Germany

I just returned from a trip in Germany with the sisters. I really love Germany because the transport system is a lot better than UK and it's so organised! We got very confused a few times though and wasted some precious time waiting for a subway that never came because we didn't understand the system. But I like the way the transport works in which it tries to make traveling cheaper and easier for people traveling in groups. For example, the partner-day ticket allows a maximum of 5 people to travel on a 9.80euro day rider which would cost about 1.96euros per person which is so cheap!

anyway, not gonna talk much here heheh, let the pics do the talking.

lake Kognisee:

my fav shot:

Residenz museum

Neuschwanstein castle

Seeing the breathtaking scenery in lake Kognisee reminded me of how great our God is in creating such beauty. If the lake is that pretty already, I wonder how much more beautiful will heaven be? That, is beyond my imagination.

I thank God because when I prayed for good weather He provided us with sunny warm weather throughout the trip. It drizzled slightly on the first day in Berlin but for the rest of the trip in Munich, the castle and the lake, the weather was superb. The most amazing thing is that only when we were leaving Munich for the airport, it started raining. How good our God is!

Another thing is that there was a problem with our train ticket from the lake to Munich. we decided to take an earlier train which required us to get on a train to Salzburg and then get on an express train from Salzburg back to Munich. What we didn't know is that our ticket terms and conditions clearly stated in German that we were not allowed to use express trains. My instinct told me that I shouldn't board the train but we still did anyway and I was very worried that we might get kicked off the train lol. So the time came for the conductor to check tickets and I was pretty worried. Before he took a look at our ticket, I silently said a prayer asking God to let all things be fine with our tickets. The conductor shook his head when he saw our ticket and said "no, no, you shouldn't be using this train. Your ticket is only valid for slow regional trains." WIth that, he walked off to check others ticket.We were not fined or kicked off the train! how relieved I felt when he walked off, God answers even small prayers like this!

overall I also thank God for the smooth journey we had when the sisters traveled together. There were a few mini bickerings (as steph put it) throughout the trip but fortunately there wasn't any major emotional damage. I have also managed to withstand Steph's criticism who said the only good picture I took of her was this pic below lololol. hahaha :P

But am also glad and thank God that they tolerated me throughout the trip because I took them to walk a super long journey to Hofbrahaus instead of using the subway and they tolerated my crankiness and blurness haha. It's quite amazing how God gives people of the same parents and same upbringing different personalities and character and how we can still tolerate and love each other despite the differences. how boring life would be without these sisters around to keep me company heheh :)

ok exams over, now what?

many people have asked me what have I been doing since exams ended last thurs.

To be honest and I think everyone would agree, the busier times are usually after exams and not before because there are so many things to sort out and that includes Hull accom, employment contract and the upcoming Germany trip.

But every single day after exams we have been blessed with good food.

nasi lemak at Bette's house. I went over to learn some cooking tips from her. hehehehe. will try cooking it one day

MH the masterchef

yummy roast leg of lamb. It was really good!

we cooked for the house and Steph gatecrashed our dinner by suddenly turning up in front of our door

Next week the 3 sisters will be off in Germany and we haven't planned the itinerary for it yet. But the good thing is that we got accommodation and transport sorted.

Past Christmases

How I spent my Christmases in the UK for the past 5 years:

Christmas in Edinburgh 2006

Christmas in Buxton 2007

Christmas celebration in Leeds when Andrew came and on Christmas day itself, went to Kyle's 2008

Christmas fine dining at CF's and dinner with the Spenceley's 2009

Christmas 2010

how will Christmas 2011 be?

it's halloween!

try spotting me

******

i hope I have scared you enough haha :P

Post SSC celebration

We came up with an impromptu plan to eat nasi lemak and Bette, one of our malay friends, agreed to cook for us provided we buy her the ingredients.

it was a day filled with good food, friends and weather!

An incident I will never forget

I was writing my essay nice and comfortable in my room.

Suddenly I heard this loud sound of someone banging against the kitchen door. It was so great I felt as if the whole house shook. Followed by someone tugging forcefully at the door handle several times.

Esther and steph who were in the kitchen at that time said they were shouting, "POLICE!! POLICE" with deafening sounds of banging of the kitchen door.

And then the next thing I heard was that the sound of the door banging has shifted to the front door. I could feel the door resisting their bangs but was on the verge of breaking down.

Then suddenly, 'PRAAAANNNNGGGGG' one of the windows was smashed.

