its all about V.A.N.E.S.S.A: February 2009

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Italian Dinner

I just had Italian Dinner! My Italian flatmate, Eleonora invited me to dinner prepared by her and her friend, Maya (who did most of the cooking and baking O.O so super!) at Leamington House (at Maya's flat) . Their other friends from Spain & German and Maya's flatmate from China, Cherry came too.

I'm SO SO FULL now I can just throw up anytime I want. There was SO much food! But the food was amazing! Their preparation took almost a whole day, and they had to take 2 trips back and forth to Asda by foot! (to those who don't know, Asda is a hypermarket 30 mins away from where we stay by foot). And I was invited to eat for free! They didn't even allow me to help with the cleaning up :S Eleonora kept saying "No, Vanessa. You are the guest!" Waah.. they're so nice :D

Behold.. Italian food:

Bruschetta
(topping: tomato, ham, butter, cheese)

extra topping for the bruschetta

Pukanesta?
sounded something like that.. which meant bitchy girl :/
it is the original name for the dish though..
(Creamy creamy pasta with tomato, cheese, olives, beans)

some long name...
(Brinjal/aubergine/egg plant *whatever u call it!* baked with cheese)

Risotto
(Mushroom with rice in thick mushroom gravy)

Roasted potatoes

the German guy brought yellow tulips for the dinner!
the drink is called "Moito" --> white rum + lime + brown sugar + soda water + crushed ice + fresh basil leaves

Maya preparing Moito drinks

everyone!
(Eleonora taking the pic)

Maya serving the pasta

This is how the brinjal looked like after being served.
It has tomato & cheese. Tasted good!

left: Chocolate Salami by Eleonora (Salami means ham but it is just called that because of its shape. Its really made of biscuits, nuts, choc filling and rum)
right: Tiramisu by Maya. It was so so GOOD! The best tiramisu I've ever had :D (yes, tiramisu is from Italy)

Our lovely chefs

Me, Chery, Eleonora & Maya

Lent Season is here

Lent
~repentance, reflection, and renewal~

Last Tuesday was the ever interesting Pancake Day, which is also known as Shrove Tuesday.

Both chaplaincies on Oxford Road were either having a Pancake Sale or Pancake Party! :D And of course, I got myself a pancake too and drowned it in caramel syrup.

You are probably wondering.. What is Pancake Day? Who celebrates it? Well... go Google it lah! :P For those pemalas, I asked a girl I met at church while eating pancake what the whole event was about. She told me that Pancake Day is traditionally celebrated by the Christians before Lent in the UK to use up all the ingredients (like butter, sugar, egg) which people in the olden days were not allowed to indulge in during Lent. If you want to know more, click here. So there you go! Pancake Day~

Also, our results for Semester 1 are out.

Engineering Design 93
Transport Phenomena 80
Engineering Chemistry 76
Engineering Mathematics 76

I got the 8th rank.

I am happy with my results :) But I could have scored better, considering the craziness of studying before exams :S I've never had a full-day-non-stop study schedule (with only meals, sleep, and toilet breaks) before and it was driving me nuts for 2 weeks! *Though I admit I spent a fair amount of time day-dreaming, reading Twilight, and watching Bleach. Hoho!* Gonna try harder for Semester 2!

But of course, I don't aim to be the smartest person in my year or beat people in class rankings. I don't wish I scored a higher average than the next person above me. My aim is to get the best I can out of this studying abroad experience. :) To learn & understand well, to think, to improve, to work with people, to get the best out of people and myself, to do what I want to do, to enjoy and to experience.

At the end of this course, I want to leave UK with a good degree summing up all my best efforts, with lots of great friends from around the world, and lots of experiences that you will be jealous of. Wahahaha!