The only sucky part of St. Marks Residence...

Few days back, an email from Digital Village...

"Yesterday you exceeded the daily usage limit of 500MB as referred to in our Terms and Conditions. This type of activity could have a detrimental affect on our network and therefore we cannot allow this to continue. Should you continue to exceed the daily download limit we will unfortunately be forced to downgrade your service to a throughput limit of 56Kbs dial-up speed, for a period of 5 days.

If you exceed these limits on a regular basis, we may be forced to suspend your account."

Today, an email from Digital Village...

"Despite repeated warnings you have continued to exceed the daily usage limit of 500MB as referred to in our Terms and Conditions. As advised in our previous email your account has unfortunately been restricted with immediate effect.

Should you have any queries regarding this email, please contact Customer Services."

Ok...I admit I did not read the TnC...my bad...But it's the cyber era for goodness sake!!! WTH uses memory cap on their internet service policy these days!!!

Gonna stop streaming movies online for a while...sigh...

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godammit...

Projects...

(In PC cluster...bored...)

Have been burying myself with projects ever since I came back...

1) PIC assessment: Progressing slowly...

2) Snake Game Programming: Going no where...

3) FPGA Image Processing: The main headache. Have been camping in the PC cluster these few days just for this project. Still going no where. Can’t even kick start it. Can’t see any light in all the research done. Think gonna present my head to Prof. Steven soon...sigh...

And 2 reports to be due...

Mum questioning me about my studies here...

Back to work...

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Taking things in stride...

Leaving on a jet plane...

23th March, Friday:

(Travel Plan: Spend a day in Tampere, and take an evening flight back to Liverpool...)

The night train ride itself was kinda happening. The train actually sounded the horn and did an E-brake about half an hour after we left Rovaniemi. Everyone (Not much people in the cabin as usual) in the cabin stood and walk around to find out what exactly happened. And looking out of the window, I saw some animal tracks on the snow across the railway line. Perhaps, a reindeer was standing in the way of the train or something...We were deep in some forest anyway...

Next, at one of the train stations, 2 security officers came to my cabin to bring a drunken man out of the train...Was literally carrying him out as he couldn’t even walk by himself. Apparently he was so drunk that he sat beside a girl unknowingly and slept there, throwing his bottles on other seats...

Tampere Train Station: Reached Tampere train station at about 6am. It is the third largest city in Finland and the largest inland centre in the Nordic countries.

As it was still dark out there, I actually slept on one of the benches in the station till it was about 8am, and wash up in one of its toilets (Cost 1€ to use the toilet...wtf man...). Typical backpacker style =)

I thought I was going the right way the minute I stepped out of the train station, as I had briefly studied the map the night before. But when I reached University of Tampere unknowingly, only then I realize I was walking in a totally opposite direction from the beginning...bleah...Taking it as a blessing in disguise...’cos the university was not on my places-to-visit list...

Anyway, that was how the journey in this city started...

Orthodox Church: Built in the Neo Byzantine style, located on Sorinaukio Square...Didn’t go in...Was quite sick of all the places of worship from all my trips back in England...need a cooling down period =P

Tammerkoski Rapid: Solemn stone guards on the Hämeendilta Bridge (Left pic.). And a dam was built right in the middle of the city to utilize the rapids (Right pic)...Don’t really like this idea as it is like an industrialize structure in the middle of a beautiful city. It just seem out of the place to me...bleah...

Keskutori Central Square: The heart of life of the city. There was actually a make-shift market there selling all sort of local products and food...Kind of like our “pasa malam” back home, just that I was during the day time...

Laukontori Quay: Nothing much when I got there, perhaps it wasn’t a tourism season...hmmm...Singapore River is nicer (at least to me…bleah) =P

That was about it. The other places were typical city shopping areas. It was an urban city after all...and I am not a shopping person...hah...

Tampere Terminal 2: The “ulu” airport I landed on on the first day...

The view on the plane was once again magnificent. As the time in Finland is 2hrs before England, so for the entire journey, it was like we were flying towards the sun set...Woohoo...pretty la =P

Liverpool John Lennon Airport: Back in England...Above us, only sky...

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You may say I'm a dreamer...
But I'm not the only one...
I hope someday you'll join us...
And the world will live as one...

