When I was small, I thought the Christmas in the western countries was like, the shopping malls were crowed with people busy on shopping, the shops were decorated with Christmas Trees, Christmas decorations and illuminations; streets were covered by snow, children were playing with snow and some built the snowman in the playground, people wearing in festive color especially with the red Santa hats, singing Christmas song here and there, the noise of joys were coming relentlessly from your neighborhoods...
Well, there's the power of TV, make your childhood believe everything shown on the TV is true. And today, I celebrated my first Christmas in the western country, in a city with the most student in the Europe (told by someone but not sure whether this is true...), the Manchester. As you can imagine, most of the residents, the students, have gone back to their home in other cities or other countries for vacation, and therefore the city was very very very quite, even the pubs that used to be noisy in the weekdays were closed and the whole city was in terrifically peace...
No shops open on the Christmas day, even at the busiest shopping district, Arndale. The shop that I found open today in the city was Spar, a convenience store. People walking on the street were mostly Asian face like me. I think they might also wondering where the hell of all the people gone. Shouldn't people come out and celebrate in the festive season???
Still waiting for my first snow in Manchester. But unfortunately instead of snowing, the city raining as usual. So, my anticipated White Christmas was more towards a Grey Christmas...Never thought that I will hate raining so much...As in Malaysia, the rain bring the cool breathe to the hot weather, so I doubted people associate rain with bad weather...Well, I fully appreciate this association now. Yes, rain means freezingly cold, wetting your shoes and socks, made you feel uncomfortable to walk on the street...
So, how I feel about my first Christmas in the western country?
Well, not so bad actually. Had a wonderful petite Turkey Christmas eve dinner with my wife, strolled on the people-less Manchester's streets (happen only on Christmas day), relaxed at home with Nescafe and a chocolate cake bought from Spar, played iPad games, planned for next year Europe trip, and now writing this blog. Everything is so calm, peace and relaxing...so what can you ask more?
Still anticipate for a White Christmas?
Of course! But may be in other cities. After the boxing day, I have planed a trip to Inverness, the north most city of UK...hopefully what fall from the sky will be snow instead of rain.
2012/12/25
2012/11/04
Manchester Survivor
My smartphone showed a temperature of 3 degree Celsius out there, and the weather forecast said that there would be a mix of sunshine and shower. I was changing with the Manchester Survival T-shirt and a running short pant. Putting up the additional jacket and tracksuit, I walked to the school to meet my fellow teammates. The weather was freezingly cold even in the jacket and tracksuit. I doubted whether I would be willing take it off once I reach the event center.
Arrived the event center 1 hour earlier. But the game already started with the first wave runner. Our team - a team of 10 and a team of 5 will run in the 4th wave. Took off the jacket and tracksuit, quickly worked out to warm up the body. Running around the field, discovered several scary obstacles along the runway. Several 2 meter high grasswalls at the first 100m, 2 pools of muddy water contained in the giant steel trash bins, and a 8 feet wall at the last 100m.
It was a 10km run. Sounds easy right? That was what I thought, but there were 15 physical obstacles (according to the guide, but I felt there were more) in the run. So, besides running, you will encounter 1 to 2 physical roadblocks every 1km. And the obstacles, can be high walls to test your upper body fitness, pools of water to slow you down (there was a pool where the water deep enough to cover your top, damn freezing!), hurdles in the arena to test your agility, burden to test your strength, fun stuff likes mud crawling, mud sliding, water slide, bouncing castle etc.
Tried to get to the front line at the starting point to avoid slowed down by other people during the first few obstacles. Climbed over the grasswalls, 2 meter height woodwalls, several hurdles, ran up and ran down the stadium spiral carpark driveway, ran up and ran down the stadium audience seat stairs, ran surrounding the stadium, when I thought I already finished half, almost fainted down when I saw the signboard showed a 2km on it. Oh, my god, still 8km to go!
Later came to a canal. Never think that the organizer want us to get wet that early. It was still 3km! And the canal was deep enough to cover my top. Getting all wet including my head and continued running to avoid cold. Run, run, run, passed the bouncing castle, ran into the woods, the fun and dirty parts began. Mud crawling, mud sliding, can't remember when was the last time I played with mud. But, it was really fun!
The organizer would never want us to finish it easy. They made us run with sandbag, gas tank, etc, do the rope swinging, puzzles, when I finished 8 km, I started feeling cramp in my thighs. Slowed down my pace and walked for a while, wondering how many obstacles left and any other surprises. Passed the 9km, came to the big pools of muddy water that I saw before, I know I was closed to the finish line. Crawl over the giant steel trash bins, walked through the muddy water, finally came to the monster 8 feet wall. I can't do it without help! None of my team member was there with me at the moment. I tried to be friendly and helped several people to climb up the wall, and lucky enough to get help from someone else to climb the monster too.
