Oxford trip over the weekend

First of all, with regards to the previous post, Kelvin corrected me that the guy actually told the noisy people to shut up and not just a keep quiet. Well, that's my mistake so yeah ...

Went down to Oxford last Saturday. There were many Singaporeans in Oxbridge cuz there was a Singapore Oxbridge Games over there and so we decided it was a good time to go down and take a look.
Woke up quite early to take the bus and I was feeling a little out of sorts cuz I had not enough sleep after trying to emulate Kelvin's lack of sleep on Thursday night and ended up having sort of a hangover feeling 2 days later ...Well, here's the 5 of us who went down to Oxford. Kandy, Jane and I helped to prepare our breakfast to eat on board the bus ...
Oxford Tube, the bus that we took to Oxford. The company came down to Freshers Fayre and gave us expired vouchers but we used it anyway. Thank goodness I went back up to take the vouchers to try them cuz I figured the old bus drivers will probably not check anyway and I was right.
Saw Krispy Kremes again and we managed to snare ourselves complimentary donuts as they were the first batch off the machine and boy was it good! It's a real pity they don't have it in Singapore ...You bet I will go into Krispy Kreme shops and try to get the first batch of donuts from now onwards *slurp*
Bumped into Jane's boyfriend, Andrew from Cambridge and their friend who's in Oxford who brought us into Christ Church College which was her college in Oxford.(Oxford and Cambridge work differently somewhat; You belong to a certain college instead of to the uni itself) This was inside the church in the college itself. We were supposed to go to the dining hall, where they filmed Harry Potter but too bad, the dining hall was closed and we were denied entry.
In case you are wondering, this is one of their accommodation blocks. Yes, so freaking not like one right?
This is taken from the main quad of their college. It's really beautiful and the colleges in Cambridge are pretty similar too. Imagine how it'll be like if your school has such grandeur ...but I am not jealous of the Oxford or Cambridge people for reasons that I will state later.
For some weird reasons, that we will find out later, we saw a lot of policemen around and there were these policewomen on horses and we decided to take a group picture. Me, Kelvin, Kandy, Jane and Michelle. A really nice picture ...
It was really weird to see the policemen standing around and I thought it was probably something for the tourists as we even took pictures with the horses until ...
...we turned down the street and saw this huge mob approaching. They were having this protest against the use of animals in laboratories testing and it was pretty much a peaceful and silent protest till they reached the street where the police was and they started to make a lot of noise. But it was cool to see a demonstration taking place though I would not like one near my home and disrupt my daily life.
We went down to this Irish pub where we ordered real good food to share around. One thing about UK is that the pub food is generally pretty nice though for some pubs you have to endure the smoke. We had irish stew which was heavenly, burger with an all-so=juicy patty, a salmon wrap and sausage. Jane's boyfriend joined us thereafter and treated us to desert, some chocolate cake with ice-cream.
After that, we spent time shopping in a shopping centre where everyone except me bought something. I must say that the stuff there are generally cheaper and they sell pretty nice clothes too. Kind of regret not buying anything but it's ok. Saw Chee Hui and Nicholas in Oxford before they returned to Cambridge and even heard some scandalous news *gasp* Anyway, a lot of the Oxbridge people coming over this coming weekend and Chee Hui will be staying over with me. We ended our day in Oxford by sharing these 2 drinks in KFC before boarding the bus back.

The bus back was quite screwed up cuz our bus stopped halfway cuz of some technical faults and we transferred to another bus and a few misses here and there, we reached London at almost 11 after almost 4 hours on the journey which will otherwise have taken half the time. Had KFC for dinner before we went back and I figured they probably decided to buy food cuz I said I was hungry though the rest probably could go without food.

As for why I don't envy the Oxbridge people, it's because their city is so small, there's not much to explore after a short period of time and they get bored of the place. It's unlike London whereby you have lots things going to and to see. And the rest of Oxford is quite the same as what you might see along Tottenham Court Road near my school. The experience counts more than just the studying IMO.

