they're back!

 this halloween weekend, etain, lewis and loksze all came down to see me here in southampton!! it was such an awesome reunion as i hadn't seen these people who i am the closest to since i visited london one month back.

 it was conveniently half term week this week so etain and lewis were able to pop down on friday. loksze being all the way in warwick decided to pop down the day before so we could spend more time together and make use of the £40 he spent on travel alone.

friday night featured a grime concert in southampton where they all went to see jme. we watched barbie the movie together (or forced the guys to), made dinner - sausages and chips ofc, and chilled in the kitchen playing agario which everyone were all so addicted to.

loksze leaving his mark in my flat kitchen to which an unknown flatmate replied to his comment

grime is not particularly my jam and so i didn't follow suit to the concert. instead i did some indian dancing with my flatmates, watched a horror movie and pranked a girl in the flat below which occupied me till 4am when they came back.

4am selfies with ma homie

fortunately for us, my flatmate bought a spare mattress to uni thinking it wasn't supplied, and so we borrowed it and carried it up two flights of stairs to make snuggling the four of us in my tiny halls bedroom possible. tight squeeze, but we did it! and so the banterous weekend continued the next day...

lately.

spending 4 hours in the library during non-exam season which feels incredibly weird.

a reminder of the promises God has made whilst walking home

getting excited from a few new purchases from american eagle

still going strong with the drinks

thankful for a much-needed catch up time with lottie and jan, two of my friends from sixth form who also ended up in southampton!

law mates

i was told not to worry if i didn't seem to find 'my friends' during the two weeks of freshers, and that i would easily make friends with people on my course. and here i am, jumping into the fourth week of uni with 5 new friends and a banterous whatsapp group.

we've been doing well at jumping into this law course; ploughing through readings and work together, though nights out seem to have gotten the better of some of us.......

hangover 1

hangover 2

laughing fits are probably at the pinnacle of all the times we spend together, particularly when we're tired and have to sit through another 45 minutes of a lecture. i really appreciate having these people around me; if i don't, i would most likely be falling asleep in all my lectures right now and dreading having to walk into uni at 9am.

we decided to go out for a good meal together one evening - a cheeky nandos being the highest voted. it was certainly my first time having a 'proper' meat meal since coming to uni, as cooking meat always takes so much prep if its not sausages or bacon.

i can't wait to create more memories with these group of people. this meal certainly will be the first of many more cheekiness to come.

hearty meal with the older siblings i never had.

last week, i had the privilege of spending my weekend with some of my good friends from london. they had made a trip down to southampton and was staying at jenny' house, and decided we should all have a good hearty meal together. it was definitely a change, as we were so used to meeting up in london settings. but change is good, and its always fun when you have your close friends with you! 

i got a bit lost finding my way to jenny's house, but eric and jake managed to locate me and so i got there in one piece! after a bit of rugby (everyone's going crazy mad for the world cup games at the mo), it was dinner time. jenny cooked up rice with a few classic filipino dishes including adobo, a marinated chicken pot. it was very, very hearty, to say the least and i was so satisfied once again with good company and good food.

james has always been the older brother i've never had, and kindly dropped me back at my halls that evening (also because it was past 12am and my last bus had gone!). it's so different to feel babied and looked after again after spending the past couple of weeks attempting to be an adult and grow independent. i'm not complaining though!

it's such a joy to see old friends again, particularly this lot as they are all a few years older than me so always passed down good advice and encouragement (not to say they that mature though ;)). they're such supporting brothers and sisters in christ and i really thank God that we had the opportunity to meet up again - it was so good to see familiar faces again after settling in to a different environment. 

i also got to meet harry, the cutest little dog, who chilled with me as we watched the apprentice and st.vincent together, along with red velvet cake, blueberry cheesecake ben and jerry ice cream and fruit (for that balanced diet). my friends all came to the church i've been settling in for the past few weeks the next morning, and by chance it was also the big church lunch, so they got to know some of my new church friends too. we decided to chill back at jenny's for the afternoon before squeezing 6 of us in a 5 seater car for the journey. what a perfect weekend God has blessed me with.

becoming 'normal'

i think it's safe to say i'm starting to get into the swing of things now. and about time too; after all, i'm onto my third week of uni already! it's so awesome: the fact i'm in a complete new environment, am forced to adapt to change, and actually managing it! i'm beginning to see my everyday routine form, which consists of lectures, tutorials, shopping, cooking and reading; and even though many people had already warned me about the freedoms in uni, i'm still amazed at how i can pretty much do what i want every day - my life is in my hands.

food shopping has proven to be harder than i thought. it's not just about shopping cheaply, it is also about shopping just enough for one person - not more, not less, or else you either waste money (and energy carrying all them bags) or end up hungry when you go to bed. i've also learnt to be flexible - i've eaten porridge for dinner, pizza for breakfast, and i guess it's about eating around what you've got and being creative at meal times. shopping wisely is such an important element of saving money - unfortunately, i've been too lazy to walk to the larger sainsbury's, so had to deal with the over-priced stuff at the local, corner shop version. i've learnt to shop for so called 'versatile' foods too - ones which you can mix and match easily whilst filling you up: bananas, milk, sausages, eggs and bacon to name a few.

i've only travelled back home once so far, so Skype and FaceTime has got me going. it's tough not seeing the ones you love all the time, but its all part of the experience - growing up and maturing as a person. i guess this way i will also value our family time so much more.

mannnn. i knew textbooks weren't going to come in cheap, but wow they really are pricey for what seems like a stack of printed paper which i doubt will be all read by the end of the year. i managed to snag a bundle off a second year student for £80 through Facebook, but then i've come to realise that even within the bundle it didn't have all the books i needed and resorted to forking out another £40 for two more textbooks. guess these books will cause the greatest dent in my student bank.

last but not least, fast food. embracing uni life means choosing not to eat the veg your mother forces you to, and going with what your heart thinks. the other day, a maccy dees was just too irresistible and so i called up my friend jan and walked down for a big bite of burger; the taste of satisfaction.

etain snaps.

here's just a quick dump of some silly pictures i took with my best friend last sunday. we sure don't meet up spontaneously like we always did anymore as i'm so far away; but every time we text, snapchat, tag each on silly posts on instagram, call, it feels like nothing's between us. i'm so glad i know this gal and i can call her my best friend.

back in the days when apple was still relatively new, it would be a 'thing' to go the apple shop and takes millions of these photo booth pics and post them on Facebook. wow. those were the days...

miss you etain! X

london snaps.

waterloo station

epic drummer using household items

i'm officially back in southampton now after an epic long weekend in london to see my family and friends. this was more than a spontaneous trip home and many people were surprised i came back so quick! nonetheless, it was such a joyous and blessed time; it's always good to come back home no matter how long you've spent away.

this sunday i was off to church with a suitcase carrying an iron, and extension plug, some mango sweets and some socks, and i'm glad i made it all the way in one piece as travelling around london, getting on/off the tube and buses can be real hectic (if ya know what i mean). i got to the train station early as i didn't want to run with a suitcase, and there, i basked in the morning sun and crisp air.

i joined the bible study this morning studying mark, and then attended the english service. after catching up with many people and saying goodbyes (again), we went for a classic cheeky nandos where we ordered two platters of chicken wings; have i mentioned how good their peri salted chips were?!

the boys helped me carry my luggage around, and we double dared them to ask a random person where victoria station was in a chinese accent. lolz.

i caught the coach back from victoria at 5:30 and got back to southampton around 8pm for a quick pizza and FaceTime with loksze. what a weekend; lectures start tomorrow!! peace.