Epsiode 6 [Part 3] End of Week 2 of school

I come now to the end of the second week of school's foundation course. From next week, I will no longer be in the group that I was in during the 2 weeks. Why? Well, the school has rearranged the whole cohort and split us into 8 groups instead of the current 6 groups. In my case, I was in the 6th group for the 2 weeks (ie Group F) and for the rest of the year, I will be in the 1st group (ie Group A)...

I will definitely miss the friends I made over the past 2 weeks. But, despite being apart, there are many ways of remaining in contact such as MSN and emails.

It will be a leisurely Friday for me today as there is no school!! So, I will take my time to have my breakfast and do other things. :)

Episode 6 [Part 2]: In-house chef Josiah

After a wet beginning to the week, I went on to start cooking my own dinner. Thus far, I have been eating out (which, depending on what you eat can be expensive and unhealthy) and buying groceries for breakfast.

On Monday afternoon, I headed down to Somerfields (a small but reasonable supermarket) near Alexander Fleming to purchase my first round of groceries, including a packet of rice. I came back to the hall and prepared my first home-cooked meal. Rice with seafood in Cantonese sauce and egg. :) It was delicious!

Today, after school, I went to buy my second round of groceries. I came back with packets of pasta, pasta sauce, canned soup, garlic, onions, beef and chicken. I whipped up some boiled broccoli and cauliflower with rice and chicken in Cantonese sauce... Bon appetit!

The crockery and necessary utensils are all available in the kitchen and I am actually thankful for my neighbour from China cause she brought a rice cooker and has gladly allowed me to use it... :)

In doing my own dinner, I hope to be able to hone my cooking skills and cook for others as well... Chef Jo in the making. By day a law student, by night a chef.... haha

Well, this is perhaps the icing on the cake to my settling in the UK. I also think that by cooking your own meal, you can take your mind off the demands of school and indulge in someting you enjoy. The one thing that I would love to have is a piano where I can run my fingers through...

Music, law and food... a very good combination don't you think??

I now have to think what will be Part 3 of this episode, if there is such a thing...

Episode 6 [Part 1?]: Week 2 of school

This entry is written on a wet Monday morning! It is a good day to sleep in. However, I have school to go for later. School begins at 10am.

This is my first time see it rain in London. But, this will mean that I will have to leave for school earlier as I foresee traffic jams and crowded trains..

What an exciting start to the week!

More in the week to come...

Episode 5: Week 1 of School

School has begun with a 2-week Foundation Course. This meant that we have to sit through formal instructions through lectures and prepare tutorials.


Yap, I had homework and preparation to do on Day 1 of school and I think many of us did not like it. In fact, I did not get to meet my tutorial mates until Wednesday! So, for the first 2 days, I felt quite lonely and a little stressed over the work I needed to do.


However, on Monday afternoon, I received an invitation from an old friend of mine, Jordan, his girlfriend and another 2 friends for dinner. I gladly accepted the invitation and we headed for Bayswater's 4 Seasons Restaurant for their famous Cantonese duck. The restaurant is just opposite Bayswater Tube Station.





We queued for an hour and a half just to have a table! See pictures below.





4 Seasons







Food Glorious Food
(We had Sweet and Sour Pork, Lemon Chicken, Duck and some beancurd)






Jordan and Jo outside 4 Seasons while waiting






Jo, Jordan's [not so photogenic] girlfriend (Hui Nee)
and Jordan on the Tube on the way home after dinner.





But, things got better along the way. I received a PINK iPod nano on Friday courtesy of the school. One of the lecturers gave it to me before everyone before the lecture proper on Friday.





The iPod was a prize I got from a draw way back in March at the Law London Fair where the school had a booth. I attended the fair because I wanted to accept a place on the LPC and the school had a booth there. Later in the year, I was informed by the school that I won the iPod. :)

Further, the prize in March was a 2GB iPod nano. What I got on Friday was a 4GB iPod nano with a colour screen! :)



Now, most of my coursemates (and lecturers I believe) will remember me as the "[Pink] iPod Man". This is how pink it is:

The pink iPod...

Apart from these, I reestablished contact with an old church friend of mine... We grew up together in Sunday School. He and his family moved to Scotland many years ago and he is now working as an IT consultant in London. I hope to meet up with him in due course.

So, things are beginning to take flight here in London. There are many things to think over, prepare and submit. I do trust that as the Lord has provided the opportunity and the resources, He will also provide what is necessary for me to go through during this period of my life.

Episode 4: My first weekend in London

After settling into Alexander Fleming Hall, the next thing I knew was that the weekend was here. Yes, my first weekend in London. I had plans to attend All Souls Church on Sunday. So, what was I going to do on Saturday?

Well, the first thing that happened was to receive a call from a friend of mine whom I have known since primary school on Friday night. In those days, we sat the same school bus and I even invited him to one of my birthday parties! Well, anyway, I bumped into him while I was in the army. We were in the same camp and found out that he was doing law as well. So, with that, we re-established contact and kept in touch via email.

