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! :)

 ,

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!

January Update

Chinese New Year Party in 7/F Kitchen

Happy Chinese New Year!

Kung Hei Fat Choi! (Followed by a question "Where is my lai see?)

Bonne annee chinois!

Making dumplings (My dumplings looked all right *ahem*, but tasted very good! :P)


It's the second last day of January...the third week of the second term...but I'm still in the holiday mood! Haha!


Some updates:

Uni has started...and I'm doing three courses this term:

- Special Topics in Sociolinguistics (not sure how "special" it is though...)
- Discourse Studies
- English Word Formation

And three big projects are waiting for me to do before heading to the third term - Dissertation!


Speaking of my leisure activities, January is also a vibrant month for me. I saw a few new and old films, including Hallen Foe (starring Jamie Bell aka Billy Elliot (film version), set in Edinburgh, an interesting story about love and life of a peeping Tom! Haha!), Australia (almost 4 hours...rather disappointing...a bit like a Midwest Cowboy story...or maybe even more boring than that...), The Reader (starring my favourite actress Kate Winslet, I liked the first part up to when the secret was discovered by the guy *no spoiler*...but not the second half...) and Slumdog Millionnaire (excellent film! set in Mumbai about a "slum dog" very interesting...completely not Bollywood sort of style!). I watched the musical Fame (5 pounds only!!!) in Edinburgh Playhouse and I have to admit that I'm not a young girl any more...gone are the days of the carefree teenage high school life...Fame is all about those teenage issues (like those Disney's High School Musical: friendship, first love, jealousy, family conflict, pursuing impossible dreams while compromising to nothing, ambitions vs reality etc., not that I don't enjoy the musical, things is I think I'd enjoy it much more if I were a secondary school student (OR if I watched it 10 years ago! Ha!). I also went to a play called The Man Who Had All The Luck (5 pounds for Wednesday matinees) in Royal Lyceum Theatre in the city. The play written by Arthur Miller is about a young man who is seemingly immune to any disaster or misfortune and wonders when his luck will run out...questions about the existence of God and the ultimate meaning of life...an interesting one!

Last night, I went to the performance called Elijah (2.5 pounds!) (about the Old Testament epic) by Mendelssohn at Edinburgh Festival Theatre. Solemn music, excellent orchestra (Scottish Chamber Orchestra). I enjoyed the evening, but maybe due to my limited knowledge to classical/orchestra music and the stuffy hall, I found it a bit boring in the second half!!! Haha! :P Luckily, I didn't fall into asleep - as I was a bit tired and worried that I might doze off in the middle of the performance!

I went to Durham - over 6 hours (return) on the coach...2 hours inside the cathedral...a bit annoyed with the ISC's arrangement, but Durham Castle (belonging to Durham University - claiming to be the third university in the UK after Oxbridge!) and Durham Cathedral are beautiful especially in such a fine day! Part of the castle is now the university's hall of residence and open to the public for accomodation during holidays.




Durham Cathedral






Durham Castle (Beautiful blue sky!)



Market Place, Durham

Inside Durham Castle

A dirty lamp at the entrance of the castle...but it looked much nicer in this photo!

Last Saturday, I went to Linlithgow...a small town 20 minutes (train) from Edinburgh. The highlights are Linlithgow Palace with the King's fountain (with water flowing in July and August, and ONCE with wine flowing when Bonnie Prince Charlie visited the palace). The now ruined palace was the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots and her father James V, and Mary was probably baptised in St Michael's Church next to the palace.

Linlithgow Palace by Linlithgow Loch - such a peaceful picture. See the yacht in the loch!

The King's fountain (not in use!)

St Michael's Church: the gothic church is topped a controversial spine added in 1964...I personally don't think it is a perfect match...but it serves as a landmark when you explore the town without a map! :P

My lovely shopaholic sister - Wood - is coming to Edinburgh to celebrate CNY with me! :) Coming from Paris, she bought a lot of luxury brand items as well as some Scottish souvenirs (including a KILT!!!). I took her to the Old College and the main campus of my university, the Elephant House (where JK Rowling got her inspiration for Harry Potter!) for dinner (Thanks Gladys! We had nachos, lasagne and chicken fajita...only 5 pounds each...we forgot about the 10% student discount...!!!) and also to the Palace of Holyroodhouse (We finally found the BLOOD STAIN of Rizzio - the Italian secretary, Mary, Queen of Scots' secret lover - who was killed by Mary's second husband inside the palace! So haunting!). I didn't take her to Edinburgh Castle as I don't have a free annual pass!