Leaving them all behind...

21st March:

Arktikum Museum: The museum exhibits the Lappish lifestyle in the past. Marina guaranteed that this wasn’t a normal boring museum, but I still can’t find a “wow” factor in it. Guess I am really not a museum person after all...

City at Night: Went to explore the city at night. Not much people on the street. Most of the shops had closed, leaving only hotels and some eating places.

Decided to walk to the frozen river side. Wanted to get a night pic. of the bridge we drove by this morning (Left pic.) Felt that there was this guy following me while I was walking through a dark alley (Need to walk through the alley to get to the river...No choice...sigh...). Tried to cross the street TWICE to avoid him but he kept following me. In the end, I just stopped at a small junction and turned back to stare at him. He looked at me, turned and walked in the opposite direction...Don’t know what he doing la...bleah...

Anyway, the river side was freezing cold. Fingers almost drop while fiddling with the camera. Can’t wear gloves when handling the camera. And pictures were more important than fingers...hah =P

Hungarian friends: Performers from Hungary, and were in Rovaniemi for the Hungarian Culture Week. I usually had breakfast with them, as we were living in the same guesthouse. Always talked to Abigail (their translator) and another Hungarian girl who could converse in English.

Went for a Hungarian movie (With English sub-title of course!!!) screened tonight with these people. It was sort of an official event of the cultural week as the director (A guy who was surprisingly young) of the movie was there too.

After the movie, we continued to the Tuspu Pub to support the Valter Blues Band (Hungarian band) performance. Everyone was staring at me when I entered the pub. (Always get this kind of stares even when travelling in the city here, but never did back in England) Guess either not many Chinese had taken part in their nightlife over here, or they didn’t see a Chinese before...bleah...Anyway, had fun watching the locals cheering and dancing to the Chicago Blues music. And whatever racial / international / language awkwardness barrier always broke down over a pint of beer...hah...Beer is also an universal language =P

22nd March:

Woke up early today. Saila had allowed me to try the sauna facilities for free...Woohoo!!! My first sauna experience. Sitting alone naked there with a towel, singing loudly like nobody business. Like those gangster boss in the H.K. movies...haha...Kept pouring water into the pile of heated wood thingy. Like to hear the hissing sound...hah...The feeling was damn shiok la...Didn’t really sweat that much ever since I left Singapore. And a cold shower after that was really superb...

City in the day: Went to explore the city after breakfast. Discovered there are actually 2 Chinese restaurants here. Not keen on trying them. No point eating Chinese food when we had all the authentic Chinese food back home anyway.

Went back to the frozen river side. Kinda love this place. Discovered that the icy surface was melting slowly. It was the ending phase of winter after all. Wondered if we were the last group of people who managed to ride on this frozen river this year...

Northest Macdonald’s in the World: Ever wonder how the northest Macdonald outlet looks like? This is the only Macdonald outlet here, and is the northest outlet on earth according to the Macdonald website. Kinda silly ya...haha...I am pretty sure there are other fast food outlets located further north than this one…But anyway, still worth a visit :)

Ranua Zoo: Decided to visit the zoo at Ranua (Another “ulu” place, 80km from Rovaniemi) as my train was only at 9pm. The zoo claims that they display winter animals in their true habitats. Didn’t realize it was really a bad decision to make this visit from the start.

Most of the animals were sleeping, probably due to the cold weather...bleah...And there were not many tourists there. Probably less than 10 people in the whole zoo when I was there. Despite thinking that Mandai Zoo is much better than this one, touring in a snowy zoo was still a pretty cool experience. And their polar bear and brown bear’s enclosures were damn freaking huge. Think those were the main attractions of the zoo.

But that’s not the point of the bad decision. I didn’t realize the zoo actually closes at 4pm. (Which zoo closes at 4pm?!?!?!) And my returning bus to Rovaniemi was only at 5.40pm. As there wasn’t any indoor area around after the zoo closed, I was there waiting at the bus stop (Bottom-left pic...A damn memorable place...) alone with no proper thermal attire. Jumping around, dancing around, singing around, playing with the camera...doing everything I could just to ignore the cold. And that freaking bus was late!!! It came only at 5.55pm...Dammit!!! Almost freeze to death at this place...

