year abroad in London

Halloween passed uneventfully. In fact, I didnt realize it was the 31st , until I walked into Uni and saw posters publicizing Halloween parties. I thought back to the days of trick-o-treating in HK. I remember one year dressed as a clown, another year dressed as a businessman (in suit, briefcase, moustache etc.), another as a skeleton, and one year as a witch of course. I havent dressed up in years, and this year turned out to be no different. So, I spent the night watching Sin City with other people who also werent too keen on going out.

Im excited. In five days time, Im going to be seeing a friend who I havent seen for seriously 6 years. Jaime! I cant believe it. Jaime, Jackie (sisters) and I go way back. Jaime and I used to go swim training religiously; we would go say five to six times a week and two hours each session. During summer, it would be four hours each day. It was hardcore. We were tight back then and known as the chatty-English-talking-yet-Chinese-looking-girls-who-slacked-off-during-practices. Then, I moved to Australia, and we just lost touch. Last week, I got a msg on Friendster (ah, serving some useful purpose) from Jackie. She learnt I was in London for the year, and I learnt that Jaime is doing a year out and working in Cambridge. So, I got Jaime's number and gave her a call. The conversation started off blaming each other for losing touch (in a joking way of course), then moved onto summing up the last six years of our lives, to what we were doing presently. By the end of the phone call, we made plans to travel to Poland together this coming weekend!! I had already booked a flight to Krakow, but that evening, she booked herself a seat too. Oh my, its going to be weird but fun! two crazy girls roaming the streets of Krakow. Bring it on!

Krakow

Warsaw

Gdansk

[Source: European Commission]

Ill be spending about a week in Poland: 4 days with Jaime in Krakow, then two days in Warsaw and then 1 day in Gdansk. Actually, I havent finalized where I am departing from. Even though, I have a ticket leaving Gdansk back to London on the 11th Nov, I am thinking of forfeiting the ticket and purchasing another one but leaving from Warsaw. I know, it will be a waste of a ticket but at the same time, I rather spend more time in Warsaw then spread myself thinly across the length of Poland. I mean, Krakow is way South and Gdansk is a port at the North. Also, I dont think two days in Warsaw does justice to the capital.

Since Im not good at recapping what I have been up to, Ill let the photos speak for themselves:

Ruby & Sou-Jin @ Camden Lock Market on Sat.
Sou-Jin is from the States, and upon finding out she goes to UPenn, I asked if she knew Jay, a good high school friend. And she did! what a small world

Sou-jin (love the expression) outside the ultimate Donut Stand. Honestly, Krispy Kremes cant compare. lols on the topic of KKs, they are abundant in London. You even get them in supermarkets here, like in Tescos. somehow, they just dont seems as appealing as they were in Sydney.

Eleanor & Fe on the bus after I forgot what...Ek. OH yea, the Comedy Store. We lost the others after our trip to the ice-cream parlour so we went back to the halls ourselves.

Eleanor & Sou-jin. Okay, Eleanor is a greatt cook. Now and then, she will whip up a communal two-course meal (dessert as well of course!)

Matt, my neighbour, is prehaps the funniest and weirdest (for want of a better word) guy. He is this eternally optimistic, go-lucky type of person. He does the strangest antics in the corridor. Im no longer suprised to see him breaking into a dance mid-conversation, or singing impromptu, or dressing up in his Mr. Darcy (I think)-outfit (I definitely have to take a photo!)

Nehal & Ali & Yennie on Sat night - we started at the Phoneix bar, and undecisive as we were, wandered around Soho for agess before settling in on this place I forgot the name of. It turned out to be pretty good.

I love this toned printed photo. I got it at Camden market. Its a shot taken of Picadilly Circus on an early Sunday morning. The remarkable thing about this photo is that there is not a single person in sight. Whoa, this is Picadilly we are talking about. Its kind of eerie though, sort of reminds me of scene in Vanilly Sky of the deserted Streets. Im tempted to wake up real early one Sunday morning and walk to Picadilly to take a similar shot.

Woke up rather...ahem..late on Sunday..like 12pm (really, it was 1pm, but thanks to day-light-saving, clocks have gone back an hour) to noiser than usual street noise. I looked out my window and saw Hermoine from Harry Potter. Actually, I didnt know who it was, until I zoomed with my camera.

