WiFi

It's a norm

Travelers vs free internet.

Hostels and free WiFi should be a norm.

Minus the one time in Reykjavik.

So far,

I had been pleased with the WiFi European hostels provided.

But Irish hostels...

Dublin was alright.

Galway,

not really.

Their Three telco provides good mobile plan.

So,

I'm surviving on the eat-all-you-can data plan.

Yeah.

Irony of travels.

WiFi.

Ben Lettery Connemara Hostel

Chilling with friendly volunteers.

Sipping glasses of red wine.

Playing Beatles on Youtube.

Those are lovely past midnight activities,

yes,

In Ben Lettery Connemara Hostel.

An unique Irish hostel,

fully managed by volunteers.

A well-chosen spot for quietness,

hiking,

just meeting people maybe.

An excellent choice indeed.

 — feeling blessed.

Into the Wilderness

Here I am,

First stop of the west of Ireland,

Galway.

Just for a couple of minutes.

In the bus,

Into the wilderness I go.

Elijah is my model today.

Want to experience the small still voice.

A ponder I have,

Are there more sheep than Irish in the land of Ireland?

St. Therese of Lisieux

She's my patron saint,

For my second name is Theresa. 

Today I stumbled into Whitefriar Church,

Where there's a shrine built for her.

Initial plan might have been as interesting.

But God's plan will always be better.

Despite the unknown and its fears,

I'll still trust in Him.

Not forgetting,

Today is the feast day of St. Augustine of Hippo.

Another great saint of the Church.

 — feeling blessed.

Dublin

Everything seems strangely familiar here.

Shops I saw in England,

Dublin has them too.

But as I took the bus from the airport,

I passed by houses with colourful doors.

Red.

Blue.

Green.

Yellow.

Adorning the whole row of terrace houses.

Despite the gloomy and cloudy day,

The friendliness of Irish,

and colourful doors,

made this a happier place.

Catching up with an old friend,

Eating Irish stew.

Perfect combo.

Though I'm exhausted,

I'm thankful I'm here.

It isn't even midnight,

everyone is asleep.

I am trying to be quiet.

Somehow I fail.

Maybe I should also sleep.

 — at The Times Hostel - Camden Place

Wifi on Public Bus

I know many places have it.

I'm already impressed by Dublin. 

A good start I guess.

The Journey Begins

Many might know.

Most might not.

To reward myself,

I planned an Irish journey of 16 days.

I've completed my masters,

after two years.

I thank God for everything.

Including my global friendship network.

I'm thrilled.

I DO have friends in Ireland.

Surprise! Surprise!

A surprise indeed.

So here am I,

sitting in Caffe Nero of Manchester Airport,

awaiting for my check-in.

Drop the backpack,

and off for lunch.

I have an hour of internet access.

Gonna make full use of it.

Why can't airports have unlimited wifi access??!

 — at Manchester Airport

Pre-Trip Anxiety

My train to airport is at 7 in the morning.

I'd have to get myself to bed soon.

Nope.

I haven't packed.

I sorta packed.

But I took out everything.

Weather is getting cooler.

Need to semi-packed some warm clothes.

Just in case it gets freaking cold.

I'm anxious.

I'm excited.

I'm unplanned.

God be my Guide.

God be my Light.

God be my Planner.

Let's see what fun God has in mind,

For His rather-at-loss child.

Yes.

It's me I'm talking about.

 — feeling anxious.

Running Errands

One, key fob retrieval from lab.

Two, samples in Genetic Analyzer.

Three, documents to be sent.

Four, workout and shower.

Five, analysis of results in lab.

Six, travel details to plan.

Seven, dirty laundry.

I'm at number 3.

When will I reach number 7?

Oh dear!

I'm starving too.

My stomach wants lunch!

Key Fob

Every life science student would have one.

That includes me.

I still have one batch of samples.

The final batch before closing this chapter.

Whole year I was careful not to lock myself.

Guess what?

On this very weekend,

I locked myself out of the lab.

