Hello san san family! :)

A quiet day. Done reflections. Planned for Sept. Had a good rest.

Not feel like saying much today.

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Hiya! I was just born! :)

San San family!  

Koala's happy to have 3 new smurf friends to look after! :) 

(taken with 450d - finally it was out again!) 

Lunch: last night's leftover soup 

Dinner: instant noodles with salmon (without bones!) + baked beans + carrots + broccoli

suddenly felt like having noodles for dinner...  

Feelings of sadness & emptiness?

The day ended with feeling of sadness & emptiness??

Got a busy morning when I had to go back to Kaplan to get them correct the end date of my study for the council tax exemption certificate, followed by a visit to the gym and back home to make soup. Having had a simple lunch, I rushed to meet my ex-colleague for a chat at teatime. She just started the training for her new job this week and she was excited about her new job. As she said, it's a new page of her life. We were joined by her daughter, who had grown up a lot since I last saw her. I felt old when I was with her and my ex-colleague. I became an auntie!? =_=' My ex-colleague seemed to be an interpreter between me and her daughter, who spoke English only while I preferred conversations in Cantonese. =_=' Felt like there was a 'gap' or barrier when someone has to interpret or bridge the 'gap' for you... Anyway, it was nice to see my ex-colleague and her daughter but somehow I just didn't feel like fitting in. Maybe that's why I'm hesitant about my ex-colleague's plan to come to my flat with her daughter this week to do the make-up thing...

Mum said one of my aunts and her daughter (my cousin) would be coming to the UK this December for X'mas. I'm not sure whether I'm happy or stressed or have any other feelings about it.

The funding body has suggested other dates in October for media training. I've checked my course timetable. I don't have classes on those new suggested dates. =_=' Does that mean I have to attend the training? But I really don't feel like attending...

Don't know why. Just felt empty and sad afterward.

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oh my laptop got the blue screen again when I turned it on in the morning! >_< 

No idea why.. 

Lunch: a very simple lunch

Not eat a lot as I got to meet my ex-colleague for tea later.. 

Soup soup! 

Dinner: my dear Uncle McDonalds!!  

Another new member of my smurf family! :)  

Happy becoz of fish & chips? or broadband?

It's sometimes good to keep oneself busy, as long as he/she isn't under any stress?!

Still felt a bit tired or lack of energy after waking up. A bit hesitant about going to gym but at the end I did go, as it's said that doing exercises can give one energy! It was a bit hard at the beginning but as I kept doing different machines as warm up, I felt a bit better. I didn't do long, around 30 minutes as usual. :p But that was enough to help me start the day with energy. I'm wondering how I can fit the gym into my schedule when I start my new semester for accounting next Monday. I don't want to carry too many things (e.g. toiletries, clothes for change) on top of the notes I have to carry for the class (as I did last semester, which may contribute to my back pain). Either I go to gym early in the morning and go back home to get changed before going to class, or I do gym only on non-class days? No wonder some working people always find it hard to find time to do exercises outside work..

I was planning to have last night's soup & bread for today's lunch. But suddenly I felt like having fish and chips at a shop that I used to go while I was still working, since I hadn't been there for a while (and I want to enjoy life!) and I was thinking I might not have as many chances to go there once I start the class. So I asked my 'friend' if he could have lunch with me there. :) While I walked (fast) from home to that fish & chips shop, I consumed a lot of energy, which made me feel like I was doing gym! :p Having favourite food like fish & chips (though they may not be healthy becoz of its being too oily!) can make me happy happy! :)

Finally I sort of confirmed with my college about the classes that I will be taking from Sept. It was the same guy who I had talked to last Saturday about my classes and council tax exemption certificate. But he seemed to have forgotten my case! =_=' He asked me to fill in a form to confirm which class I'll be taking - F4 to F6 (though I have struggled a bit about whether to take F6 or F7 after an advice given by a friend of mine) and gave me the council tax exemption certificate. I remember I submitted the same form about my choices and request for council tax exemption certificate three weeks ago but obviously they didn't take it seriously then!? Not the first time they 'ignored' or messed up the forms I have submitted... Anyway, one thing sorted!

I called o2 for the mac code in the afternoon. I can't keep waiting for my ex-flatmate to call o2 for mac code - I'm not sure if she's too busy and has forgotten about it. o2 still said the line was 'clear' now and so I should be able to move to another provider. I called plusnet. The customer service guy helped me to check with BT wholesale and asked them to remove the 'tag' on our phone line so that we can use plusnet. Hopefully tomorrow I'll hear some good news!

Having got my council tax exemption certificate, I also printed out the single person discount form for flatmate to fill in so that I can send them to the council to sort out the council tax!

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Lunch: pudding pie with chips & peas!! :)

Lunch: fish & chips & peas! 

(oh I prefer fish & chips in cafes like the one we went today!) 

Dinner: hello kitty pasta with pork, mushroom & broccoli in tomato & potato soup! :)  

Oh, can you recognize it as hello kitty?! :p 

a lazy bank holiday

Very lazy today. Just kept sleeping and eating.

