Good afternoon!
So today marks the day before our last final exam for the semester that has just been and left us and despite the intimidating nature of the paper that we will be sitting, I'm quietly confident. You see, this exam is purely multiple choice and despite it supposedly having some tricky questions towards the end, we have 1 hour 30 to be able to complete it. Personally I'm not much of a fan of sitting exams because, apart from the obvious aspect of them being exams, it's always in the very standard hall with a big clock at the front to tell us how much of a future we have left. Gradually, I feel that I'm going to get an irrational fear of a big hall with desks set out in rows and columns due to how much distress exams have previously put me through in terms of revision and generally sitting them. I'm not sure what sort of experiences that you've had with them but my worst experience has to either be an A-Level Psychology exam where we had three 25 mark essay questions to complete in 90 minutes which could come from anywhere in the syllabus, or an A-Level Geography exam where we had two 25 mark questions which were split into a 7, 8 and 10 mark essay and then a big 40 mark essay that we had to complete. Needless to say many trees would have had to lay down their lives when this exam was sat. It was just an experience that I'm not intending on recreating in the future I have to say.
But hey, I can't complain too much, I'm here and writing for you aren't I?
So my day hasn't really been too exciting I regret to inform, but hopefully later I'll have more interesting things to tell you about. I've been doing statistics revision mainly, and I did have a trip down to the halls office to confirm my moving of halls from the end of 2014 by handing back my old key. Whilst there I encountered a friend of mine that I'll be living with next year at the mail room, and to my surprise, she had taken what isn't a quick walk by any means in her pyjamas to go for her mail. I guess I can sympathise because I too was feeling very sluggish, but it did make me chuckle. After giving my fondest farewells to my old key, I set off back to my halls, on the way encountering a friend from my theatre group, who had shared with the world on Facebook that this morning, she was having Ice cream for breakfast. I felt a strange sense of pride and disappointment at the same time, it's quite a weird feeling really. After establishing that she didn't invest in the undisputed best of all ice creams, Ben and Jerry's, I established an overriding sense of joking disappointment and was on my way.
I also decided that Natasha is undoubtedly the best person in the entire Universe when back in my room (It's not like she wasn't anyway but she further cemented her position at the top in my Universe). This was because upon telling her about my Ben and Jerry's story, we slowly formulated a way to celebrate together for finishing our last final exam of the semester. We will undertake the feat of watching Frozen while devouring Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Oh my god I can't even wait. Despite my reluctance to watch Frozen, I feel it is a necessity for being a good boyfriend to watch it with her and when combined with being with her and some top quality ice cream, how can I refuse?
That's it really, but I have hockey training later so I should no doubt have a lot to write about with that, including a notoriously difficult run for our 40 minutes of dedicated fitness training. I also have a relatively new stick that I can use so I'm looking forward to using that again. I'm also having a haircut from a former flatmate who, luckily enough, is a trained hairdresser as well, so I'm really excited for that too!
I'm going to get back to revising and getting prepared for tomorrow, but I'll be sure to speak to you this evening after my best endeavours with manual labour and having my hair chopped off.
Thanks for your time
Cheers
Tim
Monday, 19 January 2015
Sunday, 18 January 2015
A part of something big
Hi again!
Since I last spoke, one of the first things I got up to wasn't as interesting as I'd normally tell you about but it was with a nap. Driving for two hours in pretty difficult conditions is by no means an easy or enviable task. However it felt really good to be able to relax and calm myself and just forget the world for a little while. Especially due to the cold abrasive wind that had been tearing down on my car (Which, fun fact, Natasha has named Noah now due to an NOH in the numberplate!) on the expansive journey back to University. But after rising from my slumber, I had just over an hour before my second Fiddler on the Roof rehearsal, and I was excited for this because it would be the first time I would be able to act as my character of Mendel.
Now, I'm not by any means a die hard fan of this musical. I'm not too acquainted with it in the first place but I know the bare bones now. The co-directors are really good, they're both students but have a really keen eye on what would be good on stage, as well as commanding a relatively professional atmosphere in rehearsals while maintaining a really friendly aura about them. The schedule that we had for today required me to be there for an hour from 7pm and then for another hour from 9pm, covering two separate scenes. So this was going to be interesting seeing as I had quite a bit of time to kill in between.
