We had fun, didn't we?

Sheffield/Peak District Trip
4-5 February 2006

After spending 3 years in Sheffield, I had developed a love for the city and the surrounding countryside. There can never be too many visits to Castleton or Chatsworth or Edale or Ladybower...I was well excited about this trip to South Yorkshire.

With our cars packed with sleeping bags, essentials and food, we started to m

ake our way down south. We drove into Sheffield, checked into our lovely accommodation (thanks so

much - Heather and Schof!), picked up Ally & Hannah and were soon on our way to the Ladybower reservoir. We did a short walk along the reservoir bank, had a little picnic by a little brook.

Castleton was the next destination. It's one of my favourite Peak District destinations, probably because Three Roofs Cafe serves the most yummy-licious scones in the region! D

espite the gloomy weather (light drizzle; cold winds), we had a great time exploring this beautiful village. Alena, Olaf, Eva, Matt & Alida did a walk up the hill while Jean-Pierre, Kobika and I trekked up to Castle (and then down to the Fudge shop!). To top it off, we had our scones and hot chocolate at Three Roofs...yummy!!! Poor Matt lost his glove while looking for his mobile phone cover...hmmm... All in all, we had a lovely time in the Peak District and were ready to see more of it the following day.

Back at our accommodation, we made some chicken curry and salad for dinner (quick and easy meal to feed 10 hungry souls!). Then it was time to say bye to Jean-Pierre and Kobika who left us to return to Durham (for a nice quiet, uninterrupted time together)! Those of us who remained made a trip to the Sheffield Uni, for a pint at the Union bar - Interval. It felt a little nostalgic to be back there. Before we got too drunk, we trooped down West Street towards the City Centre. But by the time we got there, we were too tired for a grand tour and so headed back to Oxford Street for some well-deserved rest.

The following day, we woke up early to pack, clean and make our sandwiches for the day. We decided to visit Eyam - a village that was once affected by the Plague. It's a rather quaint little place with a beautiful chapel but I must say the scones in Castleton are far nicer...and cheaper! Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Durham. We had come to the end of our little trip. I don't know about the others, but I felt a little sad to leave. I never spend enough time at the Peak District!

Well, till the next time I guess! Bye bye, Sheffield & Peak District - see you soon!

Christmas time...mistletoe and wine...

Ok...I'm not quite a fan of Cliff Richard but it's Christmas time!!!


It's the time for (far too much) wine, sleep and feasting! Some of us left the lovely Brackenbury flats to spend the holidays with family and friends back home. (Secretly, I've been trying to get rid of some of them - now I can watch 24 in Olaf's room 24/7; and not have people remind me all the time that I'm somewhat vertically-challenged!)

Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to this Christmas:

Alida spent a few days in South Yorkshire and her activities include shopping (predictable); roaming around a beautiful stately home (Chatsworth estate); and feasting! She then spent New Year in Newcastle where she had a great adventure exploring and getting lost in the Newcastle streets.



I had too many Christmas dinners in lovely British homes; too many glasses of whisky in Scotland (Ally & family); too many cuppas hot chocolates in Germany/Prague. Well, it's the season to indulge and overdo things a bit, isn't it?

Eva spent her Christmas decorating her cosy little flat which she co-rents with Pavel. Very tastefully done, Eva!

Alena went cross-country skiing with her dad and spent some time playing with her very adorable niece, Helenka. Honestly, Helenka is so wonderfully sweet you'll be addicted!

Matt had a great time with his girlfriend, Cecile and family. I guess he spent most of his time lazing and begging for some tender-loving care!

Jean-Pierre had a busy Christmas too. Overdose of wonderfully-made Sri-Lankan food and fudge are the highlights! (He never gets sick of either though...he's got a limitless pit for great food and fudge!)

Olaf had a rather sporty time. He went alpine skiing and rowing, just to name a few! He also had a wonderful time (?!!!!) showing me his beautiful city!

Finally, we have Vajka who had to pack and prepare for a move to Brackenbury House!!! Hehe, this side of the Dryburn estate is way cooler ... good move, Vajka!