Wood and I at the University of Edinburgh

The "fusion" dinner I made for Wood: fried eggs with shrimps, roast chicken breasts and mushroom with garlic cream, seasonal veggie with oyster sauce, served with rice! :)

Links to my photo album on Facebook (public link, no need to sign in):

Trip to Linlithgow Palace:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034773&l=6a80e&id=218700079

Trip to Durham - UNESCO World Heritage Site - in England:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034603&l=5df44&id=218700079

Day trips to Newcastle and Glasgow

I went on two day trips to Newcastle (to see Hei Hei who is studying at Uni of Newcastle) and Glasgow with my classmate Kathy in the first week.

Click here for the two "self-explanatory" photo albums (public access...no need to sign in!):

Newcastle: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034284&l=0149d&id=218700079

Glasgow: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034415&l=c929f&id=218700079

Read the captions!

Hogmanay / First Day of 2009

We had the last supper of 2008 in the Elephant House...the panini tasted very good and the price was very reasonable!!!



Feet First Show's poster on Royal Mile - a mix of Scottish street performances...something like a mini-Edinburgh Art Festival...


We kicked off 2009 by paying a visit to Edinburgh Castle in the afternoon...perhaps the busiest time of the year...haven't seen so many people in a castle before...like the shopping malls in HK! :P We queued up for 30-45 minutes to get the tickets!

Overlooking the city of Edinburgh...Edinburgh Eye and Scott Monument in the middle...Calton Hill on your right...

Feet first performance...no idea what this drama in City Chambers is about...

A very random and "mo liu" 无聊 booth...a man putting up some Tibetan flags (I also have some in my souvenir cupboard at home! :)) and some colourful rubber bands...and two water buckets for the participants to sit on...and murmur some nonsense words...the most "mo liu" (i.e. nonsense...meaningless) show I've ever seen!!!

First footing supplies

A guy dressing up like this...playing a musical instrument...with toy rats on his carpet...another "show"! Perhaps I'm not that "artistic" at all!

Another booth...palm reading...tarot reading...fortune telling...

The most exciting show of the evening...a girl singing in the mid-air!

Three "mickey mouses"?!

A musical instrument powered by water/steam...

A drama performed inside someone's flat along Royal Mile...

The most "mo liu" device of the world...a MANual cashpoint...you need to get some tokens to participate in each booth...to get the FREE tokens, you need to queue up (for at least 10 minutes...there's a long queue) and fooled by the two guys (one inside, one standing next to the yellow machine)...by answering random questions or performaning random acts...e.g. standing on one foot and the guy next to you will try to push you...after being fooled for 2-3 minutes...they'll hand you a few tokens to participate in the shows shown above!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know I need to be more careful when choosing programmes to go during the Edinburgh Art/Fringe Festival this summer! Haha!

31 December 2008

HOGMANAY!!! The long-anticipated Hogmanay is great...but less great than expected...(interesting!) As we're very tired for the vibrant "night life" in the previous days...we decided to head out at 10ish to the street party on Princes street...which proved to be a wise choice!!! I couldn't imagine myself squeezing into the tightly-packed drunk and hyper crowds in the stage starring Glasvegas and some UK pop bands , listening to loud music with super heavy bass, standing in the cold, for 4 or 5 hours to wait for the 3-minute firework displays! :P well, a sign of getting older - and wiser - I suppose...We arrived at the venue at 11 am...and managed to secure a place near the entrance with some fresh air and more mature-looking SOBER people around us...(to avoid being hugged and kissed by drunk strangers when the first moment of the New Year comes! haha!)

The greatest moments were the 3-minute non-stop firework displays in front of Ediburgh Castle (not as good as the one on Calton Hill on the 29th...!) and singing Auld Lang Syne (a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns) together with 10,0000 people on Princes Street! :) I've learnt this song for sooo long...since primary school I think...and I'm happy and proud to sing it on the land of Scotland!!!!!

Should old acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind ?Should old acquaintance be forgot,and old times since ?
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.


