Monday, March 12, 2012

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.
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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.

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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.

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The atmosphere is brilliant

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Burger

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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. 

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King's College Chapel
It mostly introduced us to the 16th-century architecture down the river particularly the universities.
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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.

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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. 

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

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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.

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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. 

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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. 

2 comments:

  1. Seriously? Prank door? Such notty people they are. tsk tsk tsk.

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  2. Yes, the best part was when we asked him how often they happen. And he went, "Well, at the start of every year!"

    ReplyDelete