Very soon, I heard quick, anxious footsteps stumbling up the stairs and two extremely nervous and scared-faced people appeared in front of the bedroom door.

'QUICK QUICK, CALL THE POLICE, LOCK THE DOOR!! LOCK THE DOOR!!'

In the midst of chaos and confusion, Steph struggled to lock the room door, I fumbled to look for my phone but I couldn't find it. Esther finally found it and dialed 999 for the police.

Thank God no one was injured in this incident.

My housemate who was staying in the 2nd floor upstairs saw a gang of 6 hooligans with hoodies over their faces roaming around the backyard.

The kitchen window was smashed by a brick at a great force because not only the window was smashed but the bottom bit of the cupboard came off, the wall was scratched and the stove was dented as well. That must have been one hell of strength to cause such impact. Thank God Steph and Esther left the kitchen or else the brick might have hit them and it was the kitchen window that was smashed and not the living room window because Lynda happened to be at the living room window dozing off.

Damage done:

the smashed kitchen window

the cupboard

the brick (part of it chipped off when it was thrown in)

pieces of glasses everywhere

The police came within 30 min and reassured us that it was highly unlikely for the hooligans to come back again. They spoke to the house agent on behalf of us to request for the repair of the kitchen window to be done urgently tonight but up till now at 12.13am, no one has come to repair the window yet.

we were shaking and trembling uncontrollably and my legs were like jelly after the incident. It was so scary lor! I seriously really thought they were carrying weapons and were going to attack us! What an experience!

ps: more details of the incident can be found on steph's facebook

update: a repair man replaced the window with a plywood and someone would come a few days later to fix it.

I think I could see the light at the end of this tunnel I'm walking in. Hope it's real this time :)

ok nite!

Hey guise!

I'm back :)

*flips and somersaults*

I din go away for that long din I?

:P

keyboard

Playing keyboard for Sunday worship for the first time in Leeds.

Practice yesterday was really bad. The worship leader seemed very exasperate but yet was very patient with me. So Steph taught me a few variations and hope that it will turn out well today.

of sheepskin boots, bedroom slippers and chilblains

I have this problem ever since last year during the cold winter -my toes would become very red and swollen whenever the temperature drops.

It's called chilblains as Esther told me.

The practical way to prevent it is to keep warm as much as possible.

So...I bought

1. Sheepskin boots


Yay, I finally received my sheepskin boots today! Hdhl has got quite an efficient service in texting me the approximate delivery of me boots and it arrived quite on time. Fortunately Lynda was at home to get them (TQ!)

I used to hate the looks of these boots especially when people wear them with skinny fit jeans. But people say, 'never say never' and I started to notice these boots sometime last year and realise, hey they are actually quite nice' and began to go crazy over them. Since I would be staying in UK for the next few years so why not invest in one good boots which will keep me warm during the winter.

The story of how this pair of boots came about was quite long. I have been doing some research online on sheepskin boots and my initial target was ugg. But unfortunately they came with a hefty price and there were so many fakes online. So to play safe, I decided to settle with emu boots instead.

However, lolz, I realised that I have missed the most recent sales when the boots were actually sold for 38pounds! The cheapest offer I could get online was 55pounds :(



Then finally I came across this website which gave really good comparison on footwear sold by online retailers. I saw this pair of boots by Just Sheepskin which was sold for only 60pounds (reduced from 95) by Office! And they had my size ! After what seems like a thousand zillion years, I finally placed my order.

However, the price of the boots dropped a few days later to 50 pounds. Quite angry and disappointed because I felt cheated, I wrote them an email telling them that I wanted to cancel my order although I should have done that within 24 hours of ordering. They wrote to me back a week later telling me that (fortunately) there wasn't any stock available for the size 5 I wanted. I checked office website again and this time the boots was reduced to 35pounds! 35 from 95pounds! They had a size 6 available so I bought it although it was slightly bigger.

I know it might sound strange to some of you but I told God that if it is His will to let me have the boots then please let me have them. If not it's ok if I don't get them.

And I got the order invoice the very next day! Yipeeee!!! thank God!

Behold my comfy and warm boots...!!!


not ugg but me loveeeessss.


2. Hello Kitty bedroom slippers!


I like the fluffiness of it and the cuddly feeling as I put them on my feet. So nice and warm! Got them off Debenhams at a 70% discount which I thought was really worth the money.

Make me feel young and girly again lolz

snowww!!

