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04/08/06 - Hasn't been the greatest of weeks for me this week. Not only am I still longing to know the dates in which I will be fulfilled in the happiness of my being with my friends in Malaysia, but I also had to attend my Uncle John's funeral, which wasn't the nicest addition to week. It was a sad occasion (as funeral's are), as I never really got to talk to him about my recent travels, which I'm sure he would have been happy to quiz me on. It's just a shame I can't quiz him back, funerals seem to be the most interesting part of someone's life, as you sometimes find out these little facts you never knew about someone. But hearing about his life in a half hour service makes me wonder what my funeral will be like, what good things are there to be said about me? I'd best get out there and make some stories to be told...

It was nice to see the whole family again though, despite some occasions we meet up not being the best of times. It was nice to meet John's family dog Whitney again, she still remembers all the old tricks we did (sitting and giving me her paw) years ago, she's certainly lasting to a very old age. I'm glad I got to see baby Lucy, I miss holding and hugging babies (Esenia, and another girl I never knew the name of out there), though I've noticed Western kids are so much heavier than Asian kids, I managed to hold Linda (of Cambodia) in my arm for hours before it started to ache, and she's twice the age of Lucy...

Still looking for work. Went round Canterbury today, and popped into McDonalds for a McFlurry for lunch, and realised what I really miss about working; customer complaints. I'm not sure what this arrogant guy at McDs wanted to moan about, but for some reason I really wanted to deal with him in an arrogantly relaxed manor. It does get to me when people complain over small little things, expecting to almost be pampered with high quality service without a thing possibly going wrong. Wake up, you loser! You were in McDonalds, not some high class restaurant that you can only aspire to. There are much worse situations you can be in then maybe having a hair in your food, or your burger going cold too quickly. Is anybody listening to me? Hello? One ticket to Malaysia, please. I want my sanity back!

11/08/06 - Full credit goes to Tanya Seldon, from Banstead, Surrey, for sending in this letter to the Mail on Sunday last week, so I think it needs to be re-published on here as these are pretty much the exact same words that I would send in:

"I read with interest that a quarter of 18 to 25-year-olds would like to move abroad. I am moving to Sri Lanka next month to teach and am looking forward to living somewhere warm where living costs will be far lower.
It has become so expensive to rent, especially in London, and the pace of life in Britain is so fast. I want to live somewhere more relaxed and less competitive. I am still only young and worry that living and working here will start to make me cynical.
I think that more young people want to leave Britain to gain independence and broaden their horizons. With an increasing number taking gap years to travel the world, there is far less fear associated with moving abroad. And cheap flights, especially for students, mean that my family and friends can visit me.
Of course I am nervous and will miss those I am leaving behind, but it is easy to stay in touch via the internet.
One thing I definitely won't miss is the chav culture emerging in Britain. I feel particularly intimidated by it, particularly on public transport.
I would advise anyone who is thinking of leaving the UK to be brave and plan carefully. Emigrating doesn't have to mean turning your back on your homeland but it can offer new work and cultural opportunities."

I certainly wouldn't mind if I ended up working in Sri Lanka, as Tamil is one of the main languages out there, but my heart is still set on Malaysia, and India in second place. I do agree that the lifestyle here can make people cynical, it seems to be taking its toll on me already. I haven't had a lot of problems with chavs since I got back, but I'm not going to stick around and wait for something to happen; I feel much more comfortable walking round KL at 3am than I do walking round Ashford at 3pm...

I don't think I'll ever turn my back on the UK for good, being British does have its good sides (on paper), but I just want something more added to my daily life. I don't want to be distracted by day-dreaming about the good ol' times, where I made hundreds of children feel special just because I took time to socialise or be with them. There are so many kids out there who I have a solid place in their hearts, Eben, Thavi, Sasi, Dharsi I, Pavi, Simeon, Rachel, Nora, Norsha, Kishan, Deva, Durga I, Dharsini II, Chino, Eswa, Shamini, Hidaya, and many more, and they all have a solid place in mine.

It will always be easy for me to contact my friends in the UK (as stated above), but contacting the ones in Malaysia isn't as easy, phone calls are expensive and nobody really has internet out there. I'd probably be able to handle things a little easier here if there was someone or something to accompany me from there. Perhaps having a family, maybe I'd feel I'd have some more purpose then. I'm just looking after me at the moment, a bit boring, I need to be committed to something that's a little more needy than my website.