Climbed on the top of the 8 feet wall, the finish line was just 10m in front. Jumped down the wall and ran passed the finish line. Phew! Never think that a 10km would be that hard for me, but anyway I made it! I survived! Took pictures with those arrived earlier. My other team members arrived progressively. All 15 of us made it!
Went back home, took a hot shower, enjoyed the hot lunch prepared by my wife, went into bed, wake up and writing this blog now. Still can feel the pain on every inch of my muscle. But, the pain is a result of enjoyment, satisfaction, and achievement.
Arrived the event center 1 hour earlier. But the game already started with the first wave runner. Our team - a team of 10 and a team of 5 will run in the 4th wave. Took off the jacket and tracksuit, quickly worked out to warm up the body. Running around the field, discovered several scary obstacles along the runway. Several 2 meter high grasswalls at the first 100m, 2 pools of muddy water contained in the giant steel trash bins, and a 8 feet wall at the last 100m.
It was a 10km run. Sounds easy right? That was what I thought, but there were 15 physical obstacles (according to the guide, but I felt there were more) in the run. So, besides running, you will encounter 1 to 2 physical roadblocks every 1km. And the obstacles, can be high walls to test your upper body fitness, pools of water to slow you down (there was a pool where the water deep enough to cover your top, damn freezing!), hurdles in the arena to test your agility, burden to test your strength, fun stuff likes mud crawling, mud sliding, water slide, bouncing castle etc.
Tried to get to the front line at the starting point to avoid slowed down by other people during the first few obstacles. Climbed over the grasswalls, 2 meter height woodwalls, several hurdles, ran up and ran down the stadium spiral carpark driveway, ran up and ran down the stadium audience seat stairs, ran surrounding the stadium, when I thought I already finished half, almost fainted down when I saw the signboard showed a 2km on it. Oh, my god, still 8km to go!
Later came to a canal. Never think that the organizer want us to get wet that early. It was still 3km! And the canal was deep enough to cover my top. Getting all wet including my head and continued running to avoid cold. Run, run, run, passed the bouncing castle, ran into the woods, the fun and dirty parts began. Mud crawling, mud sliding, can't remember when was the last time I played with mud. But, it was really fun!
The organizer would never want us to finish it easy. They made us run with sandbag, gas tank, etc, do the rope swinging, puzzles, when I finished 8 km, I started feeling cramp in my thighs. Slowed down my pace and walked for a while, wondering how many obstacles left and any other surprises. Passed the 9km, came to the big pools of muddy water that I saw before, I know I was closed to the finish line. Crawl over the giant steel trash bins, walked through the muddy water, finally came to the monster 8 feet wall. I can't do it without help! None of my team member was there with me at the moment. I tried to be friendly and helped several people to climb up the wall, and lucky enough to get help from someone else to climb the monster too.
Climbed on the top of the 8 feet wall, the finish line was just 10m in front. Jumped down the wall and ran passed the finish line. Phew! Never think that a 10km would be that hard for me, but anyway I made it! I survived! Took pictures with those arrived earlier. My other team members arrived progressively. All 15 of us made it!
Went back home, took a hot shower, enjoyed the hot lunch prepared by my wife, went into bed, wake up and writing this blog now. Still can feel the pain on every inch of my muscle. But, the pain is a result of enjoyment, satisfaction, and achievement.
MBS 2014 Team!
Ready, Start!
Thinking of wearing these next year...
My wife was struggling washing this for me after the game
(Photos by Mary)
2012/10/15
Pronunciation
Due
to the difficulty in hearing the British pronunciation, I joined the free
pronunciation class offered by University Language Centre.
I
don't know how other country people learn the English pronunciation, but in
Malaysia, we never learn the phonetic symbol. We learnt the English
pronunciation simply by following what teacher pronounced when we were small.
When we grew up, we naturally developed an "ability" to pronounce the
new word that we didn't know by reference to another word with similar spelling
or pronunciation by someone who we first hear. Therefore, it is not surprising
that for some words we pronounce it in a wrong way.
Well,
it is hard to judge who is wrong or who is right nowadays as the English
speaker are not only British and US (though the pronunciation of these two
countries somehow different to each other), there are also a large population
in India, China, Southeast Asia and some other countries who speak English as
well. The pronunciation is deemed to be correct as long as the majority
pronounce the same way.
