Today Fol managed to convince me to go out to town to deposit money for him and I got Syer to come along and we went off to do her errand first... to the post office! Fol's in Birmingham and has been since Monday. I'll get to see him tomorrow, he says it's his final week of class (or so he claims..) so he's probably going to be around while I sit my arse down for exams. He's also threathening (as I see it anyway) to go down to London while I stay here in Loughborough to study.

me with Fahmi's attempt of looking cute and Taufiq while sitting on each other's lap after watching POTC 3.

I finish my exams earlier than everyone else. 13th June 2007. On Lina Idris's 21st birthday. I finish at 11am while everyone else that have their last paper on that day finish at around noon or muchmuchmuch later. Woohoo. Most of the Bruneians won't finish their exams until the 20th (that's like two days before the end of term). So I'm lucky and it's PAYBACK because last year I finished my exams on the LAST day of term and at the last possible hour. TAMPARTIAKALIEH..

I was chatting with Ella and she told me a couple of comments Mum has been making. She enjoyed listening, in fact, she's making fun of me for it. She keeps updating our sharing folder and there's like sixty three songs in there now that I haven't gotten round to uploading. Yesh, we share the same taste in music, sometimes.. and she's been nagging me about making her a new layout. Will get to that once I have a chance.

I finally went to the post office today, and no, there weren't any packages for me..and I can't claim anything anyway because I don't have a tracking slip or whatever. I've been expecting a polaroid camera in the mail from Nizam but it never arrived because it was sent to the wrong address and I think he's going nuts because I can't seem to find it at my old address or at the post office. Poo.

Okay. 4 days til exams!

Timetable is as follows:
June 4: Sequences & Series Exam
June 5: Management Accounting Exam
June 8: Statistical Modelling Exam
June 11: Company Law Exam
June 12: Differential Equations Exam
June 13: Corporate Finance 1

XOXOXOX

ps. Wallace Road is now OFF the market! WOOOOOO

What's perfect.

PICT0762, originally uploaded by unangelic.

What's perfect to me is the fact that he refers to my house as "home". He refers to the conversations we have as "us" and "we" and not "you" or just "I". As cliche as this all sounds.. I don't think I can ask for anything better. He even thinks we've been together for three years (he's about 6 months off but still sweet nonetheless).

He tells me stories before bedtime and knows I love listening about days when we first met (thanks una!), how we ended up together, those crazy sushi dates and movies we watched together. How I don't like eating at Manjoro (sp?) and he doesn't listen and takes me there anyway.. no matter how many times I remind him of this fact. He will forget the minute he parks his car in Kiulap. I won't forget the first time he officially met my parents. That is a story and a half but I'm not going to share it unless asked.

I think once he's done with UK, I'm going to miss him being around. No one to start the BBQ fire, no one to convince me why I should throw a house party for the other Bruneians, no one to tell me how beautiful I am despite the fact I haven't showered in two days and my hair is all tangled up like I've been through barbed wires, no one to compete with in terms of cooking, no one to convince me why I shouldn't buy that shirt in topshop, no one to tell me why I don't need to buy new shoes.. Okay, maybe Mus can do that :p but not in the convincing way Saifol can.

He's still my superman, through and through.

I love you Saifol Azra Rajid =)

yours. xx

In about two weeks from tomorrow, I'll be done with exams :-) Luckily for me it's going to be done and over with quickly. I haven't seen my flight ticket home yet (it was suppose to arrive in the post..but I'll deal with that once my exams are over).

us at Zen Noodle Bar

Fol and I got talking the other day about the future and stuff. Normally I'm the one who's blabbing about what's about to come and he usually just shuts up and makes a face about it. But it's nice to know we're on the same page and we're just hoping for the best possible outcome for both of us. I'll be graduating out of Loughborough by mid-June 2008.

So let me explain.

Before I managed to snag myself the best boyfriend in the world (ahem, views are of my own :P), I planned and predicted that I would continue on with further studies, possibly a masters degree and maybe a qualification or two in accountancy. What I didn't predict was that I'd end up doing a double degree in Mathematics and Accounting & Finance. What I also didn't predict was that my boyfriend would end up in UK, just a mere hour away from me by train.

What I also didn't plan was that I'd get a boyfriend.. WELL, maybe one or two of you did predict that, but shutup. I'm talking about me. ANYWAY. Fol is finishing his cultunary arts in June. He's made me pack most of my clothes into boxes and has shipped them off to Brunei. I'm left with about 10 shirts, loads of underwear (hehe), two pairs of jeans, four pairs of trousers (sports and otherwise) and still a lot of shoes (women..feh!).

I'm still yet to decide whether or not I should take my Uni text books back to Brunei with me or sell them off as second hands on Ebay or Amazon. So I suppose I could keep them around for another year and who knows? They might be useful in my 3rd year.....

outside my house with Syer, Minul, Mariam and Azan.

