We received another letter from the Health Protection Agency this week about screening for Tuberculosis (TB). The letter states:

"People who come to live in Bristol from countries where tuberculosis is common can have a free chest x-ray to help check their health. It is a good idea to have an x-ray as people who have recently moved here are at higher risk of TB and it can easily be treated at home with a 6-9 month course of tablets. I would like to invite you to attend the x-ray department at Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) preferably within the next 3 weeks. You don't need to make an appontment, but please take the enclosed x-ray form with you... The result of the x-ray will be sent to your family doctor."

A very Blessed Christmas to all our friends and family! This is our first Christmas away from home and we miss all of you dearly. It is a reminder of how much all of you (our family) mean to us.

Since that day, when Ran drove us to Eastville, we've been to Broadmead (a shopping centre about 30-40 mins walk away) a couple of times. After the first few visits, we got bored of walking around in the same shops. But there are only so many places you can get to on foot, and Broadmead is the biggest shopping centre around in walking distance. So we decided to try using public transport. We went to Eastville again today; mainly because we saw an IKEA store when we were there the first time and also, we wanted to do some shopping at Tesco and Wai Yee Hong (again). It wasn't difficult to find our way there using the information available on firstbristol.co.uk, traveline.org.uk, and maps.google.co.uk. If you have not used Google Maps before, check it out! The maps are very good (much better than multimap) and you can even see Kondo Berjaya in the Satellite images!

We went to register with a GP as family earlier today (thanks to Michelle for providing us with a link to the NHS directory). We simply turned up and asked to be registered at the surgery. We did not have to bring any personal documents. The receptionist asked for our postcode and with that information was able to pull up our names and address details on the computer. (Their systems, i.e., those of the Medical Health Unit at Heathrow, the surgeries, hospitals, and the NHS in general, must be linked.) We filled out some forms and had our blood pressure taken (except Nathanael). We also enquired about Nathanael's immunisation (his next jab is due at the end of the month), which he will get for free.

Received a letter from Avon's Health Protection Agency advising us to register with a GP in our area as soon as possible. The letter also states that registration with a GP is free. :)

Ran took us shopping in Eastville. We went to Tesco Extra (for groceries), the Wai Yee Hong (a Chinese supermarket, for a few essentials), and finally Mothercare (to buy a bath tub for Nathanael). We spent a whopping £130 in total.

We left Penang for Bristol on 3rd December, 2007. The first leg of our journey took us to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport (a.k.a., New Bangkok International Airport), took approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. We waited for an agonising 5-hours for our connecting flight to London's Heathrow Airport. The flight was pretty uneventful, barring a few restless moments from Nathanael, and we landed safely at Heathrow Airport at 7.40pm (GMT) local time.

The queue at immigration was very long, for UK nationals that is, since most passengers on the flight were British passport holders. With only a handful of foreign nationals, it didn't take long for us to pass through immigration. At immigration, we were asked to provide evidence of a recent checkup and chest X-ray (to rule out TB) for myself and Bee Yoong. We didn't have any, so we were told to report to Heathrow Airport's Medical Health Unit for a chest X-ray. At the Medical Health Unit, our names and address details were simply entered into a computer and we were allowed to pass immigration.

We collected our luggage and proceeded to the arrival hall, where my friend, Ran, was already there waiting for us. He had driven all the way from Bristol to pick us up from Heathrow. Amazingly, we were able to fit all of our luggage into the boot and front seat of his Peugeot 406. The three of us sat in the back with Nathanael in a new car seat, which Ran bought for him as a gift. We had already decided to buy him a new carrier, and he gets a new one (from Mothercare no less) as soon as he arrives in the UK! Indeed, God knows our needs!

We reached Bristol at around 11.30pm, clocking up a total journey time of about 23 hours. After dropping off our luggage, Ran took us back to his flat and cooked supper for us, before walking us back to our flat (he lives 2-3 minutes away), and helped us with our luggage (our flat is on the 3rd floor). We went to bed at 3am, worn out from the long journey and the change in time zone. And so begins a new chapter in the lives of "Treasured Trees" in Bristol.

Our blog is up and running. We hope to keep friends and family updated on our progress.