And
I am in Manchester now. The Mancunian (what Manchester people call themselves)
pronunciation is thus the correct way. When people tell you "boss",
you should know that he is referring to a "bus". When your friend
says "see you lat-er (pronounce separately)", you should understand
he means see you later. When the kid say I want to eat "tomat-o", you
should give him a tomato.
As
the teacher said, I am not asking you to learn all this, but you need to be
aware that people here pronounce that way and it is better to train your ear
from now. She showed us the phonetic symbol, as well as several features in the
"natural pronunciation" like the sounds, stress and weak form,
intonation and connected speech.
Felt
like went back to the primary school, we read the phonetic symbols one after
another by following the teacher pronunciation. And I did realized that I
mis-pronounce (at least in UK term) several words since small.
Don't
know how much my pronunciation will change by the classes. Hopefully after
returning to my home country in future, my friends will not say that,
"Hey, I find your English is difficult to understand..."
2012/09/02
First Impression
After a 7 hours flight from KL to Dubai, a 5 hours transit wait at Dubai International Airport, another 8 hours flight from Dubai, I finally reach Manchester, the first city that I am going to start a new live outside of Asia. There are always lots of excitement together with confusion when one arrives to a new city. And my first week in Manchester is considered a smooth and quite lucky one (although it can be better if I knew the city better and knew british english better...). At least I have settled down with a lovely apartment which is near to the school as well as the city centre; know where to shop, where to dine and where to party; or I should say that there should be no problem for me to survive in the next 18 months.
For those who have never visited Manchester before, here is my first impression. Since I have been living in Tokyo for the past 10 years, it is inevitably that I tends to compare the city with Tokyo.
1) City
Manchester is the "second" city in UK according to BBC survey in 2007, mainly contributed by its popularity in Football. A very small yet vibrant city, with the mix of ancient and modern architecture. Although the public transportation is very convenient in the city, with free mtero shuttle, tram, train, but basically you don't need one to travel within the city centre. A walk around the city centre that cover the main spots like the China Town, Piccadily Station, Piccadily Garden, Arndale Shopping Centre, Town Hall, John Rylands Library and the Manchester Central will take you less than an hour. The city is busy even on the weekdays, with lots of activities/festivals over the weekend. I was so lucky to witness a gay parade, the so-called Manchester Pride during first weekend in Manchester. Residential area is clean and beautiful but the city centre where drinkers and smokers gather is so...
2) People
3) Weather
Rain, rain, and rain. A waterproof jacket and umbrella is neccesary whenever going out. But I was so blessed because there were few sunny days (although mix with rain occasionally) in the week. The sky was so clear in the sunny day. And people were out especially in the garden to enjoy the sunshine. The temperature was just nice, about 17 to 24 degree celcius, so quite comfortable compare to the hot and humid summer in Tokyo.
4) Food
Thanks to the diversity in the city, there are lots of international cuisine besides the "notorious" British food. Tried the "famous" fish and chips at the Lowry Outlet Mall but will never give it a second try. There are many Chinese restaurants and Chinese grocery store in the city which help to reduce my homesickness somehow. Eating out is generally expensive, although the lunch menu will cost a bit less. The cheapest (and may be the most delicious one) is a home cooking dish, as the grocery price is quite cheap compare to Tokyo. Not forget to tell that there are lots of pubs. For beer lover, the pubs can be found any corner in the city.
5) House (Accomodation)
There is a saying in Chinese that the man's happiest life is getting the US salary, a Japanese wife, a Chinese cook and a British house. It sounds that the British House is highly regarded by the Chinese as the best in the world. So, how about the reality? Well, depends on the location (city centre or suburban), the price (a businessman afforable or student affordable), the type (house or flat), it will varies significantly. I can't make any conclusion yet right now to say whether staying in a British House really contribute to the man's happiest life. But at least for the same price I pay here, I can get a more spacious, stylish, better location and well furnished apartment compare to Tokyo, one of the most expensive city in the world.
6) The University
The Univeristy of Manchester is located at the south of the city centre. Due to its gateless campus, the universities building made up part of the city. Just like the city, the architecture is a mix of the 18th century and modern. The university museum,which is also called the Manchester Museum is housed in a castle-like building aged more than a hundred year while the Univeristy Place just opposite the Museum is new and stylish. One thing to my surprise is there is no free student sport facilities. I have to depend on the street jogging for free work out.
Anyway, these are all my first impressions after a one week stay. For sure there will be more to discover and the feeling may change when time pass by. And the fact is, I am already here in Manchester! This is the city that I was looking forward since a year back and that I will spend my next full 18 months (if I am not going elsewhere for the internship & exchange). For better or worse, it is up to me to explore. One thing for sure is, this is not the comfort zone (both the city and the program) for me, which will indeed stretch me after I get over with it.
