Spring has come! :)

Hello Spring! I can't believe it'll be April in two days...I've been in the UK for more than 6 months now...the second teaching term has just finished last week...and the boring dissertation is just around the corner (need to travel a bit to relax and recharge! Haha!) I've received the catalogue for Edinburgh International Festival (EIF, www.eif.co.uk) for summer and already browsed through it...and am interested in two performances (the Opening Night concert and a play called The Last Witch - for those in Edinburgh, let me know if you're interested in any or both of them so we can book tickets and go together!)

Some academic/cultural/sport "achievements" for the past month: 

1. I'm done with two assignments (one on English Word Formation and another on Spoken Discourse Analysis - a comparison between MSN conversations and mobile phone convos...well, I have quite a lot of real-life samples for both sorts of  convos). 

2. No films...errr...just one..."The Unbearable Lightness of Being"...such a long film lasting for about 3 hours...still got half an hour to go! This film interests me because of the setting in Prague in 1968...(and I always want to go to Prague!)...and its fame...but it contains quite a lot of sex too...maybe a bit too much! I didn't manage to watch The Young Victoria before it goes off...need to wait for the cheap DVDs I suppose! The films I want to watch recently are Duplicity and Two Lovers (by Gwyneth Paltrow, a love story (or two love stories among 3 people set in NYC). 

Gladys and I watched Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamboat in the Playhouse...it's surprisingly good...I first thought maybe the musical was based on a biblical story and it would be a little bit boring...but it's...what I'd say...quite commercial and makes it "mainstream"...a lot of catchy tunes...very colourful stage and visual effects...very pretty "Joseph" who is a bit shy...but a great day-out with Gladys! Looking forward to our "play" gathering in April! :)

3. I joined the Historic Scotland membership FINALLY...that means I can go to all castles (under Historic Scotland's ownership, excluding the most romantic Eilean Donan Castle...)  FOR FREEEEEEEE and for unlimited times! I went to Edinburgh Castle again (my third time!) and actually found out three more spots I haven't been in the previous two visits: 1. dog cemetery where the senior officers' dogs were buried (near St Margaret Chapel), 2. National War Museum (not the national war memorial...) it's another museum under the Scottish National Museums group...free admission, but you need to get the admission INSIDE the castle, 3. a 2-storey prison with some cells open for public on the ground floor............

4. I had my first swimming lesson at Royal Commonwealth swimming pool (4 pounds for non-peak hours)...little progress made! :)

As for hiking (or WALKing, for me), after my achievement in climbing up TO Arthur's Seat a while ago, I went to the Pentland Hills with two floormates - Tanya and Ling-yun - on a Sunday outing. We walked during the whole morning and had some good pub food in the one and only one pub on the other side of the hill! 

5. To reward myself for 6 months' of hard work and psychologically prepare myself for the academic dissertation period, I'm heading down to the south of England for a pre-Easter trip! :) 

Edinburgh --> (train: Berwick-upon-Tweed, Newcastle, York, Leeds, Peterborough) --> London (staying in Pimlico, Victoria) --> Eastbourne --> Brighton --> Salisbury --> Bath --> London --> back up north to Edinburgh

I'm in London now while I'm writing this blog. Been out to Harrods at Knightsbridge  for some window-shopping, real shopping for Wood, bought our lunch (Poached Salmon Ciabetta, 4.5 pounds! YUMMY...so much SALMON!!!) and had a picnic lunch in Hyde Park, and then some walking in Hyde Park, and took some photos at Albert Monument, Royal Albert Hall and the Royal School of Music (RSM...the ABRSM which my mum and dad invested a lot of $$$ to my piano lessons and exams)........and then I headed to Victoria & Albert Museum...the largest msueum for arts and design...a very interesting and HUGE museum...modern fashion, jewellery, paintings...I went to two exhibitions (free of cos): Hats (very impressive...I like hats, though I don't own any nice hats...) and Theatre and Performance! 

Update photos and more details later! :)

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Spring is almost here!

It's been more than a month since I last updated my blog...a lot of things (mostly good!) happened...speaking of academic studies, it's nearly the end of the second teaching term...I'm doing three courses only (compared to six last term!) and have Thursdays (usually) and Fridays off...so life isn't that bad uni-wise! :) Three more projects (slightly different from assignments which you can just borrow 2-3 books and "cook them up" and do some cut and paste!) - projects mean you need to do original research and data collection and analysis and the write-ups - and a dissertation proposal before the third term! I like reading books and thinking in an academic way very much, but I realise I'm not a research person and it's good to know! Haha!

Travelling - castle, castle and more castles!

