New Year

It’s 2 days to the end of the year 2006, and the beginning of the brand new year of 2007. My, my, my… Time seems to fly by really fast, doesn’t it? I can still remember the end of last year, when I just arrived in the UK, all agog. Now I can safely say that I’ve grown used to things around here. *grins*

What did I do/accomplish in the year 2006? Well, I’ve certainly travelled to a lot of places, well, a lot compared to before, since I actually didn’t like travelling all that much. But since being in the UK is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I try to do as much travelling as I can (meaning: one-day trips organized by the International Office is terribly convenient *grins*). And in terms of work/research/study (yeah, yeah, the real reason I’m here I know), I think I managed to get something done and got some results out… Yay for that!! *hand-waving*

What do I want/plan to do in 2007? Well, I don’t really believe in new year resolutions, but I do have some plans up my sleeve. *grins* One of those is to do more travelling (Europe perhaps?). And of course to do more research and get more results out… hopefully. Wish me luck people!

Actually, after this I’m going to take some time off and go back home to Malaysia for a holiday (hurray!!!). However, I’m not that certain of my Internet spending-time capabilities there, so I probably will blog less frequent. Oh no, I’m going to miss my Internet very much! Hopefully I won’t suffer from withdrawal. *grins*

- Happy New Year to all of you out there!

You feel what you eat…

I’ve known it all along: you feel what you eat. According to a rather interesting article that I read on the Internet, some experts say what you eat can actually affect your mood. Although the article was more like a bloody advertisement for some food companies (you should buy this! Eat that! etc.), there were some interesting points (which I’m not really sure are true or not, but hey, they sound okay at least):

1. You can clear your head by eating protein-rich foods like cheese, soy products, and lean poultry - "…(they’re) great for making you feel alert…"

2. You can cheer up by eating chocolate (yay! I certainly agree with this point *grins*) - "…chocolate actually has the ability to boost our moods and make us feel more content."

3. You can stabilize mood swings by drinking water - "…dehydration can play a big part in our emotional stability."

4. You can lower your stress level with some low-fat dairy  - "…calcium is great for reducing anxiety.."

5. You can control your temper by eating grapefruit, grapes, or carrots - "…rich in pectin… Pectin reverses the effect anger has on the body and helps your system return to normal."

Well, they sound like reasonable advice *grins*.

- … Have some grapes, Haruhi? *grins*

Maybe it’s the germs…

You know, maybe it’s germs that are making me fat.

According to an article, researchers found a strong connection between obesity and the levels of certain types of bacteria in the stomach, as obese people had more of one type of bacteria and less of another kind. However, the researchers aren’t sure if more of this kind of bacteria makes you fat or if people who are obese grow more of that type of bacteria. What they’re sure of is: gut bacteria do affects body weight. And…

"It isn’t just (that) you’re eating too much and you’re lazy."

Huh. More reasons for me not do more exercise then, as I can blame it all on a kind of disease. *grins* Especially after I read the horror stories about fitness clubs. *shudder*

- Food, ah, cute lovely food… *grins*

The shortest day of my life

Today is the shortest day of my life. Literally.

Today is actually the date of the winter solstice. What’s that? Well, according to factmonster.com,

"The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The sun appears at its lowest point in the sky, and its noontime elevation appears to be the same for several days before and after the solstice. Hence the origin of the word solstice, which comes from Latin solstitium, from sol, “sun” and -stitium, “a stoppage.” Following the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter."

So today sunrise was at 8.15 am, and sunset will be at 4.05 pm. That’s only like 7 hours and 50 minutes of daylight! Talk about short… It’s a bit depressing too, which I heard is not an uncommon feeling in the winter; it has been proved in some study that quite a few individuals show an increased incidence of depressive symptoms during the winter. In fact, there is actually something called Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD (very suitable! *grins*), which is depression that comes with the change in seasons.  Well! It’s good to know that I’m not alone then. *grins*

The feeling of depression is further compounded by the fact that the weather is a bit foggy these days. In fact, a lot of flights from London were cancelled yesterday because of the fog. Hopefully the weather will improve by the end of next week, since I’ve got plans already. *winks*

- Season greetings from Bath, and happy holiday to all of you out there! *hand-waving*

Another ending

It’s already the end of the semester, and the start of the Christmas vacation, yay! However, I still have to go to the university next week, as it isn’t actually vacation time for postgrads *groans*. Well, at least this means that there aren’t any classes to go to. Although I’m not really in any mood to do any work… Maybe I’ll feel differently on Monday *shrugs*.

The end of December also marks the end of my first year as a PhD student. Time does fly very fast… I have to say, it was a rather successful and interesting year, with some travelling thrown in. Not bad, not bad at all. I wonder what the new year will bring next. Hopefully everything will go well, as things will become even tougher after this. Wish me all the best people!