Okay, I sidetracked there a bit.

Anyway, those plans for the whole doing masters, qualifications etc. They haven't flown out the window. It's just I've opened up the option of going home and see what happens. Hmmmmmm. Now that's something to consider. Mum would probably grow sick of me and Daddy would probably make me drive and pick him up here and there. God, I could replace my driver.. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Haha. I could have his salary as mine. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Please no one take this thought seriously. I don't want to be anyone's driver other than my little sister's.

SPEAKING of my sister.

I saw her prom photo. Gorgeous. I'm jealous. Because her dress looks nicer than mine :-( Hers had flowers sewn on and more bling. Mine only had bling. She looks nice, in fact she looks great. Maybe still looks like my baby sister to me, but hey if we stood next to each other you'd never guess that she was my sister.

Enough ranting.

My life in Loughborough has always been eventful. I don't have regrets coming here and I can truly say that all those downfalls have been a blessing in my life. The Bruneians here have always been supportive and they're there in your time in need.. and it wouldn't matter how close (or not) you were. It feels like you're in a big expanded family where everyone gets along (well, almost everyone).

Creating a society wasn't my idea nor did I support it very much because of the paperwork that needed to be done and the idea of trying to establish something out of nothing didn't appeal to me. I'm grateful that majority of the Bruneians feel that I can lead them somewhere and with the help of the committee, I think we've gotten somewhere. I suppose most Brunei students can relate to when people ask the impending question: "Where is Brunei?" Us winning the ISA Mini-World Cup showed this especially with people (not us) screaming and supporting "Go Brunei!" followed with that question.. or when people say, "Malaysian?" and you can't help but make a face. So we're a minority, so what? Who says we can't make an impact?

I never knew how proud you could be of your country once you're actually not living in it. It's crazy. I think back to the days when I was still in high school thinking, "when the hell am I going to get out of here?" I was envious of my friends who were already studying abroad and pitying those who weren't, myself included. Now I'm falling sick with a temperature every now and then when I'm reminded of home.

Minul was right to say that this photo reminds him of the first time most of us met in Brunei, "time malu malu babi" he says. Haha, and when I do think back of then and how SHY the girls were and how they're pulling my leg all the time here. I love it. I look forward to meeting the new Loughborough Students in September at our gathering. I hope everyone's keeping this date in their diaries: 1st Sept 2007, Saturday will be the LufBru Freshers Gathering in Brunei! The time and place is yet to be confirmed but I'm excited about the number of people that have applied and have put Loughborough down as their first choice.

I'm not well at the moment but it's a good thing because now we know I shouldn't be falling sick during my exams.. which is about nine days away. I can't wait. :-) After that, I've got to sort out the LufBru hoodies, the LufBru Summer Games.. and basically society stuff.

The boys and I decided on impulse to play basketball last Sunday because the sun was out. At the end of it, I somehow managed to get on Fahmi and Rahman's roof with them with Fol cooking in their kitchen. They cleaned up before I arrived (because it's a man's house) and I found Syer moping their kitchen for them. Talo bana. But yeah, Fol and I went to Sainsbury's and treated the boys to lunch :-)

We're planning to visit Thorpe Park on the 23rd of June 2007 for a day trip. A couple of people would have left by then but a little rain never hurt anyone. It's finally Friday and I'm the only one home right now. Masnur has flown back to Brunei but she sent a text to me on how jet-lagged she is and how Brunei is not happening. I miss her but I got used to her being away because of her sudden disappearances, but nonetheless, I miss her still. Amzar has taken over her room but he's not in either because he's in Nottingham, visiting his girlfriend.. Zaed has just left for London and Syer is out playing badminton with all the other Bruneians.

I rang Mum and Dad yesterday and they emphasized that they don't want me to play any sports in fear of me injuring myself. I am injury-prone and I will admit to that.. Sunday and Monday will be my last netball games until I get back to Brunei to play with the Hot Mamas. I hope I can drag Miyam and Azan with me to play with the girls I usually play with :-)

On a different story, my weight is still at 60kg. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.

Love,
Yasmin

LufBru

DSC_6455, originally uploaded by unangelic.

Perfection only lies in what you can see and what you don't see.

Team LufBru 07/08

LUFBRU WON THE MINI-WORLD CUP YESTERDAY! We came first and won every game :-) Haha, basically the mini-world cup was set up by the ISA and they did an okay job though I wasn't very impressed with the time schedule. They put a two hour break in between the last game and the semi-finals and finals. It just felt like forever. But the boys won and that's all that matters. Shame though we didn't watch them play because the girls and I had netball practice.