It snowed again last night after Esther and I shoveled the snow!

Tonight the weather is set to plunge to a -5c. Brrrr...


It was a very beautiful sight when I walked down the street outside my house. Everywhere was covered with snow, even houses rooftops too!(They look like the houses in Restaurant City during their winter 'festive' season lolz). Parkinson building looked so white when seen from afar. It was so so pretty! How marvelous and great God is to create something so pure and white :)

However, the trouble snow brings is nearly as bad as Msia. Many car breakdowns have been reported. Rail services were suspended, schools were closed and flights were delayed. It's a torture to defrost the car in the cold when one is rushing to work. Thank God that the shuttle bus to st James was still running despite the bad weather condition.

The ones perhaps who are the happiest during this time are "the school children who were told not to go in" and not forgetting AA who has received more business than usual due to breakdowns!

snacks

I went to Sainsbury today intending to buy a loaf of bread but came back with a shopping bag of snacks. But they r super yummy!! Kettle chips, the 'high-class' crisps as some people describe it, is my newly added favourite snack. Ready salted is the best flavour because I love plain crisps as opposed to the BBQ flavour, cheese & onion flavour or whatever flavour u can think of.

I'm starting to get scared of myself actually. Not at the fact that I buy snacks, but the way I scrutinize the food label whenever I buy snacks. It's not the price which bothers me but the calorie content or the fat content. I could remember the calorie content for almost each food item I have by heart - one piece of choc Mcvities is 84kcal, one piece of choc coated hobnobs is 93kcal and one piece of M&S nougat is 60kcal.

When I buy pork minced meat, I compare the calorie content in both morrisons and Sainsbury and concluded that I could get morrisons minced pork for the same price but with much lower fat content. I purposely walk that extra distance instead of using the free city bus to burn off as much energy as I can. I avoid eating Flames/mcdonald because I know these are fatty foods. My mind automatically tells me that one Big Mac is 500+kcal and one medium chips is 300+kcal which total to almost half of my GDA.

There are fears within me that I worry I would succumb to but for now I can safety say that I still love my food. How can I resist the temptations of not eating the food my sisters cook/bake? hehe...so no worries :). True beauty is beyond the outward appearance.

okie dokies! Esther said to go out and shovel the snow. Yes it has snowed again! about 4 inches thick this time. This is the first time i hv seen such heavy snow in Leeds! ciaoz

Happy New Year!

I guess many Happy New Year posts are up now so I'd better write one quick before it's too late to post it.

This year New Year was slightly different from previous years. We used to have some 'watch night' thingy at one of the church leaders' house but he is not in Leeds now so we couldn't have it.

It was very quiet this New Year eve. And very laidback indeed. I remember my sisters and I were rushing with some 'specialty' dishes last year but this year we had a simple meal at home. Just the three of us.

The day (or night rather) started late with us waking up at 4.30pm (we have become nocturnal now :P) and just lazing around surfing the net/watching jdrama.

But we eventually pulled ourselves to cook in the freezing cold kitchen where we could actually breathe vapours out from the mouth. A humongous plate of baked rice (with goat cheese gratings, wanted to get rid of the goat cheese before it spoils), steamed chicken, stir-fry cucumber and broccoli, and a couple of leftovers from the night before were our New Year eve dishes.

It's good though because I think we needed a break from big dinners which we had for 5 consecutive nights.

**no pics available**

then I cleaned my table and re-arranged the things in my drawer until they looked pretty neat. for now.

I thought the night would end early with us going to bed finally but sometime through the night we heard the doorbell ring.

We thought it was someone playing a prank or sth but it turned out to be YK and a few others who just came back from the countdown in Millenium square. They asked whether we wanted to go over to their house to chill so we reluctantly agreed.

Ended up playing card game called heart attack with each of us getting pretty red hands after that and chit-chatting until 9.30am in the morning!!!!

-.-"

I guess my plan to adjust my sleeping time failed miserably again. So that's how I spent my New Year eve. A 'good' start to the new year. heh. But at least I have got a clean table to study on now :)

gear up for winter!

essentials needed to keep warm during winter:

1. scarf - check

2. thick coat - check

3. beanie/ear muff - check

4. sheepskin boots - I wana get one! waterproof shoes aren't enough. My toes still become numb

5. gloves - check.

Blessed Christmas!

Dear all, the Ting sisters would like to wish you a happy and blessed Christmas. May you be reminded of the true purpose of Christmas and may God fill you with joy continually. God bless.