Talking about new year, the usual question would be: any planned New Year resolution? *grins* Well, I don’t really celebrate New Year, and I don’t consciously make any resolution. I usually make things up as I go along *winks*. It’s more fun that way. And less taxing and stressful for me too…

- Yeah, sometimes I feel that way too…

Real Estate and the Single Woman

Recently, I read a very interesting article about how more single women in America are buying real estate nowadays compared to men. The reasons being it’s sometimes cheaper than renting some place and of course, it’s a good investment. This comes to mind when I was having a conversation with my mother about how expensive it is to buy a house in Malaysia, especially if you live in a big city like KL. The price of real estate there is sky-rocketing! Even if you buy a house just outside of KL the price is not that cheap, and you have to commute every day if you work in the city (which I have and will be doing). And believe me, commuting every day can be a big headache! I’m talking from past experience here. I’m not quite sure what I’ll do when I go home. I’ll have to move out of my parents’ house someday I suppose *grins*. Maybe it’s time to invest in a piece of real estate myself? *shrugs*

- Hmmm, decisions, decisions…

New advice: Don’t sit up straight

I recently read an article about a new study that suggests leaning back is a much better posture than sitting up straight. Well, I guess that’s good news for me since I could never sit up straight anyway *grins*. Of course, I’m more into leaning forward i.e. slouching than leaning back, but that’s another story altogether…

Anyway, going back to the article. It says that "a 135-degree body-thigh sitting posture was demonstrated to be the best biomechanical sitting position, as opposed to a 90-degree posture, which most people consider normal". Translation: leaning back a bit is better than sitting up straight. This is because less strain is put on the spine when we lean back.

However, I guess we still have to listen to our parents when they say "Sit up straight! Don’t slouch!", since there are no studies that say leaning forward is better than sitting up straight *grins*. Well, we can still be contrary and say "Well, I heard that leaning back is actually better…" *winks*.

So relax, and start leaning back today people!

- Kyouya modelling on how not to sit *grins*.

Trip to London

Yesterday, I finally made it to London! Well, I had been there once before, but I don’t think landing at the Heathrow airport counted as a visit *grins*. Anyway, this trip was organized by the International Office (again).

I had to wake up really early, as the bus departed at 7am. And my God, there were a lot of people going on this trip - 2 buses full of students! Anyway, it’s quite far from Bath to London; if you go by train it will take around 1 hour and a half (the train here is really fast!); the bus journey took around 3 hours (including stopping for rest). However, getting to London was easy enough using the motorway, but to actually go to Central London (where the action is) was another matter; the traffic jam reminded me strongly of KL. Really. It was even worse, maybe.

The bus driver took us on a little trip around Central London, before dropping us off around noon with the stern reminder to be back by 7pm. After that, my friend and I bravely tried to venture with just the two of us. It was a good thing that both of us were more interested in sight-seeing than shopping… So we were off, trying to find all the tourist attractions and taking loads of photos at the same time *grins*.

Of course, if you go to London, you definitely have to visit Trafalgar Square! So we did. The focus there was Nelson’s Column, commemorating Nelson’s victory in the naval battle at Trafalgar in 1805. The fountains and the National Gallery were a bonus, as they looked  really nice *grins*.

Next stop, Buckingham Palace - the Queen’s official residence. I have to say, it has a really long driveway. And it’s surrounded by parks. The palace itself doesn’t really look that, er, outstanding. I don’t know, maybe since it’s the official residence for the Queen herself, I was expecting something more like a castle or something *shrugs*. It looks more like a really big mansion. And there was no changing of guards ceremony that day, so I was a bit disappointed. Anyway, after that we managed to go and see Big Ben. Big Ben is a huge clock-tower that’s part of the British Parliament building. It looks pretty amazing. The whole building is next to River Thames. And the view along the River Thames was really nice.

Then we went to Piccadilly Circus - the hub of London. Five major roads converge there, so there were lots and lots of shops, and of course lots and lots of people too… In fact, after living in a small city like Bath, the huge crowd was a real huge shock. Anyway, Piccadilly Circus is also famous for its huge advertising hoardings - advertising a lot of famous brands. Apart from that, we also visited the Chinatown in London. Well, there seems to be a Chinatown in every big city *grins*. My friend is a Chinese, so she went there to buy stuff. Me? I just followed her there. The whole area was pretty big, and there were lots of shops too.

Of course, I have to mention that in between going to different places, we followed the wrong directions a few times… Okay, we got lost several times *sheepish grin*. But at least we managed to get back at the meeting point before 7pm. And a good thing too, because a few people were late, and were actually left behind by the bus driver. How did I know this? Well, one of their friend was on the same bus as me, and she asked the bus driver to turn back to pick them up. The bus driver refused, after giving her quite a tongue-lashing. Well, he did remind them to be on time, and they were 15 minutes late… I don’t know what happened to them; they probably took the train home or something.

I arrived at my room around 10pm. Phew! A really long and tiring day… And it was cold too! But it was fun, and I had a great time. Well, except for the getting lost part..