雨

To all my English speaking friends who can't recognize Chinese characters. The title means 'Rain'.

It has come down to the time of the year in UK which the sky becomes so sad til the point that it weeps nearly everyday. Even as I walked back from Exeter's St David's station to my university, I got drenched by the heavy 'light shower' along the way.

My past 4 days in Cardiff was not really exciting. Like I told Rachel (my host in Cardiff), I don't prioritize exploring a new place in a trip. In my book, enjoying company of a friend and someone to reminisce about stories and mutual memories back home is more worthwhile as a visit. (Well, in this case, I came for food. :D)

My Host/Tour Guide/Chef and Me :)

It was my first time travelling by train and well I was a quite anxious about it. I always had this fear of missing the train or stops.. so when I learnt from my friend that the train only stopped for a very short time upon arriving a stop, it bugged me the whole train ride. I couldn't really sleep or do anything in fact on the train as being conscious of the time was a definite necessity.

The train ride from Exeter to Cardiff took 1 hour and 45 minutes, saving about 2x of the time taking bus. Had a little bit of embarrassed moment for me when I inserted the seat reservation ticket instead of the official travel ticket into the machine as I was trying to get through the gate. LOL.

Meh.. Cardiff weather was much much warmer than in Exeter.. but if you were to give me one word to describe Cardiff.. WET is ds definitely the word. I will explain this later on.

My arrival was greeted by Rachel, his brother and Rach's flatmate Tom. They came to the town to get some stuffs, so my job that day was to follow them around the city center (barely visiting any places). Although that, I managed to stop by and bought myself Welsh Cakes in the marketplace. If you are wondering what is Welsh Cake all about.. it's basically flour.. however, it tasted pretty good in combination with jam.

At night, Rach made me dinner! Yes, I didn't have to cook hahahaha, but I volunteered to wash the dishes though. Later into the night, I had a small gathering with Han Rui - one of my Cardiff friend who was on a student exchange program, doing her 3rd year law here. Well, it was not really a small gathering. In fact, the flat people apparently invited other people over and it gradually become a flat party. The weird part was, the party was dominated by Malaysians and a few international ones. The whole night in the flat was filled with laughter and warmth as we chatted and also played some dancing game on Tom's Wii. Well, it was great to have to an opportunity to meet up with Han Rui again right before her flight to other parts of Europe.

At night, I technically slept on the ground.. but with a layer of mattress. So yeah, although it's not the most supreme comfort, but it's better than sleeping on the FLOOR literally like what I did in Bath.

On the 2nd day, Rach brought me to visit the Cardiff City Center.

One part of City Center

Cardiff Castle

I think this is the Morgan street? There are quite a few of these.

Founder of NHS who is going to take care of my health in UK

Awesome clock

My IG photo - Bute Park

IMO, this looks like an exorcism kind of place lol.

There is definitely more to the city than what my photo has shown. Too lazy to take down everything. :D

Well, for dinner I got treated one of the best of meals that I have had since I came to the UK.

Baked Potatoes-Long Beans & Tomato-Curry

Pirvinsha made the potatoes, Tom made the beans and tomatoes and Rach made curry.

And as usual, I washed the dishes. LOL.

Such wholesome meal.. and yea, it tastes exactly like what are you guys seeing right now - Amazing.

Before bed, we watched a movie called If I stay.. it was terrible.. and unbelievable..


Third day, Rach said she would make garlic bread for breakfast.. and I ended up eating the whole loaf of it.. LOL. Skyped Xin Ying (friend from Malaysia) after breakfast before leaving the flat to Cardiff bay at around 1pm. Before heading to the train station, we had a walk at the Bute park. (We entered from another entrance.) Just so you know, The area Bute park covered is huge. It is possible (but unlikely) to get lost in it.

Road to the entrance of Bute Park

River Taff (I'm on a bridge btw)

Did not realize I shot so many photos of the park.

Well, we had to take a train from Cathays station to Cardiff bay.

Road to Cardiff Bay

Shameless selfie

Old National Assembly for Wales

BBC Wales on the other side

Millennium Center - Theater performances are shown inside

Night View

Yea.. so coming to what we have been waiting for. Tonight's dinner.

Char siew + Cabbage + Rice

There's only 3 words to describe this. Less than 3.

<3

Oh yeah, we also watched 被偷走的那五年.. and guess who cried? XD

I went back to Exeter on the 17th.. and back to facing the reality of exams dawning on me soon enough. It was a great four day spent with great experience obtained, instead of just spending time staring on the laptop screen back in the hostel. (The irony, considering that is what I am exactly doing right now. Haha.) Although Cardiff isn't considered one of the most beautiful places in UK, but it certainly has its attractive sites and I had the privilege to visit them. 

I was actually quite conflicted in my decision of travelling to Cardiff in the beginning, as Han Rui and Rach were the only good friends I know studying in Cardiff. It was tough to decide whether it was okay to crash by an accommodation belonging to the opposite gender. I know people would think that it is possible to sleep on the sofa in the living area - which was what I suggested at first, but Rach was kind enough to let me stay the night in her room.. which was much much more warmer. 

Well, I just wanna thank her for the past 4 days, showing me around and also showcasing all her best cooked meals for my every dinner there. It was awesome and reminded a lot of home. Both of us actually lived nearby from each other in Malaysia and well.. to be able to meet each other again in UK, it was emotionally overwhelming. Well Rach, Thanks for having me in Cardiff!! :)

If meeting a friend in U.K.everytime can give me such a great feeling emotionally, I think I would be addicted to travelling. If only.. train prices running through Exeter can be cheaper..