Left Rovaniemi at 9pm on a night train...

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Maybe I will return someday...
Maybe...

Become a child again...

It was a day...

21st March:

Yup...This is the main motive for coming to this “ulu” town at the top of the world. It is a place where everyday is Christmas day. Always wanted to visit Santa’s village ever since I came to know about its existence. Oh well, a childish dream ya...haha...Oh well... But the point is, it is a dream that came true after all these years =P

Marina drove me to Santa’s Village which was about 8km away from the city of Rovaniemi. It is a site located at the official border of the artic circle. (The artic circle boundary shifts by a few metres each year, depending on the position of the sun. Technically, there isn’t a fix boundary for it. But the official line/marking of the boundary is located here...So ya...)

(Click to enlarge image)

Santa's Village: At last!!! Felt damn high when stepped out of the car...Woohoo!!!

The village was quite commercialize by now. Kinda expected it. A necessary move to boost tourism, if not it will not survive alone in this “ulu” part of the world.

There weren’t many tourists around, as I reached quite early. (Marina had to work...so ya...haha) And it wasn’t the peak season (usually December) for tourism here. So I got the whole place to myself...good for photo takings...haha

Most of the Asian tourists here were from Japan (Mostly) and Hong Kong (Some). Think these are the richer countries around Asia or something, as the situation is the same back in England too. (Most Chinese restaurants open by H.K. people...)

(Click to enlarge image)

Santa Claus’ Main Post Office: Possible to get the exclusive Santa postage chop when you send stuff out from here. Too bad I’m not really a person who remembers address of my friends...Arghhh...So only manage to send 2 postcards home. Also in here, you will get to see the letters sent to Santa from different parts of the world. Pretty cool to see what children from different part of the world wanted to tell Santa, and what were they wishing for...All the workers here were dressing up as elves...Damn cute!!! Manage to take a pic. with one of them. *wink wink* =P

Letters from Singapore: One of the largest piles around. Think Santa is quite popular among children back there ;)

Directional & Distance Post: Located outside the post office, which points to different countries. This particular one shows Santa do know where Singapore is. And it’s moment like that makes me realize how far I am away from home...sigh...

Boundary of artic circle: The row of pillars (top-left pic) outlines the boundary. Actually there is an official line marking on the ground, but it was covered with snow when I was there. Managed to dig up a small portion of it through some melted snow though (top-right)...Too bad of my friends were there with me, or else we can jump, somersault or crawl etc to pass this line together. Think that’s what the kids usually do...haha

A certificate to certify I’ve crossed the artic circle...

Santa Claus Office: Strictly no photography allow in here. Hate it when such rule exist. Anyway, the “real” Santa is in there spending a few minutes with each visitor from all parts of the world. The decorations are quite fairy-tale like...Well, it is a fairy-tale place from the start...haha :)

"Real" Santa: A pic. with the “real” Santa. Actually paid a bit just to take this picture...Decided to as I don’t know when I will visit this part of the world again...so ya...Decided to give him a hug too =P

Anyway, Santa can speak different languages. A bit of each…A bit of Chinese (Ni Hao, Gong Xi Fa Cai etc)...Kinda expected it as he need to entertain all the visitors. But I was surprise he truly knows about Singapore, even telling me he was actually there last year for the official opening of some event at Novena Square. (Yeah...he can name some exact places...Wow!!!) Think Santa has also been comercialize with biz contracts around the world...haha...So there we were talking a bit, crapping a bit...(Asked if his beard is real...haha)...Really fun and interesting talking to this old man :)

Continue to wander around for a while. Saw this huge speaker, located at the middle of the village (top-left pic.), that plays Christmas melody all year round. Yeah, it’s always Christmas here...A happy place :)

Saw the “Christmas World Road” (top-right pic)...the starting point of the long journey for each Christmas ya...

Stroll through all the souvenirs shops (Bottom-left pic)...Typical Christmas stuff...Maybe I am not a shopping person, so not really interested in all these...bleah...

Decided to try "Reindeer Stew" (Bottom-right pic) for lunch. It was reindeer meat serve with mash potatoes, jam and pickles...Not use to the strong meaty smell...But still it was a new experience...

