I didn’t sleep well last night.

Went to bed at 12:30 am, had a nightmare, and woke up two hours later.

Nightmare 1

In this nightmare, I kept getting thrown into a room with curvy floors that curved into a hole in the middle of the room. I would find myself sliding across the room, tipping over into the hole, spiralling down a funnel and free falling all the way down…

…and before I hit bottom and became slush, the dream would suddenly jump to the beginning where I get thrown into room, and the same thing would happen. The entire nightmare is hell on repeat mode. I slid and spiralled and fell uncontrollably, rinse and repeat, for goodness knew how long.

After waking up from that, I lay in bed for two hours, wide awake, trying to fall back asleep, unsucceeding.

So I got up, went online, did some reading.

Went back to bed at 6 am. Had another nightmare.

Nightmare 2

This time, someone’s stalking me, wanting to kill me, I can’t remember for what. So half the dream I’m running and hiding from him. This part is actually quite long, feels like a few hours in real time. I can still remember some of the details but I won’t bore you with them.

Finally, my hunter has me trapped in a corner so I decide to kill him before he kills me. I grab a sword and stab him in the stomach. He has a very sharp knife and he’s trying to cut me but somehow I manage to grab his hand, turn it around and stick the knife into his neck.

There’s no spurting blood in my dream but it’s really gory. He’s taking a long time to die so I use the knife and systematically slash him to shreds, making sure I cover every inch of him neatly. Which is just sick. But that was the only way he would die, in my dream.

The alarm woke me up at 9 am.

Horrible night much?

But I had a great day with my mystery date so the nightmares don’t traumatise me anymore.

I’m just very tired from sleep deprivation so I need to KIV the blog about my day. Will get to it after I have a good night’s sleep.

In the meantime, feel free to interpret my nightmares.

I’ve totally stayed indoors for three whole days. You must think I’m the most useless tourist ever, to fly all the way to England just to lounge around in the apartment.

Yeah, I probably am.

But I so enjoy it. I have an apartment all to myself and a kitchen stocked with awesome junk food, and I’ve managed not to break anything yet.

I had this for dinner tonight.

Total cost: £4.59 (S$9.40).

It’s enough for two meals but I cooked (heated) everything, not realising it was too much, so I kinda stuffed myself silly trying to finish it. I ended up having to throw out about a third of it.

The tortelloni is really good! Recommended by Piers. He says he eats it plain but I thought that sounded boring, so I bought pasta sauce and chicken breast to add to it and it turned out to be great.

But now I have dirty pots and stuff sitting in the sink waiting to be washed. Urgh.

All the same, I find it very fun playing house. Sometimes (maybe often) I think I’m made to be alone. I enjoy living alone so much it actually thrills me.

Anyhow, I shall endeavour to be a better tourist. I’m planning to go sightseeing till I drop in the days to come. I still have two and a half weeks here, after all.

Oh, in nine hours’ time, I have a date with a blog reader of mine who’s coming to Bournemouth to meet me!

Heheh. Looking forward to it.

Come back tomorrow to find out all about it! ;)

Today is the fourth day I wake up in England and I’m happy to announce that jetlag is still in my blood. I’ve woken up automatically at 7:30 am for four days in a row. And I start feeling sleepy by 10 pm.

Previously, in Singapore, I’d been going to bed at 6 am and waking up after 2 pm.

I don’t know if it will last; my night-owlism might catch up with me yet, but more and more of my friends are convinced that I’m meant to live on this side of the world.

Piers’ parents’ beautiful house

Perhaps it is easier to wake up early here, knowing that my day will be relaxing or fun, and not plagued by the 101 worries that I get back home.

I don’t understand why it should be different, though.

It’s not like I’m a different person here. I’m still the same person with the same concerns. I’m still working as usual (blogging) so I can’t technically say that I’m on vacation. It would be more accurate to say that I’ve moved home and shifted my workplace for three weeks.

I haven’t left the apartment in more than two days since Piers left, leaving me without a tour guide. So I’ve been holed up indoors (by choice), passing my time eating, reading, blogging and chatting with friends online. Exactly what I’d been doing in Singapore.

But it’s a lot more fun doing that here.

Maybe it’s because there are birds sweetly chirping outside the window.

Sorry about the foggy spots. They’re raindrops on the window.

I’m sure we get chirpy singing birds in Singapore, too, but I don’t have any memory of that. I can only recall squawking crows and mynas that shit on your car.

But as much as staying home is appealing, I think I should go out soon before I meet with a major accident.

I might be the only person in the world you know who can get into an accident just lying in bed.

I usually sleep with all my gadgets. They sleep on the right side of the bed.