We were rehearsing in a hall which was situated in a building I'd never actually ventured to in my time in university. It has a relatively modern feel about it despite the classic brick design to the outside and is set back from the road where the other university buildings are, so much so that it's not immediately noticeable and almost withholding an air of mystery about the place. Due to me not having been there before and not particularly being able to remember where it was, I set off in order to get there early, just for some wiggle room in case I were to get delayed or anything. There's quite a nice feeling walking through the area at night I think. The streets were almost deserted and it suddenly felt like I was the only person in the world. The area that I'm currently in has really low crime rates to the point where it is one of the safest areas in the UK if I recall correctly, so it's really easy to walk around at night and be completely safe. Wrapped up in layers, I took my time and really captured the absence of people for the brief while it was apparent.
When the others had arrived we got into the first scene we were looking at. It was only small so we didn't really need the full hour but we went over it a lot and it gave us a chance to develop our characters somewhat. The brief I had for my character was that I'm basically condescending and almost full of myself, so after a few jokes of how that won't be hard, I got it to the point where everyone was happy and I got excited for being able to potentially make an audience laugh while on stage. I don't want to get into the rehearsal in too much detail but I'm really looking forward to it and being able to tell you about it. It feels really good to be a part of something big.
Me and a friend who was in the other scene with me decided to pass time over the hour by getting dinner from a local takeaway and bringing it back to watch the progress of the others and how well they were doing until it was our turn again. Moving around really made you forget about the cold aura you got from the room and it was definitely a really good way to spend a Sunday. Since then I've braved the cold one final time, saying goodbye to the others and braving my way back to my nice and heated room. Tomorrow should be a fairly relaxed affair as the only thing apart from revision for my last final exam for the semester is a hockey training and haircut in the evening, which no doubt will be interesting!
I'll be sure to catch up with you tomorrow as always. Thank you for taking the time again, it really means a lot to me. Speak to you tomorrow.
Cheers
Tim
Since I last spoke, one of the first things I got up to wasn't as interesting as I'd normally tell you about but it was with a nap. Driving for two hours in pretty difficult conditions is by no means an easy or enviable task. However it felt really good to be able to relax and calm myself and just forget the world for a little while. Especially due to the cold abrasive wind that had been tearing down on my car (Which, fun fact, Natasha has named Noah now due to an NOH in the numberplate!) on the expansive journey back to University. But after rising from my slumber, I had just over an hour before my second Fiddler on the Roof rehearsal, and I was excited for this because it would be the first time I would be able to act as my character of Mendel.
Now, I'm not by any means a die hard fan of this musical. I'm not too acquainted with it in the first place but I know the bare bones now. The co-directors are really good, they're both students but have a really keen eye on what would be good on stage, as well as commanding a relatively professional atmosphere in rehearsals while maintaining a really friendly aura about them. The schedule that we had for today required me to be there for an hour from 7pm and then for another hour from 9pm, covering two separate scenes. So this was going to be interesting seeing as I had quite a bit of time to kill in between.
We were rehearsing in a hall which was situated in a building I'd never actually ventured to in my time in university. It has a relatively modern feel about it despite the classic brick design to the outside and is set back from the road where the other university buildings are, so much so that it's not immediately noticeable and almost withholding an air of mystery about the place. Due to me not having been there before and not particularly being able to remember where it was, I set off in order to get there early, just for some wiggle room in case I were to get delayed or anything. There's quite a nice feeling walking through the area at night I think. The streets were almost deserted and it suddenly felt like I was the only person in the world. The area that I'm currently in has really low crime rates to the point where it is one of the safest areas in the UK if I recall correctly, so it's really easy to walk around at night and be completely safe. Wrapped up in layers, I took my time and really captured the absence of people for the brief while it was apparent.
When the others had arrived we got into the first scene we were looking at. It was only small so we didn't really need the full hour but we went over it a lot and it gave us a chance to develop our characters somewhat. The brief I had for my character was that I'm basically condescending and almost full of myself, so after a few jokes of how that won't be hard, I got it to the point where everyone was happy and I got excited for being able to potentially make an audience laugh while on stage. I don't want to get into the rehearsal in too much detail but I'm really looking forward to it and being able to tell you about it. It feels really good to be a part of something big.
Me and a friend who was in the other scene with me decided to pass time over the hour by getting dinner from a local takeaway and bringing it back to watch the progress of the others and how well they were doing until it was our turn again. Moving around really made you forget about the cold aura you got from the room and it was definitely a really good way to spend a Sunday. Since then I've braved the cold one final time, saying goodbye to the others and braving my way back to my nice and heated room. Tomorrow should be a fairly relaxed affair as the only thing apart from revision for my last final exam for the semester is a hockey training and haircut in the evening, which no doubt will be interesting!
