making ME my number ONE priority - UPDATED -

Written Originally on the 26th of April.

I look forward to my daily walks. It gives me time to review about everything that's been going on around me, it gives me time to think about what I want and most importantly, it's my ME time. I realised that I am not being ME in the past years, I am not having enough FUN, I am not risking enough. I confided on the safe side too much and I was doing things that will make others happy. PERIOD. This year is MY TIME and I am committed to everything that will make me happy(under tight budget of course!). Things that I wanted to do this year:

1. Have an actual Birthday Party. I am not really big with celebrating birthdays cause I hate to be the centre of everyone's attention but this year, I had to make a change, after all, IT IS MY LAST YEAR here in England. Here are some of my plans.

a. Go on a weekend to Belgium(booked!).

b. Have a post Paintball birthday. A dozen of my friends confirmed to this event. It's a matter of booking and confirming the actual number of participants now. I am only having problems with my friends and their boyfriends cause they do so much activities together despite being so busy at work and they are still working out on their schedules.

c. I want a birthday dinner or a double birthday celebration with Donna. Her birthday is one day earlier than mine. I have to speak with her about it. :-P - DONE!

2. I want to do physical activities/extreme this year. I've always wanted to do Bungee Jumping but the idea died together with my fun self. I was only reminded now that my friend and her boyfriend are gonna go Sky Diving in 3 weeks. I asked friends to try GO APE with me. So far 6 of us showed interest. Full session is 14 but the slots are easy to fill.

3. Do my Euro Trip. Oh, this is so on my bucket list. This is the year that I go broke but happy. So far, I've been to France and Italy. Weekend in Belgium and 10 day Spain to Portugal trip has been booked. I know I am asking too much but I want to go to Netherlands(actually a friend lives there. It's a matter of in synching schedule now), Germany and Prague. Oh please someone accompany me! *wink* - the Germany and Prague was cancelled.

4. I used to go on Music Fests back in the PH and I am missing it so bad. I took a step this year by going to the Reading Fest in August and I am so looking forward to it! I will try to go to more gigs.

5. I wanted to travel alone for a weekend in Europe. Actually scratch that, in my mind, I do and don't want to go alone. I am not capable of travelling alone. My directions sucks but on the other hand, I don't want my excuses to get into my way. So we'll see. I will keep you posted people.

6. Learn another language perhaps. I've always wanted to learn Spanish and Japanese and I tried learning Bahasa for convenience. I wouldn't go into details. :-P I think I might go for Spanish as me and my friend Trisha thought about attending Spanish classes back in Uni. Oh, that was 3 years ago. OMG! 3 years already!

7. Be fit. I may be slim but I feel physically unfit most of the time. I couldn't even run for an hour that's why I changed jogging to walking. Ahahaha!

8. Travel more around the UK. I've been to most places in the south but I haven't been to the Midlands, Northern Ireland or Scotland. I notice that I like and hate planning. Actually told my friends that I will be planning for the group. I had no intention of going back to work til I am here. Yes, it sounds lazy but I don't want work to sacrifice my weekend for a job that I am not passionate about but will look for a weekday job soon.

9. Enrol myself in a class. Something that I've always wanted to do. My friend asked me to go Salsa dancing with her but she hasn't gone back to me. I looked into belly dancing this morning and will email the instructor on Tuesday before I go on my Alton Towers Trip. Let's see how all these classes pans out. - Okay,not quite the lessons I have in mind but I enrolled myself in Tennis.

I am loving all these revelations about myself. Finally I am having a clear picture of what I want. :)

Nepalese BBQ Party

Yesterday, I ditched college so I can have proper rest from Paintball. I went out to have lunch with my girlfriends but ended but in a Nepalese BBQ Party instead. Here are few things that we did. Something which I haven't done in a while:

1. Chase Chickens. I grew up in my Dad's side of the family. My uncle used to keep ducks as pets. I miss chasing ducks and chasing chickens is good enough. :)

2. Fool Around. I just finished Re-reading Little Prince. It reminded me that it's okay to be a kid from time to time.

3. Pick strawberry. I went to a Strawberry Farm back in High School. Oh, the joys of fresh strawberries.

4. Shooting. This is definitely a first for me. I used to shoot with water gun back when I was younger during summer. BTW, Nepali people love to go hunting or fishing. I shout every time I fire the gun. Hahaha!