This morning, when I woke up, I pulled the Macbook onto me (while still lying down) to check my e-mail and stuff.

I propped it up on a cushion to elevate the screen so I could see it. It’s a bit awkward typing in this position but I can still type pretty quickly this way.

So, then, I was chatting on MSN and, for a brief moment, I took my hands off the keyboard to shift my body a bit.

My movement caused the Macbook to slide down the slippery cushion and bop me on the chin.

It was a bit painful but I was fine. I only required four stitches and my psychiatrist said I should be over the trauma in three years.

(That was a joke. I’m really fine.)

But it could have been worse. The Macbook could have flown off the cushion and taken my jaw out.

This is just like the iPhone incident I had two years ago. Wow, I can’t believe it’s been that long. I can still remember the incident so clearly.

On the bright side, it’s a good sign that my bedroom accident count is only once every two years. I don’t think my ego can take any more than that.

Maybe I should stop allowing my gadgets to sleep with me.

My first breakfast in England was a full English breakfast at this bar called The Slug and Lettuce.

I love the wacky names of English pubs/bars/taverns. They’re always The Something or The Something and Something. They always seem so random and never make any sense, but I find that very endearing.

It’s especially exciting for me to experience traditional English culture because the medieval fantasy games I’ve played and books I’ve read are always based off that culture.

Being in England is almost like being in a magical, fantasy world, a fairy tale come alive. So much history has been retained even in this science-age millennium and I am filled with wonder experiencing it all.

Well, I suppose my breakfast was quite modern but it was no less delicious.

By Singapore restaurant standards, I think this is quite cheap at £4.95 (S$10.15) and includes tea or coffee. It’s massive. I couldn’t finish it. Neither could Piers.

The view from The Slug and Lettuce:

You see those cathedral spires in the far left of the photo above? That’s an old church that’s been converted into a disco. It’s really weird, but it’s cool. Except one of the posters out front looks a bit sleazy, spoiling it a bit.

The inside is nice, quite funky, maybe a bit scary. I took a picture but it was very dark so I had to screw a bit with the brightness and contrast, so, well, it’s a bad picture but you get an idea.

I had expected a lot of rain in England. That’s what people have been telling me all my life, that it rains in England all the time. That didn’t bother me. I brought my cutesy frilly umbrella (from Seoul) and looked forward to using it.

But it hasn’t rained at all so far. There were just a few moments of light drizzling that ended as soon as they started. And the temperature has been hovering around 10°C, which is awesome in my opinion.

So, when I was having breakfast with Piers and we looked out the window and the sky was a bit grey and overcast, what Piers saw was shit weather. What I saw was England. The gloomy sky made it more English, more authentic, and absolutely lovely.

I said, with a tinge of delirious bliss in my voice, “The weather looks excellent and perfect!” and Piers looked at me like I had come from outer space.

We took a walk around town after breakfast. Piers was quite concerned with showing me places where I could entertain myself or get supplies while he’s away. He even gave me surprise pop quizzes. “Okay which way is home from here?”

I tried to take it all in but got horribly confused after a while. I was too busy enjoying the scenery, in any case.

Within walking distance is the beach. A long, literally endless, stretch.

Okay, it’s not really endless. It’s seven miles (11.3 km) but that’s endless enough for me.

Of course, it’s winter, so the beach is practically empty and the sea is a dull grey-green with no sunlight to reflect. But I thought it was great. It was frightfully windy (a toddler could get blown away, I think) and the waves wouldn’t stop crashing at the shore.

I love waves even if I’m not so much into beach culture. They sound nice. But I’d love to see the beach here during summer when the sea is sparkling blue. The sand is so soft and fine I wouldn’t mind lounging in it.

We paid a visit to the house I was originally supposed to babysit. It’s Piers’ parents’ house and it’s beautiful, outside and inside. It’s like a typical English home I often read about in books or see in pictures and movies. I couldn’t quite believe I was actually in one.

It’s a bit disappointing that I won’t get to stay in it but, at the same time, it’s also a relief because I think I might be quite frightened staying in such a big house on my own. I imagine it would be quite scary at night.

Or maybe it wouldn’t be so bad with Basil around. Basil the dog is so cute, friendly and affectionate. He followed us around the house as Piers showed me all the rooms.

What a cutie!

Piers’ parents live in the neighbouring town of Poole, also a resort town boasting beaches, harbours and quays.

And swans.

I’m not much of a bird person (more a dog lover) but swans are just so beautiful.

I was near enough to actually touch them, but Piers said they might get aggressive so I didn’t.

