Durham

On our journey back to Leeds, we stopped by Durham...

When we reached Durham at about 8+am, the whole town was still asleep. Think we reached there too early or something...Anyway, I saw this Popeye-the-Sailor display in one of the shops...cute right...haha...Kicked started my day as I am not exactly a morning person...*yawnz*

Durham Cathedral: Norman-Romanesque style...Completed in 1133...One of the main attraction here...But again, no photography allow in the cathedral...sigh...

Cloisters of the cathedral: This is the place where one of the scenes of Harry Potter was filmed...a scene when Harry was with his owl Hedwig (IIRC)

River Wear: A true scenic place...as if we were in the Harry Potter era...haha

Durham Castle: As usual, a castle in every city. But this one was actually converted into the hall of residence for the university...Hmmm...Don't know if it was a great idea (Hey...undergrad. living in a castle...damn cool la!!!)...or they just wasted a great historical site...

Anyway, like what my spanish neighbour had told me, the cathedral and the castle are the only 2 main attractions in Durham...But it was still a great trip as we had traced Harry's footsteps...haha

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Work hard...Play harder...

Newcastle upon Tyne

Took a train to Newcastle on last saturday. Gloomy sky makes the whole mood sucky...Not really in the mood to take any pics when the lightings are this bad...sigh...

Castle: Dates from the 12th century...Kinda like see these present structures in Black-n-White pic of the past...

Nothing much in the castle when we first went in...just another castle...Anyway, I guess that I am sick of visiting all these castles, churches and museums. Need something new or a "WOW" factor to make me visit other places of interest in England...bleah...

Haunted: Saw this article somewhere in the castle...Wow!!! It states that the stairway that lead to the Great Hall was haunted. That's something new...haha...I tried to take a pic of the stairway itself...But can't see anything special...Arghhh...

Along River Tyne: Nice view from here...People jogging & cycling...Street performance going on etc...The night here is even more scenic...And the chill wind is a bonus...Perfect!!! Too bad didn't bring my cam. out at night...sigh...

Demostration: Saw this small demostration going on...Aim was "Troop out of Iraq"...Think it is common for such activity to take place here (Maybe every weekend...Always has something to complain about in life ya...) But definitely not a common sight back home...Don't mind taking part in one demostration here if given a chance...Once in a life time experience ya...haha...But then again...We are instructed by NUS SEP policy not to...so ya...

Angel of the North: A steel scultpure (located at Gateshead, England) that is wider than the Statue of Liberty's height, standing on a hill. The wings are angled forward to create "a sense of embrace"...Beauty of simplicity...

We had chinese food for dinner again...Seem like it has become a S.O.P. whenever I go for trips with the Sgrean gang...haha...Oh, the hostel we stayed in (Albatoross Backpackers Inn) is damn near to the train station and is not bad too. But since we were only staying there for a night, we didn't manage to use most of their facilities (Washing machine, lounge etc)

Yup...Thats about it...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discover how to laugh a little...cry a little...live a little more...

Birmingham

Went to visit Brian in Birmingham last weekend...(Really thanks for being such a nice host...the steamboat CNY dinner was superb la!!!) Toured around the Uni of Birmingham...Went to Cadbury World and the Black Country Living Museum...Oh...and attended a short session of Brian's Wing Chun martial art class...(really interesting lesson and great to meet your "instructor"...he is really power la...thanks for bringing me there ya!!!)

The distinctive clock tower of Uni of Birmingham...Brian told me that there is a saying in the Uni that it is bad luck to walk under the clock tower when it strucks...Will fail your exams or something like that...Didn't manage to take more pics as we were in a rush...bleah...

Cadbury World: One of the displays there...the whole display is made of chocolate...looks delicious "in it" :P

Choco Family: So cute ya...or rather...so cute that I wanna eat them...haha

Caught this on one of the section where they demostrate how chocolate shells are made...Every display here tastes damn nice la!!!

The FREE chocos I got and chocos i bought at the so call "The World's Biggest Cadbury Shop"...That is a 1kg choco. bar....They are actually selling a 5kg choco bar...Tempted to buy but the thought of carrying it all the way back to Leeds made me change my mind...bleah....And the white bag contains mis-shaped chocos, which are basically edible factory rejects...They are selling these at cheaper prices...I was wondering who will care about the shapes ya...If its made of chocos...I'm on it!!! :P

The Black Country Living Museum: Not really a good place to take pics here...But its still an interesting place to visit as its like a journey back to the Victorian era...The traditional fish and chips shown here is made with beef dippings...made in a 1930's fried fish shop...taste damn nice la...(or is it because I'm too hungry...haha)...Oh...we also visited a coal mine (the distinctive trait of Black Country)...watched a black and white comedy in a Victorian style roadside cinema...chilled out at a Victorian aged Inn while having traditional ale...and visited a traditional schoolroom (and Brian got a scolding from a "Victorian" teacher..."No food in the school!!!"...hahaha)...what a way to spend my CNY...

Anyway...I'm having a sore throat now...Blame myself for having steamboat on Saturday night, fish & chips on Sunday noon and pizza for Sunday night...Looking at the chocos I bought and not eating them is really killing me....arghhhhhh

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在回来的旅途中...
一人在阴暗的车厢入睡...
耳机里传来燕姿熟悉的声音...
路灯的反射与音乐结合...
编织出美丽的梦境...

Old Trafford: Theater of Dreams

This post is dedicated to my soccer freak friend...You know who you are...haha...I tried my best to bring the Stadium Tour to you okie!!! :)

The main building of Old Trafford...There is a mega store here that sells everything that is related to Man U...a true heaven for Man U fans!!!

Interior of the stadium...