I'll be sure to catch up with you tomorrow as always. Thank you for taking the time again, it really means a lot to me. Speak to you tomorrow.
Cheers
Tim
Emerging from the dream
Hi again!
Since we last talked, me and Natasha have been on the move again. Our stay back at home was a really successful one. I enjoyed every second of it and I wish I could just stay that bit longer but unfortunately, at some point it has to come to an end, but I guess that makes it all the more special. Currently I'm back in my room in halls at University. Back to my new sense of familiarity, typing away at a keyboard to tell you about what has been going on and hopefully to entertain. It feels good.
So let's start at the beginning. I woke up this morning relatively late for me, but I woke up feeling extremely cosy and snug and decided to engage in an activity that has come to be one of the nicest of my time home, to say good morning to Natasha face to face, and look into her eyes at the start of a brand new day. We decided to start the day quite slowly as we planned to set off just after lunch. Looking out of the window, it almost looked like a painting, snow everywhere and a really foggy day greeted us and although a beautiful sight when snow is involved, it did mean one thing. I'd probably have to attempt to drive through it.
After grabbing a shower and gradually slipping back into the land of the living, we were ready for breakfast, which of course was another dose of waffles and maple syrup. If a shower hadn't woken us up, the impending sugar rush would no doubt be the trick. Packing was surprisingly painless as we didn't have too much to deal with but while we did so, I had noticed that it had just about started to snow and would eventually develop into something a bit more disastrous and heavy. This somewhat accelerated our departure as we decided to have lunch on the go and grabbed some snacks for the journey. It was a rather elongated trip as due to snow coverage for the first 30 minutes of travel, there were quite a few delays on the motorway, and there was a standard amount of imbeciles who though it would still be a good idea to weave in and out of cars in the impaired driving conditions. oh well, I'm alive and blogging!
We had our standard playlist on for the trip and singing along to dance floor anthems such as "Do you want to build a snowman" (At pitch for me) and the infamous "Mambo No.5" with everything in between kept us in high spirits on our quest for the land of education and other sorts of spirits...
We arrived in good time though, although it isn't snowing here whatsoever it was typically cold, and as if to remind us of home, it was actually colder than normal. But we raced inside and now we are both unpacked and I'm killing time before another Fiddler on the Roof rehearsal later.
Needless to say though, I've just loved every minute of being with Natasha this weekend and with my friends from college, it made the travelling completely worth it and I could go on forever about how amazing it was, but I fear this post is getting a bit long.
I'll talk to you later, thanks for your time
Cheers
Tim
Since we last talked, me and Natasha have been on the move again. Our stay back at home was a really successful one. I enjoyed every second of it and I wish I could just stay that bit longer but unfortunately, at some point it has to come to an end, but I guess that makes it all the more special. Currently I'm back in my room in halls at University. Back to my new sense of familiarity, typing away at a keyboard to tell you about what has been going on and hopefully to entertain. It feels good.
So let's start at the beginning. I woke up this morning relatively late for me, but I woke up feeling extremely cosy and snug and decided to engage in an activity that has come to be one of the nicest of my time home, to say good morning to Natasha face to face, and look into her eyes at the start of a brand new day. We decided to start the day quite slowly as we planned to set off just after lunch. Looking out of the window, it almost looked like a painting, snow everywhere and a really foggy day greeted us and although a beautiful sight when snow is involved, it did mean one thing. I'd probably have to attempt to drive through it.
After grabbing a shower and gradually slipping back into the land of the living, we were ready for breakfast, which of course was another dose of waffles and maple syrup. If a shower hadn't woken us up, the impending sugar rush would no doubt be the trick. Packing was surprisingly painless as we didn't have too much to deal with but while we did so, I had noticed that it had just about started to snow and would eventually develop into something a bit more disastrous and heavy. This somewhat accelerated our departure as we decided to have lunch on the go and grabbed some snacks for the journey. It was a rather elongated trip as due to snow coverage for the first 30 minutes of travel, there were quite a few delays on the motorway, and there was a standard amount of imbeciles who though it would still be a good idea to weave in and out of cars in the impaired driving conditions. oh well, I'm alive and blogging!
We had our standard playlist on for the trip and singing along to dance floor anthems such as "Do you want to build a snowman" (At pitch for me) and the infamous "Mambo No.5" with everything in between kept us in high spirits on our quest for the land of education and other sorts of spirits...