First Day of 2009

Happy new year! Wishing my family and all my friends a happy and healthy new year full of love and joy! :)


My New Year resoluations??? I've set a few goals which I want to achieve in this year...but I won't tell you! *secret* :P

Royal Mile was sooo busy and packed with tourists and locals alike. We wanted to have some nice pub meal in a pub...but was told "we don't take in more for tonight"...and even the cheaper burger shops were full...and asked us to return in half an hour...we ended up having our delicious dinner in a fish-and-chips shop along the road before the Feet First show started!

Achievements of this Christmas and New Year holiday:

1. Finished my semantics assignment which is due in mid-January

2. Been to London (visited Science Museum and British Museum, watched Billy Elliot...)

3. Celebrated Hogmanay in Edinburgh

4. Finished reading a few books: 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith, The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J K Rowling, The Surgeon of Crowthorne by Simon Winchester (a must-read for the OED fans! My Christmas present from down under!), now reading To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

5. Re-developed my film-watching habit: Dirty Dancing, High Fidelity, Lie With Me, The Sound of Music (first half only! haha!), Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving (my Christmas present!), a Japanese animation recommended by Jen called "A chain of short stories about their distance"秒速5厘米 - a very good and inspiring film (I like the first part!), Australia (3.5 hours with an intermission!!!!!!!!!), The Reader

So much for now! Uni starts on the 12th again! :)

Loch Ness Revisited & The Dancin'

30 December 2008 (Tuesday)

My second time to Loch Ness and Urquart Castle - very beautiful!!! I went there during the ISC weekend trip in autumn...second time in winter...again in spring and summer maybe...then I can make an album of Loch Ness with four seasons! :)

Jen and I on top of the ruined Urquart Castle

Nessie with a bagpipe...!!!

One of my favourite photos...a bit of Provance in France...haha!

Snowing...

Highland Cow - so cute and a bit silly...how CAN it seeee?!

After more than 7-hour coach ride (3.5 hours from Edinburgh city to Loch Ness), we were exhausted...and bored...so we headed to the grassmarket for the dancin' - a FREE dancing event showcasing performances of Scottish Country dance, Highland dance, Ceilidh, Chinese's Lion Dance (haha!), Moulin Rouge-style Can-can dance, Bollywood dance, Tango (Tango is rather disappointing...I was expecting something like the sexy Tango shot in Step Up), Salsa, Cha Cha...etc etc

Official description: "A brand new free event celebrating dance in all its forms, The Dancin' is being programmed in collaboration with Dance Base. It will celebrate dance and joie-de-vivre as well as herald the arrival of the Year of Homecoming Scotland 2009. It also sees the new-look Grassmarket utilised for a major outdoor, public event."

Can-can dance on the big stage (too faraway...)

A very tiring but fulfilling day! :)

Edinburgh's Pre-Hogmanay - Torchlight Procession

Old College, Faculty of Law, The University of Edinburgh


My university...a bit of Rome! :)

Jen came up north to Edinburgh to spend New Year/Hogmanay with me! :) Being a professional trilingual tour guide of Edinburgh, I made our first stop at the Old College of my university, where the law school is situated!


Winter Wonderland at sunset - beautiful sky

I like this photo...(click at the photo to enlarge it) - Edinburgh Castle on your left, Scott Monument on your right with the Edinburgh Eye behind it and the amusement ride in front of it!

Torchlight Procession on the 29th of December (a Hogmanay warm-up): a wonderfully awesome evening...FREE of charge...highly recommended to everyone who wants to spend Hogmanay in Edinburgh in the coming years...setting off at Royal Mile by pipers and drummers...down to the Mound...with 20,000 (official figure...I didn't count!) people marching with some holding the 5-pound torchlight (quite heavy!)...walking by the Winter Wonderland on Princes Street...up to the very cold Calton Hill for the Viking's bonfire celebration...which ended by a breathtaking, spectacular(adjectives like that...) firework displays...I've never been sooo close to the fireworks...they're like sparkling right on my face...what an amazing experience!!!!!!!!!

Click here for details: http://www.edinburghshogmanay.org/whats-on/torchlight-procession

After the event, we headed home very quickly for a hot chocolate...my toes were freezingly cold...(strange...my body felt warm...not cold at all...but my TOES were very very cold...!)