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It's never too late...

Winter wonderland...

19th March Monday:

Carlos drove me to the reindeer farm, which was about 23km away from the city. The usual route was block by snow, and there wasn’t a way to get there except by driving. The safari itself was good. It was a trip booked purely for me, a so called “VIP treatment” by Marina...haha...(Long story...kinda hard to explain it here...) All the baby reindeers at the safari were damn cute...Regretted that I didn’t get to hug any of them...sigh...

Went for a reindeer sled ride through the snowy forest along the perimeter of the land own by the reindeer herder. He is an original Sámi people, and oh man, he does own a freaking big piece of land in the forest. The sled ride was only traveling at a comfortable pace, not as fast as I expected. (okok...I think I watched too much Santa cartoons...haha) But it was truly an unique experience traveling through the forest on a sled pulled by the reindeer, with knee-deep snow around you, playing with the dog that ran by the side of the sled and having a reindeer kicking up snow onto your face...haha :)

Took a break at the middle of the forest while he explained reindeer stuff to me, showed me a kota that belonged to one of his friends. We were trying hard to understand each other as he hardly speak English and I don’t understand Sámi language...universal smile and sign language...that’s it...haha :)

Tried to control the reindeer on my own. As the reindeer was trained to follow the herder, it wasn’t really difficult to control it. All I had to do was to make it move or stop...Back to the farm, was serve some hot juice and salmon snacks in a kota...damn shiok la...So there we were chatting a bit more about reindeers, browsing through all the reindeers souvenirs, and received my reindeer driving license...haha

20th March Tuesday:

Went for a snowmobile and husky safari trip with a family from Hong Kong. By right the safari’s policy was 2 person per snowmobile, but I actually got to ride on a snowmobile all by myself. (Long story again...haha) Anyway, the ride was terrific, and we were driving on a frozen river and through cross-country terrain through the snowy forest!!! The speed we were traveling at and the chill wind on your face…It’s really an unforgettable experience!!! I actually requested to stop in the middle of the frozen river for some pictures...Not everyday you can stand on one, especially for Sgrean like me...haha...And there I was, trying to dig my way through the snow trying to break the ice…woohoo!!! (See the pic with a hole in the snow…According to our guide, 40cm more to go to reach the river water...haha)

Reached the husky farm on snowmobiles. The husky puppies were damn cute and playful. Too bad we were not allowed to bring them out of their cage to play with them...Went for a husky sled ride out in the wild...6 husky dogs per sled…But the speed of the ride still disappoint me...bleah...Oh well, maybe I was too heavy for the dogs...Can see the dogs lying flat on the snow when we took a break during the ride...haha...poor thing ya :)

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It's not how long you live, but how you live that matters most...

On the road...

(Back date...For reference sake...)

18th March Sunday:

1240 Liverpool: Took a morning coach...Was surprise to see how small John Lennon Airport was compared to Changi and Manchester airport. And guess what...The fire alarm went off when I am about to check in. Don’t think I am that lucky to meet a fire drill at the airport (How frequent will that be!!!)...Thought it was a bomb or something (It was England after all...) The whole airport was evacuated and gathered outside in the freezing cold...And there I was enjoying my sandwich lunch in the cold, trying to find out what exactly happened...Turned out to be a small fire or something...Cleared to enter the airport again after about 20 minutes of waiting time...sigh...

As a noob of airplanes, I didn’t realize Ryanair uses the free sitting system...So I was there searching for a seat number which don’t really exist...bleah...Once settled down, I realized I was the only Chinese on the plane...hmm...not a big deal...

1645 Liverpool: The plane ride was good, as it was the first time I was flying when there was still daylight...Didn’t realize that the sight above could be so freaking beautiful, when it was all gloomy under the clouds. The never ending cloud structure in the evening sun was really a perfect picture. It was like we were flying among some snowy mountain range or something...Simply marvelous!!! Guess I was there gazing out of the window till the last light disappeared...

