this article. If I had shampooed my hair twice, the culprit who exploded the microwave must have put 2 eggs inside instead of potatoes, and turned on the microwave. The culprit has yet to be identified till now. Then few months back, Kartini was telling me that her college in London was evacuated due to a fire alarm. Apparently someone overboiled his/her chicken soup. Instead of firing up the body, it fired up the kitchen! Gosh, I hope we don't have a charred winter anytime soon.

The pot of curry potato chicken from yours truly. All ingredients were imported from Malaysia except the raw materials of course.

ESD Christmas Party in Peterhouse College, Cantab's first and oldest college; about 800 years old.

We had a Christmas Party for the Engineering for Sustainable Development programme students; both PhD and MPhil students. Everyone was supposed to contribute a dish of their choice, preferably a local dish of their countries. I did curry potato chicken. It was the first time I cooked that. I called home severals times and asked my ex-colleagues for some "power" recipes and made sure it worked! O yes, in the end it worked and I was really happy with the results. It was finished by the end of the night! Yeh!!

An interesting close for the year; and since it's a travelling year for me, I thought it was only appropriate that I close it with another travel plan. I bought myself a Lonely Planet book and an international adaptor for my Christmas holidays travel plan to Spain and Portugal. We have a two-week break and 3 assignments at the back of us. Don't know if I could still call it a holiday anymore, anyway, what the heck, I better unwind in Spain and Portugal to look at new things and get some inspirations. After all, all work and no play will make me a dull boy....and already the weather here is so dull.....