Holidays' just around the corner!

Tomorrow is the last day of school!! Can't wait for it! This is the first time I have had no break for longer than 3 months. I'm mentally and physically exhausted.. thank god I have got a nice holiday planned out eventhough it's only 2 weeks.

The first day of my holiday will be my birthday.. how fitting! Am getting old though =( but I'm still young at heart hehe. I won't be able to celebrate with my family but hopefully I can get to celebrate with my close friends here in Cambridge, as well as in Manchester where i'll be spending Christmas. After that, will be heading up to Scotland! Although I've been here for 5 years now, I still haven't been up north yet haha.





I need to travel around the UK more.. Let's see where I've been:
London
Shrewsbury (my A Level college!)
Manchester (I still wanna go into Old Trafford!)
Birmingham (didn't like it)
Liverpool (nice town)
Cambridge (of course!)
Ipswich (my attachment, hehe but haven't covered it lots)
Oxford (the dark side!)
Nottingham (nice lake)

Ooh, actually that's not as bad as I thought. But still lots more to cover. Am planning to go to Lake District, Sheffield and wherever the Stone Henge is!

I'll also be celebrating the New Year 2006 on top of the French Alps. Really enjoyed skiing last year, so am looking forward to the great skiing, great scenery and great food!





I will update with my travels as soon as I can. So for now, I wish everyone an advanced Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May the new year bring more happiness, joy and fulfillment in everyone's lives =D

Relax...

I need to relax! Since holidays won't be here until about 3 weeks time, I have to find new ways to relax. Let's see what I can find in the 1001 Ways to Relax book...

• Wake up naturally, without an alram clock, at least once a week if you can. This will help you reconnect with your bodily cycles. Note that going to bed an hour earlier will not necessarily bring forward your natural waking time by an hour - you may find that you lie awake, worrying that you can't sleep (so true!!!). If your circadian rhythms make you a night owl at heart, go with the flow and have a weekend lie-in when you need one. If you're a lark, spring out of bed when the time seems right - you may find there's time before breakfast to do some worthwhile meditation.

• Do less, experience more. In our fast paced modern world, there is a constant pressure to do more in less time. Consequently there is little time to appreciate what we are doing, to enjoy the experience of being alive.

• Enjoy chocolate. The main constituent of chocolate is cocoa - a substantce first consumed by the Aztecs, who recognized its stimulating and restorative properties reseving it for warriors, priests and nobles. Today cocoa is known to be rich in antioxidants, which protect us from cancer-promoting free radicals. Good-quality chocolate tends to be high in cocoa and low in sugar, so you can nibble it without feeling guilty. (Girls must be happy to hear this, keke. So what is good-quality chocolate?)

• Shake a snowstorm bubble and examine the miniature scene of the blizzard within the plastic dome. Whenever your life seems chaotic, imagine that you are observing the chaos from outside like this - calm and centred despite the confusion. (*shake, shake, shake* *stares*)