have to mention this thing about Venice though. I found my dream table. It's by the Venetian wooden sculptor Livio de Marchi and he's honestly got some fascinating stuff. Went to his gallery in Venice and was absolutely awestruck.

and SARS hits England. Due to go back to Singapore next Thursday for a week. College admin found out and now have stated that they would not want me anywhere near campus when I return from Singapore. Hooray! I have nowhere else to stay. I don't have money to book myself into a hotel. I'll just sleep under a tree outside campus properties and cough at everybody who walks by!

i'm back from the Easter hols! I had such a wonderful time in Bristol. Staying with Aunty Yvonne was amazing. She lives in this 5 storey townhouse (previous home of Humphrey Davy the guy who invented the laughing gas) about 5 mins away from Bristol and it was awesome! Nat, Cyd and I had such a great time wandering around, discovering all the rooms she had. Wandered around Bristol and Clifton...travelled to Bath and Wales...it was an amazing 4 days, especially in Wales coz I saw the most amazing old ruins ever. It literally took my breath away...*sigh* Anyway, back to work, back to reality...much to catch up on...

really need to think before I write anything on MSN. Was chatting with Gail when she suddenly logged off. Conversation that followed when she logged in again:

Mel: you didn't leave me!
Gail: cos not. whyever would u feel this way...
Mel: *recalls memories of abandonment*
Gail: which do not exist
Mel: coz when I was 2 my family brought me to mirkwood and left me there....HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA...and i've been happy with legolas eversince
Gail: ur teddy bear would rather have his stuffings torn out then sleep with u?
Mel: OI! i don't have a teddy bear coz i sleep with legolas
Gail: eeeeeeeeeeeee
Mel: oooh that didn't come out right
Gail: ya
Gail: hahahhahaha
Gail: eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Mel: shaddup
Gail: elf slut

how often do you go for a walk in a garden during lunch and stumble onto a deer? Granted, it wasn't a face-to-face encounter, but he was still pretty close! Really cute.

"God and I are taking a walk today..." this article brought tears to my eyes...just been feeling really tired, and am seriously questioning why I'm here in the first place. Am struggling with God, I have to admit, but this article has brought things back into perspective

What do you say to someone who has lost 2 close friends within a span of four months, both from car crashes? I feel so helpless right now. Want to say something that would cheer her up, but there really isn’t anything that I can say that would make things better is there? I could quote her the usual Bible texts, but we’ve all heard it before. I’m not dismissing God whatsoever. I know He cares, and at the rate this world is spiralling towards its own destruction, it probably is a jolly good thing that the better and purer of us gets taken away before it gets any worse. And yet the loss is real. To know that someone whom you love dearly is no longer around. How do you ease the emptiness and pain in your heart?

Nat and I went to the Central London Church this morning with David. It was a pretty good sermon that we heard actually, about facing our fears, and most importantly, of not having to fear because God is with us – 366 verses in the Bible where God tells us not to fear – enough to last us for a whole year (even a leap one!). Met up with Gemma who’s here on a conference. Can you imagine, her uni paid for her flight from Australia to England! Should have taken Chemistry in uni as well. Then again, maybe not. Anyway, she was the one who told Nat the news.

I really don’t know what to say or think. People are just dying around me left, right and centre. How do you deal with the heartache? How do you comfort people who have lost dear ones? I remember years ago when I was much younger, death never seemed real then. But now, it’s real. Oh so real. And no matter how many times you receive news of deaths, it hits you so hard every time. I guess that’s when we hold on to our faiths, and look forward to the day when we will all meet in heaven again. In the meantime, the only thing I can do is sit next to Nat, and hold her while she cries.

So, I tried to make a reservation for accommodation in Venice. I sent an email to the hostel, stating clearly how many beds I need, which type of room I would like to be in, and how many nights I would need it for. This is the reply I got:

Hello,
thank you for your e-mail and for your interest in our campsite. For the period request we can offer accomodation in Cabin for 3 persons - only beds - bathrooms close by at the cost of Euro 12,90/pers/night or Bungalow Chalet for 4 persons with bathroom, without shower, kitchen and heating at the cost of Euro 55,80/night.

Bed sheets are not included in the price, but it is possible to order them on the reservation.

If you want to reserve, just mail us.
To make a booking, we require some information, including name, adress, e-mail adress and credit card details.

For any other further information, please, do not hesitate to contact us, or visit also our web site. We will be happy to welcome you as our guests here at the Alba d'Oro Campsite soon.

Best regards.
Camping Alba d'Oro

Elisa

So have they taken notice of my reservation or not?????

last week, while scrubbing toilets (yeah, sad life I live. Volunteer stipend doesn't pay enough for all my travels around Europe.) I stumbled across the Guardian. Started flipping through it and found this excellent article about the mindlessness of the war, and especially focuses on how the soldiers themselves aren't even sure what they're fighting for. I wanted a copy, but I couldn't possibly take the copy I had in hand, seeing I was supposed to be cleaning the house and not reading newspapers. Unfortunately, by the time I came back, I've clean forgotten about it.

Until this morning. You know how thoughts suddenly just strike you? Well, this one struck me hard. Came to the office with a mission. Spent this last half hour searching high and low for the article on the net (not knowing the article title and knowing only part of the writer's name didn't help), I found that someone else had thought it was a great article too! So if you're ever so inclined, the excellent article by Arundhati Roy can be read here.

it's hailing! it's so fascinating...tiny little ice balls falling from the sky. Coz, I'm glad I'm not out there in the freezing cold getting attacked by ice pellets, but it is really cool to be sitting here in the office staring out the window at what looks like rain, but upon closer inspection, isn't. A consolation prize from the snow I missed this morning...

then again, maybe not...font is back to normal...

by the way, don't ask me why the font is so strange...I'm beginning to feel like an idiot with this whole html/java/web mumbo jumbo business...

I can't believe it! It snowed this morning and I missed it! Snow White should have called and told me it was about to snow so that I could have kept an eye out! Yes, I realise I'm bordering on being ridiculous but I've only ever seen snow once in my life and that was ages ago!! Well, two months ago...everybody in the office are now going on about how it snowed this morning and then reprimanding me when I complained I haven't seen it, telling me if I had arrived at work on time, I would have seen the snow. Which is true, but hey, sleep is important too!...and coz it only snowed a little, there isn't any trace of snow whatsoever anymore...

Who knows? It may snow again. Spring is here, but the weather is somehow getting cooler, after the warm patch we had for the last two weeks. Girls were walking around in tiny skirts and singlet tops. What is it with people and showing as much skin as they can the very second it is possible without actually suffering from hypothermia? And just when I thought the weather may be warm enough for 2 layers of clothes, I have now reverted to at least having 3 layers once again.

Ah, jolly olde England...

oh...and it may be true that right now, I seem to be commenting on nothing in particular, but trust me, it's still not quite the dullest blog in the world. Yeah!

i'm getting it! i'm finally getting it! after spending the entire morning surfing the net instead of working, i'm beginning to get the hang of this html business. The template is finally listening to me!! Managed to customise it a little, although it isn't looking quite the way I would like it to look. Ah well. I tried. Pity I can't paste any photos on this site...have tried to set up a website but I think we'll take things one step at a time...

AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! the stupid template doesn't even listen to me, AFTER I've made changes and saved them! I've followed every instruction there is to follow and it still doesn't work!! Am I frustrated? Of course not! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

so this is my first entry...and I have no idea what am I doing. I've been struggling all day trying to understand web publishing and I have come to realise that as much I am dependent on computers, I'm a total techno-bimbo. HTML?? Linux?? Help?? someone save me....