This is so exciting! Int the next academic year, I'll probably be staying with friends in a lovely semi-detached house with a front and back garden! We'll be viewing the place on Monday. Hopefully it'll be just as nice inside as it is on the outside. I say"we" meaning Marcus, Jason & I. We'll be staying together with another guy who'll be coming to Leeds next year (a friend of Marcus'). I can't wait! The house is perfect! It's a bit on the expensive side - £60 per person per week, but it's so nice! It's on this road called Trelawn Crescent and the road is sort of like a semi-circle. All the houses on that road are semi-ds. Not all are student residences tho'. If we stay in this house, our neighbours wil be a family, kids and all.

I can just imagine myself doing gardening. Marcus wants to paint the fence too. We'll make the place look so pretty! It even has an adorable, cute, tree-lined lane at the back! The house isn't far from the main road either. That's where all the shops are. Headingley (the are we'll be staying in) is a little town in itself. All sorts of shops can be found there - hairdressers, newsagents, pharmacies, banks, a cinema, a supermarket (Safeway! No more Morrisons!), etc. Transport is not a problem either. So very many buses go down the main road to the University and the city centre. Much more and more frequently than from Clarence Dock.

[Our house! More pics in Picture Perfect section]

Frankly speaking, I'm quite surprised my parents gave me the green light to stay with 3 guys. They are more liberal than I give them credit for! But I also explained to them my reasons for wanting to move out of Clarence Dock. Originally, I didn't want to move out at all. I wanted to stay in Clarence Dock for my 3 years here in Leeds. I didn't want to move because I thought I had everything here - it's a nice place, great, quiet environment, bus stop out front, ADSL broadband internet connection, etc. Thinking about it though, the transport to the University is getting horrible and very inconvenient. Also, I don't bond with my flatmates as well as I do my other friends (they are hardly home, I hardly see them!) To put it very simply and bluntly, it gets lonely. Bonita is no longer here, I can't run over to chat with her anymore. I think living with friends (Marcus, Jason & I do get along well) is a different experience. You can all gather in the kitchen to watch TV; talk about problems over coffee. It was something I realised when I go over to Marcus, Jason & Darren's place. I think it's a wonderful feeling, to have a place in the whole thing - a part of a whole instead of a group of separate entities. Yup, I'm glad I chose to make this decidion to move out, just as I am glad, and happier now, after making some of the other difficult decisions I faced earlier this year.

I want to get a gym membership! I went as a guest to Virgin Active Gym last Saturday with Marcus and Jason and it was so much fun! It had a big gym, swimming pool and spa type facilities (sauna, steam room, etc). I had a great time and my muscles got a big workout (they ache!). I shall go again soon. Maybe even tomorrow!

I'm getting better at this cooking thing I think. The baked salmon, potatoes & carrots with garlic mushroom white sauce I made last night was delicious! My baked ham & mushroom rice was super too! The other night I had stir-fried chicken and vegetables in black bean sauce. It tasted great! When I go back to Singapore, I shall make dinner for my family. Heh. Ah, the skills one learns when studying overseas!

<Back . Index . Forward>