5. Read under the sun. It's always gloomy here in the UK but recently we were blessed with good weather. This photo is taken without my permission. I wasn't prepared but the photo still looked good.

6. Rapel. I went Rapelling once when I went to my Girls Scout camping. I remember being scared during that time. I wasn't scared this time. This is a kid's play house.

24th Bday Part 3: Paintball Pain

Top: Mike, Joy, Leslie, Melissa, Tita Jer, Me, Donna, Edgar

Bottom: Melay, Macy, Joseph


Top Most: Gio, Tita Jer and Joy
Middle: Henry, Melissa, Mike, Me, Leslie
Bottom: Macy and Ed

I went to Paintball yesterday with 13 of my friends. We had a blast and now I am covered with bruises. I have 2 big bruises in my left leg, one on my right shoulder, 1 on my right foot and my knees are covered with bruises. The session lasted for 6 hours, 5 different courses with 10-15 minutes breaks in between and a 45 minute lunch break. I have Paintball Photo Injury but will post them on my facebook account. Melissa, my friend, gave up on the first round as she was scared. She got shot near her mouth and I think it might have traumatised her. I got shot too on the first few minutes of the game and my friend Melay made fun of me for leaving too early. :-P Half of the group made to the third round and just me, Gio, Mike, Ed, Macy, Joseph and Joy who made til the last round. Everyone was tired and may I add, in PAIN. Joseph was ill and I heard that most of my friends can't move today. Yes, Group of Unfit people! After the Paintball, we went to the Caversham Park for dinner and me and Melay left after an hour. Oh BTW, we won! Go Blue Team! Go Ape is next on the Agenda!

24th Bday is my passport to being wild

Loving her Gladiator Heels!

Donna wearing a Topshop Playsuit, H&M belt and New Look Gladiator Heels

My Crazy Girlfriends!

Darlene wearing Dorothy Perkins Dress and New Look shoes and Doris(in Fuschia) wearing New Look and Unbranded shoes

The Free Champagne!

STRIP HIM!

Free Drinks made us crazy

CHEERS!

YES!

My body shot turn

Lick it Good!

FACT: I went drinking for 3 days. The photos above were from the second day. First day was Donna's bday, Second day was mine and Third day was broken hearted Donna day.

I wasn't scared about turning 24. In fact, I look forward to it cause I made it a point to celebrate this year. Mind you, it wasn't normal for me to have parties cause I hate being centre of everyone's attention so I broke my celebration into 3 just like my list said, Dinner and Clubbing, Trip Abroad(on my next blog) and Paintball.

I was happy on my 24th. Me, my friends and my family went on a dinner and we went clubbing. It fell on a Wednesday so entrance is free and drinks are cheaper than usual. We had one tequilla each and proceeded to 2 rounds of tequilla body shots. Rai then got us cocktail drinks, Me and Donna got Mai Tai on the first round, Darlene and Doris got Long Island. I tried Doris and I must add that I LOVE THE LONG ISLAND COCKTAIL. Taste like Iced Tea. :-P So on my next cocktail, I got Long Island then we had champagne and I forgot the rest. It was a fun and crazy night. :)

Alton Towers Adventure

I've been itching to go to Alton Towers and finally, my dream came true. Yes, I am exaggerating here. I love going to Theme Parks although everyone knows how shit I am with rides. :-P We left Reading just after 5 Pm and reached the place after 9PM. It took us 4 hours just to get there cause the GPS couldn't find the place. With no google earth printout back up, we had to follow the Alton Towers signs and ask for directions. We rely so much with Tomtom, it's sad. Ehehe! We got the cutest room(although my photo setting doesn't give it much justice). It was Carribean Themed with vibrant red and blue colours.

Rai and Doris planning the rides

Me and Doris at the breakfast buffet

Photo overlooking the breakfast buffet. We stayed in Splash Landings Hotel.

At the Hotel Reception. Can't resist photo opportunities.

Photo at the Theme Park Entrance. Me and Donna fooling around.

