Settling down 2Phase 2 of settling down.. Getting used to living in London, just that I am living on a budget everyday. Trying to cut on unnecessary spendings so I can use the saved up cash to travel hahaha! I would say I am proud of it? Like I only spent about 10 pounds on groceries a week (count 5 days)😁 London is really expensive I can’t deny but there are ways to save! The trick is to go to a supermarket (Tesco, Saintsbury, ASDA, Aldi etc.) and pick up the house brands. Your experiences with local house brands like Fairprice (in SG) are probably not very fairly priced, but its different in UK and Europe! Trust me, 42pences for a Tesco lemonade is as good as a SGD $1.50 Ice Cream Soda! The other trick is to always estimate the exchange rates. No matter if you change for £1:S$1.7 or S$1.99, just round up your estimations to S$2. It is far easier to calculate and the psychological effect will be that everything looks more expensive and you will reduce your expenses!
Something else to get used to is the cold! “The brits like talking about the weather” I finally see why, the weather here is so drastic! In the day, you can wear like two layers and still sweat cause the sun is up. While in the night, will shiver in 2 layers and duvet😅 There are gloomy days and the winds are unforgiving and there are better days where the sun rays bathe you in warmth. However it is really good to experience 4 seasons! Starting to like the Autumn a lot when I walked through Hyde Park everyday and watch the fallen leaves float down like Maplestory🍁🍂
How’s school? The UK education system is really different from Singapore. Firstly, most of them work on a trimester basis and they have Autumn, Spring and Summer. The former two are teaching terms and we can take as many modules as we want as long as we can cope with the teachings. Most modules come with 2 hours of lecture a week and… no tutorials. Yes, tutorials here are conducted like consultation and they are voluntary to attend. The final semester is the revision/exam trimester and that’s the camping period where everyone will camp at the library to chiong revision haha! The passing mark is 40/100 for each module and I guess that isn’t too bad for a curriculum that has NO BELLCURVE. Thank you, I won😉 However, most modules are offered in a fixed trimester and it is very difficult to have a timetable with nothing clashed unless you take all from the same year(ie year 2)! So you can guessed it, most of my lectures are clashing like crazy. Thank goodness, most modules have webcast and I decided I can skip most of them HAHAHA!
Yep, so having a chill term meant that I can spend the weekends and even some weekdays travelling, which I really wanted to do for the exchange. Next term will be more shag and I would not have so much time to travel anymore, so should cherish the freedom to run around with Xinyi more too! A pity that Kevin and the other NUS exchange friends couldn’t join our trips though, would really love to travel with them😞
And yes, made quite some friends and buddies here too:) I would say given my busy travelling commitments, it would be really difficult to forge strong friendships with a lot of people in general cause I don’t have the energy nor time to hang out with them for nightlife a lot. However, I am glad that I managed to meet a few of them like Kevin and Ken whom are quite sincere to talk to! Like now I have a gym and meal buddy hahaha! Really glad to have these friends close to me so I don’t feel so homesick everyday haha.
Of course I still miss home. Whenever I see my family going to Boon Lay for a nice meal when my ama 中马票 or when I see the chem eng friends having outing plans, I wish I could fly there to be with them:) However, seeing them all well and happy makes me satisfied too, it’s like a relieving feeling that makes me look forward to June 2017 when I can go back and have my reunion with them once again!
So yep, that is my London life so far! Just had a nice homecooked meal with limxinn in Birmingham (yay! Bucket list checked) My family is here haha, and I will probably feel a part of me being sucked out of me when she leaves haha! Its okay, I will survive:) Next up would be a nice trip with a friend whom I missed alot! From Hanyang hahaha!
CinqeMinte 