In a Little Town Called Cambridge

I ought to have visited Cambridge sooner but it doesn't matter now. Last Saturday, a group of us from the Malaysian Society went there for a day trip, seeing as it is about an hour away by train (give or take a few minutes) Everything is located in the heart of the city, with a multitude of universities within walking distance of each other.

Reminds me of Norwich

Much of it reminds me of Norwich - especially the market on the street above, which sort of resembles the Norwich market. I quite like the place, it isn't busy and the area looks gorgeous.

Billy's Restaurant

Through the recommendation of my friend, we went to Bill's restaurant, which many Cambridge locals supposedly know about. Their interior design is really creative and the queue, long as it may be, didn't take too long to dissipate. The food was alright; heard the desserts are good but the meals are filling.

The atmosphere is brilliant

Burger

Punting down the River Cam

Everywhere we went, there were people (mostly students) asking us if we wanted a good punting deal.  Punting means rowing a boat down a punt, usually with a long pole. No Cambridge trip is complete without punting. We managed to get a good deal - 30 pounds for the six of us. 

King's College Chapel

It mostly introduced us to the 16th-century architecture down the river particularly the universities.

Mathematical Bridge

The Mathematical Bridge is rumoured to have been designed by Isaac Newton although the scientist actually died 22 years before the bridge was built. At the time, it used no nut or bolt to hold it together. Cynical scientists have dismantled it once to prove it wrong, After they realized that it didn't use any nut or bolt, they could not put it back together and resorted to nuts and bolts to hold it together again.

Library shaped like a boat

Most of the facilities in Cambridge cater to students, which I find delightful. We were told that to get the university accommodation, grades for second year are taken into consideration and students will be put into different rooms according to these grades. Pretty much sounds like public display of results. 

Bridge of Sighs

This Bridge of Sighs is modelled from the one in Venice, and holds no terrible historical past.

Prank Door

The doors at the side were used to transport goods into the kitchen or storage room in the past. Now it is used to play pranks on first years. They would place an Exit side on the inside, set the fire alarm off and make the poor first years run out the door.

Round Church

There are quite a number of old buildings and churches as well as curious-looking shops as well.It didn't take us long to visit what the town had to offer. 

Sun Dial from any angle

As time ticked away and the sun strolled off the sun dial, our day came to an end. That night we attended the Malaysian Night held there, and ran around train stations in order to get back on time. Pretty eventful day it was. 

My Online Portfolio

I have been spending some time working on my other blog for a while, deciding what to put into it and figuring out how to change the html (and I conclude that my knowledge of html is rather transient). But it's taken quite a long time to put together and I thought it would be good to get it going.

Without further ado, I introduce my online portfolio, which you can find if you click here.

A bookshop in Florence. 

There are still some things that I need to do to enhance the features of the blog, especially where all the confusing codes are concerned (oh no, I won't give up).

But if anyone would like to help me with this, I'd be very happy! Till then. Have a good day.

Les Misérables in London

Queen's Theatre in London, a photo by rachlyf on Flickr.

Another one of my goals achieved: Watched a West-End performance in London.

Charlene and I watched Les Misérables in Queen's Theatre, London last night. A story about an ex-convict's road to redemption amidst a student rebellion and the love between his adopted daughter and a man beautifully bound up in an operatic rendition of Victor Hugo's novel. The tragic Jean Valjean was played by Ramin Karimloo.

Two words: Loved it. The familiar songs that I only ever heard on separate occasions suddenly weaved into the tapestry of a tale. The context of the song made all the sense in the world. It was sad and emotional, tugging the heart strings and stitching them together in the end. There were people casually "wiping-that-little-dust-that-flew-in-the-eye". There was a man sitting further up front sobbing.

But in a way, you got to expect that from such a musical. Let's you know you've truly experienced it.

Dispelling Japanese Stereotypes

Disclaimer: This photo does not belong to me. The original source can be found here

By Rachael Lum on 01 March 2012

Japan’s culture is rich and often welcomed by people from around the world. Unfortunately, it is the fascination people have with the nation that gives rise to stereotypes surrounding the Japanese, writes Rachael Lum.

Full article can be read here.

Special thanks to Ikki, Taka, Miki and Remi for giving me what I needed to make this article well-informed.

Hope you guys like it too!