Woke up at about 9:30 a.m. after staying a bit late last night. Just read some news on the internet after breakfast. After lunch, I had a nap for about 2.5 hours! =_=' Had headache after the nap. I guess that's the consequence of sleeping too much - looks like I'm a too hardworking person who can't sleep more than 8 hours a day! That's why I sometimes wonder how flatmate can sleep a lot (still a mystery if she's asleep in her room when there's no sound from her room!).

It seems to be getting a bit cold today (actually since last weekend). Perhaps autumn is coming? No surprise though, as Mid-Autumn Festival will take place in 2 weeks. Had a bowl of soup which helped give me warmth. :)

Oh it seems my back pain is not as serious as before after massage yesterday?! Hmm...

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Breakfast: This bread is very soft! One of the bread from the 9p bakery bag! :) 

Lunch: I was lazy even for cooking! Just had leftover mince pork, broccoli & baked beans. 

Dinner: ingredients got ready!  

Dinner: Tomato & potato soup with pork + broccoli + croissant

The croissant was nice! Another good bargain from Morrisons yesterday :) 

Simple life with gym, Morrisons & McDonalds again

Simple life can be a happy one.

Finally I was back to gym. It had been more than a week since I last went to gym. Not sure if that was the reason why I didn't feel energetic when doing gym today. Perhaps I still hadn't recovered from my Scotland trip!? :p Didn't do any intense exercise. Simply did a bit of cycling and running. Wasn't really motivated to go to gym indeed! It does seem to help 'wake' me up and make me feel less tired though.

Popped in at the art gallery in the afternoon to see how things were going on the last day of the workshop. It was quite quiet, compared with weekdays. There were not many volunteers either. I just said 'hello' to some staff there and took a few photos before I left. Thought of taking those of my creative works back home but gave up the idea when it comes to deciding how to deal with them after taking them home (where to store them?).

Back to my favourite Morrisons as well this afternoon. Had last minute bargains. But it was very stressful when I was trying to grasp some bargains in the bakery section with others. Some shoppers were waiting, like I did, for one of the supermarket staff to put on the reduced price tags before they took the items away. The supermarket lady was obviously in bad mood when she had to face such a group of shoppers desperate to get the last minute bargains. It took much longer to wait for the bargains than before. At the end we managed to get two packs of mini cakes and two packs of bread of different varieties. :) All of them cost only 9p each bag! :) If I can choose, I'd prefer evening shopping at Morrisons - with fewer people to compete with us for the last minute bargains while we can enjoy big portions of yummy meal at the cafe! :)

Had tea time at Uncle McDonalds. Got a Scotman smurf again from a Happy Meal. Hmm, would like to get a different smurf but it's also a good idea to get another scotman smurf who can then be twins with the scotman smurf I had got in Edinburgh. :)

A great day finished with a nice nap, massage and home-made dinner. :)

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Hand-made flowers corner 

'Nature trail' 

Lunch: still 梅菜蒸肉餅 + broccoli 

Always my favourite and very yummy! :) 

Teatime at McDonalds! 

6 mini muffins for 9p only! 

Hello Kitty pastas! :)  

Dinner: healthy & yummy 

梅菜蒸肉餅 + scrambled eggs with tomato + broccoli

He's the twins with my Scottish smurf! :)  

koala wants to give you a 'flying' kiss! :p 

Household duties + teatime with a couple

A household day.

Did weekly food shopping after going to Kaplan to try to sort out my course for the new semester. It seemed the administration team in Kaplan had been too busy as they hadn't dealt with my request for council tax exemption certificate that I made two weeks ago and the guy who served me did the certificate after I had asked him about it. He wasn't sure about the situation about my course for the new semester and said he'd contact me later to confirm my course. =_='

My happy weekly food shopping. I bought two big bags of food at the end! That didn't include the juice that I didn't manage to buy! I had thought of taking free shuttle bus to go back home but suddenly remembered that there was Manchester Parade today, which would start at 1 p.m. and so no shuttle bus would run after 12 p.m. =_=' So I had to walk back home and my back pain came back then. :(  These days my back pain seemed to be getting worse while my left shoulder muscle is still in pain. :( Next time I'll have to remember when the shuttle buses run!

I managed to do the laundry and cleaned the kitchen (especially the fridge which seemed to be having water leaked) & shower room before meeting my artist couple friends at Deansgate Waterstone for coffee/tea. Had a nice long chat with them, though we mainly talked about how terrible my ex-bosses (whom that friend is now working for) were. :) They're always funny nice couple and heaven match! :) They were happy that I had enjoyed my volunteering at Art Gallery.

I was so careless about the mobile phone that my 'friend' had lent to me. It slipped out of my hands when I was trying to make a phone call to mum on my way to Waterstone to meet my friends. The front screen is 'blank' now, though the phone still functions. :( Very upset and guilty about making a damage to the phone. Woo woo...

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Breakfast: this poppy seed bread from Aldi is very soft!! Perfect with cheese!