Well it is 3 am now.. an hour since I started typing.. 

Should probably go to bed. Nights.

Before I forget.

It already started to feel a little weird.. still could not get over the fact that I actually traveled to Bath just 2 days ago. This short 2 days trip that was planned since a few weeks ago came to a great success as we got to visit most of the hotspots in Bath.

It was on Saturday that I took my 5 am bus there. Some people called me crazy but when the incredible difference in tickets came in to play, I figured it was a no contest. A single way trip to Bath is 3 pounds, and in comparison to the 15 pounds, conversion of the currency played a big factor.

Anyways, being at bus stop at 5am, I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw Alicia, one of my Malaysian friends in Exeter. Apparently, she had the idea of visiting Bath's Christmas Market as well but only decided to go on a one day trip. Well, it's good to have an acquaintance in the bus as 3 hours of bus ride alone can be boring.

I reached the Bath City Centre at 8am and the first impression I got was.. 'why the hell is it so cold man.' Even with thermals and jacket, I was shivering like mad, not to mention Alicia who wore much lesser than I did. However, I did not miss the chance to take a photo with this Christmas tree right opposite my bus stop.

When I first arrived

It was so cold that even smiling seemed like a tough job to do.

Initially, I planned to walk all the way to the university. On my google map, the estimated time of arrival was 43 minutes by walking, which was actually fine by me. However, the temperature and weather just didn't allow me to do so and I ended up taking a bus.

Upon arrival at the university bus stop, I figured that I am probably doomed as I didn't have Chuan Jiet's or Vicky's UK number and I did what any another annoying friend in the world would do - spam their whatsapp. Well, the other alternative was Hui Peng, which had a 'last seen 5 hours ago' on my messenger box. I sent a message seeking urgent help. Luckily, Hui Peng replied me,. at the sight of that I was definitely on cloud nine. My hands were already numb and I could not really feel them anymore (I am not even joking.) Through facebook messages, she guided me to a place to wait for her as she prepared to come and pick me up. Apparently the place was right outside a big mart - even bigger than my forum's shop - which I thought was big enough lol, and I got myself a Cherry-Apple cider as a warm up drink.

5 minutes felt like eternity while waiting for Hui Peng as the cold weather threatened to engulf me. The mere sight of her brought me a sense of relief, and we headed off to her room. It was certainly nice to be back indoors. We talked for a bit and deep in my heart I was amazed by how well organised her room was except for the big luggage hogging the entire way. When CJ finally came over, followed by Leon, we headed over to CJ's room to drop off my luggage. Sleepy-looking Vicky greeted me at Chuan Jiet's door before I barged straight in to drop my luggage somewhere at the floor - which was my sleeping spot for the night.

After everyone was ready, we headed to the town. 

Landscape view from the top of hill

Walking to city was a long way, but gravity helped us downhill pretty quick. Bath city, unlike Exeter's was much bigger and buildings there had a drop of classic-modern style of architecture.

Before visiting around, we waited for Ken (on his way from Nottingham) in a signature brand shop. 

After having buffet for lunch, Chuan Jiet started his tour guide duty showing us around. 

Bath Abbey

Royal Crescent

Vicky asked me to do this for the Gay Street

Swag nation guys.

Another Christmas tree somewhere

Vicky - master in selfies

Group photo

Nottingham-Exeter-Southampton

Another tree

That's basically for the first day.

For the night, we camped at Chuan Jiet's room to watch 七号房的礼物 - a korean movie which was supposed to be touching but it was too unrealistic to make me cry lol. We had a small chat before heading to bed later on.

My bed was not even a bed it was a blanket over a floor. I had to use Vicky's jacket as a pillow and her blanket as blanket as mine was laid on the floor. The cold was so cold that I had trouble falling into deep sleep. Woke up at 5am to put my thermal and socks on before I could carry on sleeping til 8 am.

We were all prepared and ready to go at 10am. Our next destination was Sally Lunn's house, a well-known house from the past which made mouth-watering but *cough* (overpriced) bread. It was good though. 

After sending off  Ken at the station at 12 noon, 3 of us spent rest of the day strolling around town before staying put at Costa from 3 - 5.30. 

During dinner, that was when a lot of DMC happened. ( deep meaningful conversation - term adopted from my flatmates) We had our dinner in a pub, so drinking was inevitable, although CJ got himself a mixed juice instead of a proper drink. Vicky and I had strongbow and guiness pint respectively.  

The environment was perfect for talks and we discussed a lot about life, studies, family, relationships, resolution. It was a roller coaster of feels and emotions for the night as I listened to them and related their issues to mine. I did not know much about them after 1.5 years in college as the time we met were mostly in a society (we were not from the same class), and I thought that night probably brought our friendship to a new level.

They sent me off at the bus stop at 8.20, and to be honest I was on the verge of tears after I hugged them both before hopping on the bus. It was a kind of friendship that I had never tasted since coming to the UK. Making new friends in a foreign country is common, but chances of forming a connection emotionally with them is probably quite slim, unless they are from the same country as you. For me this case, I don't have many.

"Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies." - Aristotle

I learnt this saying during form 5 and it was one that I could not understand. Maybe, just maybe I can understand it finally.

GG Bread

Last selfie 

After this trip, a new chapter of my life has finally opened.