My Valentine’s Date at the Oxford Eye Hospital

When I was applying for my student visa to the United Kingdom. I was asked to pay more than SGD$4,000 for the NHS Health Surcharge. I was shocked at how expensive it was and I did wonder to myself if I would ever use any of the health services whilst in the UK. (For I […]

2x Lunar New Year in 2022

This is the first time in more than 10 years that I am spending the Lunar New Year away from my family. And it turned out to be much harder than I have imagined. All alone in a foreign land when everyone else is enjoying their reunion dinner. I was missing my extended family, missing […]

Of spiders and wasps

Ever since I moved to Oxford, everyone around me has heard my endless whines about my never-ending struggle battle with with wasps and spiders. Honestly, even I myself am quite sick of telling the same old story… except that I continue to be traumatised with every ‘new’ encounter. That said, a few evenings ago, I […]

One month later

It is hard to believe that I have already been in Oxford for a month (and that I have only been in Oxford for a month). Particularly when this October felt like the longest month ever, probably since the Covid pandemic started in late 2019 and since I had to live through the first lockdown […]

Protected: Encountering God

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First Weeks at Oxford

It has been two weeks since my memorable (not in a good way) first weekend at Oxford, and I continue my journey here with a mix bag of feelings. My first engagement with the Department of Education simply blew my mind away. On the very first day of induction, we had a series of introductions […]

First Weekend as a Sojourner

I was duly warned before I set foot on this country that nothing would be what I was used to or expected. I was rather taken aback by the experiences shared by those who lived here recently, but I took in these well-meaning advice and braced myself for the worst, with a pinch of skepticism. […]