***

Ill leave you with this photo (made bigger of course, because its classic!) of Eleanor dressed up for Halloween and Ruby very much into her role as the viscious murderer.

4:30 PM
Lura

Monday, October 24, 2005

I'm becoming complacent with updating this blog, as well as with replying emails (sorry!). I am terrible with keeping in touch...especially with those who don't use MSN. Its sad to think that my means of communication has reduced to MSN. I do like the phone though. 'Cept I have misplaced my intl calling card. Ive noted in my diary to buy a new one tomorrow.

Back to emails, I got an email from a friend saying she enjoyed reading my blog, which seemed to touch on all topics except studying - right - and its the primary reason why Im in London. I can summarize the last four weeks at uni in one word - reading. Yes, there are tons of reading. Its too depressing to add up the number of pages of reading for each subject for each week. The thing is, you actually have to do it; in tutorials, where class size is a mere single digit, you inevitably get picked on. Last Monday, I had my first tutorial for one of my subjects, Civil Liberties & Human Rights. The tutor (with the heaviest Scottish accent I have heard so far) went around the class asking each person their response to each of the tutorial questions. In between discussions, she would also randomly throw out a question at someone. No slacking alright.

As for my other subjects, they are going fine. Its difficult to say which is my favourite subject, because a lot of my subjects are overlapping: three of four are concerned with the law on the international level - human rights, public international law, and conflict of laws (essentially, private international law). The lecturers here give seminars with few or no notes at all. My human rights lecturer doesn't bring anything to class (now and then, he would bring the subject reading guide so he could refer us to read certain cases). Its a far cry from....ahem....a certain lecturer who teaches lawyers ethics at Monash. In none of my seminars, do the lecturers use powerpoint presentations or projector slides. I don't miss it, because you feel the lecturer is talking to you and not telling you, if you know what I mean.

Last night (Sunday), I went with some friends from residence to watch stand-up comedy at The Comedy Store. It was brilliant, much funnier than I had anticipated. They had five comedians up on stage who essentially improvised using suggestions by the audience. It was engaging. The troupe were brilliant. They asked the audience for absolutely random items (such as unusual household object), places, people and they would on the spot break out into a song, or a skit about it. Oh, you just had to be there. Highly recommended. We are already planning to go back but on another night (each night features different types of comedy - like on Wed and Sun nights, its improvised comedy; on Friday, I think its classic stand up comedy where you have one comedian on stage at a time giving a stand up). If my finance lets me, I want to make this a monthly affair.

I was about to write, "Its well late" rather than "Its very late". Using "well" is SO British. Like, some of my friends will go, "that is well good". It is apparently British slang. I find that amusing. I mean, I associate 'slang' words with real informal, casual, and almost uneducated language. But to call "well" slang, that sounds too proper.. Lols. I guess, it just all fits in nicely with the sterotype of British English. Oh, there is this other word that is commonly used. "Safe". It takes on a variety of meanings - good/fine/cool/thanks - and will be used in most bizarre contexts:

A says to B, "Is this book yours? Can I borrow it?"

B replies, "Yea, sure"

A says, "Safe"

please tell me this word is making its way out of common usage.

5:33 PM
Lura

Monday, October 17, 2005

Ooh I have been eating SO much lately. Not leading a very healthy lifestyle. Ah wells, here are my latest addictions:

Ben & Jerrys ice-cream. Ive finally tried it. Dublin mudslide. Irish cream liqueur ice cream, chocolate chocolate chip cookies & a coffee fudge swirl. real good ice-cream. Ill be back for more, and worringly, its just down the road.

Carrot cake at Pret a Manger. This cake is by far the best carrot cake Ive eaten. Full of goodness.

Avocados from Portabello Market. 5 for 1 pound. Bargain. Let me tell you a delicious filling for sandwiches. Finely dice up several rashers of bacon and fry it on a pan until crisp. Then, mash up a whole avocado and add the bacon mixing it. Add grounded up peppercorn and squeeze half a lemon. Heap a generous amount of this beautiful mixture onto freshly toasted bread. This stuff is too good.

Masala Chai. Okay, this is something I have been addicted to since the beginning of this year. But I havent had enough of it. Now, I get requests for chai in my corridor. Here is what you do for two servings:

Pour one cup of water into a pot and add to it some cloves, cardamon, cinammon sticks, and star anise, sugar and 2 tsp of loose black tea leaves. Once it starts boiling, add one cup of milk. When it boils, turn down the heat and cover letting it simmer for 2 minutes. Then strain and drink whilst its hot!

