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