Yeah.

Of all the days.

I guess everyone would have to experience this once.

I found someone who can borrow hers.

Thank God I contacted her tonight.

Waking up early to catch her at train station.

God is good,

All the time. — feeling relieved.

Home Alone

I know it's weird.

But I hadn't been truly home alone since leaving Spain.

The comfort and having CCTVs in accommodations.

I had been over-pampered by Daddy God.

I'm thankful I had a sms chat with a friend.

When the sense of aloneness was heightened.

Just random chatting for a short while.

It's odd, I was comforted.

Save electricity: Sleep Early.

My new motto.

Ha ha ha.

Today is the Day

The very last bits of my stuffs r lying on the floor.

The room is rather impersonal now.

No more photo frames.

No more mouse trails to my bed.

My dog nest has officially collapsed to ground zero.

Tonight I'll sleep on a different bed.

Tonight a new experience.

A house rather than studio flat.

When will I have a semi-permanent place again? — feeling nostalgic.

Junkie for Junks

Due to the unforeseen circumstances,

I've become a junkie.

NOT that kind of junkie you're thinking.

Just completely dependent on junk food.

No time to cook is a rubbish excuse.

Packing is depressing.

Moving isn't what I enjoy.

Yet, life is as such.

Second last night in my cozy alcove.

When will I find another rather permanent place?

Till then,

More instant food.

Ugh.

Distaste.

Genie

If only I have the Aladdin's lamp.

Rub it,

Genie comes and helps me.

Yeah.

Packing 101.

Find a genie.

Then things will be easier.

Crap!

Procrastination to the max right now.

Final Week in Lincoln

It's really a strange feeling.

Suddenly it's the final week here.

Yesterday I bade goodbye to another coursemate.

He's probably halfway home to Ethiopia.

Sitting on the church pew,

I'm amazed how far God has brought me to.

In a year here,

I've travelled four times out of UK.

The fifth will be to Ireland in 7 days time.

My God is an amazing God.

10AM

The moment when I wake up,

Thinking it's 8am.

Only to find out it's two hours late.

By the time I shower and go to uni,

It's lunch time.

I might as well reverse it.

Have a brunch,

Get ready.

Go to uni till sunset.

Yay.

Sounds like a plan.

Meteor Shower

Tonight is the peak of Perseid Meteor Shower.

I thought of catching one or two.

Craned my neck for 10 minutes each time.

Despite the cold.

Nothing.

Pollution of lights on the road I live on.

Ugh.

Distaste.

The West Commons is just few blocks away.

Free of light pollution for sure.

Yet alone am I.

Never a risk to take.

To walk to vast field in darkness.

Maybe,

One sweet day.

For now,

I shall dream of meteor rain.

Wardrobe

A place where my clothes called home.

When I move them out from it,

it's a significance that spells out the word "goodbye".

Another 14 days,

and I am bidding farewell to Lincoln.

When I return from Ireland,

no longer this flat is my home.

I will come back,

only as a tourist,

only as a guest,

and as a graduate.

It means a lot,

when I said I'm clearing my wardrobe.

This is a day I dread.

Yet,

it is also a day I have to face.

 — feeling sad.

Train Tickets

It's a habit of mine

Not throwing away most of my train tickets

I now have a big stack of them

Then I realised

For the year in the UK

I had traveled to many places.

Both within England and overseas.

Why didn't I conquer Scotland and Northern Ireland yet?? — feeling puzzled.

Packing and Moving

It's the time of the year again.

This time,

I'm walking into uncertainties.

I was in the lab for two afternoons.

A lot of work to be done.

With undivided attention.

If I start work right now,

my packing won't be done on time.

Giving myself two days to pack up.

Time to slowly bid goodbye.

To a lovely room.

It is just so sad.

This is the last weekend in Sherbourne House.

— feeling sad.

Gym

I've totally forgotten.

Today the gym is closed.

Staff training for them.

Walked to the entrance.

Only to remember it's today.

Thank God no one saw me.

