Stamped, printed, packed, settled and READY TO GO!
Honestly, i can’t F***ing believe that i am actually going to UK for a 3 month stay for study. I had a stamp on my letter from TAR College office that confirms my application for a 3-month degree course for Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. This looks like a holiday to me.
I’ve been through tough times during the half-year period after my final exams and this 3-month program, seems like a perfect holiday with my girlfriend and my friends. HELL YEAH! BRING IT ON!
I had my Air Asia ticket printed, passport checked, bank-drafts readied and my hair cut ultra short (but not bald). I told the hair dresser to give me a hair cut that lasts for at least 3 months, and so he did a great job on that. Then, i packed all my clothes and made sure i have enough underwear for a week before i wash my clothes. I had to buy some extra. On the last day itself, i still have some stuff at the office to sort it out. I made some last minute corrections on some engineering drawings and got them printed and sorted out so that the ‘BOSS’ could understand, or TRY to understand any shit that i put into the drawings.
I called Mok to triple confirm everything we had to bring. This is especially important because we are the two idiots (or smartass) who decided NOT TO FOLLOW the tour arrangements for all course-mates. We are the cheap asses who decide to cut cost (up to RM1000) and took Air Asia and decided to go to UK BY OURSELVES.
And off we went on an epic journey and an epic overseas life of our lives.
We sat on separate rows.Both of us were at the tail-end of the plane, sitting next to the window. We got to know a Polish engineer, who was sitting next to me, and Mok who sat behind me chatted with a guy from Birmingham; And all of us were looking at the hot stewardess. Well, guys speak the same language.
It was a 13-hour flight. We sat until our asses soar. We watched movies together, with the two newly-met blokes and we saw one of the most beautiful sight in Aeroplane flights. We looked out the window and saw a vast highlands, so vast that it sees no end. It’s all dry, rocky mountains and looks inhospitable. We could still see specks of greeneries within what looks like tiny valleys. It was beautiful we got speechless.
We asked the pretty stewardess where are we flying by and was thought to be somewhere in the middle-east. Probably Pakistan or wherever. It was a beautiful sight.
We touched down at 11pm UK time at Stansted Airport, said good bye to the two blokes and slept on the airport floor until 5am. The next bus will leave on 7am. We had to spend a night in the airport. Sleeping there was difficult because the floor was very cold and we weren’t use to the weather yet. It was freezing.
To make the night easier to pass, we unpacked our laptops and tried to go online but couldn’t. It’s not free and you need to register. So, we could probably listen to music and play some games. We took turns to sleep just to keep an 
I got cheated by some white bastards GBP10 for two SIM cards but i got no choice. I had to call my friend who lives in Birmingham that i have already touched down so that if any shit happens to me before i reach my accommodation, she could help out.
That night, it was Friday night. We knew our friends had already checked in the hostel few days before and that we have told the officials that we will arrive on Saturday afternoon.
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The next morning, we took the bus and it drove for about half an hour to the transit stop. It wasn’t exactly a station but just a bus stand somewhere in London. We had to wait for an hour until the bus that takes us to Sheffield arrives.
I can swear this to God. For that hour, we have never seen so many (or much) beautiful and expensive cars in our lives. For that hour, we saw 11 different Porsches, 4 different types of BMW M3, a few Bentleys, a few old Rolls Royce, plenty of Superbikes and a Ferrari California. You can’t even get to see a Porsche at any time in one week in Malaysia.
Then, we begin to truly understand what most Malaysians call a pathetic government. Their tax is so low and purchasing power so high that the number of Porsches can easily outnumber the amount of BMW and Mercs in Malaysia; And that the amount of BMW is like the amount of Toyota or Hondas in Malaysia. I begin to realize that i have to change the government and i have to vote. Then, i begun to regret that i didn’t register for vote. You can throw me eggs and vegetables and fruits at my face when i get back.
That hour was the best live show i have ever had. Lot’s of cars to be seen and admire. And, my oh my, they don’t buy sports cars to pose, they really drive them hard even on public roads. They literally floor the accelerator. Unlike the pathetic Malaysian rich buggers who owns an expensive sports car and drive at a snails pace. British drivers have exceptional skills: quick, clean and tight, especially around corners.
I couldn’t really snap any photos of those cars because they were fast, really fast.
Then, the bus arrive. We saw lots of greeneries and then a nuclear power plant. I admire the harmony between humans (with their development and weapons of mass destruction: which is the brain) and the environment. Despite being one of the G8, having lots of nuclear power plants, Motorways, and lots of sports cars, there are plenty of greens and clean air. In fact, i could say their air is cleaner than Malaysia.
Just imagine Cameron Highlands and increase the size as big as South-East Asia. That is what it felt like breathing in UK. Even Genting Highlands, being cold and over-developed, doesn’t have the air quality of UK. This is simply a brilliant country.
On the bus, Mok chatted with a passenger sitting next to him. She’s a she, a girl i mean, and she’s born in Sheffield. She had a heavy accent but that was nothing compared to the Liverpool accent, according to her. It was quite difficult to hear what she was saying but we’ll get use to it.
Along the way, i got see plenty of cabriolets, sports cars and really good German cars. I even saw my favourite Caterham. This is an awesome country with it environment and cars, lots of them.
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4 hours later, we reached the Sheffield interchange. I took out the Sheffield Hallam University guide book where its last page shows the map around the city campus. All i have to do is to turn left, walk along the main road and turn right when i see the Howard pub.
It was a Saturday and the place seems pretty quiet. The main entrance was quiet and the reception only had one person working. Mok and I approached her and said: “Hi, we are from Malaysia and we are the summer program students. We would like to register or check-in or whatever procedure you have to take us through.”
She said: “I had no idea what i have to do with you. It’s a Saturday and nobody is working. Maybe I'll call the security personnel and see what they can do for you.”
Before my friends depart from Malaysia, me and Mok had told Bosco that we will live in the same apartment, which is Victoria Hall. So when the security personnel came, she was a very friendly lady, we told her about it and she took our names and searched through the database.
The phrase we hoped for, she said it: “I’ve called Victoria Hall and yes, they are expecting both of you.”
She brought in a private hire car and drove us to our accommodation. Damn, we are so relieved. The guys waiting for us at the accommodation brought us to the top floor of our block. There were 4 levels and no lift. Our luggage, altogether weighing almost 70kg had to be carried up to level 3 from Ground. After 30 hours of traveling, we used all our strength left to carry our luggage up.
Then, we saw Bosco and John in our unit. What a relieve. We unpacked, showered and do whatever shit we had to do and rested. The guys in the same accommodation, course-mates, were amazed and glad that we arrived in one “piece”.
That night, we had a really really good sleep. Because we travelled for 48 hours and we were very exhausted. Because the moment we saw our friends and that we could really relax. Because we knew everything ahead are pre-arranged. But most of all, because me and Mok knew that our troubles are behind us, at least for the next three months. With the latter reason, we could really, really have a good night sleep. I mean, really.
That’s day-off for 3 months.
P.S.: I’VE SEEN A PROTON SATRIA GTI!! OMG~~~~!!!! how pathetic….
