UK Day 3: At Town Center of Hemel Hempstead

On a walk








Liliana is looking at the duck




Liliana and her mom, Monica




Go shopping




Barbie in Barbie car

UK Day 2: At UH and an Expensive Experice

Today was the first day at University of Hertfordshire (UH). Everything had been fine since I left the house. My host family walked me to the bus stop. I took the bus at 8:30, reached the town center (downtown) of Hemel Hemstead around 9:00 and took Uno Bus there at 9:13, reached UH at 9:45. Actually, it was not far, about 30 minutes drive. However, the bus made many stops, then it took so long.

I met with Bodo, Alex, and their students. They were very nice. I talked to Bodo about the idea of what I am going to do while we were having lunch. Everything was fine until I managed to go back home at 4:00 and took the wrong bus (as usually - -' ).

I was supposed to take Uno 634, but I took 635 which took me far to the north and ended up at Hitchin (UH is in Hatfield). Below is the map.


View Larger Map

The bus driver was so kind. He tried to find the way back for me, but it was too complicated and I would get home late. So I decided to take a taxi which costed GBP 46.90 (according to the meter).

At least I could get home save and sound. I promised I will not take the wrong bus again.

UK Day 1: Got Lost and Lost

I just arrived to the UK. My host family picked me up at the airport. There was some misunderstanding about the flight. However, everything is okay now. I am at the host family's house.

At Dallas, I got lost, as usual. I have one hour to walk gate B37, catch the train and get to another gate D15. It would have been plenty of time if I have not got lost. First, I did not know where to catch the train. Second, I got off at the wrong stop. By the time I was at the gate, there was only 15 minutes left.

The flight from Dallas arrived about 45 minutes earlier than the schedule. I am not sure if it was because if this, it had to fly in circle for 3 times before landing. Still, it was 30 minutes earlier anyway. However, the immigration was so crowded. So, we can say it was on time. =)

After arriving at Heathrow airport, I could not find my host family at first. I think it was because the flight schedule was massed up. Then I managed to call my host family, but I could not understand what he said. (I do not know why.) So I asked a staff around there. He was so kind. He used his cell phone to call my host family and talked to him for me. Finally Fernando and Liliana (his pretty little daughter) could find me. Thanks to that staff and sorry I did not ask your name.

In the afternoon after I unpacked my stuff, I went shopping at Tesco Express near the house. I did not get lost on the way there, but got lost on the way back. (Supada always gets lost, wherever she goes.) I was in the neighborhood, but could not find the house. Fortunately, there was two polices (I guess) walked by. So I asked them the house number. They kindly showed me, and by that time I realized that I was so stupid since I just passed a block before.

Counting down to the UK

I am going to leave on Wednesday and reach the UK on Thursday. Then I will stay with a host family there. They will pick me up at Heathrow airport. I will stay there for 2 months and will continue to Bangkok, will stay with my family in Bangkok for another month.

It is going to be a long long trip.

I have been assigned to work on code analysis (kind of compiler stuff) with the research team in the UK. This would be applied to fault tolerant technique that I have been working on. Hope I can come up with a novel approach.

Sticky Rice and Custard

Inspired by Dr.Box's pumpkin custard in farewell party for Thagorn on Feb 5, the sticky rice was okay, but the custard could be considered as a failure.




The custard... The egg was not well mixed with the coconut milk. There was also a lot of water inside. And I almost burnt my pot because when steaming the custard, it took too long to be set, then the water was all boiled out.


Final product!


It tasted okay though. =)

Battery Issues

My car was hard to start in this cold weather. Sometimes, it could not even start. I got a guy at the auto part store checked on the battery couple of weeks ago. He said it was fine but he did not do the mechanical stuff. So, I bought a starter kit from him because I did not have time to find the mechanics.

Today, After I had had the midterm test, I got my car to a mechanic. I went to three places and ended up at Chevron next to Starbucks. The mechanic there checked on my battery again and told me that it was low. He suggested me to change the battery. So I let him do it. It costed me $102.59 ($98.68 for the battery + tax, $3.91 for Starbucks since I had to wait there ^^). Let's see if it works.

Besides the car, my computer is also having a similar issue. The battery gets swollen. P Pao suggested me to just change the battery whenever it dies, and buy a new computer after I graduate.

On an Icy Day

It rained yesterday. Today everything was frozen. When I stepped on the grass, the ice cracked.















See the texture.. It was about 5 mm thick. When I touched it, it was as if I touched some kind of cold glass, as hard as rock, but cold.






The ice on the windshield was also rocky.












The ice was too heavy, so its branches were weighed down.












The truck in the neighborhood.






This guy was sitting on the condensing unit.