Conference room: This is where the news conference will be held after each match ended...

The place where the players dine if time allow...The guide actually said Man U players played with "empty stomach", surviving on energy bars/drink and bananas if the timing isn't appropriate...

Their admin / working area...On match days, this place will be filled with laptops and telephones...

Players' lounge: A place for players to relax...Each player is allowed to bring 2 guests here (IIRC)...

Players' changing room: Each player is entitied to 2 hooks...There is actually some sort of a huge jacuzzi room attached to the changing room...looks damn shiok ya!!!

Trophy display: The is actually the Man U museum within the stadium...showing all the history, honour, tactics etc of Manchester United...

There are more pics with me...pass it to you when I return to Singapore...see ya :)

Manchester

Went to Manchester 2 weeks ago... Chinatown: The first thing we saw when we exited from the coach station...From far, I thought it was the entrance of some chinese temple or something...haha...kinda nice to see some Chinese food and stuff around...

Manchester Art Gallery: I'm not really an "Art person"...so...ya...haha

Saw this chess set on display...Actually, it is trying to illustrate a conflict in the Levant, a region that includes Palestine, Israel and Iraq...But history aside, each set piece looks damn unique...interesting :)

An art piece asking visitors to write down where they wish to be at this very moment...kinda like this piece of work...

Manchester...The Peace Garden...Nuclear free ya...haha

Saw this on our way to take the Metrolink...A sculpture of a giant bicycle...Kinda nice to see art pieces lying around randomly the concrete jungle...

Old Trafford: Theater of Dreams...but that will be another story...another day...

In general, there is nothing much to see in Manchester for me...think that's because I'm more of a sight-seeing person...haha...We also visited the "Musuem of Science & Industry in Manchester" and some other places...but don't really have any interesting pics that are worth posting up...so...ya...That's all for now... Cheers!!! :)

What is an Engineer thinking when shopping for groceries...

#include <brain.h>

boolean Dilemma
boolean Decision(Item);

int main(){

    Sense Eye;
    Money Price;
    Feel Mood;

    printf("Lab assignments and reports is driving me crazy...\n");
    scanf("%see", Eye);
    printf("Cadbury Fruit and Nut chocolate!!!\n");
    scanf("%cost", Price);
    printf("1.39 GBP!!!\n");

    Dilemma = Decision(Choco);

    if(Dilemma)
       Mood = Happy;
    else
       Mood = Irritated;

    printf("I think I'm crazy...\n");
    printf("Ya need choco. therapy if you understand this...\n");

    return 0;
}



boolean Decision(Item X){
    Factors Pros, Cons;
    Boolean Buy;

    Buy = srand()%2;

    if(Buy){
       Pros = Motivated to complete all the work;
       Cons = Less money to travel;
       //Funfare tix to London cost 1 GBP
    }
    else{
       Pros = A tix to London;
       Cons = No mood to do lab report and assignment;
    }

    return Buy;
}

Winter Wonderland

Had a pleasant surprise when I stepped out of the EE building after my lab session...everything was covered with a thin layer of snow...It was the first time it snowed in the morning ever since I touched down England...and the sight of snowflakes falling is so enjoyable :)

Despite it being only a 5 mins journey, I was smiling all my way back to my residence. The sight of snowing just turn on the happiness mode in me...haha

Saw this on my way back to St Marks...someone actually made this miniature snowman on a BBQ pit...I just add the eyes and a mouth to it...hah

Oh, and I actually tried to taste some snowflakes (allow them to fall straight into my mouth...haha)...and they taste HORRIBLE...yucks...maybe like what Sherrie said, "What looks good might not taste good..."...haha

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When it snows...ain't it thrilling...
Though your nose...gets a chilling...
we'll frolic and play...the Eskimo way...
Walking in a winter wonderland...

York, England

Went to York on Saturday...

The Minster: One of the must-see places in York...It is the largest medieval structure in the United Kingdom...Construction began in year 1220 and was only completed in year 1472...took about 250 years!!!

Interior of the Minster...As we reached there quite early, we actually wandered in without paying the entrance fee...haha :)

One of the halls in the cathedral...damn nice la!!!

Statue of the Emperor Constantine I: The Roman emperor responsible for the official acceptance of Christianity by the Roman Empire...

City Art Gallery: Photography not allowed inside...probably due to copyright reasons…bleah...

Clifford Tower: Build between year 1245 to 1262, by the order of King Henry III...

Interior of the tower...

Monk Bar: Traditionally the monarch’s entrance, where traitors’ heads were displayed…cool huh :)

Railway Museum: A place where you can find all sort of trains inside...Not train models...but the real thing...it is like an indoor train station but with trains of different era and nationality parking on each railway track...pretty cool...

Old Trafford the Theater of Dreams

Rushed down to the stadium after class for the Man U and Watford match...not a soccer fanatic...just wanted to be there to immerse myself in the atmosphere...haha

The tickets...."face value" for 50 pound...we got it at a cheaper price...thanks to Teckie :)

The exterior of the stadium...not a nice day to take pics as it's already dark and raining...bleah...

Memorial of players for the Munich Air Disaster...

Was actually stop from entering the stadium as they don't allow "Camera with zoom lens"...sort of expected such things happening at a professional game anyway...so here is a pic of the interior of Old Trafford Jai took...

The atmosphere during the game was terrific...people cheering throughout the whole game...chanting songs (well-known songs with the lyrics altered to suit Man U)...swearing and cursing at referee and missed goal chances...laughing at Watford's fans...all done in unison!!! Anyway...the game ended with a 4-0 to Man U......woohooo!!! :P

P.S.: Sis!!! If you are reading this...pls send me yur PnS cam once you are done with it k :P