My last day in London

My day started as I headed towards the Prince of Wales Theatre to enter the Book of Mormon lottery for the 8th time. At this point I was already fed up with my luck when families of four managed to score two pairs of tickets while I've yet to get my hands on a single ticket after so many attempts.

I should never, ever gamble.

Lo and behold, my 8th time turned out to be as fruitless as the previous seven. Filled with rage, I decided to just get face value tickets. Although there was the option of getting cheaper seats, I just went for the best one because ... why not? Who knows how many more years will it be before I get an opportunity to catch a musical or even step foot in this city again.

With a ticket for one of the best seats in the theatre, I left and went for lunch at The Palomar, continuing my sinful splurge with the excuse of it being my last day in London. Sitting around the bar watching the chefs do their magic was really quite entertaining.

The musical did not disappoint. It was funny and crude, but in a way that wasn't funny because it was crude. I was a bit worried that some jokes might go over my head because some ensembles in musicals like Les Misérables and Miss Saigon can be a little hard to understand with all the singing over each other, but it turned out fine.

I headed over to the TKTS booth to see if I could catch something else later that night because I didn't want the day to end just yet, and I was glad that I did. Got a cheap ticket to see The Woman in Black.

I then took a tube all the way to South Kensington to buy an éclair from Maitre Choux and back to Covent Garden for dinner before heading to the Fortune Theatre for the play.

Dinner at Barrafina turned out to be life-changing, but not because of the food despite the food being great as well. I'll leave that for another post, but if it weren't for that meal I had there and then, the decisions that I've made right now would be drastically different.

The play was quite good. It wasn't the type of west end show that most people would go for, but I thought it was worth every penny that I paid. Amazing how the two actors could pull off an entire play.

And with that, my last day in London was concluded. I want to say I vowed to be rich enough to do something similar to what I did before visiting London again, but I'm do not like having to go against my word ...

I hope the next time I visit London again, circumstances would be different.

-Kritz

Now what?

I'm back from my Krakow-Rome-Naples-Istanbul trip. I'll have to admit that I was a little apprehensive at first, worried that travelling alone might not be suited for me and that I'd regret my decision halfway through the trip. Now that I'm back, it felt as if I only had a weekend away when it was more than 2 weeks. Met quite a few interesting people along the way. Of course there were times where things didn't go as well, but I can honestly say that those minor setbacks weren't that significant.

Anyway, results are out.

Don't know why part of me still has that little hope of getting a first class for my degree, when in reality it's very, very unlikely. Hoping some miracle would happen and I would somehow, miraculously achieve the bare minimum for a first, hah.

I posted that on the 23rd of May, and guess what? A miracle happened. It was pretty much "bare minimum" too.

I guess I would say that I'm happy, but not as happy that I'd expected. Looking back, I really did screw up my first two years and I could've easily scored better. Then again, I hated the modules then with a passion.

Relatives have been congratulating me, and this makes my getting a first more of a relief than an unexpected surprise. Makes me wonder what sort of a response I'll be getting if I got a second upper instead.

It's nice to end my tertiary education on a high note. Now on to the next stage.

-Kritz

I think I'm ready

Before I get into that, I just wanted to describe how awesome I ended my last paper. I left a one-and-a-half hour exam 15 minutes early because I couldn't stand waiting for another 15 minutes. It was the first time I left the exam hall early.

Being the first to strut out of the exam hall felt so good. It felt like a good beginning to and end.

Anyway, that was about a week ago. Now, I'm all ready to begin my four-city trip. I feel like I'm in the right state of mind, ebooks all loaded up (both fiction and travel guides), tickets and boarding passes all printed, everything packed, ready as ever.

-Kritz

Coming to terms

Day 9 of my 10-day break between my previous paper and the LAST PAPER OF MY DEGREE. So what have I been up to for the past few days? Well, I've spent more than 80 hours playing Final Fantasy X. I wish I knew someone who shared the love I have for this masterpiece of a game that was released back in 2001. The story, the soundtrack, the characters, the whole Spira/Zanarkand universe is just amazing, to me at least.

Immersing myself into the game has helped me to temporarily forget about all the things I should be thinking of, which is great in a way, but really I should be solving them instead. Escapism at its finest, I guess. Thanks to the days I've spent having nothing on my mind other than the game, I am now not as excited and motivated to do anything post-exams. All I want to do now is just sulk. Time to get my mood back in line.

I wish I had the brains to do the 4-year version of my degree, at least then I would have another year to spend here. I've grown so accustomed to this way of living here that I dread thought of having to return to my home country. Don't get me wrong, it's not that one is more superior than the other, but things are different. Maybe it's just because I have been home for such a long time that I don't remember how great it can be.

Last night, I chilled out listening to the first act of Les Mis on my headphones and lots of chills were had. Same thing happens when I listen to Phantom of the Opera. Who knew I'd be the type to enjoy musicals? Some people I know just go to musicals just because everyone who comes here to study do and they don't want to be "missing out" (just like travelling) -- which is a phenomenon which I would probably write about in a post by itself -- but I genuinely adore them, so much so that I feel sad that I would probably never be able to attend another one of these performances if I were to go back home.