I'd rather be the only telling it out.

Hahaha.

Oh! My English!

I'm definitely a non-native English speaker.

I used to think plural form of equipment is equipments.

Until recently,

I realize that it is an uncountable noun.

So, in plural form,

equipment is still equipment.

To add to clarity,

I can use "pieces of equipment".

Oh well.

It's a common mistake apparently.

Unfamiliarity

After days away from the lab,

I'm finally back to work.

It's a form of wrapping things up.

Suddenly everything seems so...

unfamiliar.

Things are where they used to be.

That's a relief.

But there are additional unused equipment.

For some reasons.

Cleared the dusty bench.

Moved a chair back to my prep lab.

Laptop on.

Dongle for GeneMarker back in the USB 2.0 port.

Time to see,

what to run for tonight.

Fingers crossed there won't be any power shortage

Perhaps after this,

familiarity will return.

Once in a Lifetime

A thought came to my mind:

Buying luggage space from Ryanair,

is equivalent to the additional payment for a nicer B&B,

The experience of taking a ferry

from Ireland to Wales..

Seems irreplaceable.

Honestly,

This is my once-in-a-lifetime Irish trip.

I may not do it again.

Well, of course,

unless,

one day I were to meet THE man,

who desires another Irish trip.

Right now,

such person has not shown himself to me.

And so...

Flying on budget airlines.

I do that all the time.

Sailing from Ireland to Wales...

Once in a lifetime.

 — feeling indecisive.

Adventurous

I will fly to Dublin.

I will roam around with Irish buses.

I will walk a lot.

Shall I add this?

I will return to UK by sea?

I'm feeling adventurous right now.

Sounds fun.

But I need to figure out,

where the heck are the ports!!! — feeling adventurous.

Blessedness

Many times I failed to see,

the blessings of being His pampered princess.

The imperfections in me He overlooked,

only seeing me as His beloved.

Ever so faithful is Him,

even when I was unfaithful and went astray.

"How great Thou art!"

My only acclamation of the day,

nothing pleases me more than knowing

that He is near.

He sent me angels to help and comfort me.

And His blessings are overflowing.

As always.

Forever.

This awesome One is the one true God.

All glory and honour and praise be to Him!

The great news is...

I PASSED MY PROJECT MODULE.

 — feeling blessed with Edgar Aristion and 8 others.

Keep Calm And....

These "Keep Calm And...." phrases are everywhere.

I think it all started with "Keep Calm and Carry On"?

Right now, I do need that.

Keeping calm,

waiting for something to happen.

Ugh.

No plans.

Well, travelling is fun.

I AM looking forward for the trip.

What will happen next then???

No idea.

How do I keep calm and carry on??

I'm driving myself nuts.

 — feeling meh.

Lack of Sleep

This is one of those times.

Body clock went cuckoo.

Sleep evaded me until the break of dawn.

When sleep happened,

The mailman's knock woke me up.

How I understand dogs right now.

No wonder many see mailman as foes.

Pumped adrenaline into the body.

Now the tired body is devoid of sleep.

O my sleep, come back to me.

I need it for concentration in the afternoon!

Long Time No See

It's been a while.

I left my brain at home after defense.

And went all the way down south.

Returned up north.

One day I spent with myself.

One day I hung out with friends.

It's time to say HI to my lab.

Oh, the long-abandoned Genetic Analyzer too!

Exciting times.

Two weeks.

With GenePop and Arlequin hopefully.

Now with my Irish homeless wanders half-planned.

I can finally bring my brain back into the lab.

Once again.

 — feeling determined.

It Is Never Too Much

I'm greedy.

So, I'm sorta stuck.

Dublin.

Connemara.

Galway.

Killarney.

Cork.

Many days in Killarney,

equates to few coach tours?

Dingle...

And...

Maybe one more.

And I should be broke by then.

Home to England?

Continue to Northern Ireland?

Too much on my mind now.

Suggestions, Tom Nixon!!!

P/S: I'd need to bunk in at your place by then....