Had a Group Selection Interview at Asda this week, really hoping I get this job. Asda's a 10 minute cycle ride away, and I've already made a friend there. Met a guy called Krishna, who just happens to be from Southern India (which is practically Tamil Nadu). And an interesting bit of news from the internet, Oslo and London are the world's most expensive cities, whilst Kuala Lumpur is the cheapest. Click here for the whole article. Even more good reason for me to live out there...

18/08/06 - It has now passed the three month mark of me being in the UK, and I still don't have a job. One more month and I would have spent an entire year unemployed. I think the only way I'll get a job is to declare myself Polish. Yes, this country is still a big joke... But hopefully all the students from Ashford will be leaving to go off to their Universities soon, so there should be more opportunities. No exam results for me this year, which means no media attention either (after making the local paper twice and local television when collecting my results), not that I'm bothered that I haven't gone through another torturous year of studies. I've made fair use of this year, despite being unemployed throughout it, but actually enjoying myself is much better than the crap I endured at college, I never want to go back to those dismal days ever again...

Had a dream about Durga earlier this week (the polydactyl girl), and she showed me the scar on her chest from her heart surgery, so I showed her the one on my shoulder. Still missing everyone, I miss all the hugs and attention from the kids, I need to be loved! I don't care what I get for Christmas, I just want to be with them...

Big Brother ended tonight, with predictable Pete winning via sympathy vote and fashion. Something random came to my mind this week in how similar Mikey from Big Brother looks like to Nick from my Gap Year. See on the Photography page and compare... And with everyone loving and voting for Pete like sheep, there was something else I noticed from the media that others are acting like sheep to. The blogging sensation of 'geriatric1927' on YouTube has seem to have become a big hit in the internet world, but I'm not greatly convinced by this. I was a little put off by this old guys first entry, saying how he was doing this to 'bitch' about things in life, how appealing... I do enjoy expressing myself, and 'bitching', in this blog, but unfortunately this isn't a video blog and I'm not a 'sweet' old man, so I can't make a name for myself. I don't blame 'Geriatric' for being the media sensation though, it's the sheep that worship him and aspire to him being their 'grandfather' because a few hundred other people also thought it was good. Yes, old people can be interesting, but I doubt half of his 'fans' would go anywhere near a retirement home, or probably their own grandparents, and hear actual people talking about their lives...

25/08/06 - Another week of job seeking, and still haven't secured myself with anything yet. I had interviews with Asda the past couple of weeks, but have now been rejected. I have a feeling that I let slip a bit of honesty in one of my interviews, which cost me the job, which is quite annoying. Asda is in a good location for me, and the work is similar to what I did in Sainsburys. But there was a bit of irony for when I went up for my interview. Whilst waiting I had a quick look in the Daily Star, and their Page Three story was about Asda introducing a 'Chav' range of products. I thought Iceland and Co-op were supposed to be the Chav-Marts.

So now I've been brought to finding work at McDonalds, which has had a slightly better outcome. I have an Orientation Class next week, but I'm not feeling too confident about the job. I was intentionally thrown in the deep end (their words too) for a short time, just to experience the working conditions, but I'm not feeling too great about it. There's certainly much more pace and customer interaction in the job than working in retail, I have a feeling I'm going to struggle. But if that fails, I may have a chance in working in a chocolate factory, which could be a little more interesting.

What's been in the news this week? Uni students are trying to take Coca Cola out of their Student Bars! Hahaha, another vain attempt at students trying to make a rebellious impact. Nobody can overthrow Coca Cola, especially not British Uni students. I guess it's a good job that I don't want to go to Uni in this country, going to a pub or bar in this country is bad enough, but with no Coca Cola too? That's the only thing I'm willing to drink in those places. Well good, even more reason for me not to go there then.

Lets finish with something more exciting... I was browsing through FlashEarth (which uses GoogleEarth's imagery) this week, and instad of looking for my house for the hundredth time (like everyone does), I decided to look for houses that I stayed in, in South East Asia. First we have Chan's house in Cambodia, Mazlan's House and The Shop in Port Dickson, CPKL, Ampang Point... But in regards to Taman Wahyu, it's had the horrid misfortune to having been taken on a cloudy day. I can't guarantee that it's in that position, but it's under those clouds somewhere...