Looking at the Historic Scotland brochure...checking and counting the castles I've been to...I'm very pleased that I've been to at least 8 castles/palaces/abbeys in Scotland (e.g. Edinburgh - twice, Stirling - once in, once didn't get in, Urquart - twice, Castle Campbell near Stirling, Blackness Castle, Dunfermline Abbey, Holyrood Palace.....) I really should have applied for a student membership when I first arrived here last September to save more pennies! :P

Too lazy to upload pics to my blogs - here you go!
Photos of Castle Campbell:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034982&id=218700079&l=0ee1b (Public link, no need to log in)

Photos of Dunfermline Abbeys:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035258&id=218700079&l=bd057

Photos of Blackness Castle (A day trip with my Scottish host family! Very close to Edinburgh - a castle with an interesting ship shaped! Worth a visit!) and Forth Bridges

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035329&id=218700079&l=f7b14

The castles I want to go most are St Andrews Castle and Eilean Donan Castle! :)

We also went to the Scottish Mining Museum last Sunday - 3.8 pounds for a whole-day programme (two exhibitions, big stuff tour in the warehouse (only on Wed and Sun) and the magic helmet tour guided by an ex-coal miner which got me excited!)! Quite interesting - it reminds me of my Chemistry and Physics lessons - and coal mining is much more complicated than I expected!!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035661&id=218700079&l=9ec7a

Easter plan...........still in the UK (UK pounds are weak...cheaper to stay in the island...and make the fullest use of my 24-pound Young Person railcard!)...will probably head down to London...and then south of England for a trip! Places on my list: Stonehenge (still haven't been there!), Bath, Hundred Acre Wood (based on Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, England) Hahahahaha! :)

I guess I need to wait until late April/May to travel up to the Highlands.......Harry Potter's Jacobite steam train (http://www.steamtrain.info/harry.htm), Culledon Revisited (for the Visitor Centre this time!), Orkney and Shetland islands...........

Cultural Side - Films

Been watching some BBC's Planet Earth programmes these days...I watched Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona - interesting, but not as good as Match Point...perhaps a bit too romantic, too unrealistic (although I'm sure a lot of guys wish they could be Juan - the lucky Spanish artist (presumably) with a lot of money (given that he lives in a nice house and travels a lot and enjoys good food and wine!) AND most importantly three beautiful sexy young women including Scarlet Johansson and Penelope Cruz...), what else could a man ask for?! :P This film also reminds me of the relaxed, carefree life of an exchange life (Scarlet - or maybe her friend, can't remember - is a langauge student on exchange studying Catalan culture...!) exploring places, cultures, food, wine and MEN! Haha! I somehow feel like sometime I'm still living like an exchange undergraduate student (instead of a postgradate student) in Edinburgh!

Speaking of language exchange, as a beginner learner of French, I went to see the award-winning French film called Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (I've loved you so long!)...very good film...a bit heavy and depressing...and the only flaw is that the convict (i mean the motive for her to commit the crime *no further spoiler*) is, to me, a bit weak and not very convincing...but overall a very touching one! *recommended even to non-French-learning students* It also made me feel good about my standard of French...with the English subtitles and my listening skills to French, I can understand the plots fairly easily (thanks mainly to the former I'm afraid!)! :) I didn't know Kristin Scott Thomas (an English actress) speaks such good French!

I also watched Revolutionary Road starring Kate Winslet :) and Leonard DiCaprio...another depressing story...but this one is about love, marriage, being committed and/or trapped, family, life, death, ambition, reality...how all these can change one's life path...a sad ending too...I kinda feel the same as Leonard ('Frank' in the film) but not as much as to Kate ('April') although I can imagine how an unfulfilled dream/ambition means to her...perhaps in a way I'm more a practical person with my own dreams than a dreamy and unrealistic person who is forced to the cruel reality! I'm not sure if I should recommend this film to people who are planning to get married...I'm generally positive about love and marriage but I do think people should think twice (or thrice or mooore) before making such a life-changing decision and committing yourself to a life-long (well, at least in my definition) relationship!

I don't know why - I'm not that interested in seeing "He's just not that into you"....watched the trailer...very funny and mostly TRUE...maybe I just don't have the right mood to see it! Will leave it for the DVD! A few films that I want to see are The Young Victoria starring Emily Blunt (the girl who suffers the Devil who wears Prada!) and Duplicity starring Juliet Roberts and Clive Owen (They're not my fave stars...but the story about M16 and CIA looks very interesting and exciting!)

Oh yes, I also went to see The Vagina Monologue (UK, not NY, version) two weeks ago....VERY VERY interesting and funny! I watched the HK version - in Cantonese - in the City Hall before...and I think every girl should go and see it! The British version is also very hilarious...but somehow due to the linguistic and cultural differences, I missed at least 20% of the funniest points (like the nicknames of the female organ...some dirty jokes) but I got the stories (i.e. monologues)! The part I love (in both versions) is the imitation of the "moaning" sounds......FUNNY how they come up with a English version and a Scottish version (with amusing Scottish accent), as well as a "kid-in-the-room-next-to-you" version (you could have guessed what it's like!)!!! Something of a big interest to linguistics students like me! I went on a weekday, so the house wasn't full...and I was "upgraded" to sit in the seventh row of the stage - which is the best deal I've got with my cultural experience in Edinburgh!

Going to another musical called Joseph with Gladys later this month!

FILTH?!

Finally, something interesting to share...I went to a lecture about Hong Kong English held by a PhD student called Vinton Poon (also from HKU!) and I learnt a new term called FILTH.....it's used to describe those expats (especially those in the early colonial days) who came all the way from the UK to Hong Kong to secure a very well-paid, nothing-much-to-do job but still complained about the stressful life they lead...

Fail in London Try Hongkong

I hope the idea of FILTH is NOW a myth! :P For some financial/managerial jobs, somehow, my impression is that HK is even more competitive than London! Different cultural and social settings, different langauges, different mentalities of people..........

And then I read about







Fail in Hongkong Try Shanghai

Hahaha!