Anyway, I met up with him over lunch on Saturday at Ponti's @ Liverpool St Station. This friend of mine - I must say - came at a time when I needed it. Well, I had some problems with my bank account here in London. Hence, I could not withdraw any money from the cash machines (ie ATMs) here. Further, I was running low on cash and had to stretch the dollar whenever I could. When this friend heard of my situation, he gladly lent me GBP100!! This is really God providing an angel when I need it!!! Thank you Lord! Indeed, He is Jehovah Jireh!!

But, before I met him for lunch, I had a fruitful 2-hour chat with my mum and the whole family over Skype and MSN from about 5.30am to 7.30am (UK time). Over in Singapore (and Shenzhen, where my mum is right now), it is about 12.30pm. This communication would not come come through if it was not for an sms from this friend of mine to change the timing of our lunch from 1pm to 2pm!! This chain of events is just amazing, isn't it!

After lunch, I took a walk back to Alexander Fleming. While walking back, I made a detour to the Bunhill Row Burial Grounds along City Road opposite Wesley's Chapel. My family and I visited Wesley's Chapel in March when we were in London for my convocation.

This burial ground houses the graves of some famous people, like John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim's Progess. Photos below:

I spent my Saturday evening buying some groceries at Somerfields and updating this blog.

On Sunday, I headed for All Souls Church at Langham Place. The church is a stone's throw away from the University. So, it was rather convenient. After attending the 9.30am service (which lasted for 1 hour!), I met up and wandered around for the rest of the day with some Singaporeans (some of whom are from BRMC and were on the same flight into London with me). We had some Chinese food for lunch before moving down to Trafalgar Square, the Golden Jubilee Bridge across the River Thames (where there was a Festival Walk with people selling many things) and St Paul's Cathedral before heading back home.

Photos below:

Me and the Singapore gang outside All Souls

All Souls Church (from afar)

Char Siew Rice and Chinese Tea (finally!!!)

The gang and I having Chinese food

Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column

The London Eye (taken from the Golden Jubilee Bridge)

The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

(taken from the Golden Jubilee Bridge)

This is the Festival Walk

(taken as I came down from the Golden Jubilee Bridge)

St Paul's Cathedral (from afar)

St Paul's (near)

Yap, that was my first week in London.

School begins next week.

Episode 3: Moving and Settling into Alexander Fleming

After the wonderful cruise down the River Thames on Thursday night, I now begin the journey to Alexander Fleming Hall at Old Street. This will be my permanent Hall for the duration of the LPC.

The question was: How am I going to move all my luggage over??? I have 4 pieces of luggage, 2 of which are really bulky. Well, all the students at Wigram House had similar situations. We all had at least 2 pieces of bulky luggage! Fortunately, there was a coach to bring us to our various Halls.

We arrived near Alexander Fleming at or around 11am and I had to literally drag my "Chinese-looking" bag in addition to the big black bag I had with me.

We checked into our rooms and I am located at Block C, 2nd Floor and Room 8 (C02.8). My next door neighbour is a girl from People's Republic of China. Well, I am right next to the kitchen and 2 doors away from the bathroom, so, it is really convenient. Further, it is bigger than Wigram. See the "before and after-adding-furnishings" photos below:

My room BEFORE

My room AFTER

The checkered "Chinese-looking" bag (shown in the AFTER photo above) gave up its ghost when I checked in as it was torn at the base and some of my LPC books, especially those at the base of it suffered "battle scars". See below

"Battle Scars" even before school starts!!

The book that "suffered" the most damage was my "Criminal Litigation in Practice" (as can be seen above). Well, an allegedcriminal goes against the criminal justice system in every country when being charged for an alleged crime. If the system is (in the criminal lawyer's and his client's view) unfair and unjust, one will have to fight against it and perhaps be afflicted serious battle scars... haha... Trying to think of some significance of this event.. ;p

Well, I think I can recognise my books from these "battle scars" as well. hehe...

After settling down, I moved to set up my Wireless connection. Once that was done (which was a big relief), I went to check my emails, reply to some of them and update this blog.

I am settling in quite nicely and I will be going through my first weekend in London. More to come in due course.

Episode 2 [Part 2]: Welcome (Night) Programme

Previously on the Adventures of Josiah, we see (king :p) Josiah doing some sightseeing of Buckingham Palace [the official residence of the British monarchy]. But, however high and mighty Josiah thought he was, he was then humbled and brought back to reality that he was an international student when he attended his university's Welcome Programme.

In the Day Programme, he had to sit through lectures on various topics such as Academic Writing and Plagiarism(eeks...), student discounts, healthcare and personal safety (which was delivered by a police officer of the Marylebone Police who had a black right eye due to a chase he had to do the night before).

Now, we continue with the social segment of the Welcome Programme. There are 2 events:

(1) Disco @ International Students House [Great Portland Street]

(Wednesday, 12th September 2007)

Josiah did not take part in the disco (because he is not a party fan) but observed from a distance and took these photos:

(2) Cruise along the River Thames @ Tower Millenium Pier

(Thursday, 13th September 2007)

The Tower of London

The Tower Bridge (before dark)

Josiah and the Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge lighting up

Tower Bridge at night

I belive this is Canary Wharf

(The financial centre of London)

The cruise travelled past the Tower Bridge down the River Thames, past Canary Wharf and the Docklands before turning back. This is how the Welcome Programme ended (for Josiah) as he will not be going for the coach trip to Brighton on Sunday. Instead, he will be heading to All Souls' Church at Langham Place (near his campus) to plug himself into the community. He hopes to meet fellow Singaporeans and other international students.