We arrived in good time though, although it isn't snowing here whatsoever it was typically cold, and as if to remind us of home, it was actually colder than normal. But we raced inside and now we are both unpacked and I'm killing time before another Fiddler on the Roof rehearsal later.
Needless to say though, I've just loved every minute of being with Natasha this weekend and with my friends from college, it made the travelling completely worth it and I could go on forever about how amazing it was, but I fear this post is getting a bit long.
I'll talk to you later, thanks for your time
Cheers
Tim
Saturday, 17 January 2015
An unforgettable day
Hope you've been having a good day!
I think today has been one of my most memorable days of my time in University, but weirdly I wasn't even in the same place that I study! I've just had a seemingly infinite amount of fun and joy today, so I guess the best place to start is where I left off.
The snow has been really coming down in legions today. As we set off for the football, me, Natasha and my parents were slightly doubtful as to whether it would be on. It was how I personally think that a standard winter's day should be. The surroundings were almost deserted as the inhabitants of our little town stayed inside to keep warm or were probably in a field somewhere with a sledge (Or maybe because the football wasn't on yet more likely). The seemingly deserted surroundings were covered by a single white blanket of snow. Upon parking about 5 minutes away from the ground, it was still falling from the heavens and looked like it would never stop. Wrapped up warm in several layers, we braved the cold Winter's day and collectively plodded along to the ground. Upon getting there, I apparently looked like I had been collecting snow on my head as when I tried to shake it off (No Taylor Swift pun intended) there was quite a lot to remove.
Since my dad had found a voucher for what was called a "Match Day Diner" treatment at the game, it turned out that we were due a 3 course meal for lunch, we were allowed comfier seats and we were to come back into the area that was for special guests where they would award the man of the match their prize. I didn't have too much of the dinner because I wasn't a big fan of the dessert or starter, but the main course was amazing. Natasha had a vegetarian option, which turned a few heads as it was a big vegetable pie, much bigger than we had expected, and so big that she didn't manage to finish it, and the hostess lady jokingly told her off for it.
But all was well behind the scenes, because the game went ahead and oh what a game it was. As Natasha had never really watched a game of football before she said she would have little idea what was going on, but with half the pitch covered in slippy snow and more coming down, you can imagine there was some fun to be had. Also with us coming out 4-1 winners, it was an amazing game to be at. After this we met up with two of my college friends for a round of Pizza Express pizzas and quite a lot of their famous doughballs. With us devouring the whole lot in quite a good time and having a lot of fun doing so, we moved onto our next activity. Bowling.
One of my friends was slightly paranoid, because of the last time we went bowling. You see, since he's really good and was walking away with the game, I had felt that a little "stabilisation" was required to even out the playing field, so I might have sabotaged him by throwing a gutter ball for him while he was about to get a third strike. "Oops, my finger slipped." This time though I wasn't given ample opportunity. A lot of fun was had at my ability to get gutter balls and by the end of the first game, I came last with Natasha sneaking her way to beat me in the last two rounds. Needless to say one was not amused. The next game I'd managed to step up a bit more and upped my final score, with Natasha slipping into last place. After this we hit the arcade and the highlight had to be a game of 4 player air hockey. This one was different in the way it scored because it would have different rounds, with the score from a goal depending on if you hit a big or little puck in. Eventually, a load of pucks are let loose on the table at once by the machine and it's a rapid scramble to score first with them, so it's just chaos and because we're University students, you better believe that quite a few pucks made it off the table and to varying areas of the arcade, our record must have been about 10 meters away from the table I think.
Since then we have made it home and are currently just lying down just relaxing before bed. It's been a long day I'll never forget, full of laughter and smiles and I can't describe how good it feels to have spent it with someone as special to me as Natasha, and to have been able to introduce her to my college friends. It was the best Saturday of 2015 by far and I can't wait for many more.
Anyway, I'm driving back tomorrow so should really go, speak to you tomorrow and thanks for your time. I hope you enjoyed hearing about today.
Cheers
Tim
I think today has been one of my most memorable days of my time in University, but weirdly I wasn't even in the same place that I study! I've just had a seemingly infinite amount of fun and joy today, so I guess the best place to start is where I left off.
The snow has been really coming down in legions today. As we set off for the football, me, Natasha and my parents were slightly doubtful as to whether it would be on. It was how I personally think that a standard winter's day should be. The surroundings were almost deserted as the inhabitants of our little town stayed inside to keep warm or were probably in a field somewhere with a sledge (Or maybe because the football wasn't on yet more likely). The seemingly deserted surroundings were covered by a single white blanket of snow. Upon parking about 5 minutes away from the ground, it was still falling from the heavens and looked like it would never stop. Wrapped up warm in several layers, we braved the cold Winter's day and collectively plodded along to the ground. Upon getting there, I apparently looked like I had been collecting snow on my head as when I tried to shake it off (No Taylor Swift pun intended) there was quite a lot to remove.
