... one down, one more to hurdle ...

Guess what?


I passed! :D


Unbelievable, right? Seriously, it still hasn't settled in yet - even though the results came out yesterday, I double check the website a couple of times, and the letter came in the post today... Well, good news is, I'll still be around at least until summer ^_^



My department was also having some brief get-together yesterday and since it's going to be at the Somerset House skating rink this time (not to mention that I need to be around people I know for the news to fully sink in), I went out to join in the fun. Didn't skate in the end. Not that I'm any good at all, plus there's always the added torture of embarassing oneself in front of work colleagues who aren't really that close to you anyway but will nevertheless know that short girl falling around everywhere would be from their department. So I watched others skate instead :p

...somerset house ice skating rink...
*nicest rink in London, especially with the huge decorated tree they put up in the middle during christmas*

After that, we went for dinner at a small Italian place where the front door was tucked away in some very narrow back lane near Covent Garden. The atmosphere was excellent - dimly lit by candle light, pictures in frames covering every wall *including a bill signed by somebody or other*, and nice operatic music as accompaniment. Given the hefty prices *for some reason, a glass of their normal wine costs more than 2/3 of the price of 1 bottle of special wine on their menu* and simple parchment-paper menus *the owner who was trying too much to play the role of the temperamental Italian head waiter / host, in my opinion*, the food was a major letdown indeed. I wonder if they would just let me sit there and order a coffee with dessert for the whole evening instead, since the atmosphere is really nice. Though I doubt their desserts will be any good, judging from their main courses.

...the italian place...

Today, I followed my plan and went for lunch in Chinatown, so that I can get some essential preparing-for-CNY grocery shopping done before going home to spring clean my room. And as all my plans inevitably do, I ended up way behind schedule -_- Right now, I still haven't clear my room yet!


Really, it's just as well that I've been given a second chance or all this junk I've accumulated here will surely be of no use *not that it isn't going to end up as clutter anyway*. Man, I should stop collecting stuff.


At least, until I hopefully finish my contract and get a good payrise so that I can afford to rent a bigger room.



Still a long way to go...

...chinatown full of lanterns...

By the way, I only truly felt estatic at having scraped through this round when I sat down for lunch at this new Malaysian restaurant called Rasa Sayang in Chinatown today, and they were playing nice loud CNY songs! *the food was average, but they have this CNY only menu which I'm really looking forward to trying ^_^ looks quite promising with yu sang and a few choice selections of tai chau style dishes, including chilli crabs!* The other places were as silent as any other day, except that it was super crowded and a nightmare to queue to pay for just 1 bottle of red bean curd. Really, must be a Malaysian thing. When we celebrate, we celebrate indeed ^_^