In my state of essay writing I've678y (in case you're interested, the"678y" appeared when I was attempting to take a notebook down from my shelf and caused Lonely Planet: England to fall onto my keyboard, at the same time dislodging my comma key) -Anyway, I don't really know what I've been doing the past week so I'm just going to jot down random things that come into my mind:
The Beautiful Weather
There has been wonderful weather in London for the past week! Clear blue skies, comfortable temperatures and all. In the week alone I had 3 lunches sitting on the grass which is the perfect way to enjoy a sandwich, to have a cup of hot chocolate, to enjoy good company, and to unfurl a map of Europe to plan for Easter travels. Feeling the sun on your skin here is very different from Singapore (where it's always just... hot and humid) because it actually provides a comfortable warmth amidst the cool temperatures. I hope more of these days appear while I'm still here, because today was just all windy and cold and brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. 5 layers of clothes (but without my proper winter coat) and STILL ended up getting mildly frozen.
Picnic with the girls in Gorden Square which nestles inbetween UCL buildings (:This is interesting (and strange). I've been wanting to jot this down for a really long time but it kept slipping my mind.
In 2007, I had some really good days in Thailand and Cambodia (and I miss those days)! Some part of the good days were spent in our comfortable (or some not-so-comfortable) accommodation, so let me just recount 3 of them:
In Krabi, I shared a room with Anna. The room number was 303.
In Chiang Mai, I shared a room, again with Anna in Sri Pat (miss Whiskey the sometimes grumpy old daschund!!). The room number was 303.
In Phnom Penh, I shared a room with Huishii in Hotel Champs-Elysees. The room number was 303.
I'm now in London and everyday I come back to...
I don't know if this is just coincidence or plain creepiness or what! Maybe I should make 303 my new lucky number. Haha.
Verticality in the London Landscape (nerdy geog-ish post -skip if you want)
Today, I took bus 274 from a bus stop on a road that runs parallel to Camden Road -where I've never gone before because I always stick to Camden High Street and Camden Road! And this bus brought me on the most delightful journey through Camden towards Marble Arch -I saw beautiful canals, really nice pretty houses, the gorgeous Regent's Park, and pretty blossoming trees. I am so going to explore these spaces very soon!
It's interesting how the Underground system is such an integral part of London, yet at the same time there is not much interaction between the underground and the street level -the underground seems to be a separate world of its own, twisting dark tunnels occasionally emerging into the sunlight (but still separated from the streets through high walls). You take the tube from where you are to exactly where you want to go -and so what lies above the stations the tube stops at remains a mystery. Which is probably why I enjoy bus rides so much (but my bus pass expires today raah) (:
Also, I was on the London Eye today (thank you very much to Yinghong -and Happy Birthday to you!) and I got to view London from a very different vantage point! It was a good time to go up, just as the sun was setting and the lights of the city gradually came on (: So much of the city could be seen, at the same time it revealed so much of the city unknown to me. I now have a better first-hand experience of viewing landscape from a vantage point (alienation and distanced from the landscape? somewhat. haha)! But it was a good ride all the same. (:
Conclusion? London is best experienced from the street level, where all the sights (little details) and sounds and the people are a feast for the senses ;)
Singapore Food
I was out with Claudia, a German girl I met on the field trip in Brighton at the National Gallery (which is a really nice place (:) -and she asked me what Singapore food is like.
Where do I start? I told her I couldn't explain it.
And so I did the next best thing -took her to Chinatown, bought her an egg tart (okay which is not super Singaporean but whatever, I like it) and then we had Char Kway Teow at this new Singaporean restaurant (but without hum, and the hawker centre atmosphere -it's not good eating it in air-con where it gets cold quickly -and in fact this one included sotong and prawn, it's not the same haha)! How would you describe Singaporean food??
What I'd really like now is,
1. My yu2 pian4 tang1 from Haig Road
2. Ah-balling from Bedok 85 (and sting ray would be nice...)
3. Red bean soup from Bedok South
4. My aunt's yongtaufu and other Hakka dishes
5. Duck rice from Tanah Merah
Okay stoppp. Haha. Getting hungry and my room is miserably devoid of proper food!!
And I guess I'm never going to get down to talking about my hot lecturers so err don't expect much. Haha!
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