Greek yogurt & Summerfruit Compote from M&S. This stuff is delicious, but well worth its money. The fruit compote is probably the only item I regularly buy from Marks and Spencer. What I do is get a bowl, scoop some creamy thick (plain) yogurt, top it up with sweet compote and spinkle a handful of muesli with nuts.

Cheese. All types. okay, so minus goat, blue and feta cheese. Corie got me started on them, when she brought over some Dutch smoked cheese she brought from Amsterdam. I think I have three cheeses going in my fridge..smoked, English chedder and philadelphia

Fe outside B&Js parlour

Gabu loving the cheese stall at Portabellos (its my third Sat in a row at Portabellos. *blush* Im making sure Im going somewhere else this Sat!!)

4:22 PM
Lura

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

One thing that has struck me about the people I meet in London is how cultured and well-traveled they are. It may be because of the proximity of UK to the Continent, or Africa or the Middle East, but I am constantly awed at the various places people have been. This may not be a true account of people in London in general, but just in my residential corridor I have met people who have traveled extensively. I am so inspired!

The guy living next to me, Matt, recently spent the great part of this (and last) year in South America, of which 5 months were in Peru. In his room, there are amazing photography and posters of the mountainous Andes and strange artifacts given by his grandfather who live in Goa, India. He is going to visit his granddad at the end of this year.

Georgia lives opposite me. She spent her gap year traveling all over Africa, spending most of her time in the countries spanning the East coast. She also hopped over to India during this time. She will be flying back to Kenya at the end of this year to spend NY there.

Ari lives in the room diagonally opposite. He has an Israeli background. Although born here and is British, he goes back often, and tells me how beautiful it is over there! He has traveled a lot but I wont list all the countries here.

Ali lives further down the corridor away from the kitchen. He grew up in Egypt and Iraq. In fact, he spent the recent summer in Iraq (escaping bombs?). He tells us that the situation over there isnt as hyped out as it is made out in the Western media.

There are many more people who I have met who have been to places I can only dream of going. I have also met a great number of multi-lingual people who can speak several languages fluently. John, who lives in the room on my left is full British and is fluent in French and German. Matt, on my right can speak Spanish. Ari speaks Hebrew and basic Arabic. The diversity doesnt end there; there is also the different religions people are attached to. Take Islam for instance; in London, when you walk down a street, you dont give a second thought to the passing Muslim woman dressed in a hijab (well, maybe you think it must be hot wearing it). But what I am getting at is diversity is like the norm here.

This is, I think a sharp contrast with Sydney and Melbourne (in terms of how 'travelled' an average Sydneysider and Melbournian is with a Londoner). Its a generalization, I know. But London is seriously a melting pot of cultures and languages. I read somewhere that only 1 in 4 Londoners is actually born in London. That means at least three quarters of the London population is imported. This is one of the reasons why I love it here. Its a diverse and exciting city to live in, made up of people that span the world. Its like a mini-world contained in the one city. Exaggeration? Maybe, but it feels that way..

1:08 PM
Lura

Sunday, October 09, 2005

once again, Im deviating from reading...

This weekend was totally unproductive. I didnt get any substantial reading done. Im going to regret it when I walk into class tomorrow. Ive uploaded some old old photos (finally)..But firstly, a run down of this weekend. I hit the markets again...yes. On Saturday, it was Portabello market in the the west end, and on Sunday, it was Brick's lane in the east end. There are markets everywhere in London, but these two are the more known ones.

On Saturday night, I went to the weirdest but the coolest looking bar/lounge Ive been to (its not really either. during day-time, its a restaurant but at night, it turns into a bar) called Sketch, just off Regent Street. I only took a few photos of the interior, but it turned out nothing quite like it does in real life. Sometimes, I hate my camera! anyways, the toilets were the most original toilets Ive been...each toilet is in an individual egg capsule. I felt like I was in some futuristic world. I searched up some photos on the net that look a lot better than mine of the venue (click here)

Eleanor with the egg capsule toilets (love them); the live band; Julien & Juliet at the Sketch

Brick Lane: at Vibe Bar in the Shoreditch area; Andy and Monica (finally, finally see Mon after a series of mishaps with meeting up). Ill be coming back to Brick Lane whether its for the food...there are loads of Bangladeshi food stores (yes, I brought even more spices) or the clothes market that Mon brought us to. Im happy to say, I had a really good cup of coffee. I dare say, the best I had so far in London.