So, there you go...Christmas 2005!

York Trip - 9 to 10 December 2005

A Medieval Christmas...Castle, Cathedral, Ice-Skates (huh? medieval?)!







My lovely sister, Meiyin, is doing her postgraduate studies in York and when she was last in Durham, she invited me and my fellow brackies to York. So with accommodation and travel itinerary all sorted, we (6 of us) trooped to Yorkshire to spend a lovely weekend at the OTHER medieval city in Britain.



After approx. 2 hours' drive, we were greeted by a city decorated with christmas lights (the non-tacky kind), streets filled with ice sculptures, and a continental christmas fayre. I would also add that we listened to some really BAD german pop music at the christmas fayre! Following a short stroll through the city, we decided we deserve (why? I don't know, but well, it's christmas after all, we can indulge a bit) some nice local cakes and tea. And that we did. Of course, being poor students (erm...except Alida, that is, for she almost bought a 10k diamond necklace...talk about indulgence!), we could only afford the not-so-posh tearooms. But the cakes and scones were heavenly and we had to restrain ourselves from eating too much before dinner. After all, Meiyin had promised a Japanese feast!

I think Meiyin makes the best sushi and chawa-mushi, and yes, I think I would go back to York just for that! The cheesecake that Olaf made was also yummy-licious! So, erm, yes, we ate a lot in York! After all that food, we decided we had to work out a bit, so we went to play pool and futsball! It sure was SOME heavy physical workout! But for some reason, Matt didn't think it was enough physical activity for we had a really big pillow-fight at bedtime. Can someone stop that boy??!!!!






The following day, we walked round the city (again, but this time, in bright daylight), and along the city wall. No, for once, none of us did anything stupid! Not this time! Until midday, that is... for we decided it would be a great idea to go ICE-SKATING! In this regard, there's one particular person worth mentioning...Mr Jean-Pierre Loutoby - the King of the rink!!! He deserves a bravery award for taking on the challenge. For someone who had never skated before, he did awesomely well and by the end of the session, he was almost moving around the rink rather gracefully! Well done, JP! For that, he deserves lots and lots of fudge - that's why we spent like an hour in a local fudge-shop, one of our final stops before heading back to Durham! For a moment, I thought he was going to buy over the shop!



Ahhh....what a weekend! Watch out, Meiyin - we'll be back real soon for more fun and sushi!


Lynn Tok. 15 December 2005.

we did it. shhhh, keep it quiet.

Our little triumphs...

Over the past months, we've taken on different challenges, some of us have been more successful than others.

For example, Alena took part in the novice cup - rowing and did us proud by winning her first race! It was quite a dramatic win too! In fact, it was the most exciting race of the day. Why? Her boat crashed into her opponents - doesn't happen often. Her boat was about to overtake the opposing team's when the other boat went into the path of Alena's boat and chaos took over. The incident left everyone talking about it.

Some say I'm crazy, some say I'm brave, I think I'm stupid! Buying a bicycle when I can't cycle.... But I have Matt to blame. He shouldn't have persuaded me to buy it! I think Matt hates me and wants to kill me by pushing me down a slope or something. So there we go, after a couple of hours of screaming, and whingeing, and yelling, and shouting, and begging, and a few tumbles...I did it! Thank God the hospital is only 2 mins away!


Then, there is the table-tennis. Jean-Pierre and Olaf taught me the game. Boy, are they harsh or what?!!! But I'm glad they are cos' I'm beginning to understand the game. Now the plan is to beat them - watch out, boys!



I've been appointed as Olaf's manager (sports). Our dear boy appeared in the university's newspaper a few weeks ago. It centres around a volleyball match which of course, Durham won, and in the article, Olaf was described as having "hands of steel", and doing some funny "snake-like movement"...pretty impressive eh?




So, there u go, these are some of our little triumphs. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but with a little craziness, a little humour, and a little encouragement, we'll meet whatever challenge life throws at us.


Lynn. 11 December 2005.

So what happens at Brackenbury?!!!

You wouldn't believe it!

