From Malaysia to Sheffield, UK !

Six thousand miles away from home,

checking out Sheffield’s view and wholesome...

Well, here it goes. The first post of upcoming tens of posts about my experience and encounters in the UK and Europe countries. For the first time in my life, I get to board a plane and travel more than 6000 miles away from home to UK. Yes, my batch is the second last batch from TAR College (now known as TAR University College) that had the opportunity to travel all the way to UK to pursuit our Degree.

I remember vividly, 31st of May 2013 is the date of my flight from KLIA to UK (with a 4-hour transit in Dubai). I fetched my family to KLIA with an anxious heart, with a generally silent ambience throughout the journey, yours truly is fine living away from family but it was never this long and this far. I have to be in the UK for 3 months for studies and additional almost 1 month for Europe, Scotland & Dubai Trip, a total of 4 months.

A group photo with a bunch of friends before flight!

Watching our flight taking off was exhilarating to some, but not to me, who is nervous about flying. I had never enjoy the feeling of losing contact with the ground and also the G-force from the acceleration of the take-off. It makes me nausea... But thankfully the flight was smooth enough, as I did not feel any nauseousness after the plane finished its ascent.

By the way, from KLIA to Dubai took 7 hours and another 7 hours from Dubai to Manchester, UK! We were glad that the in-flight entertainment system was quite up-to-date and most of us spent our in-flight time searching and playing movies and musics. As a car enthusiast, it surprised me that even UK Top Gear series was available in the system as well! Guess what was my choice of entertainment? *grin*

Selca time!

I'm so jakun till I took photos of the flight meals! Super delicious!

The moment where everyone was still very energetic!

Dubai International Airport is a wonderful place. Unique architecture, just like our very own KLIA. Waited here for roughly 4 hours for our next flight to Manchester, UK. 

I wonder where is the plane, hope it will be discovered soon...

Frost in the glass window... Beautiful.

Our plane landed safely at Manchester Airport. Walked out of the plane and was expecting the surrounding temperature to be cold but it turned out to be not. Actually we were still in the airport, 'sealed' from the outside world. I shivered only when I stepped out from the airport and the first chilly wind hit me! It was very unfortunate that the airport had lost one of my bags, lucky it contains only my non-essential items such as packets of Maggi Mee (yes, instant noodle is cheaper in Malaysia than UK, as well as food seasoner) and cookies. Spent about an hour reporting it to the security personnel there. What a turn off. It turned out not only my bag was missing on the same flight but few other flyers' as well!

Sheffield Hallam University's representatives came to fetch us from the airport to our accommodation by bus. Along the way, lush green lands were spotted, many with goats and other animals on it. It was definitely an eye opening experience for us to see such beautiful scenery for the first time, as we literally glued our eyes to the windows of the bus eventhough we were exhausted from the 14 hours flight!

Finally, we reached Trigon, the accommodation for Engineering students! Why it is named Trigon? Well, the picture below says it all. It is situated at a junction with a triangular-shaped built-up area. See the red circle? I had actually thought that it is a street camera, where the authorities will issue summons to the drivers and pedestrians who disobey the traffic law, and almost every direction of a road junction has one! Guess what it is actually? A light to illuminate the road sign below =_=

Because of some complication, I only get to stay with one of my friends along with few strangers (I moved out to stay with my friends later on). My room... Looks kinda small but was just nice for one person. It has a small bathroom, a wall cabinet, a wardrobe, a bed, a drawer, a blue 'note' wall, a swivel chair and a long table. The first thing I did once I got into the room was turn on my laptop and set up wireless Internet connection for my phone! If you were me, you gotta tell your family you've arrived safely, right? ^_^

Next up - Orientation day and exploring the city of Sheffield, the steel city!