Since my dad had found a voucher for what was called a "Match Day Diner" treatment at the game, it turned out that we were due a 3 course meal for lunch, we were allowed comfier seats and we were to come back into the area that was for special guests where they would award the man of the match their prize. I didn't have too much of the dinner because I wasn't a big fan of the dessert or starter, but the main course was amazing. Natasha had a vegetarian option, which turned a few heads as it was a big vegetable pie, much bigger than we had expected, and so big that she didn't manage to finish it, and the hostess lady jokingly told her off for it.
But all was well behind the scenes, because the game went ahead and oh what a game it was. As Natasha had never really watched a game of football before she said she would have little idea what was going on, but with half the pitch covered in slippy snow and more coming down, you can imagine there was some fun to be had. Also with us coming out 4-1 winners, it was an amazing game to be at. After this we met up with two of my college friends for a round of Pizza Express pizzas and quite a lot of their famous doughballs. With us devouring the whole lot in quite a good time and having a lot of fun doing so, we moved onto our next activity. Bowling.
One of my friends was slightly paranoid, because of the last time we went bowling. You see, since he's really good and was walking away with the game, I had felt that a little "stabilisation" was required to even out the playing field, so I might have sabotaged him by throwing a gutter ball for him while he was about to get a third strike. "Oops, my finger slipped." This time though I wasn't given ample opportunity. A lot of fun was had at my ability to get gutter balls and by the end of the first game, I came last with Natasha sneaking her way to beat me in the last two rounds. Needless to say one was not amused. The next game I'd managed to step up a bit more and upped my final score, with Natasha slipping into last place. After this we hit the arcade and the highlight had to be a game of 4 player air hockey. This one was different in the way it scored because it would have different rounds, with the score from a goal depending on if you hit a big or little puck in. Eventually, a load of pucks are let loose on the table at once by the machine and it's a rapid scramble to score first with them, so it's just chaos and because we're University students, you better believe that quite a few pucks made it off the table and to varying areas of the arcade, our record must have been about 10 meters away from the table I think.
Since then we have made it home and are currently just lying down just relaxing before bed. It's been a long day I'll never forget, full of laughter and smiles and I can't describe how good it feels to have spent it with someone as special to me as Natasha, and to have been able to introduce her to my college friends. It was the best Saturday of 2015 by far and I can't wait for many more.
Anyway, I'm driving back tomorrow so should really go, speak to you tomorrow and thanks for your time. I hope you enjoyed hearing about today.
Cheers
Tim
An exciting day lies ahead
Hi again!
Today has started in a fashion that we, the inhabitants of the UK really aren't used to and is still continuing in said fashion. As I look outside I can see that there is a torrential flourish of snow that has been on and off. In the UK we always hope for snow and for days off school or work. I have to say that today though, I wasn't as happy as I could be by snow. Now, I know what you're thinking, I'm not turning into a miserable old man with each passing day. I'm happy that it as snowed but it's just inconvenient at the current time. Today, my parents, me and Natasha are going to watch a game of football at my local team's ground. I'm slightly annoyed because there's a chance that if the snow continues, it could cause the game to be off. If you remember what I told you yesterday, I've travelled a distance in order to be able to come to this game and visit home so it's quite nerve racking in a way. My dad told me this morning that there have been some volunteers at our ground scraping off the snow to increase the chances of the game being played today. I guess it might also be the fact that it's snowing at home on the occasion when I'm not here for very long. I am still a young boy at heart and I want to sledge at some point this year.
This morning me and Natasha had a very special breakfast though, we had toasted waffles with maple syrup and oh my god I had to restraint myself from devouring all of them. I was especially happy because while we were at University, she enjoyed messaging me in the morning about how she was having waffles, making me extremely jealous due to a distinct lack of waffles in my possession. So now it was really nice because we could enjoy them together. She thinks though that she might been on a bit of a sugar hype, because as I write this she is frolicking around my room beaming about the snow outside, promising she will teach me to love it at all occasions.