So, we spend lots of time together...but what do we do?


Well, amongst a trillion other things, we...



(1) Eat together - surprise surprise!!!

now that we got the most interesting stuff out of the way (see (1) above), let's talk about the boring ones...



(2) Do regular movie nights. We discovered Alena's hidden talent on one such night : remembering all movie dialogues.... We reckon she saw Matrix like 20 times! We even did a Lord of the Rings movie-marathon. We started at 3pm on an afternoon with 4/5 people, but alas, only ONE survived - Olaf! He had to be the one! How annoying! Then, there was the czech movie night that Alena & Eva did. It was wonderful - the czech strudels! Strudels and films - a perfect match. YUM!



(3) An important activity which always accompanies movie nights is the all-important PILLOW FIGHT! I don't know how it all started or why we do it at all (to mess up Olaf's room, maybe) but it's our prelude to film-watching. In my humble opinion, it's a totally unfair and unjust game that favours TALL people.



(4) Operate a hair salon. Georgia's our in-house hairstylist. I must say her skills are pretty awesome, erm..except for a tiny little spot on Matt's head that she sort of/kind of messed up a wee little bit. Don't worry Matt, it didn't look that obvious!



(5) Table-tennis. Watch out, guys, I'm improving, and will soon be kicking your .......... !

(6) Give each other massages. Come on, we all need to relax and unknot those stiff muscles. It's always entertaining to watch Alida being massaged...with all the uh-uh-uh-ah-ah-ah sounds she makes and funny facial expressions you would think we are torturing her.

Dinnertime @ Brackenbury

Food, glorious food!



I can't remember how it all started but we almost always eat dinner together, so much so it feels strange when we don't. And dinnertime is an exciting time - the daily gossips, the funny (and not-so-funny) jokes, the silly questions, the stupid answers, the rude remarks, the teasing comments - dinnertime is playtime!


Of course, dinnertime is also about food. Here's what I think each of us is best at making:


Alida: Crepes. According to her, crepes "must have holes in them". She's a real sweetie.
Matt: Gingerbread. He never makes enough for all of us. (Matt's good at making roast beef too but I've never tasted it. It must be real good cos' Matt, Georgia & Alida devoured the huge slab of roast beef before the rest of us got to the kitchen. Shucks!)
Alena: Beef goulash. Her dumplings are just as wonderful although she said it didn't look right (but since the rest of us didn't know how czech dumplings should look, it didn't matter).
Eva: Roast chicken. She does it in style - how can anyone look so cool and calm when she has to cook for 7 hungry souls?!!!
Olaf: Spaghetti bolognaise. He pretends he can't cook and then he dishes out perfectly made spaghetti bolognaise and cheesecake. Cheeky.
Jean-Pierre: Sri Lankan curry. A master of spices, he brings your chilli-tolerance to ever-higher levels.
Georgia: Salmon pasta. The only time she cooks properly is when she cooks for us. Other times, she survives on cereal and shortbread fingers.
Lynn: Bread pudding. For some strange reason, everyone seems to like it. I must however say that I prefer cleaning (extremely therapeutic) to cooking.

Lynn. 20 November 2005.

A Walk in the Countryside

Cauldron Snout - waterfall, reservoir and rocks

Langdon Beck. 18 November 2005. Frosty.




We've been waiting for a sunny day to go walking for 3 weeks now and it's finally arrived. English countryside is one of the best things the country has to offer. Fresh air. Nature. It's like entering dreamland.


We started at Langdon Beck hotel and followed the icy footpath past Widdy Bank Farm (cows...YAY!!!). Then turning onto the river path, we walked along the beautiful riverside track, distracted only by the crushing sounds of ice (Jean-Pierre couldn't resist stepping on the ice puddles...sigh!).

We were a wee bit disappointed when we got to the waterfall. There was only a tiny trickle of water down the hill. Not quite what we had expected. But alas, silly cows, that was not THE waterfall we were looking for. Half a mile later, we found it - Cauldron Snout! What a sight!