2140 Tampere Airport: Didn’t realize I will land on such an “ulu” airport...Looks like a single building among the forest, with 2 custom control counters...Guess there isn’t much visitors flying in from this airport after all...But that’s not the point...There isn’t any cash machine in the entire building and the information counter was closed by the time I landed!!! sigh...alone in this “ulu” place without any euros in my pocket...Life’s great ya :)

Managed to get a bus ticket to the train station from a ticket counter...paid by Masters...“priceless” ya :)

2230 Tampere Train Station: Since my train had not arrive, I went to stroll around the city centre...A dead city as all the shops were closed...Saw some travelers rushing off to don’t know where, drunk people walking around, party youngsters shouting etc...nothing new...Grabbed a burger at a midnight outlet and waited at the train station...Met this guy from Helsinki...Master student in Comp. Sci...Exchanged information about Sg and Finland, contacts etc...Chatted till his bus arrived...

19th March Monday:

0109 Tampere VR Train: A night train with less than 10 persons in my cabin...Everyone is occupying 2 seats...shoes off...legs on the arm rest...sleeping...Kinda like this sight...All travelers alike...At the end of the day, you just wanna rest...just a place...anywhere will be fine...

Was a damn long journey on the train...Pass by some wild snowy forest, some damn “ulu” settlement which I bet you guys will never know they actually exist, and some train stations which seem to be located in the middle of the forest...Seriously, who will take a train from there?!?!?! Although train announcements were in Finnish, Swedish and English, the volume they were announcing at was terrible. (Think the system was spoilt or something)...All signboards were in Finnish...Not helpful at all...So I was there guessing which station I was at, hoping not to miss my stop...

Decided to time my journey...Just get down the train at 1053...praying the train will not leave the destination before the time stated...or else I think I will landed up in North pole or something...

1053 Rovaniemi: Finally reach my destination...Just a small town...The last “more developed” town in the far northern part of Finland, located at the border of the artic circle...Armed with the directions I got from an online traveling forum earlier, I tried to locate my accommodation...“Come out of station, cross main road, see a hill, climb the hill, head left till you see the inn”...sound simple enough...

1100 guesthouse: Found the place...Recognise it from far...Remember the picture of it during my “online research sessions”...Was damn tired from all the traveling...

Update again...

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Damn freaking tired...

Gone...

To a place to fulfil my childhood dreams...

Update again when I return...or IF I return...

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When is the last time you did something crazy?

Logbook...

Just went to meet my prof. with my SNAKE project group...Had requested to see us regarding our logbooks...Stressed that this wasn’t a scolding session...Commented that our work was okay...But we were not writing enough stuff in our logbooks...Need to write more frequently, more details etc...Refuse to believe what we had written was actually the work which we had done so far...Mentioned that my logbook was neat...Told us that if our work improves, our final grade will reflect the improvement...If not, we will not be getting any fantastic grades...

While being nagged by him, I remembered what he told a guy with a lousy logbook during one of our lab sessions...“You can write the best program...But you’ll never make it in this industry with such a logbook”...

Similarly, I think I’m a “best-program” person...never a “logbook” person...bleah...

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Hoping to change for the better...

Rejected...

While the rest of the groups had already kicked start on their design and coding of the FPGA, Dr. Steven rejected our project proposal for the second time today. He insisted that our general project idea was good, but demanded us to be more specific and to focus on only one small aspect of image comparison. And his reason (which he only tell us today) is being what we had proposed is actually a PHD level Image Processing project which will take years to complete...

wtf...

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Listen to the pros...
You'll never know what shit you’re getting yourself into...

Borders...

Went to Borders yesterday to check out information about this country I’m planning to visit...Met this not-so-young guy at the “Travelling” section...Think he was from Africa or something...Didn’t really catch the place where he was from when he mentioned it...Was surprisingly greeted by him and was asked if I’m from Malaysia...Explained that he used to hang out with Singaporean and Malaysian when he was studying in Germany...Can recognise us easily...Just graduated from some university in Germany...For his age, probably a Masters, PHD or something...Traveling around the world for now...Next stop will be Canada...Chat a bit and I had to rush off...

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An ordinary book shop...A meeting place for travelers...

Closer...

Went for an English play, titled “Closer”, at the Student Union in the evening. It was recommended by Rachael, who was in the Theater Society herself...A really good play and the way the play was presented was different from those hostel productions back in NUS...Something refreshing ya...

The plot was not bad...A daring approach and if the same play was done in Singapore, I think a major part of it will be censored due to those strong words used...Wooohoo...