Previous blog tittle of "Road to Manchester" may sounds obsolete now. While I am thinking for a better tittle, let me tentatively rename it as "Roads in Manchester" to kick start the new journey!
<Lost my grandpa while writing this last week. May he rest in peace and continue to witness my endeavor from the heaven.>
For those who have never visited Manchester before, here is my first impression. Since I have been living in Tokyo for the past 10 years, it is inevitably that I tends to compare the city with Tokyo.
1) City
Manchester is the "second" city in UK according to BBC survey in 2007, mainly contributed by its popularity in Football. A very small yet vibrant city, with the mix of ancient and modern architecture. Although the public transportation is very convenient in the city, with free mtero shuttle, tram, train, but basically you don't need one to travel within the city centre. A walk around the city centre that cover the main spots like the China Town, Piccadily Station, Piccadily Garden, Arndale Shopping Centre, Town Hall, John Rylands Library and the Manchester Central will take you less than an hour. The city is busy even on the weekdays, with lots of activities/festivals over the weekend. I was so lucky to witness a gay parade, the so-called Manchester Pride during first weekend in Manchester. Residential area is clean and beautiful but the city centre where drinkers and smokers gather is so...
Manchester Pride Parade
2) People
Manchester is the city with largest student population in Europe with several big univeristies in the city. Therefore, the population in Manchester is young in general and full of diversity. Walking on the street you will pass by the Whites, Blacks, Asians, South Americans, etc. A mix of colors, culture is normal and so no one will look at you strangely and say, "Hey, there is an alien here!". British men are very gentlement, as what I read in the books. They are polite and helpful, especially in showing us, the easy get lost new comers the way to our destination. But I have to say that I am still struggling with the British Accent or "Mancunian" Accent in specific. They tends to pronounce "u" as "o", like "bus" as "boss", "pull" as "poll" etc.
Rain, rain, and rain. A waterproof jacket and umbrella is neccesary whenever going out. But I was so blessed because there were few sunny days (although mix with rain occasionally) in the week. The sky was so clear in the sunny day. And people were out especially in the garden to enjoy the sunshine. The temperature was just nice, about 17 to 24 degree celcius, so quite comfortable compare to the hot and humid summer in Tokyo.
Blue sky at the Media City, Salford Quay
4) Food
Thanks to the diversity in the city, there are lots of international cuisine besides the "notorious" British food. Tried the "famous" fish and chips at the Lowry Outlet Mall but will never give it a second try. There are many Chinese restaurants and Chinese grocery store in the city which help to reduce my homesickness somehow. Eating out is generally expensive, although the lunch menu will cost a bit less. The cheapest (and may be the most delicious one) is a home cooking dish, as the grocery price is quite cheap compare to Tokyo. Not forget to tell that there are lots of pubs. For beer lover, the pubs can be found any corner in the city.
British "famous" Fish and Chips
Indian
Chinese
Nando Chicken
5) House (Accomodation)
There is a saying in Chinese that the man's happiest life is getting the US salary, a Japanese wife, a Chinese cook and a British house. It sounds that the British House is highly regarded by the Chinese as the best in the world. So, how about the reality? Well, depends on the location (city centre or suburban), the price (a businessman afforable or student affordable), the type (house or flat), it will varies significantly. I can't make any conclusion yet right now to say whether staying in a British House really contribute to the man's happiest life. But at least for the same price I pay here, I can get a more spacious, stylish, better location and well furnished apartment compare to Tokyo, one of the most expensive city in the world.
6) The University
The Univeristy of Manchester is located at the south of the city centre. Due to its gateless campus, the universities building made up part of the city. Just like the city, the architecture is a mix of the 18th century and modern. The university museum,which is also called the Manchester Museum is housed in a castle-like building aged more than a hundred year while the Univeristy Place just opposite the Museum is new and stylish. One thing to my surprise is there is no free student sport facilities. I have to depend on the street jogging for free work out.
University Buildings
Anyway, these are all my first impressions after a one week stay. For sure there will be more to discover and the feeling may change when time pass by. And the fact is, I am already here in Manchester! This is the city that I was looking forward since a year back and that I will spend my next full 18 months (if I am not going elsewhere for the internship & exchange). For better or worse, it is up to me to explore. One thing for sure is, this is not the comfort zone (both the city and the program) for me, which will indeed stretch me after I get over with it.
Previous blog tittle of "Road to Manchester" may sounds obsolete now. While I am thinking for a better tittle, let me tentatively rename it as "Roads in Manchester" to kick start the new journey!
<Lost my grandpa while writing this last week. May he rest in peace and continue to witness my endeavor from the heaven.>
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