They didn’t spook and waddle away when I went near to photograph them. I loved that.

You can drive right up to the edge of the water to feed the swans and the other birds. There was this flock of birds hovering around a van where a mother and her kid were feeding them.

It was so awesome to watch.

There was also a bunch of them standing in the carpark looking out at the swans in the water. They were standing in some kind of strange formation, unmoving for ages. It was really weird but fascinating.

I would have stayed there longer but it was really cold because the wind was blowing nonstop. The wind chill felt like about 0°C and it was hard to stand outside for too long.

Another stretch of beach. Those cute little houses are apparently beach huts which you can rent and put your stuff in or whatever.

It’s really quite fun driving through the town. You can stop just about anywhere that looks interesting, hop out of the car for a bit to admire the scenery.

I think Poole is smaller than Bournemouth, so we ran out of things to see after a while. Next stop was Christchurch, even smaller than Poole, but so beautiful and rich in history.

It was starting to turn dark by the time we arrived, making things look a bit creepy but I loved it.

We visited the ruins of Christchurch Castle, built in the 1100s. There wasn’t much to see, just two crumbly stone walls which were once part of a tower.

But there’s a great view at the top.

Away in the distance, you can see the Christchurch Priory. It’s huge and so beautiful and surrounded by graveyards, which gives the place a melancholic feel.

All these old buildings! I could just about die happy here.

We came across some medieval stocks along the way. Criminals’ hands or feet (sometimes the head also) were locked into these things in public places. Passers-by were allowed to abuse the criminals physically and verbally to humiliate them.

Haha. It was very tempting to abuse Piers while he was incarcerated but then I decided not to because I needed him to drive me home.

Anyway, Piers is now in Bulgaria to ski so I’m all by my own lonesome in England for a week. Yay!

I’m not sure what I’d do. I might even stay indoors all week because his apartment is nice and cosy.

I asked him to bag a Bulgarian vampire for me as a souvenir but I’m not sure if he’s having any luck finding any.

Oh, I just Wiki’ed Bulgaria and saw that the Bulgarian president looks a bit like Simon Cowell.

LOL.

Sorry, is that very rude? Sorry. Anyway I didn’t mean any disrespect. I think they’re both very good-looking. =D

Ima go now. Past my bedtime. Weather makes me sleepy. Update again soon!

It’s 10:15 pm in England. 6:15 am in Singapore.

I’m sitting with my laptop in Piers’ apartment trying not to fall asleep. It’s about my bedtime in Singapore right now.

I love Piers’ apartment. He lives on the top floor of a small apartment building so he’s got cute sloping ceilings in all his rooms. It makes the place look so sweet and cosy.

I told him I was going to extend my stay and usurp his apartment for six months. I think he couldn’t quite decide whether to feel flattered or worried.

Anyway, I didn’t get to do much today. Arrived at Bournemouth about 4 pm, after which Piers showed me around so I would know where to get stuff and not starve to death when he goes off on his holiday.

Bournemouth is a resort town situated on the southern coast of England, which doesn’t really matter to me cos I’m not really a beach person.

I chose the right day to arrive. The weather is really nice this week (hovering around 10°C) and it was even at times sunny today.

I didn’t take many photos because I was a bit tired. It had taken me almost 24 hours to get to my destination, counting from the time I left home in Singapore.

Guess what my first meal in England was.

McDonald’s!

Well, I don’t care what you think or say about that. I make it a point to try McDonald’s in every city I go to. The Big Mac here is nice! (The one I tried in Seoul wasn’t very good.)

After that, Piers took me grocery shopping at Sainsbury’s. But that was after our meal at Macs, so I didn’t buy as much as I would have if I’d been hungry. I suppose that’s a good thing.

It’s so nice seeing all these English things. But I think it hasn’t entirely sunk in yet that I’m really at this place I’ve always wanted to visit all my life.

I think my head was a bit fogged up from the travelling today. I’ll need to get some sleep debt paid off before I can think and function normally again.

I had a lot of fun choosing groceries, but I had even more fun at the self check-out station. You can roleplay a supermarket cashier and scan your own items, bag them, then pay money into the machine when you’re done.

The machine keeps you from cheating by weighing each item as you scan and drop it into a shopping bag sitting on a weighing table.

Very cool!

That’s all we did.

And that’s all I’m going to write today.

Bed beckons and I’m good and sleepy. 11:35 pm now. I did the laundry in the midst of writing this post, lol.

Yes, I brought dirty laundry to England. I never unpacked my Dhaka luggage until three hours before leaving for England.

I don’t think anyone can ever beat me in luggage procrastination.

Okay, gotta go. Really falling asleep!