The cuckoo at the Cloud Cuckoo Land. :P

My deadly look.

We woke up early the next day so we can have a proper breakfast and cause we are staying at one of the Alton Towers Hotels, we are allowed to go in an hour early before the Theme Park opens to the public. Talk about special treatment! We started with the Battle Galleons, then Hex, then Rita, then Oblivion, then Nemesis. After Nemesis all 3 of us got dizzy (Rai,my friend who drove, bailed out at this point) so we took the easy rides and at 2PM we left the place. Rai was very tired at this point so we stopped at a service for an hour and was home by 7PM ish. It was a fun day. My friends stay over at my place for a girly gossip.

Updates 18-24 April

My newly purchased Zara dress for £20. I can totally spiced this up with a nice belt and heels and dress it down with flats.

God has been good to me. I've been busy this week. :)

Things that I did so far:

1. Joined the choir. Yes, it came as a surprise to everyone. I know, people know that I can't sing but I recently discovered my head tone voice.

2. I started walking. It is all for fitness' sake. I wanted to do something good for myself. I walked for 2 consecutive days and my legs were sore, big time! Unfit 47kgs lady right there! :-P

3. Caught up with people. This is like a weekly thing for me, I love spending time with my friends. They've been with me thru my ups and downs and I wouldn't trade them for the world!

4. Saw 2 films, I love you, Man and State of Play.

5. Planned for the Alton Towers trip. We only talked about it today and we are going on Wednesday already. Oh shoot, need to book the rooms! It happens that me and my 3 other friends are free and 1 can drive. I am so looking forward to it and shitting at the same time. I don't do well with heights and rides but will do anything for fun this year. Actually, me and Doris were supposed to do a Scotland day trip. Yes, we are both crazy. But going to Alton Towers is more fun. I will push for Scotland next month. *evil laugh*

Epic Karaoke Day

Here's a photo of me enjoying my Karaoke Day. We filos are weird. We can last the whole day doing Karaoke. Our recent session lasted for more half a day. That didn't include food preparation. Epic, I say! :)

Dress from Zara

PS: I am organising a Paintball session for my post bday celebration. :)

Fishing-Fishing, Fun-Fun!

I am too lazy to drag the photos in order, instead, I will write in captions and hopefully you guys get the full story.

The dogfish killers from Fishing, Day 2.
This is me,trying to kiss the dogfish. This guy jokingly asked me to be his second wife. I laughed.

According to Mr. Sulk, the Ugly Betty look. That's me trying to take a photo with the first fish that we caught on the 2nd day.

My Day 2 outfit. Forgive the ugly face. I didn't shower! - Blazer from Zara, Shirt from Uniqlo, Top worn as Skirt from Primark and Glad Sandals from New Look

Overnight fishing from Day 1. Rai and Kumar fished til 3AM and caught 43 fishes!

That's me trying to throw the fishing rod. I can say, I have 1 out of 10 chance of throwing it properly. :P

Rai doing the BBQ.

Outfit from Day 1 - Blazer from Zara, tube top from Mango, Leggings from Zara and Glad Sandals from New Look

Rai and Kumar setting the fishing rods.

We left Reading at 10:30AM on a Wednesday Morning, Arrive at Kumar's just after 12 to pick up the camping gears and tea break and Finally arrive at Dover at 4PM. We set up our bbq immediately and started fishing. The pier was closed so we settled into fishing in the shore. We didn't caught any fish until after 9PM and our fishing buddies stayed til 3AM. Me and my friend Donna stayed in the tent as it was raining hard with thunderstorms and lightning. She was scared for ourlives but I wasn't. On the contrary, I was enjoying the whole experience. Everyone woke up late the next day and yes, fished on the shore once more. By lunchtime, we were all hungry so we went to the town centre for KFC and fished on the pier. We caught 2 more fishes and went home at 4PM. It was a fun experience for me. I haven't laughed in a long time. I missed myself. Everyone, the crazy Ailema that everyone loved is back! :)

Day 5 - Pisa then home:(

Pisa High Street

The church that was made of Solid Marble.

Dress from New Look, Flats from Primark and Blazer from Zara.

Can anyone please explain this sign to me? No drinking?