So I thought I'd keep you updated earlier than usual because in about an hour, we will have hopefully arrived at the football ground. My dad got a voucher for us to be looked after at the game so we are arriving earlier to apparently get lunch included and apparently there will be other things as well but I'm not too sure yet, but I'm really excited for it, if you couldn't tell from earlier. Everything should be done at around 6pm, at that point we are coming back home and Natasha and I are going to be getting ready for an exciting trip to go Bowling and eat pizza with the college friends that we were on skype with a few days ago. I can't wait and it is going to be a great day.
I'll tell you how it's gone later tonight as usual but I've got to go now, Natasha has taken a particular shining to a guitar in my room and I'm going to go and teach her a bit of how to play it.
Speak to you soon, thank you for taking the time to read as always, I really appreciate it.
Cheers
Tim
Today has started in a fashion that we, the inhabitants of the UK really aren't used to and is still continuing in said fashion. As I look outside I can see that there is a torrential flourish of snow that has been on and off. In the UK we always hope for snow and for days off school or work. I have to say that today though, I wasn't as happy as I could be by snow. Now, I know what you're thinking, I'm not turning into a miserable old man with each passing day. I'm happy that it as snowed but it's just inconvenient at the current time. Today, my parents, me and Natasha are going to watch a game of football at my local team's ground. I'm slightly annoyed because there's a chance that if the snow continues, it could cause the game to be off. If you remember what I told you yesterday, I've travelled a distance in order to be able to come to this game and visit home so it's quite nerve racking in a way. My dad told me this morning that there have been some volunteers at our ground scraping off the snow to increase the chances of the game being played today. I guess it might also be the fact that it's snowing at home on the occasion when I'm not here for very long. I am still a young boy at heart and I want to sledge at some point this year.
This morning me and Natasha had a very special breakfast though, we had toasted waffles with maple syrup and oh my god I had to restraint myself from devouring all of them. I was especially happy because while we were at University, she enjoyed messaging me in the morning about how she was having waffles, making me extremely jealous due to a distinct lack of waffles in my possession. So now it was really nice because we could enjoy them together. She thinks though that she might been on a bit of a sugar hype, because as I write this she is frolicking around my room beaming about the snow outside, promising she will teach me to love it at all occasions.
So I thought I'd keep you updated earlier than usual because in about an hour, we will have hopefully arrived at the football ground. My dad got a voucher for us to be looked after at the game so we are arriving earlier to apparently get lunch included and apparently there will be other things as well but I'm not too sure yet, but I'm really excited for it, if you couldn't tell from earlier. Everything should be done at around 6pm, at that point we are coming back home and Natasha and I are going to be getting ready for an exciting trip to go Bowling and eat pizza with the college friends that we were on skype with a few days ago. I can't wait and it is going to be a great day.
I'll tell you how it's gone later tonight as usual but I've got to go now, Natasha has taken a particular shining to a guitar in my room and I'm going to go and teach her a bit of how to play it.
Speak to you soon, thank you for taking the time to read as always, I really appreciate it.
Cheers
Tim
Friday, 16 January 2015
A special place in our hearts
Nice to see you again!
I can't say we've done too much exciting since I last posted. The Indian that we went to is one that we have been going to for a very long time, with the owner and staff very good friends of my family. We had been going there since I was really young and my brother hadn't been born because I believe my grandparents liked their food so much. Since then, they have relocated nearer to us and they have seen their business grow. It's like a taste of home when stepping into there and it almost feels like tradition when stepping through the doors. I've never had an experience in a restaurant before where staff members will make sure to shake your hand when they first see you and when you leave. Although I don't know them by name, it feels like being in the company of friends when inside their doors. It's special. I have to say it was almost another set of people that I felt I needed to introduce Natasha to and thankfully she seemed to really like it there. The owner and his sons that work as waiters have a special place in the hearts of my family though. As they know my granddad well as he was a regular at their restaurant, a few years ago when we had learned of his passing, they attended his funeral. I have to admit that I'm getting a little emotional writing this so I'll move on but I guess that gives an idea of how highly they're regarded in my family as people in general.
When you step through the doors you can immediately recognise that they've made a large effort to contribute to the ambiance of an indian restaurant with statues placed around the main dining area and a seemingly never ending stream of Bollywood music videos behind the bar near the door. In terms of Indian food, I'm not personally one for a really spicy curry, I'm not sure what you might prefer but I just can't hack the really spicy stuff, so I tend to go for a chicken tikka masala. It's definitely my favourite option due to it being quite mild and the flavour of the sauce. I hear chicken korma is really nice as well but I've not really tried that so I'll have to make an effort I think.