Anyway, had a light Spanish dinner with my Gerado, Anna and Habi after the play...Spanish salad = salad + olive oil + malt vinegar + salt...For a non-salad person like me, it tasted uniquely nice...haha...So there we were, joking about how “freak” in Spanish actually means “geek” in English, talking about how an Informatics degree changed Habi from a party animal to a geeky guy, discussing about life and politics in Spain (yup...POLITICS) etc...

A little new experience everyday ya...

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Kind?!?!?!
Don’t tell me he is kind...
I am kind...
Everyone can be fucking kind...

Farewell gathering...

As Gerado's siblings leaving for London tomorrow morning, the Spanish gang had organised a mini farewell gathering for them in our kitchen...

In order to take this pic, Gerado actually asked the Spanish gang to sit around the extremely narrow corridor. That reminds me of the past when we were taking some class photos...haha...Anyway, people here are from China, Singapore, Italy and mostly from Spain...Yup, ours is an international and friendly flat...haha

A pic with Gerado and his siblings...Actually they can't really speak in English...but the gap was bridge by sign languages, Spanish food, potatoes and omelette flipping jokes, flute playing session and drinking session... :)

Gonna miss you guys ya!!!

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It’s never too early for a beer!!!

A weekend break from everything...

Due to the fact that work is piling up, I didn’t really travel anywhere this weekend. Besides that, for the very first time in Leeds (A place with the unwritten agreement of student aren’t suppose to work on weekends!!!...True for the locals at least...), I have a project meeting on Saturday noon...Oh well...

So the weekend was spent kicking start on my image processing project...sending out emails to people and places I always wanted to...getting the official proof for my reservist deferment in June...planning an unknown trip during Easter break (will update again if its confirm)...In fact, it’s a pretty fulfilling weekend as a check point in Leeds that allows me to organize everything again...

Yup, this is the FPGA board which cost 150USD on the market, but the department actually bought a new set of such development board for each pair of students taking this particular module though...A really cool board that can be program to do almost anything. (Shall spare you guys from all my geeky technical details...haha) But then again, didn’t really know if I have made the correct decision of taking this Masters module, as most of its assignments and project are extremely time consuming. And that violated the unwritten but unanimously agreed I.P.P.T. (Interact, Party, Play, Travel) Code of an Exchange student...sigh...Free time is pretty restricted by workload of this module.

Anyway, Gerado was surprised that I was taking this module as according to him, the University of Leeds normally wouldn’t allow undergraduate to take any Masters module. And according to Anna, it cost quite a lot to do a Masters course here...So ya...heck it...Instead of producing a half-fuck project within two weeks, I have decided to do a proper project for the submission due shortly after Easter break...Hate the idea of doing it just for the sake of submission anyway...bleah...

So yup, I will be spending most of my one month Easter break in Leeds while my fellow exchange students are traveling around Europe...

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In life, you win some...you lose some...I guess...

Eat, Drink and be Merry...

It was Alex’s birthday. Gerado and his Spanish gang had a birthday party for him in our kitchen. Came to realize that our kitchen is the place where I get to meet all the new friends from around the world. All thanks to Gerado, who keeps bringing his friends, his friend’s friend etc over for coffee and gatherings. Spanish people are really the friendliest and “coffee” people I’ve ever met!!! This may be a sweeping statement...but...oh well...haha

Alex, the birthday boy!!!

Anyway, Gerado’s siblings came for a visit from Spain over the weekend. When I held out my hand for a handshake during the introduction, I received a Spanish cheek-kissing greeting from his sister instead. Kinda cool to experience this kind of greeting for the first time, though I’m quite stun at that moment. And Jai from the side said I look like an idiot...haha...whatever...Cultural exchange ya!!!

So the whole night was spent just tasting Spanish food, joking around with these half-drunken Spanish people...chatting with Ian (the California mining engineering guy who was on an one year Exchange) about "Irish car bombs" and "beer bongs"...and talking to Angela, the official translator among us as she understand both English and Spanish (She’s from London but her mom is from Spain)...

Good food...great company :)

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Can't remember...
how many shots of rum I've taken...
how many cups of Anna’s lemonade vodka I’ve drank (which is a wussy drink according to Ian…haha)...

