Easthampstead Park Conference Centre

Assalamualaikum...

on the 19th - 22nd last week, I was not in London as I am attending Research Skills Development (RSD) course whereby a PhD student need to attend in their first 2 years of their study in Imperial College London...as I was not having load of works to do in lab, so I suggested to my sv that I want to attend this course as this course gives out 3 point for the overall requirements for PhD course...I registered for this course a few months before the actual event and the best part is that we can claim up to GBP60 which including return travel from London to Wokingham (where the course are held) since accommodation and food are free throughout the course!!! wohaaaa!!! >.< but total cost of travelling only cost me around GBP40 

eventhough this particular course is not compulsory for a PhD student, but the reasons why I chose this course is because of the 3 credit points but aside that is because I want to experience myself to stay at a particular place with different people from different background, cultures and countries...there are short courses that are being held as well that will only took around few hours during weekdays but with lower credit points and not much mingling around people, I chose this particular course instead! and all I can say is I love it! =D

so the day start with travelling from London where me and my bestie train ticket was at 5.15pm from Paddington and then we need to change at Reading and took another train to Bracknell...from Bracknell station, we took a cab to Easthampstead Park Conference Centre which is actually situated in Wokingham with the cost of the cab only GBP9

we arrived exactly at 6.30pm since the registration is between 6.30pm - 7pm...once reached at the registration area, we were given our room keys each on 2nd floor! ooh thats a relief because before that we were scared and worried if in case we need to share room with another participant :D

eventhough we get different rooms, but our room is near to each other...pfftt~ haha...since we pack our clothes together in one luggage, its vital that our room is next to each other ^_*

the accommodation area is in different building from the main building where the course will be held...just behind the main building, is the accommodation building...once we enter the room, we were shocked as the room was sooooo beautiful!!! 

  

the hallway to the rooms...our room number is W206 and W207 and it should be side by side but since there is a huge wall between it, its farther away...hahaha...oh my room is behind the wall, dont mistaken as if I wrongly pointed the arrow to the wall ^_^"

my room W207 :D excited to go in~ hehe

    

  

tada!!! nice right??! they even have extra blanket in each room...

the second thing that make us worried is the bathroom...but.....it seems like the they separate the toilet between male and female unlike the room, the room infront of my bestie room is a male room...haha...ooppss! :D

  

the male and female bathroom facing each other...just infront of female bathroom, situated the male bathroom but no worry, the bathroom is situated at each floor...so we are not that worried of having to queue for the turn...hahaha :)

once we have settle down, we went to the main building for dinner and the first session starts with the introduction of the course and the division into 4 smaller groups with each group consists of 8 people...I didnt have a look at their itinerary that they send to us via email so I have prepared the worst mentally and physically to wake up early in the morning and sleep late at night...but somehow I was shocked when I looked at the itinerary...everyday, the program starts at 9am and will finish at 10pm, there was only one day whereby we finish at 10.30pm and there was one day that we finish at 9pm!...how cool is that and how difference is that with Malaysia events where will alwayz start at 7am or the latest 8am and will only finish at 11pm or 12 midnight! just love the way their thinking that rest is the most important thing...if you dont have enough rest, dont expect that people will stay focus and enjoy the event! pfftt~~ -_-"

they have divided the activity into 2 groups whereby it will alternate between the large group and the smaller group...usually the activity will run in the smaller group and then we will meet up in the specific room that have been assigned to discuss the outcome with the smaller group...and that process goes everyday until late evening before dinner...we are not allowed to elaborate the activities as it should be a surprise for the participants! cheers! ^_^

my designated room with the smaller group in Periton room

the funny thing is that in every event when you are divided into smaller group, you usually need to come up with a group name...since no one has a better idea for the group name, so we go for the room name! so there goes our group name ---> Periton...lolz! >.<

enough space for everyone...and yes I sit infront of the tutor :D

while the break between the last activity to dinner is quite huge everyday, so I prefer to have a walk around the building as it used to be a palace but now its a centre where wedding ceremony, conference and other related events are being held

so below are the pictures that I took while I have a walk with the other participants into the woods surrounding the palace and inside the building

  

alwayz saw this kind of stairs in the British movie...hehe

  

the first thing that caught my eyes when the cab drove us here...it looks exactly like the movie!!! haha so excited~ :p the end of the road is where the Easthampstead Park Conference Centre situated

  

  

  

while walking into the woods surrounding the palace, I stumble upon few trees that attract my attention

  

the trees on the left was reallyyyyy huge!!!

  

and Christmas tree as well!!

during the last dinner, we have a proper dinner to mark the end of the course...eventhough we have been informed that they will not provide halal food thru email when were selected for the course, we knew that we need to be a vegetarian for 1 week...but how surprisingly that in each course, they are not only serve vege food, but they also serve fish dish which what we go for instead of vege food...and as for the dinner, even we cant have duck, we go for king prawn!!! tq to the course committee for considering having seafood instead of vege! muahh3 ^_^v

  

from left: Giu (France), Ranjhi (China), Richard (Brit), Elliot (Brit), Rosa'lia, Dominic, Addrianne (Hungary) and me! my small team~ :D

during our last day there, we were surprised with an incident whereby there was a theft case...do you know what they stole???

they stole the patio pavements along the 2 red arrow!! as what??? no one knew the value of it...haha...its actually quite hilarious when we knew what they stolen...what an odd of all the time that they had, they stole it when were there...hahaha...its a police case and we were actually waiting for it to capture the moment, but until the end of the day, the police never came...so we went back around 5pm with disappointment...eh! haha

Bye Wokingham~ such a nice place and great activity by RSD people! till we meet again...