So, thats the weekend in photos. And here are the old photos, from the more recent to the least:

Jule & Gabu in the law library; group pic @ the Porterhouse Brewery (again)..Julia started cracking up and there she is, the one bending down; Julia 2 & Gabu; and two out-of-place market photos taken in the Portabello market (I was astonished at the size of the pumpkin!)

At a vietnamese restaurant (first viet meal since melbourne! there arent as many viet places as in Melb...one thing I miss about Melb); met up with Rosh who I have seen in ages (and who has since forgiven me for running him over on my skies in Switzerland...hahaha...he still remembers!); Rosh and his beautiful face, and eric at a nice bar in Old Street; Dez sleeping on the sofa (hehe I got the nice big double bed...thanks)

The Camden Town market I raved about previously; all the stores sell very individualistic, alternative types of clothing; woo hoo, I gotta go back (prehaps, after I find paid work...umm..haha)

The guys were late (again)...agh. but I took the opp to take photos at the Oxford Circus junction...ahh tribute to beautiful London; the guys contemplating whether to join the long queue at a Jap restaurant; Chris and Eric chowing their huge pizzas; and that scrumptious looking pizza is mine (its as good as it looks by the way...and cheap too! 3 quid)

The York photos Ive been meaning to post up for agess. Kenny drooling over the pastry selection (hehe, love that photo); us being all proper (and under dressed) for proper English tea (me having coffee instead...lolz)

This is what York looks like more or less. Lots of greenery and just beautiful architecture. There is this river that runs through it and a series of bridges that you can cross to the center of town. Ah, when I look at these photos again, I realize I really should visit other parts of England (and Ireland if possible)

Alrighty, thats it. This is bad. Blogger is bad for me. Its so late now. I am going to ban myself from posting for at least a week >.<

Have a lovely week everyone~

5:30 PM
Lura

Friday, October 07, 2005

Ohh I am so stuffed. I just devoured a large bowl of spaghetti bolognese (I refilled it too) and a glass of orange juice, polished off with some chocolate clogs (thanks, Corie). My poor digestive system...my habits of eating too fast, too much and too late. lols. Its 10.40pm and I had my dinner 10 minutes or so ago. Im proud to say, I made bolognese sauce from scratch. If you are interested, this is what I did:

1. fry the finely chopped onion and garlic till lightly browned;
2. add diced up carrots;
3. add the mince meat and cook until browned;
4. throw in the sliced mushrooms and let it simmer until the meat is done;
5. add a can of chopped tomatoes (or unchopped, then chop it roughly);
6. add enough tomato paste until you get the right consistency for the sauce;
7. finally, add salt to taste and herbs (fresh like, basil and rosemary) or dried mixed herbs

Yesterday, I decided to do my grocery on Edgware St because Ive had enough of Tesco and Sainsbury, two (lower-end) supermarkets in UK. The problem with living in central London is that the supermarkets are small and the selection is limited. So, I decided to venture to Edgware to do my shopping. There were heaps of Middle-eastern grocery stores around...and in no time, my basket was filled with spices: whole/ground cumin seeds, fenugreek, coriander powder, cinammon, cloves, black cardamons, mustard seeds, onion seeds, red chilli powder and some more I forgot. So, it looks like Ill be cooking up Indian food again...lols. So, last night, I made my first masala tea in London :) felt like being back in India...for a short sweet moment.. haha

random photos:

isn't this cute? all power points in Denmark look like this...aww

my friend's studio in Copenhagan. You know, when people talk of bachelor's pad. Well, this is it. I didnt take a great shot, but I really like the place. Its one large room, with an open kitchen, own washing machine and dryer, walk-in shower shared toilet place. very neat. So self-contained.

7 Elevens!! Oh my, I was so happy to see this franchise. they have it in both Sweden and Denmark. Boy, does it bring back good memories of HK. I realize, if you grew up with 7 Elevens, then when you move somewhere that doesn't have it, its conspicously absent.

This blog started talking about food, so its only fitting to end it with a photo of food. This was the Spanish meal we had in Copenhagan. It was the most delicious Spanish meal I had.