It was a fairly easy walk with a rocky scramble. Never mind I suffered a bad fall (short legs...grrrr!), the environs of Langdon Beck and Cauldron Snout made it all worthwhile. (The sandwiches were great too!) I'll let the pictures do the talking ....

Sun. Sand. Sea. Frisbee. Picnic. Cold feet.

Who says the beach is only for summer days?!!!





Seaham. 2 October 2005. Cold autumn day.


Coming from a tropical island, I really miss the sea! So I was naturally delighted when Olaf suggested that we make a trip to the north sea. I wouldn't miss it for the world. So off to Tesco we go...to get food & wine for a picnic by the beach! We even picked up a set of 'Taboo' at a car boot sale on the way to Seaham.


I am convinced continental european boys have special cold-resistant bodies. I mean, why else would any sane and right-minded person take a dip in the freezing-cold sea on a cold autumn day?!!! Or maybe they just want to impress us with their swimming prowess....or show off their well-toned bodies...I just think they are crazy!





I love picnics, especially those with wine and strawberries! As for frisbee - let's just say it wasn't our day. It's strange how the frisbee would come flying into your face 2 seconds after you've thrown (or attempted to throw) it in the opposite direction. It's stranger still how often that happens!




After the bread, cheese, salami, wine, strawberry and frisbee, the boys tried to kill me by making me climb over slippery rocks. But alas, I survived. It was their first attempt at killing me.



Ahhh...the sun, the sand, the sea, frisbee, picnic and cold feet...the most perfect way to spend a lazy autumn day!




Lynn. 5 October 2005.

Brackenbury Tales

This is how it all began...



Autumn. Saturday. 24 September 2005. Durham, England.


Armed with a 1-inch thick folder packed with information sheets, my AA-route planner printouts, a cup of English tea and a jammie donut, I headed for Durham - my home for the next one year. Everything was going according to plan, not once did we get lost during the car journey from South Yorkshire to County Durham, until, err...we reached Durham. We knew we need to get to Old Dryburn Way in Durham but the AA route planner did not recognise the road name so we thought we would ask people when we get into Durham. We did. 5 times. No luck. Nobody's heard of Old Dryburn Way. So we decided to go buy a "Durham A-Z" map & city guidebook. And that we did - how clever! Only problem - Old Dryburn Way's not listed in the list of road names. Hmmm...maybe the university made a mistake? I rang the college office. No answer. Of course, it's Saturday - nobody works on Saturday...except...police officers! So we headed for the Police Headquarters. I told the police officer feeding fishes in the pond outside the headquarters (yes, Durham's a safe city with very little crime so police officers spend most their time feeding fishes, gardening...) my problem in locating my accommodation and he replied, "Oh yes, the new college accommodation, yes, everyone knows where that is, you can even see it from the main road...! Why didn't you stop and ask somebody?"...hmmm...



Apparently, I was not the only one who was not able to locate Brackenbury House. For one of us, it took a rather unpleasant taxi ride (being kicked out of the taxi with heavy suitcases in the middle of the street for 'wasting the taxi-driver's time') and a desperate plea for help from big burly security officers. But we all made it to Brackenbury House somehow.



I like the suspense of not knowing who you will be living with. It's intriguing. Secretly, I wanted to be spend my year pretty much alone (too tiring to make new friends knowing you will part in a year's time). Obviously, God had other plans - I just wished He had informed me earlier!

Over the next couple of days, I would meet:


Georgia: Greek. A crazy Greek but she is great at giving massages.
Alida: Kazakh. She spends a lot of time in the shower and she knows where to buy cheap food & groceries.
Olaf: German. He doesn't like my steamed vegetables. Drives us to Tesco.
Matthieu: French. Cheeky french who is too tall. He likes pink and he makes nice apple sauce & crumble.
Jean-Pierre: French/Martiniquais. He spices up our lives (literally). Always on the phone (he claims it's his fiancee).
Alena: Czech. She thinks we drink too little wine. Makes the world's best goulash.
Eva: Czech. Looks cool and sophisticated but plays with soft, stuffed animals. Our official photographer.






Lynn. 5 October 2005.