This freebie toothpaste came at the right time! I was about to buy a toothpaste before it arrived. :)  

Lunch: leftovers - quiche (finally finished all!) + tofu from soup + broccoli 

Lunch: last night's salmon soup 

Dinner: my favourite 梅菜蒸肉餅! Yummy! :)  

Last day of my volunteering for family summer workshops :)

The last day of my volunteering for the family summer workshops at Art Gallery. I still helped out at the 'nature' tent with the 'Japanese' artist (I didn't ask her in detail but she's like a Japanese mix). I mainly helped stabilize the 'nature trail' and made some paper 'flowers', which later became a good sample for children who would like to do the same thing! :)

Really enjoyed doing creative works. Maybe I should consider applying my rough art skills together with my writing skills and do something? I guess I'm a person who needs warm up - I don't think I opened myself enough during volunteering; didn't do much socializing with other volunteers. But generally speaking, I enjoyed taking part in such creative and interesting workshops. :)

Feel a bit 'relieved' after finishing the voluntary work. Can forget about it for now (though I may still help out there in September), and move on to do something else (sort out broadband, work on anthology, prepare for the new semester, keep looking for jobs, etc.)

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Had a strange dream/nightmare last night. Dreamt that I was in my flat in HK and some sort of terrorists were attacking Hong Kong through the jet planes bombing buildings, like the 911 incident. =_=' No idea why I had that kind of dream. Some implications from it?

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It seems this week's gone so fast. Probably because I came back from Scotland on Monday evening and then have been busy volunteering at art gallery (plus trying to sort out broadband) for three afternoons?

What's next then?

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My flowers with butterflies & ladybirds created at Art Gallery :) 

Received this 'security key' from HSBC  

Confirmation of my ACCA exam results in June  

Dinner: boiled rice with quiche & lettuce + salmon head tofu soup 

Salmon head tofu soup (hmm, my quota for salmon this week is full!) 

Broadband nightmare again!?

Got frustrated about broadband again. Was trying to get mac code from o2 but was told of different versions by different customer service people:

'Sorry, we couldn't give you a mac code since your account has been cancelled'
'You are not the account holder. You need to get your ex flatmate to call us or you give us her password'
'Our records show that you're the account holder but since your account has never been activated, we don't have a mac code for you... maybe there's credit check problem with your new provider as well?'

Then I tried to call plusnet for advice. Their customer service people also gave different answers:

'We checked that your line is still active. You need to get mac code from your old provider. If they don't give it to you, you can call OFCOM for help as they can 'threaten' your old provider to give you the mac code.'
'(My old provider said they didn't hold the line?') You have to get mac code from your old provider. They have to give it to you within 5 days.'

The whole thing got me nowhere. One said they didn't hold the line and the line shouldn't be active and therefore they can't give me a mac code; the other said they found the line was still active and I had to get the mac code from the old provider. >_< I hope my ex flatmate can get the mac code for me tomorrow or I'll have to call ofcom or bt...

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Two to three acnes on my face seem to be coming out. Not sure if they're the post-holiday symptoms. >_< The left shoulder muscle seems to be recovering; My body seems to be quite sensitive. Some little acne like things come out from time to time but after a while they're just gone! Is that what the Chinese medicine says 'hot air'?!

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An artist that I worked with at the art gallery today said the subject I was studying (accounting) was totally different from what I was doing at art gallery. She couldn't imagine I was interested in those art things. Actually I think I'm more like an artist person than an accounting person... 

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Tea time: yoghurt with cornflakes! :) 

Dinner: leftover food - quiche + salmon + lettuce!  

 This quiche I got from Waitrose the other day was actually quite yummy! 

still post-holiday symptoms

Post-holiday symptoms continued.

Found a big lump on the shoulder's muscle. >_< On Monday when it started, I thought it was just some sort of bite. It hurts when I press it! I guess it's the consequence of carrying the small bag (plus the backpack) during the trip. Still got a bit of constipation. Also, I didn't feel like sorting out things like getting MAC code from o2 and council tax exemption certificate from Kaplan, etc.

Had a relaxing day today, which helps me recover from the trip. While I still miss the trip, I do wonder if it'll be a positive force to motivate me to work harder for the next trip...

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Lunch: the instant (nissan) noodles that I haven't had for a long long time

with salmon, tofu & lettuce

Dinner: subways! yummy! :) 

Post-holiday symptoms?

Slept tight last night. Probably because I was so tired. Still felt a bit tired when I woke up this morning. Would like to sleep more but couldn't do so as I had to go to Art Gallery for volunteering again. Busy afternoon at Art Gallery. Got a different task there today. Felt ok but as the workshop is coming to an end this week, I can't wait for it to finish! :p Did food shopping at city centre before going home.

It seems I still have some 'rubbish' in my body that I didn't feel so hungry today. My legs are sore/tired. Shoulder/back still has pain. Started feeling a bit post-holiday blue as I have to face the cruel reality again. Some good memories of the trip are still fresh in mind. :)

No plan for tomorrow, which is good in a way, as it means no stress! :p

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Dinner: fusion - tofu with mushroom + sausage roll + lettuce with chicken pieces!