Internship, British Weather & Eurotrips

It has been a while for not writing here. I’m pretty much alive in this English speaking country if you are wondering. It’s nearly 6 months I have been living here and another 6 weeks before leaving. England is pretty much becoming my second home. Time passes me by just like flying Firebolt. There are always time I really want to update this nearly-abandoned blog but the laziness triumphs it all. Rather, I reckon sharing on Facebook, Twitter and perhaps Tmblr (in which I rarely keep it up-to-date as well) alone would be sufficient. Pictures say thousand words, eh? After all, the main intention of this blog is for personal sharing, is like any other social network sites.

Right, enough babbling. Tracing my last post, it was about Schumi surprise visit to our company. Believe most of you have seen the video on YouTube? When I first accepted this placement, I didn’t really expect much. As far as what I can learn from my friends and seniors who have interned overseas previously, one advantage being attached abroad is that they get to travel a lot. So, my first expectation when coming to England is just the same likes theirs, well, other than learning English working culture of course. This one turns out to be more than just that. Interning abroad is one thing, interning at Mercedes AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team is another. Such privilege is not easy to come by. True, although I didn’t get to fully utilize my chemical engineering studies background, from the positive side, I get to learn more than chemical engineering field that can’t offer in which I take this as an added advantage. (Meeting Schumi is a bonus! Haha)

2012 F1 season has finally kicked off in Australia last weekend. Never been so excited for F1 before. Can’t help but to cheer for Schumi and Nico, whom we have bumped into them occasionally. Until this day I still can’t believe that I actually get to meet them. Feel bad though, not knowing much about them before. Nonetheless, I was rather sad that the first race didn’t turn out well. Hope to see improvement for next race in Malaysia. It's this week! Malaysians, do come and support the team in Sepang!

Moving on. It’s March, which means spring is coming. Not much sign yet, I tell you because it is still cold and chilly. Room temperature is about 10degree or so. The climax of this all English weather experience was when it snowed last month, early February. Seeing real snow for very time. As I remembered clearly, it started to snow before the night falls. The snow was mild but continuous. As it gets darker, I could see the snow accumulates in front of our apartment. The snow was thick enough that we could make a snowman out of it. It was around 9pm or so. I have the nerve to play the snow with my bare hands, bloody cold it was. We continued in the morning with snowy Sunday walk, seeing the street of Brackley and company to be covered with snow. The sight was just so… whitish. Comparing our snowmen and the one we saw on the street, we were just so amateur. Warming myself to conclude the walk with a nice big cup of hot chocolate. Oh, talking about the snow, I barely can see the shape. To me, it was more like scrapped icing from the fridge, if you ask me. Rather, you can make lots and lots of ABC out of it. You just need the syrup. Lol.

Just like any other interns, we also get to travel much. Photos on Facebook show it all. Unlike any other European countries, England is detached from the rest. So it is kind of hard for us to explore other European countries. Nonetheless, since the company provides us cars during weekend, we get to explore pretty much everywhere in England; from the football city of Manchester to the famous historical site of Stonehenge. Last Christmas we visited Italy with France interns. Covered Rome, Venice and Milan. One thing that I have learned from this trip is not to have high expectation when you are visiting new country. You might find yourself disappointed when you realize the place may not turn out as you imagine. Still liking original Italian pizza and sphagetti. Colosseum is just as spectacular. It was quite long time ago though. Barely can remember much details of it.

Well, just last week I returned from my second Eurotrip. This time we visited Belgium, France and Spain. Truth to be told, I barely aware of Europe geography. Only get to comprehend much of it since I come here, when planning for our trips. Lol. Anyway, Belgium, if you like chocolate, this is a must visit country. Not to mention the variety of waffle is huge! The city is kinda small, not much to explore. The famous landmarks include the Mannekan Pis and Atomium.

Paris is just 4 hours away from Brussels. Bus ticket can be as cheap as 12 Euro. I thought the last snow in February would be my last time seeing it. Never expected that on our way to Paris the other day, it was snowing heavily. Well, when we touched down at Paris, our friends who interned in France became our tour guide. They brought us around famous sites in Paris includes Moulin Rouge, Arc de Triomphe, and of course, Eiffel Tower. Since we reached around 2pm and after settling down, the sky was already turning dark, get to see the night views of these monuments. Spending our next day at Disneyland Paris, reliving childhood memories. Last day in Paris, we were sightseeing the city of Love. Visited Louvre Museum, the museum that accommodated Mona Lisa painting (but I didn’t go in, lack of time), streets of Paris to shop for souvenirs and lastly, Eiffel Tower day view. The weather both in Brussels and Paris was so bad that it was cloudy and rainy. It didn’t fail us from enjoying ourselves though.

Next and final country: Spain! I don’t know why, I seem to enjoy my time in Spain better than the first two countries. May be it was very sunny in Barcelona and Madrid, we have a marvelous time in Spain. Barcelona is just so colourful and I just like the pace of people living there. Spanish food is not that bad either. Paella, Spanish rice is a must try! Madrid, on the other hand, is just another city but still has its own charms as the capital of Spain. 

*it's a nightmare to sort out these photos*

After travelling to several European cities, London is still first; Barcelona second and Paris third. Different countries have their own unique features though. 2 weeks before another getaway (pre-presentation getaway to be exact)! *country of tulips and windmills*

I shall stop my scribble here. I hope the friend of mine satisfied gua with this post. Haha, sorry can't write much. Typed words are never enough to say it all. Perhaps the spoken ones will cover more, if you know what I mean. ;) Hope to catch up with you all pretty soon.

Returning to Malaysia on 1st May 2012. Oh time, please do creep for the next six weeks!

Cheerio!

Grateful for having what you need.
Thankful for getting what you what.