When I was studying in England, I spent the first year there (out of two) living in the university accommodation, which was a basic apartment block. I purposely chose to stay with non-Malaysians as I want to meet people from other countries. Well, I got stuck with a guy from Hong Kong, one from Singapore and 7 Brits. I became quite close to one of the Brits (he's Welsh) and we decided to stay out the next year. After some cycling around and house hunting, we finally settled on a double-storey linked house in a nice housing area.

What I liked about English houses is their furnishing, which is really cosy. The use of heavy curtains (mostly floral), plush sofas and the compulsory carpeting is so different from what we have back home. What I do notice is that most of the lighting used matches the interior decoration, unlike some homes here in Malaysia which still uses the traditional flourescent lamps. Whilst flourescent lamps are not necessarily bad and do function well, they do not enhance the beauty of a house.

Hence, it is not uncommon to see nice lightings (some Victorian even) in these houses in England just like those supplied by Quoizel or Sea Gull Lighting. It is no wonder then that the current lighting that I use in the living room of my apartment is a mini chandelier type of lamp.