Can you see the Leaning Tower of Pisa on the background?

At the bus stop.

Shot on the train back to Rome.

I love Pisa! The place is very relaxed. For our last day, my Aunt took us to see the Leaning Tower. The Piazza is small but impressive. We only spent an hour there as the bus ticket is only valid for 60 minutes and we are time constraint. Yes, it is a bit different in Europe. Back in the UK, you can buy a bus ticket which you can use for a whole day, in Italy, there is an unlimited bus ticket/valid for 60 or 75 minutes. Anyway, we left and went to Pisa Centrale as we need to change our tickets. We bought tickets from Firenze to Rome which is about an hour and a half from Pisa. We want to leave from Pisa and spend more time there. After 3 tries, we succeeded into changing our train tickets and we proceeded to the Pisa High Street. We didn't do any shopping, it wasn't part of our plan. After Pisa High Street, we went to Cinese Ristorante(chinese restaurant) and hurried to Pisa Centrale. The adventure didn't end there...

We got to the Fumicino Airport more than 2 hours before our boarding time. We were assigned to Terminal C but it was closed when we got there. An hour before our flight, me and my sister went to the Information desk and asked about Terminal C and we were told that we should go to Terminal B to get to Terminal C. They didn't leave any signs! We went into an epic queue to get to the Security Control! We only had less than an hour then and we had to ask one of the Security People if we can by-pass the queue, he said yes but when we got to the control, they said that the queue is closed. We had to asked the same Security People for another by-pass and he directed us to another queue. The group in front of us is kind enough to let us into another by-pass. We experience another epic queue in the Passport Control and again, we had to look for another Security Personnel to let us by-pass. It took us 15 minutes to find the right personnel that will let us by-pass. The worst part is, Non-EU passport holders are slower queue and we are Non-EU passport holder. We only had 20 minutes left til our flight, way past over the boarding time. From the Passport Control to Terminal C, we had to run for 10 minutes. From B to C, you had to take a train. KILL ME! We missed the first one as we don't leave our mum behind. When our train arrived, we were all feeling worried that we might miss our flight. We had to do another run again and made it to the finish line. Oh, what an experience! :)

Day 4 - Colloseo, Forum and then to Pisa

Another blog entry with no order. :P

We left early to go to the Colosseo. The queue is long so we figured that if we got there early, we can finish early. We were right, we queued for less than 5 minutes and we used the Roma Pass to by pass all queues again. What a lucky day! After Colosseo, we went to the Forum in Capitoline Hill. Spent 2 hours there and was home by 2PM so we can check out and catch the train to Pisa. At Pisa, my uncle picked us up from the station, he lives 5 minutes away and we had a fantastic Filo Dinner. I can summarise the Italian food in 3 words, Pizza, Pasta and Panini. We were dried up, we want something soupy. :-P We were tired so after dinner we wanted to go straight to bed but my uncle got other plans - a prayer meeting plan that is. Oh boy. We struggled for another an hour and a half.

Shot on the Reception of Hotel Felice. That's what I wore on our way to Pisa.

Outfit - Top from Mango, Flats and Skirt from Primark.

Shot inside the Forum.

I just like this shot.

Outfit - Top from Zara and Flats and Skirt from Primark

Mum wants to have her photo taken with that Tree. She said that they use it in Palm Sunday.

I thought it is funny to take photo of the Lady Tour Bus. Walking ad anyone? :P


The forum still.

Beware of Scammers! Colosseo on the background. This guy asked us if we want to take photo with him, we said yes thinking that it's a good Roman Gesture. He asked for a tip afterwards and my gave him 3 Euros, we haven't got much Euros with us but He asked for more. Scam I say!!! Tip my a**!

Inside Colosseo.

Mummy Dearest and Me inside Colosseo.

Few things that Italy that UK McDonald's don't have. BTW, I go to McDonald's everytime I visit a country. They sell Iced Tea instead of the usual softdrinks and they have the option of normal chips or curly fries. Their bin is automatic - sensor! You don't have to push to throw the rubbish. Another thing, there are few stations at the Metro with automatic cleaning thing. You only have to pay 1 Euro to get in and it cleans itself automatically when you leave. No flushing, no touching, all automatic!