Only remember everything was spinning when I finally drop dead on my bed...

Gift from heaven...

Saw this from my window today. The end of the rainbow was like only 400m from my room...such a beautiful sight...and yet there are actually people passing by unaware of such a sight above them...

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Life is not a race...Do take it slower...
Hear the music...Before the song is over...

Never too old...

Took this pic on one of the trips...(too bad didn't get a front shot...took out the cam. too late...sigh...)

Alone in his late 50s/early 60s...winter jacket...walking stick...DSLR...backpacker bag...

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As long as you're alive...the world is your playground...

In PC cluster now...

My day yesterday...

0800 – Wake up for breakfast.
0900 – To school for DSP lecture.
1000 – To PC cluster to finish up an assignment due.
1100 – Project meeting to debug program and finalize specifications.
1230 – Back to St. Marks for lunch.
1300 – To school for RF Engineering lecture.
1400 – Project meeting to discuss about lab presentation.
1430 – Lab presentation to the famous Dr Horler...bleah...
1500 – Explore the library for textbooks and VCD/DVD rental.
1630 – Back to St. Marks to surf, chat, slack and nap...
1900 – Dinner.
2000 – To school’s 24hr PC cluster for project research.
2230 – Simple grocery shopping...Running out of milk and bananas...sigh...
2300 – Back to St. Marks. Drink and interact with my Spanish neighbour’s friends. Interesting people ya!!!
2330 – Off to Bondi Beach to party. Good Latin / Spanish music....Good crowd...and most importantly...Good friends ya!!!
0400 – Return to St. Marks. Stone in the kitchen. Dead tired...
0430 – Zzzz...
0800 – Wake up for breakfast...God damn alarm clock...sigh...
0900 – Off to school for project research...

I love my life...
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Live everyday like it's your last...

人因梦想而伟大...

三岁的我...想当恐龙...
四岁的我...想当哆啦A梦...
五岁的我...想当忍者神龟...
六岁的我...想当卡车司机...
七岁的我...想当蝙蝠侠...
八岁的我...想拥有阿拉丁的飞毯环绕地球...
九岁的我...想当僵尸道长...
十岁的我...想当消防员...
十一岁的我...想当赛跑健将...
十二岁的我...想当李小龙...
十三岁的我...想当警察...
十四岁的我...想当吉他手...
十五岁的我...想当一名好警察...
十六岁的我...想当僵尸...
十七岁的我...想当小混混...
十八岁的我...想到纽西兰开农场...
十九岁的我...想到非洲当医生...
二十岁的我...想当百万富翁...
二十一岁的我...想看看海底世界...
二十二岁的我...想到尼泊尔当和尚...
二十三岁的我...想当电脑工程师...
二十四岁的我...想找一个属于自己的世界...

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七十岁的我...会不会又想当恐龙呢？？？

Nottingham

Went to Nottingham last Saturday. It is the place where Robin Hood tales originated. Didn't manage to visit the Sherwood Forest though (Due to time restrictions...)

Robin Hood Statue: Located outside Nottingham castle...One of the must-see attractions here. Actually there is another museum that is sololy dedicated to the life of Robin Hood. But the admission fee is too expensive...so decided to give it a miss...sigh...

Elephant Rock: This is actually a huge sandstone, the foundation material which the whole Nottingham castle was built on. Lots of passage ways and caves in there. We took a guided tour that bring us around the castle and all the underground dungeon and passage ways...the haunted stories and "history lesson" were pretty interesting...Didn't know England history can be so dramatic...haha

Some interesting posters from a nearby museum that display people in Nottingham used to live in the past...

Council House: The heart of the city centre...There is actually some artistic installations in front of this building where one can create his own music by placing his hands over some pipe (quite difficult to discribe how it works...haha)...Something which I have never come across back home...

St. Mary's Church: Just another church we visited...But it was closed when we reached there...But still...a nice building...

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如何把陌生人当未曾遇见的朋友...
如何把敌人当和睦相处的对象...
其实都是一种生存技巧...

If you get what I mean...

I have morons for breakfast.
I have pancakes for project mates.

I love my life.

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Miss those late night prata-and-cock sessions...