So I stayed in the dorm with my friend - her room was tiny, but at least she had it to herself, plus bathroom and all. It was such a nice change to live in a room with just one other person, and not 13 other crazy girls. I think I might just be getting too old for this dorm life. I really enjoy it, but occasionally I just need to have some 'me' time, or else I get awfully exhausted.
We stopped by the Southampton pier, and I got to see (from afar) where the legendary Titanic set sail from. Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet immediately came to mind, but I had to remind myself that this was historical, not some fluffy romance movie.
See the small red ship in the distance? That's where Titanic began its unlucky voyage. Somewhere there.
And this is where the rich people live - with boats in their backyard.
And that little train nearing the end of the pier is supposedly the oldest running train in England. Or possibly the world. I totally believe that because at the speed it was going, I could probably crawl faster than that.
So after my supervisor took me on a tour of where they used to live and their church and all, I got dropped off at the University of Southampton, whereupon we took the bus to the city centre and walked around the mall. It was a typical college town, full of college kids and lots of shops. We had dinner at this Chinese restaurant called 'Pearl Harbour' (no idea why it named itself after a disastrous day in history), and it was substandard by Singapore's standards, but really good for overseas standards. We ordered crispy noodles, chilli chicken, and tofu, and it was way too much for the both of us.
Then we went to the cinema to see 'Due Date,' because Harry Potter tickets were all sold out - it was the premiere after all. The movie was a typical stupid American comedy, but this time one of the characters was so disturbingly idiotic that it made me want to strangle the life out of him.
The next day we took the train to Winchester, which was a tiny quaint town about 20 minutes away. I was super impressed by England's trains - they're so clean and wonderful and easy to figure out and they totally exceeded my expectations. The only con? Pricey - just like everything else in England.
Our train rides there and back were very entertaining in the weirdest way. Going there, we sat in front of this middle-aged Hong Kong lady who was talking to the stranger beside her. She told him (in her Hong Kong accent) she had numerous suitors wanting to marry her for her British visa, but she declined them all. And every time he said something to her, she would misunderstand and bring the conversation into a completely different direction, leaving the poor British man extremely confused. It was so hilarious, she became the butt of our jokes for the day.
On the way back, this scary man entered the train after us and stood behind us, talking to a bunch of guys who were sitting next to and in front of us. He was harsh-looking and middle-aged, and spoke in a very crude and aggressive manner. He talked about how he hated men who treated women badly, and he said, 'if I ever see a man lift a hand against a woman, I'll KILL him!'
My friend and I looked at each other with terrified wide eyes, and as if that was not enough, he then went on to say that he had spent time in jail for murdering his mom's ex-boyfriend or something like that. At that point, I was so ready to jump out of the train for fear of him whipping out a gun and shooting all the men there or something like that. But thank God he got off at the next stop and proceeded to sit on the bench in the creepiest manner.
Anyway, Winchester was nice, but a little boring since there wasn't much to do there. We visited the Great Hall, where King Arthur's round table was.
Then we took a break at Starbucks, with a mug of steaming hot peppermint mocha and a bag of mini caramel waffles. Heavenly. These newfound caramel waffles are the best (and worst) thing ever - sweet, sticky caramel in between two waffle biscuits: unhealthy yet delicious.
We visited the outside of the Winchester cathedral, where Jane Austen was buried, but didn't go in, because it was too expensive.
This weeping willow tree looked so cool. I like.
This was apparently the oldest building in Winchester. It looked really short, like it had sunk into the ground, because it was a little bit underground.
There was a farmers market in the middle of the street, where all kinds of stuff like jewelery, raw meat, bread sitting out in the open, clothes, and random stuff like that were being sold.
We had a late lunch at the cutest little tea restaurant. Cheese and tomato quiche + carrot cake. Can I just say that out of all the carrot cakes I've ever eaten in my life (and I've eaten a lot, because that's my usual go-to dessert), Cedele is still THE best. Hands down.
Then we proceeded to dye our hair at 2am in the morning (after we took a nap and ate warmed up frozen chicken pies for dinner) - I did mine red, and left it in for 1.5 hours, which was 3 times longer than said time on box. But still... only the top part of my hair is reddish in the sun. Black hair is lame. So now when my hair grows out, it will be black-red-black. Just great.
On Sunday, we woke up late and headed to the city centre to eat dim sum because I was totally craving it and had been since I got to England. We went back to the same Chinese restaurant, because apparently it was the best one there, sadly enough. But it was alright. I've realized that when you're overseas, any kind of Chinese food or asian food that is not that great is still better than nothing. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Except for greasy Chinese buffets with sweet-and-sour everything. Those are just gross and only meant for westerners who don't know any better.
This xiao long bao was, without a doubt, THE worst one I've ever had in my life. Even the appearance is wholly unappealing. It's FLAT. Since when is xiao long bao supposed to be flat?! And upon biting into it, there was zero juice and the meat was so mushy I didn't even have to chew to swallow it. Total disappointment.
But other than that, the porridge and the carrot cake were good. Not Crystal Jade good, but good by overseas standards.
It was a really great weekend. But I was glad to see my friends back at the base too. Everyone came back for seminar week, so we had a karaoke night at the local pub as usual. And it was way more fun with everyone together. I sang 'Don't stop the music' by Rihanna with a friend. In front of everyone in the pub. It was a little bit embarrassing, but whatever. Western karaoke (where you sing in front of everyone, instead of in little rooms like in Asia) is for embarrassment and laughter, not real singing.
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