I guess I've never been the type to face adversities and overcome obstacles to come out stronger. Despite having great results in pre-university education, truth is I've never really worked hard for anything. If I were to be honest to myself, I would say I'm a coward. I would read aspiring success stories and be all "there's no way I could possibly do that". Studying hard is one thing, but living in harsh conditions to tough it out while trying to make it is an entirely different story. Unless I had no options, I can't see myself willingly putting myself in such a situation. Why bother going through all that hardship if I could always fall back on a much easier way out?

Writing this post has been somewhat therapeutic. I can slowly feel the urge to do something about everything coming back to me. I honestly feel like such a loser at times. At this point in life, I can't foresee myself achieving any form of success in the future, and by success I mean reaching a point in life where I could be proud of myself, and not just in monetary terms. Hope this isn't just delusions of grandeur.

-Kritz

Last stretch

2 more papers to go! Spent 2 hours this morning in the exam hall regurgitating all the knowledge that I accumulated for the past few days. Now I'm too lazy tired to study right now and I can't think of any other way to procrastinate, and thus, I'm here. I actually ran out of entertaining things to do that even procrastinating becomes a bore. Sigh.

The paper on Tuesday would be one of the more challenging papers I have, and I should really put in my all in the next 3 days since it's the last ever paper that I'll be cramming for. Well there's also the very last paper, but that's pretty doable in comparison.

Don't know why part of me still has that little hope of getting a first class for my degree, when in reality it's very, very unlikely. Hoping some miracle would happen and I would somehow, miraculously achieve the bare minimum for a first, hah.

I should probably start throwing out stuff that I won't be keeping after my paper next Tuesday, since I'll be spending a lot of time travelling around. Did I mention that on top of Krakow, Rome, Naples and Istanbul, I'll be visiting Slovenia too?

As much as I want to stay put, I don't see how is it possible now that I've filled up all the free time that could be spent job hunting on travelling instead. I guess I don't want it bad enough. As much as I admire chefs that work their asses off at the very beginning of their careers, barely affording to survive, I guess I'm not tough enough to be that kind of a person.

I guess I should just head back home and figure out my next step then.

Can't wait to replay Final Fantasy X for the third time. Words can't describe how amazing that game is to me.

I'm bored, gah.

-Kritz

Happy Mother's Day?

My previous post could not have been posted at a worse time. I can't say that I was surprised to see a comment from her on that post, since it is Mother's Day and I did write a post dedicated to her last year.

If I hurt your feelings, mom, then I'm apologise. But what's said has been said, and I do not feel the need to take my words back. In fact, I'm kind of glad that you guys read it anyway.

It's hard to feel anything on the day where we all learn what everyone's mom look like thanks to Facebook. I've been away from home for far too long. Instead of making a lovely brunch for my mother, or treating her to a fancy dinner, I had to study for exams which start tomorrow (which is also what I should be doing right now), 10,000km away from home.

Despite technological progress and the existence of Skype and Whatsapp, nothing could really come close to actually talking face-to-face.

I'm also guilty for not knowing how to reciprocate affectionate messages from my mom. I just hope you know that I love you and I can't wait for us to spend some long overdue time together.

-Kritz

I want out

Well, plan A failed. I still wanna stay here, or anywhere around here really, or maybe just away from home, but having no specific skillset to offer is kinda hindering my prospects. The thought of going home seems to be less and less appealing as the days draw nearer and nearer to the inevitable.

For some reason, the brief Skype session with my parents today irked me a lot. It usually doesn't. It usually makes me miss them a little. They seem to be on top of their game today at getting on my nerves.

At the risk of sounding like an angsty teenager, they really do not understand anything regarding my current being. Not that I expect them to, but it's just annoying when anything I say pretty much just falls on deaf ears. I don't even know why I initiated that Skype session.

No mom, getting 95% for my exam is not feasible, at all. Anything more than a 70% is a first class and it's more than enough. This isn't high school. Heck, most people don't even score 95% for anything at any age.

No mom, I don't want to go to church. I don't want to go to church here, I don't want to go to church when I go back home either. How many times do I have to repeat that? I don't recall being Hozier and singing for someone to take me to church.

No dad, despite dropping and taking different modules, none of my modules are anywhere near easy or "a piece of cake". Did you see that stack of material I have to understand by heart to do well for my papers? Do you think this is some walk in the park?

Yes dad, I know hitting the gym lifting weights would improve my appearance, but I really can't be arsed right now and bringing that up every now and then serves no bloody purpose other than to irritate me. Where were you before I left home and lost 40 kilos anyway?

I should've just let them travel with a tour group. That would've saved me a lot of time and from feeling unappreciated for putting so much thought and consideration into trying to provide a great experience.

And no, providing such a good opportunity to study overseas doesn't cancel out my rights to be irritated by irritating behaviour. I'm grateful, but still human.

-Kritz