oh my dermatology!

my first cycle is already an exam one. Dermatology is very interesting although makes me more aware than ever about the pimples and comodones seeding on my face. but knowledge is power - i went to the apteka to get my polyvits and cream already to 'improve my natural resistance'.

having my exam this Wednesday, day after tomorrow. won't say is it so super hard. just handling this baby exam first before the mother exams come later (Int Med, Neuro bla bla).

there is this myth that if your face have any kind of blemish, it will either affect your marks or teacher might say something sinister to you, like you study all these stuff but u cannot apply it on yourself. i don't know if it is really true or not, will find out this Wed. but as prophylaxis i am keeping my face from any breakouts and trying not be as stressed out as possible. so that is a double task of studying without being stressed out.

oh kay time out over.

the post about V-day and CNY 2009

this year Jonas and i had a Valentine's Day dinner at Penthouse. never been there but since some frens suggested that place so we gave it a try. sushi was nice btw.

yesterday we had our Chinese New Year celeb. late but nevermind.. anyway Jonas and i wore a mathing cheong sam and samfu. so now we are mutual, because i wore sari and punjabi suit, so now he wore something chinese too.

i had a good time although i had an ironic job of becoming the VIP excort. ironic because i can't read or speak chinese and i don't know anything about chinese tradition. at one time, Marina Mikhailovna my russian teacher had her Chinese name written on a bookmark, and she asked me, 'is this read as Mik-hai-lov-na?'. i pretended to read the bookmark and said 'wow u are absolutely correct!' at another time, another teacher asked me to teach her to use the chopsticks. i can't even use the chopsticks myself, so i said 'however you feel comfortable, then it is correct.' conclusion - im a Ba-Na-Na. a rotten one.

Oh kay- having my dermato exam this Wed. the class where i had to put on extra thick compact powder on my face cuz these teachers are the skin freaks. and i sat right in front of the class, which was not so helpful.

finally - the post about the winter trip!

finally - a chance to put my winter trip into typing . went all the way to 5th gear with my first cycle - Dermatology. exam cycle so better not play the fool. lol.

the winter trip was a superb, minus the cold weather part. Jonas and i went to Paris and Barcelona, then to London to meet Cindy. Then, the 3 of us ventured to Edinburgh and Manchester. Got back to London again, stopped by at Dusseldorf for a night and then to Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod.

Paris was awesome! first day itself we went to the much anticipated Disneyland. my first time to Disneyland, and Jonas' second time, so he was rather cool about it. it was really nice just to be there, everything seems like in the disney cartoons - the little palaces, Mickey and Minnie mouse walking around, mary poppins dancing and singing.... the atmosphere! i enjoyed the rides too, although most of it scared me almost to death. worst of all, Jonas tricked me to ride on the
twilight zone, which was like a mini solero shot. and i saw all these little kids and adults like my mum's age going for the ride so i thought it was some tame ride. i was so wrong indeed.

hello Disneyland!

Next day, to the famous Eiffel and strolling along Champs Elysees. the sales was superb. was shopping away till Jonas got pissed off. and the day after that we went to Louvre museum. not that i am such a museum person, but since the Mona Lisa was there so we might as well take a look. and also to the Notre dame cathedral, moulin rouge...



Second destination - Barcelona. the best thing bout Barca was that it was so warm there, unlike the chilly Paris. and shopping there was awesome too, all along La Ramblas. and it is worth to mention that our hostel was an awesome one - Backpackers BCN Barcelona, which was cheap, a stone's throw from the metro station and absolutely comfortable - their beds, cups, plates, lights, everything was from IKEA. The funny thing was that Jonas and i got this Italian roommate who snored like a motorcycle engine, so bad that in the end we went to sleep at the living room. Even our other roommate from New York complained to us about him. lol.

Segrada familia

Jonas and the so-called Ronaldinho

at Nou Camp


glutton in action!