PS: it's been snowing for the past few days! Hopefully we will get a white Christmas this year!!!

fattening up

I thank God for the dinners which I have attended over the past few weeks. There will be more dinners this week as Christmas is round the corner. I have Christmas eve, Christmas day and boxing day evening booked for potluck! A blessing to have people to celebrate Christmas with but at the same time I have to watch my weight.

My sisters, CF and I had a go at fine dining. It was the first ever fine dining experience for me and the food were brilliant! great team effort in making this fine dining a success!

the menu

the food!

ate until we burst. We bought two legs of lamb which were on half price sale. We couldn't finish the lamb that night and took it home. It lasted for another 3 meals! Leg of lamb is seriously good; it has not much fat and the meat is so tender! Am thinking of buying one leg and saving it for daddy when he comes up in June hahaha. Daddy will give the verdict on whether it's good or not. 1000000 times better than the ribs of lamb we eat in Miri.

Early Christmas presents. See the happy faces

***

I baked chocolate cupcakes and brownies last week! They tasted surprisingly good but I wouldn't dare to think of the calories content. I know the chocolate brownies has got 325gm of sugar and 150gm of dark choc inside *shudders*. I know it's fattening but I love anyhting that has chocolate inside! the more chocolate-y the better!!

Oh I had a go at making mian pok but i think it didn't turn out like the one in town. I supposed it's because I din use lard (real oil from the fat of the pig) but then again it will be very unhealthy if I use it. Hmmm...

I will end with two pic of 'diners club' photos. If you notice, both pics were not taken in our house! hehehe. Esther made a point when she said it feels weird when we go to people house to eat instead of us staying put in our house and waiting for people to come. It's good coz we dun hv to worry too much about disturbing our housemates and eating at different friends' house makes dinners more interesting and exciting! However, to attend dinners at others' house will need an extra effort from myself to battle the cold weather outside.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

birmingham

Was in Birmingham over the weekend. Went to meet up with WL who I haven't seen for 2.5 years. The first thing he said to me when I saw him at the rail station was, 'wa Janice, 你瘦了' (and he proceeded to make some movements to indicate that my chin was sharper). Lol. Happy I was to hear that :P

Went to Cadbury World which was a total waste of money. Wouldn't dream of going there again. not ever. The place was overcrowded, the factory tour was dull and the 'cadabra' ride was so boring that all I did was took pictures with my friends instead of being 'memerised' by the surroundings.

I was so busy taking pictures until I din notice this signpost in the ride.

from wiki

How I wish there would be falling chocs then I could grab as much as I can and it will make the whole trip worth it.

The only highlight of the trip was towards the end when each of us were given free liquid dairy milk chocolate to top with one selected confectionery. I was also given a daily milk chocolate bar and caramel chocolate bar (255kcal and 225kcal respectively). at least the chocolates there have already cost a few pounds ad. So it wasn't a complete waste of money.

We went back to Birmingham city for lunch and the 三烧饭 I had was really good! My friend said it is comparable to 4 seasons in London o_O. I cant exactly remember how 4 seasons was like but the roast duck was indeed juicy and crispy. yumyum. too bad no picture of it. After that we walked around the city and finally settled down in starbucks to escape the summer heat.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself that day with the great company of WL and his friends and I'm sure that I went back to Leeds a few pounds heavier =( sigghhhhhhhhhhhhhh

the day we became aunties

8.30am in the morning in front of M&S.

Why is there a queue outside?

View towards M&S: By 8.50am, the queue became longer. note carphonewarehouse shop

view away from M&S: the queue was getting longer

even up to the corner of CPW!

Everyone got up early just to wait for M&S to open their doors at 9 because there was a 3-day 1p bazaar going on at M&S to celebrate their 125th anniversary!

We wanted to go on Thursday but couldn't get up so on Friday (which was the last day of the 3-day sale) we were determined to go. By the time M&S have their next 1p sale we would have died by then (the next sale might fall on their 250th anniversary). so we didn't want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pay a visit down M&S at 8.20am in the morning.




In the end what we got was so-so. I wasn't that overly excited over the stuff I bought. There weren't many choices to buy from so I hastily grabbed the 5 things we were limited to. M&S appeals largely to the middle-aged group so there were many old aunties and uncles there queuing up. So it wasn't surprising the stuff I bought look so aunty!!

the scarf I bought. polka dots. welcome back to the 80's! lol