Reading week is coming and 8 of us are planning to go to Scotland. Plans are a little last-minute but some things are finally falling into place and hopefully we can confirm everything by tomorrow. Which reminds me that I have not planned anything for December yet. Well, I don't have people to go travelling with *sob*, so I may just sign up for a host family visit thing. Anyway, since I didn't want to commit to anything much earlier, I also don't want to leech onto other people just for the sake of it. I can probably go figure something out for myself though I won't mind travelling companions too=) Will probably spend Xmas in London cuz of the post-Xmas sale which I'm looking forward with glee and have to celebrate SOMEBODY'S birthday around New Year anyway, so there goes any plans ...Heh

Currently, the only other thing that I am involved in is volunteering. I am attached to this high school where I will assist a teacher in a classroom. Visited the school last week and it's pretty nice. Will talk more about it when I have started it.Kelvin, Kandy and I have the same school which is great. Anyway, I signed up for it cuz I figured I need some form of classroom experience anyway so this will be good for me I guess.

A pretty long post but it's Tuesday night and after my worst day of the week with such long lessons, I don't really want to study though I better read up on my lecture notes as I am constantly getting baffled by the logic thing in my algebra course. Enjoy the photos~ (More on the link on the right under Oxford)

MOE gathering with the Imperial people

For those of my friends who have problems with their tagboards, I have found the solution, as can be seen with my tagboard now looking perfectly fine. Your account is still valid but the website has now been changed to www.tag-board.biz. What I did was to log in to my account and copy the coding and overwrite the existing one. So, hope this helps everyone and prevent the stupid pop-ups from coming up again.

Well, a few stuff I would like to share with everyone. Some interesting things I found out for the past month or so I've been here:
1) The London bombing occured around my area. The tube train exploded underneath my hall(how morbid) and the bus exploded just one street down from my hall and I past by it on my way to school every day.
2) One thing about education in the UK which you will probably not see in Singapore: A fellow student raised his hand during a problem class whereby it was rather noisy. I thought he had a pressing question as the people here are generally not afraid to voice out their questions during lectures. Instead, he turned around and addressed the whole lecture theatre:(it went roughly like this, I couldn't remember the exact phrasing) It has come to my attention that they are some people in the class who are not interested in learning and making a lot of noise. There are some of us who are genuinely trying to concentrate here and we do not appreciate the noise around. So, for the sake of those of us paying for our education here, can everyone just keep quiet for the lecture." *applause* That guy is probably an overseas student but you gotta admire him for his courage and forthrightness. A truly international experience
3) There's an embalmed body of the founder of UCL in our main building. No kidding, I should take a picture one day. He's sitting in an encased display and his head is probably a replica since King's students apparently stole his head a long long time ago to play soccer. And he's wheeled into every major meeting cuz he says he wants to be part of every decision made regarding UCL. How morbid to have a body wheeled into the meeting room.
4) We walk a lot here and I mean A LOT. It's that kind of distance we would normally have taken the MRT for. But then again, the weather here permits us to walk, so it's not too bad.

Met up with the Imperial MOE people over the weekend. Before that, went down to Hamley's at Oxford Circus(It feels a lot like Orchard Road man ...), which is a humongous toy shop and we bought a monopoly set to help us pass time here. What more it's a game about London itself, so it brings a sense of familarity when we played. Well, met the Imperialists at London bridge for Borough market yet again and this time we got to eat free tarts! Walked all the way to Leicester Square, chinatown where we ate chinese food(duh!). It was fun to see darius and everyone in London ...Well there are still people to meet up. Hopefully soon ...
The most expensive board game in the world ...
...look at the shiny gold pieces *blink*
Ah Long coming after you ...heh. Saw this cute little sign at Borough Market
Finally met with Darius in London!
Elaine, Kelvin, Darius, me and Astee. The Imperial people were generally acting very touristy and taking pictures of everything as we walked with them.

I had Bayswater duck! OMG!!!