Next - London. Aunty Anne was so nice to pick Jonas and i up from Gatwick as we arrived late at night and might not be able to catch the tube to her place. we stayed at her place and she gave us the best VIP treatment while we were there - breakfast, her lovely fruit cake, crispy duck ( yup - i betrayed ducky because A. Anne's crispy duck was absolutely delicious!), the christmas pudding, claypot rice, curry with roti canai... Jonas and i are really grateful to aunty anne for having us in her lovely and newly renovated home. It has been such a long time since i relaxed on a sofa and watch TV. lol.

It was really really nice to meet up with Cindy. Cindy had been telling many stories about her new life in London to us through mails, and now i get to see for myself... how she living and all. I can say my big sister is very blessed to live in a comfortable room and surrounded by nice aunties.

the next day, which was the first day of Chinese New Year, the four of us (A. Anne, Cindy, Jonas and i) went to Aunty Dilys' house to have a steamboat lunch. long time since i last had steamboat! amazing! and aunty Dilys never stopped stuffing Jonas and i with more and more and more food! and she made the best apple crumble ever.

It was just the start of our eating frenzy. i forgot that Cindy rhymes very well with FOOD! which was what we did most of the time - eating and eating and eating. especially at china town. i decided that since i might not have enough space in my bag to fit all the goodies, i might as well just stuff them into my mouth. we had char siew pau, my favourite sota bean, mochi, luncheon meat, smiling fish....not to mention many many subways and Mc Ds. aunty anne even cut coupons from the newspaper so we can get the 1.99 pounds set meal from Mc D.

and after that we did try to burn our calories by walking around and visit some attractive places in London....with Cindy as D official tour guide.

tower bridge London




London's eye

Big Ben

Wembley stadium

yup...the two sad people at the tube station....waiting for 7 pm so the price will reduce by half.

we took the Mega bus to Edinburgh. arrived at night and checked in at Frederick House Hotel. it was raining that day, but it did not stopped us from going for the free tour in the afternoon and the ghost tour at night... visiting the cemeteries and hear some spooky men-made stories. hahaha... but some stuff did spooke me out, like burning witches, hanging people...

Edinburgh was an amazing place!! sightseeing, shopping, eating (mostly at Rick's), the night life...

Edinburgh castle - an amazing place, spent half a day there. now this is a real castle, not some Kellie's castle or fort margherita!

Jalan - jalan

and shopping away!

Manchester - Jonas' homeland. hahah.... the only 2 attractions in Manchester - Old trafford and shopping! Jonas enjoyed the first and i enjoyed the second. Cindy, Jonas and i were really lucky that we managed to sit at the executive seats in the theater of dreams and watch Man Utd vs Everton. as for me, i never took my eyes of my Christiano Ronaldo. i can't believe for 2 hours i was in close proximity with Christiano Ronaldo!

subway - again

On our last day in Manchester, Jonas went for the stadium and museum tour in Old trafford while Cindy and i went to china town and some shopping places. We were suprised that there was a big CNY celebration, since it was the second week of CNY. we were even interviewed by the TV crew!

The night we arrived in London from Manchester, we were hit by this crazy blizzard. which was unusual for London. the next day everything was pure white outside. for a moment i thought that i was back in Russia. since the city was in a halt, we could not do much, so we went to pay a visit to Aunty Lianny and played snow with Sean. my second time building a snowman! and the family dog Peppy was such a darling!

Last day in London, cold and snowy but we managed to walk around a bit. to Buckingham Palace. then to Oxford street to eat.




I was sad to part with my sister when Jonas and i had to leave for Dusseldorf and then to Moscow. But it was great to visit Cindy and to see for myself how she was coping there. well, mummy and all the others at home do not need to worry at all because our Cindy is doing very well there.

Last destination - Dusseldorf. stayed for a night so we did not walk so much. next morning caught the flight to Moscow and that night we took the train to Nizhniy Novgorod.Glad to be back here.

and i gained 2 kgs.