As I went with Natasha, my parents and grandma, it wasn't the speediest meal as we got into talking quite easily and everyone seemed to have fun whilst having their respective curry. My dad is always one for pushing the boundaries on his taste buds and ordering the some of the spicier options that he can find on the menu, so it's always interesting to see if he ever takes a bridge too far.
After we left, at about 9pm, we came straight back home, chauffeured by my grandma in her relatively new car, she's got a ford but I'm not sure which flavour of car it is. It's definitely way more modern than her old Mazda, so she seems to have a lot of fun with it, although according to the date on the car, today is 04/07/2014 so I might need to help her with that, bless her. The rest of the evening has been really relaxed and we've lived up to the idea of a feet up Friday. We watched the first half of the Top Gear Patagonia special that was on over Christmas and so far it has been really good. Maybe we will watch the rest before we go back to university but it is currently late and we have a fun filled day tomorrow ahead of us that I can't wait to tell you about.
Thanks for reading, I'll speak to you tomorrow
Cheers
Tim
I can't say we've done too much exciting since I last posted. The Indian that we went to is one that we have been going to for a very long time, with the owner and staff very good friends of my family. We had been going there since I was really young and my brother hadn't been born because I believe my grandparents liked their food so much. Since then, they have relocated nearer to us and they have seen their business grow. It's like a taste of home when stepping into there and it almost feels like tradition when stepping through the doors. I've never had an experience in a restaurant before where staff members will make sure to shake your hand when they first see you and when you leave. Although I don't know them by name, it feels like being in the company of friends when inside their doors. It's special. I have to say it was almost another set of people that I felt I needed to introduce Natasha to and thankfully she seemed to really like it there. The owner and his sons that work as waiters have a special place in the hearts of my family though. As they know my granddad well as he was a regular at their restaurant, a few years ago when we had learned of his passing, they attended his funeral. I have to admit that I'm getting a little emotional writing this so I'll move on but I guess that gives an idea of how highly they're regarded in my family as people in general.
When you step through the doors you can immediately recognise that they've made a large effort to contribute to the ambiance of an indian restaurant with statues placed around the main dining area and a seemingly never ending stream of Bollywood music videos behind the bar near the door. In terms of Indian food, I'm not personally one for a really spicy curry, I'm not sure what you might prefer but I just can't hack the really spicy stuff, so I tend to go for a chicken tikka masala. It's definitely my favourite option due to it being quite mild and the flavour of the sauce. I hear chicken korma is really nice as well but I've not really tried that so I'll have to make an effort I think.
As I went with Natasha, my parents and grandma, it wasn't the speediest meal as we got into talking quite easily and everyone seemed to have fun whilst having their respective curry. My dad is always one for pushing the boundaries on his taste buds and ordering the some of the spicier options that he can find on the menu, so it's always interesting to see if he ever takes a bridge too far.
After we left, at about 9pm, we came straight back home, chauffeured by my grandma in her relatively new car, she's got a ford but I'm not sure which flavour of car it is. It's definitely way more modern than her old Mazda, so she seems to have a lot of fun with it, although according to the date on the car, today is 04/07/2014 so I might need to help her with that, bless her. The rest of the evening has been really relaxed and we've lived up to the idea of a feet up Friday. We watched the first half of the Top Gear Patagonia special that was on over Christmas and so far it has been really good. Maybe we will watch the rest before we go back to university but it is currently late and we have a fun filled day tomorrow ahead of us that I can't wait to tell you about.
Thanks for reading, I'll speak to you tomorrow
Cheers
Tim
Disembarking
Oh hey! Didn't see you there!
So today marked a rather big day for me. From out of a seemingly endless slumber in my room, I arose to prepare for a marathon journey of a fearsome length of roughly 2 hours in order to get home for the weekend. It was as intimidating a journey as I make it out to be, I promise!
After me and Natasha made our final checks with our bags, we reunited and decided to stop by ASDA in order to get our provisions. Because Natasha hadn't been to the ASDA near to us much, she wasn't too sure where everything was. This made it rather entertaining when we were looking for a potential drink for each other and ended up staring down the hard spirits section! I wouldn't have minded normally but unfortunately, I was driving so I couldn't oblige! We did end up, however finding our all time favourite variety of Pringles, BBQ Beef as well as some obligatory chocolate and a large bottle of water to share between us.