Took the bus for the first time in London. We went down to Tate Modern Museum to take a look at the art gallery. Walked down River Thames after getting down the bus and it was a sight to see the river mere inches below me. Apparently, there's this theory that London could one day be flooded by Thames as the embankment was built many years ago. Looking at the fierce swirling river water below me I did not doubt so. Anyway, too bad photography was not allowed in the museum, so no pics of the artefacts. But some really made me go like "huh?"
Went to Borough market thereafter and it is soon turning out to be our fave weekend haunt due to the food there. Saw this display at a fishmonger's and think it's really interesting. You can even see the fresh blood at the side. Yewww ...Bought a tart there as I was saving my stomach for something even better later ...
The famous Bayswater Four Seasons Restaurant!!! And we had like the roasted duck which was it's signature dish. And we finally sank our teeth into some stir-fried vegetables after having boiled vegetables every day. The best meal in London by far ...
The group of us at the restaurant: Chu Kiat and Zhen Qiang(standing), Johaness, Kelvin, Kandy, me , Evelyn, Philibert, Zhi Ying and Sam, our hall friend from Brunei
We had a mini-lantern carrying session at our hall as Kelvin had a lantern. So, we took turns to hold the lantern and walked around the garden opposite our hall. A japanese girl and her caucasian friend saw us lighting the lantern and were curious about it, so we invited them along for our little walk and let them hold the lantern too before they proceeded with their night out at the bar. A truly international experience indeed! But nonetheless, it was quite hilarious come to think of it.

I hate the rain

Well, thanks to all the various taggings on my tagboard! Xiu Ying, hope you are having fun in toronto! June, well you're all definitely welcome to visit London anytime! PK and von, well my room can't fit the 2 of u, so probably you have to sleep on the streets with linz. Hahahaha. Well, can come here for grad trip eh? Yihua, thanks a lot! You take care too yeah! Erica, hope you are having fun too. Will relay ur message to jane. And sister, study hard yeah!

Well, the weather is getting colder. I can't wait for the central heating system to be up. Anyway, the weather is really atrocious. You can expect to see rain, followed by sunshine, den rain again, for as many as 5 times in a day! An umbrella is a necessity here.

And as much as I have made life here sound extremely fun, there are bad moments too. Like having to queue 5 hours for college registration. (Blame the inefficient system) And people partying on my level and making damn lots of noise, all within a few feet away from my closed door. It's really irritating and they just had some drinking competition down my corridor last night. Seems like partying and drinking is the main recreation going on.

Well, lessons are starting and I have my tutorial group already. There are 7 of us; one japanese guy, one chinese guy, one northern ireland girl and 3 brits guys. It's a pretty interesting mix and I hope things go well.

Nonetheless, enjoy the photos below. For more photos, and there are lots of them, click on the "Photos" link on the right side of the page.

How I spent my Sunday

The British Museum
I was this section on the egypt exhibition. Look at the intricate designs.
Look at how huge the museum. I barely covered one section in the 2 hours i was there.
The highlight of the day: London Eye! My hall organised a trip up the london eye for only 6 pounds! And of course, all of us grabbed the opportunity as it cost a whole lot more to go up yourself.
Me, evelyn, dong liang, zhen qiang, kelvin, michelle and kandy queueing up excitedly! It's one of those self-taken photos that I am now know off. But it's was well-taken I must say=p
Another self-taken photo. In the capsule with London's skyline behind me
Big Ben and its surroundings in the midst of the sunlight
More great view up in the sky
The whole group of us in the capsule! What a wonderful day!
A guy went to build a sand model of someone reclining on the beach. Nice, eh?
There was this protrait thingy whereby they are bringing it around the world for people to paint the word love in all languages on, so I decided to do my part too.
The plate of beef pineapple fried rice which I had in a restaurant in chinatown. Cost me 5 pounds ok!(15sing)
Despite an expensive meal, we were all happy to have chinese food! Look at all the happy faces!

How I spent my Saturday

Having a yummy ice-cream waffle at Covent Garden after the SIngSoc walkabout with Kandy, Kelvin and Zhen Qiang
Me again if you can't see me properly just now
Watching a street performance. It's a very lively atmosphere there though you often see a repeat at other venues too.
Went to Borough market for some food shopping. Look at the huge pumpkins and bulbs of onions!
Yuumylicious cakes!