Showing posts with label Nottingham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nottingham. Show all posts

Monday, March 23, 2015

10 Things I wish knew or did before 25


This is finally an official post from me in 2015. Yes, almost a quarter of the year 2015 gone by!  This month also marks my 6th month in Nottingham, United Kingdom. These few months I felt less accomplished ever not because I did not work hard or so, is just that life has begun to give a huge toll on me recently.  Yes, I have passed the 25-year-old line. This means I am a young adult in Europe countries and more significantly I am reached another stage of life. My friends have been sharing some post on 25 things we should do/ know before 25. It is very intriguing to see what other 25-year-old going through. And, here is my version of top 10: 

1. You are bound to be hurt no matter how good are you! 
This is extremely true. Some people like you and some people just despise for no apparent reason. Even though you are at your very best personally and professionally, some PEOPLE just like to torture you with their own agenda. Oh yes, so my advice is "don't give a f*** what they think, just be yourself and keep on kicking a**. We control our emotion, not others!

2. Friends come and go, family and true friends stay
We just need a small group of genuine friends. They will be there whenever you need moral support. My advice is don't friend with others just because you are lonely. You should give time to those who really want to connect with you. Because by the age of 25, your so-called big group friend will just dissolve anyway. So, give time to true friends and family! We are actually on the way to be parted from our family as they can't be at our side forever. Treasure the time talking with your family and pets. 

3. Travel more when you are young
So far, I am lucky to be able to travel in different countries. Don't join the typical tour! Plan your own trip even though it will be hard and frustrating sometimes. I have more concrete memory of my own trip instead of those agency tour. 



4. Don't worry! No matter how experience/ old you are, you will still be cheated!
From my personal experience, people will tend to hide some important facts. I have met people who told you everything is well-arranged. But, the situation is not what it seems. Then, those people will just keep on pretending those promises were not made. Oh well, take this as a lesson! This is the process of growing up and moulding to be part of society. People lie, that's it!

5. Don't compare yourself to your peers
There will only be one Steve Jobs, Bill Gates in that era. There will only be one Mark Zuckerberg in new era. Yes, just be happy ! The criteria to be successful is never clear. As long as you are contented and happy, that counts!



6. Education is not everything. To be successful, you need more than grades
Kindergarten, Primary school, Secondary school and University are just a phase in life. They constitute major part of our lives, but not everything. We can excel in University, but, we can still be left behind in life if we are not improving. Darn, I am still in my Ph.D course (contradicting statement). You can have a perfect score in every exam. But this will not bring you far if you lack of those essential social skills. What I believe (friend please don't kill me for this) is that usually the most successful bunch of friends are those whose academic results are just average (2nd upper, 2nd lower). You can score 100 marks in math, but you can't solve an actual engineering question. What is the use? 

7. Everybody fails something
I failed my additional math before this! I failed my Chinese essay examination. Excruciating as they seemed, I pull it through! Failure makes one stronger!



8. Save money,  invest as early as possible and learn those financial part
If I knew (if ) that Kuala Lumpur housing would rise 200% in 2015 as compared to 2009, I would have told my dad to buy as many properties as possible. But we can't predict our future. What we can do is to save up and one day when it is affordable, we would readily pay for the downpayment. Another point is that invest ASAP from public mutual to stocks. What we earn will never to able to follow the rise of living cost. That's why we must learn to save and invest the money wisely. When I am talking about financial, I mean your income, tax and expenditure. We just have to keep balance of those in life! 

9. Find time to consider you like and realise it
I thought I like one thing. But, after some time, I find that it was just a misconception from public/ friends/ family. You will never know unless you try it. But, never ever rush into things even though we have a lifetime to amend our mistakes!!!!!!!!! I wish that I took my language classes seriously, if not, I will be fluent in Japanese and Spanish now. 


10. Life will always be a learning curve
24 years ago, I learnt to talk and walk
20 years ago, I learnt to write
15 years ago, I learnt to make friends and be silly
10 years ago, I learnt to memorise for my test
8 years ago, I learnt to make my own decision in education
3 years ago, I learnt to earn for a living 
1 year ago, I learn to adapt a brand new environment  


If you ever come across my blog, these 10 things are some personal experiences from me! If you are in your 20, treasure every day and every moment because I just lost my 6 years of youth in a flash! hahahaha, I just can't believe it because it was like a couple months ago when Kelly Clarkson won American Idol 13 years ago! 

Life is a journey, so simple, yet so complicated. Along the way, people come and go. We can't always have everything we want in life. But, it is no harm trying!  One last note: be yourself and happy because life is too short!


Monday, December 22, 2014

Nottingham Castle Journey


“I think it’s very healthy to spend time alone. You need to know how to be alone and not be defined by another person.” by Oscar Wilde, Irish writer and poet. 

Almost every city in UK, there will be a castle and cathedral. Owing to UK unique history, the places I visited so far has this kind of city structure. York, Nottingham, Lincoln, and more to come have their lovely church and castle even though most of them are smaller in size. 

Nottingham Castle is situated very near to the city, especially the Broadmarsh Shopping Mall. In normal days, the admission to Nottingham Castle is about  £5.50 (include museum, but exclude the underground tour). However, if there is any special event, maybe you can enter for free.  Basically, castles in UK are usually built in highlands, sames goes to Nottingham Castle. This gives an amazing panoramic view in the castle. 





The are two museums in Nottingham Castle, one is on hillside, another one is at the lowland just besides the Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem pub (famous pub). The entrance to both museums is included in the £5.50. However, as stated earlier, the underground tour cost me another £4, which was guided by a speaker explaining the origin and development of the castle. 




Nottingham is also famous of Robin Hood, being one of the most recognisable characters around the world. Oh yes, I didn't know that. So, whenever you are here, it is more than common to snap a photo with Robin Hood. Yup, bow and arrow is like his signature !!! 



Friday, October 17, 2014

My First UK Blog Post - A View from My Window


This year was crazy - 2014. The workload was okay but the uncertainties were definitely high. So, after years of dreaming to study in overseas and all, I finally had my wish came true as a Ph.D student. Hahahaha, kinda old to keep on studying, but gonna keep going on!

It is of course a great opportunity, since I am running off to United Kingdom (UK) for a year. So far, everything treats me okay, except for the weather - reasons >>>the temperature difference between morning and evening can be > 10 DegC. Yes, for this reason, I have suddenly suffer from minor migraine - which in my entire life, this is not an issue. I can't stay up late in UK, can't boil midnight oil>>> maximum drop-sleep time is 1145pm. @@

Anyhow, the groceries here and food here (I mean from supermarket) are quite affordable in the sense that it won't kill off your wallet at the end of the month. No car for me, good for diet! Hahahaha, people here are quite polite until it is frightening at one point. And, at Nottingham here, I feel quite cosy. It is a city with nice buildings and architectures and great food. 

As for the utility bill, it is still quite a weird arrangement. For water bill, we prepaid an estimated water usage for 6 months @@. As for electricity bill, we need to submit our own tariff reading, else they will calculate based on past record. This is a whole culture shock to me (^^).

This sums up my current life. I have been so busy with research etc. At one point, I was so phobia of writing even a single word. It actually took me a lot of determination to write this post and select the fine pictures above. 

Never thought that this post is actually 9 months apart. Great that my posts productivity declined greatly, because I am living a real life or Am I? By the way, my bloglink also changes over here to xjion89.blogspot.co.uk . Guess because I am in UK. Hahahahaha. Keep in touch and keep supporting my blogs. 

Cheeeeers, 
xjion a.k.a Jay