In the next episode, Josiah will be leaving Wigram House for his permanent Hall of Residence at Alexander Fleming.

Episode 2 [Part 1]: Welcome (Day) Programme

From Tuesday (11th September) till Thursday (13th September), I was with other international students like myself at a Welcome Programme (ie Orientation) organised by the University. But, before I headed for that, I did a little sightseeing on my own this Tuesday morning.

I went to visit Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the British monarchy, which is near Wigram House and Victoria Station. Here are the photos. Unfortunately, there was no Changing of the Guard ceremony that day, so, it was quite quiet except for the hordes of Londoners walking about. [Guess what, I bumped into my LPC Supervisor here!]

Buckingham Palace (side view)

Buckingham Palace (front view)


Victoria Memorial (from afar)

Victoria Memorial (upclose)

The Welcome Programme was held at the University's Marylebone Campus. See below.

Baker Street Tube Station

The University of Westminister's Marylebone Campus

(just opposite Baker Street Tube)

Baker Street is known to be the home of the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes (created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). This will also be where I will need to go for my banking. Thankfully, the HSBC is just next to Baker Street Tube Station.

The picture below of a statue of the famous detective taken outside Baker Street Tube Station.

The Welcome (Day) Programme took the form of lectures on various issues an International Student will encounter such as Healthcare, Personal Safety, Academic Writing, Careers and Part-time Work (just to name a few).

There are also social events in the evening which I will talk about in Part 2 of this episode.

To be continued...

Episode 1: Wigram House + Enrolment

Upon touching down in London, I had a cappucino at the airport's cafe, thanking God for a safe touchdown. I had 2 mission objectives to accomplish today:

(1) To get to and settle into Wigram House; and

(2) To enrol with my school as a student of the University.

MISSION #1

Wigram House was the place where I was going to stay till Thursday, 13th September 2007 before moving to Alexander Fleming, my permanent hall for the duration of the course. The nearest Tube station was Victoria.

As I had the time to move my luggage (4 pieces in all) there, I left the bulky pieces at the "Left Luggage" section at the airport before buying the Off-Peak Travel Pass. This enabled me to make unlimited number of trips on the Tube for the whole day. So, I took advantage of that and made a trip back to the airport to get the bulky luggage after finding Wigram House.

This is a photo of the outside:

This is the room where I stayed in for the first few days in London. It is quite small compared to what I will be living in for the next 9 months.

Mission was accomplished at or around 2pm. It was then that all was still and I was really now all alone in London. I was (and am still) a little home sick and do miss my family and friends back in Singapore. But, I could rest here as I had a second mission to accomplish.

MISSION #2

At or around 3.45pm, I headed to my campus at Oxford Circus to enrol myself as a student of the University with the LPC. That's where (half of the) money was paid, my student ID card was issued and my books given!! [See below]

I had to bring these back to Wigram House (and Alexander Fleming on Friday!!!) I am thankful that I did not suffer any stretched muscles or ligaments on the way back from school. Mission accomplished.

After depositing these, I then went to get dinner as I was very hungry by then as I had not eaten my lunch as well.

So, I decided to get 2 sets Marks & Spencer sandwiches, a bottle of lemonade and a box of strawberries (Mummy is going to be very envious of me.. hehe). See below.

After dinner and feeling real tired after all the and retired for the night. The last time I slept was in my bed back home in Singapore on Saturday night. So, I have been awake for 48 hours!

In the next episode, I will going for the University's Welcome Programme for International students which takes me all the way to Thursday.

The farewell

A few of my friends and family members turned up at the airport to see me off on Sunday, 9th September 2007.

Here are some of the pictures taken at Singapore's Changi airport just before I entered the transit lounge:

My Temasek Polytechnic friends My beloved family

My Secondary 4 classmate: Jared Lee

My BRMC Cell Group Representative: Kenneth

My uncle and his family

I was on board QF 9 to Heathrow and landed in London on Monday, 10th September 2007 at or around 5.25am.

The Preparation

I have been meeting up with friends (for both lunch and dinner) this whole week. These meetings are for the purposes of catching up and final goodbyes before I next see them again in 3 months.

I have some pictures of a surprise birthday celebration of a friend of mine from the polytechnic on Tuesday evening.

We all gathered at New York New York at Citilink for a meal and a birthday cake.

(from left: Samantha(who returned from Brisbane 2 months ago), Hwee Bin, Ian, Myself, Henry, Siew Kee and Huimin)

This is Henry (the birthday boy) blowing the cake we bought for him.

To end the short weekday night, we adjourned to Harry's Bar at the Esplanade for a drink and parted at or around 10.30pm.

See photo below [Ian is partially blocked by Henry, the birthday boy]

I am glad that we can still meet after so many years. More photos and posts to come in the days ahead.