After we had emerged from the maze of discounts that is the modern British supermarket, we sorted out the music for our mini adventure using a music streaming service called Spotify. Since Spotify premium is half price when you factor in a student discount, I decided to take advantage of it. For me it is roughly £5 a month, which is a considerable saving in comparison to the amount of music I'd normally get, as well as also helping me resist the temptation of shopping when already on a student budget. Using Spotify, we had already made ourselves a massive, and I mean massive road trip playlist of our favourite songs and loads of cheesy music from "Livin la vida Loca" to "Mambo No 5" to every song you could possibly imagine by ABBA (Which I was being forced to sing along to, and since Natasha was in control of the food I was in no position to refuse!). We even included the Minions version of YMCA because the little yellow things are just so incredible!
In our epic quest to find my house we encountered many an obstacle. Temperamental lorry drivers as well as drivers in general, several elongated periods of heavy downpours of rain and hail. Also the infamous Eye-Spy made a brief appearance to pass a few seconds which shows you things got a bit desperate! But alas, despite all of the hardships we faced on our perilous journeys of the motorways of the UK, we finally reached our destination. Greeted by my two infinitely adorable Labradoodles, Darcey and Purdey, who were jumping up and down, rather excited of potential company. My parents were out but as soon as my mum got back, we went too meet her and she made no mistake in being the standard uncool mum that you could expect when you bring a girl back in a similar way to this. I'm not going into details there.
Since then I've felt fatigued enough to fall asleep without even properly realising it (I know, pretty good effort!) after the driving and we have been passing the time. We also found a new game to play together on the internet and Natasha absolutely annihilated me at it, I didn't see it coming but it was brutal.
Currently, the plan for the rest of the day is that we are just being boring for about 45 minutes until we are going out for dinner at our local favourite Indian restaurant, after that we are just having a nice relaxing Friday evening before the main event tomorrow. Natasha's first ever football match!
Thanks for taking the time to read, as always I really enjoyed catching up with you!
Cheers
Tim
So today marked a rather big day for me. From out of a seemingly endless slumber in my room, I arose to prepare for a marathon journey of a fearsome length of roughly 2 hours in order to get home for the weekend. It was as intimidating a journey as I make it out to be, I promise!
After me and Natasha made our final checks with our bags, we reunited and decided to stop by ASDA in order to get our provisions. Because Natasha hadn't been to the ASDA near to us much, she wasn't too sure where everything was. This made it rather entertaining when we were looking for a potential drink for each other and ended up staring down the hard spirits section! I wouldn't have minded normally but unfortunately, I was driving so I couldn't oblige! We did end up, however finding our all time favourite variety of Pringles, BBQ Beef as well as some obligatory chocolate and a large bottle of water to share between us.
After we had emerged from the maze of discounts that is the modern British supermarket, we sorted out the music for our mini adventure using a music streaming service called Spotify. Since Spotify premium is half price when you factor in a student discount, I decided to take advantage of it. For me it is roughly £5 a month, which is a considerable saving in comparison to the amount of music I'd normally get, as well as also helping me resist the temptation of shopping when already on a student budget. Using Spotify, we had already made ourselves a massive, and I mean massive road trip playlist of our favourite songs and loads of cheesy music from "Livin la vida Loca" to "Mambo No 5" to every song you could possibly imagine by ABBA (Which I was being forced to sing along to, and since Natasha was in control of the food I was in no position to refuse!). We even included the Minions version of YMCA because the little yellow things are just so incredible!
In our epic quest to find my house we encountered many an obstacle. Temperamental lorry drivers as well as drivers in general, several elongated periods of heavy downpours of rain and hail. Also the infamous Eye-Spy made a brief appearance to pass a few seconds which shows you things got a bit desperate! But alas, despite all of the hardships we faced on our perilous journeys of the motorways of the UK, we finally reached our destination. Greeted by my two infinitely adorable Labradoodles, Darcey and Purdey, who were jumping up and down, rather excited of potential company. My parents were out but as soon as my mum got back, we went too meet her and she made no mistake in being the standard uncool mum that you could expect when you bring a girl back in a similar way to this. I'm not going into details there.
Since then I've felt fatigued enough to fall asleep without even properly realising it (I know, pretty good effort!) after the driving and we have been passing the time. We also found a new game to play together on the internet and Natasha absolutely annihilated me at it, I didn't see it coming but it was brutal.
Currently, the plan for the rest of the day is that we are just being boring for about 45 minutes until we are going out for dinner at our local favourite Indian restaurant, after that we are just having a nice relaxing Friday evening before the main event tomorrow. Natasha's first ever football match!
Thanks for taking the time to read, as always I really enjoyed catching up with you!
Cheers
Tim
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