Searching for Snow

When I arrived in Manchester last Tuesday, I was reminded on a meeting with senior representatives from my sponsor in London on 3 April 2008. Oh my... I really had enough trips and definitely on in the mood for another trip even though a short one, from Manchester to London. Quickly, I booked return train tickets - depart from Manchester Piccadilly at 11.15 am and return from London Euston on 5 April at 15.55 pm.

I attended the meeting with Sarah, another scholar in Manchester who is currently pursuing her first year of PhD. During the meeting, Sarah and I were requested by the Director of HR department to give a brief summary of what are the roles and functions of our departments to undergraduate scholars. This is to give them an idea of the nature of work and to convince them that, for instance, a Law graduate need not necessarily applies for a post in the Legal department, but is welcomed to work in other departments such as regulation, supervision or enforcement.

The meeting which was held at the London Representative Office, ended around 5.00pm and we adjourned for a lavish refreshment. As usual, I had a difficulty to really, really eat in public. I just had a cup of teh tarik, a glass of pineapple juice, a scope of fried noodles and a handful of Spanish grapes. Encik Azman and his team were such a good host and they really made us feel like at home.

I left the London Representative Office at about 7pm and I was not alone. Maz, Fara and I have agreed to continue our chat in Leicester Square while pampered ourselves with Hargen Dazs ice-cream! I hardly know Fara when I was in the HQ, but we clicked instantly. It was so good to hear the latest news of what's happening back home from reliable source. Even during the meeting, Encik Kamari shared with us some good news which were announced recently.

Before we call it a day, Maz and I brought Fara strolling the fashion boutiques along the street up to the Oxford Circus. From there, I bid farewell to Fara and went straight away to my aunt's place in Neasden.

I don't stay that long in London because I need to finish my assignment which is due on 9 April 2008. On my way to the train station, I managed to snap this picture. I wonder why the bank can offer free cash withdrawal in the UK but they do not hesitate to join other banks in Malaysia to charge up to RM1 for any withdrawal using non-host bankcard. This is what we call a daylight robbery!


Oh yeah... I would like to show my friends in Malaysia how McDonalds' stores in London look like. I really like this concept and hopefully they will introduce it in Malaysia too. However, not all stores have adopted this concept especially those beyond zone 1, 2 and 3 of London.


Unfortunately, I was unlucky that my first experience in the Virgin's First Class coach was tainted by a very last minute cancellation of direct train from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly. Instead, I was directed to board the Midland train from St. Pancras to Nottingham. There, I need to take a connecting train to Manchester via Sheffield. The former journey was a relaxing and comfortable one. However, the connecting train was a nightmare because it has only two coaches and there were about 300 passengers. Since most of the passengers did not want to wait for the next train which was scheduled at an hour later, everybody boarded on this train and trust me, the train was really, really pack and it reminds me of train service in India. Oh, my...!

I arrived at Manchester Piccadilly at about 7.30pm. On my way home, snow came down although it was not heavy, at least I managed to experience what I felt 10 years ago when I first encountered my first snow! Later, I received an SMS from Joe that snow was heavy in London and he managed to make a small snowman! I was really green with envy to have read that SMS. Masa aku di sana, tak pun snow!!! Hmmm... sudah rezeki dia, kan... Sedih tak, tengok salji cenonet ni!!! Anyhow, alhamdulillah. Lebih baik sedikit, daripada tak ada langsung, kan...