I don't suppose you'd like to know how I've been feeling lately. Exams are just two weeks away. I can't wait because as I've said every year, I want it to be done and over with. The waiting period drives me crazy. Weekends I spend with Fol are always fun, he's on placement in London at the moment.. and there I was thinking I'd only spend time with him after work. It turned out he had the weekend off and we just hung out, baking and cooking in the kitchen. I made brownies, meringues and we ate some of the fishcake and muffins I brought over from Loughborough.

Anyways! Exams are in three weeks. I can't wait. My class tests have come in and they're less than pretty but my coursework results are more motivating. I'll be going back to Brunei a month after my exams.. but I'm going back with Fol so it's worth the wait :-)

Will update at a later time.

xx

Went to Birmingham to visit Fol and helped him carry his stuff to Loughborough. He's off on placement in London for two weeks, and I'm doubting that I'll be going down to visit him there.. what's two weeks apart anyway? A heck of a long time apart. Haha. I have no idea how I managed long distance for the first few months we were together. My phone bill was racking up like no tomorrow and I went crazy missing him. We worked it out in the end and I'm glad he's been around this year to keep me company since I miss home so much..and he's always telling me stories of things he used to do when he was a kid, or we'd like reminisce sitting down on the couch about days when we'd just go out and shoot a couple of hoops and such.

Satay on Saturday will be held at Wallace Road, 26th May 2007. It's a week before exams, I've got three boys who've volunteered their time to cucuk the satay. It's nice to know that there are helpful boys around.. unlike some people. It'll be £3pp. We actually had a BBQ today after badminton (sorry to those that didn't show up to badminton..it was a spontaneous thing). I've got pictures of people enjoying their meals.. haha damn nice.

Today's BBQ.

I bought Grand tourismo 4 and Sonic for the Playstation2, I think that's how I'll be filling up my time after (not before!) exams. I finish way earlier than anyone else here in Loughborough (except those doing English :P) and I've got almost a month to just play Tekken-5 and etcetra. I've got my housing sorted (yay!) and I've got to pack my million things into boxes and move them to the new house. Lucky for me, Fol wants to rent a car to help me out..and I'm guessing we'll end up going to Cheshire Oaks for another shopping spree. Haha!

I booked Fol's ticket home the other day, and I bought my ticket home too. £830+ for a high-peak season ticket is a crazy price. But we're flying back together, and won't miss out on the Summer Sale, something I know Fol absolutely doesn't want to miss. We'll be home only a few days before Mus arrives in Brunei to stay. Zillion things to do, but I know one thing I'd like to do is have dim sum and go to ILotus and eat my favourite dishes from there. I know mum and dad will be at work, so I'm looking forward to my sister picking me up at the airport. I miss her like crazy and I have got to talk her into taking up netball with me. She's pretty bad at it :-p but nothing a million practices can't help.

With Awi at International Day.

Shopping at TopShop with Fol was great. I bought a pair of black trousers, three tops but I didn't get a chance to buy a pair of shoes. I'm thinking about getting a pair of platforms because my heels are killing my feet. I'm getting nightmares from the blisters from International Day. Damn Charles & Keith heels.

LufBru

Speaking of International Day, the Bruneians had a booth for Brunei. LufBru managed to get sponsors for our food & supplies, which was great fun. We were quite successful with the keropok Udang being the most popular snack, and I insist it's much better than the Chinese version of Prawn Crackers.

We even managed to give a gift to the Mayor of Charnwood. lol, it was quite funy when that happened..because he was looking at these trinkets and he's like "oh, these are nice!" and I'm like, "oh great! We've got a present for you! It's exactly like these". Yes, I was ultra friendly.

With the Mayor and Mayoress of Charnwood.

The committee will have a meeting to analyse the day next week, to see what we can improve on or miss out. I think the whole wedding outfit thing was a big hit. I noticed a number of people wanting to take photos with Syer and Syaheir.

Syaheir and Syer during the fashion show.

Netball practice is tomorrow. The girls are getting on well. Most of them are keen on playing but are a bit shy, but it just takes a lot of practice to be confident in games. There will definately be a LufBru netball team next year, just not for this year's LufBru Summer Games.

LufBru Summer Games '07. That's something UK students should be looking foward to. All UK students are eligible to play provided they have a valid UK student ID. The Badminton tournament will be held on the 17th of August 07 and Football and Netball tournaments will be held simultaneously on Sunday, 19th August 07. Entrance fee per badminton pair is £14 and it'll be £50 per team for netball and again, £50 per football team. I'm hoping we might get press coverage and hopefully sponsors wanting to sponsor LufBru in Brunei and UK, which will be ultra cool :-) Personally, I can't wait.

Okay, I'm done.

Questions for LufBru Games? E-mail lufbru at googlemail dot com. :)

love,
yasmin.
xxx