2:22 PM
Lura

Sunday, October 02, 2005

London is truely an awesome city. I love it. The markets here are fabulous. Glebe market and Paddington market in Sydney, and Camberwell market in Melbourne are the paler cousins of the markets here in London. This weekend was all about "eye" shopping and visiting markets.

On Saturday, it was Celebrate Oxford Street and the street for the first time was closed to cars; and from Marble Arch to Oxford Circus, the road was pedestrianized. By mid-day, the street was so packed with people because there a concert was set up in the middle of the road and there were entertainers scattered down the street, ranging from clowns on stilts and drummers playing suspended in air. It was cool to take shots of Oxford St standing in the middle of the road.

In the afternoon, I visited Portabello market near Notting Hill Gate with my cousin who was visiting for the weekend. Oh my. The market was so good. We moved from stalls that were selling creative and unique pieces by young designers, to stalls selling second-hand clothes and vintage items, to antiques and jewellery, to food stalls selling fresh bread, Mediterrean olives and cheese, to the food markets selling cheap fruit and vegetables (here, I saw a hugeee pumpkin). There is so much to see and eat.

Afterwards, we took a bus to Knightsbridge, where the famous Harrods department store is. Wow, its a drooling episode walking through the food court. Just imagine, rows and rows of truffles, chocolates, gourmet cheeses and other scrumptious goodies.

In the evening, I met up with two friends for coffee on the Strand in Covent Garden. My sense of orientation is poor. I feel wherever I go, I take the long way. I need to invest in a London map. One of my aims over this year is to get to know Central London really well. Later, we met up with some other people for a drink in the pub. Did I mention pubs here close at 11pm. Its really early compared to Australia. Anyways, the first pub we went to was Walkabout which ironically is an Aussie one. It was quite bad though. We left and stumbled into the Porterhouse Pub, which is the best pub I have been to so far in London. The decor is amazing..with copper pipes running throughout the pub. There were two (or three) levels..as we were there Saturday night, they had a live band playing downstairs behind the bar. Although the prices were steeper than other places, I think the atmosphere justifes it. We are going back next week. It is that good. I have these two friends that are German and of course love their beer. I, on the other hand, never liked beer..its that bitter taste that I never seemed to acquire a taste for. So, it has always been vodka concotions of some variation. But last week, I had a sip of my friends beer; she had ordered Fosters or Stella (forgot) with lime. And to my surprise, I didnt mind it. It wasnt bad and it wasnt great. It was just ordinary. So last night, I decided to order a pint of Chiller lager w/ lime and I actually enjoyed it. Maybe the lime made the difference, or maybe my tastebuds have changed *shrugs*. One thing I have definitely laid off are bottled Smirnoff, VDK, Barcadi Breezers and the like, which in comparison to beers, just taste so sweet.

This morning, after breakfast, I went to yum cha. what a bad idea. Because after both meals, I was so stuffed. Its so weird. In Melbourne, I have only yum-cha once and that was with a friend's family. But here in London, is already my second time to go for yum cha! Im suprised. I wasnt particularly craving for dim sums...I never really do. But Chris asked if I was up for lunch in Chinatown and I said sure. It turned out to be a good lunch, because 1. to my surprise, Chris had invited Li along, an old friend from HK who I havent seen in years (it was funny, because he was waiting at the entrance of the restaurant, and I walked in and we were both so surprised to see each other...he thought I was prehaps just there for a holiday and happened to be having lunch at the same place) and 2. I brought two friends from Goldsmid who have never tried dim sums in their life. And they loved it....of course!! haha who doesn't like dim sum. i forgot to order chicken feet for them. haha.

After yum cha, I headed to Liverpool Street Station to meet two friends from my course to go shopping at Spitalfield market. While Portabello market is more of an outdoor market, Spitalfields is indoors (its like in a sheltered yard). The place was packed. Apparently its only a Sunday market, and so hence the croweds. There were a lot of things I like, but too expensive to purchase. when we walked into the food section of the market, I wish I didnt eat lunch. There were homemade fudges, cakes, fresh fruit yogurts, olives, cheese...but even though I was stuffed, I still brought a belgium chocolate and nut slice..Mmmm

I seem to take less and less photos each day. But I guess thats normal, as I dont carry a camera around Melbourne taking photos every day. Ill try and put the photos I have....once I get my internet working in my room (its still not working! ahhh. Im using the net in the downstairs computer room)

Update - my internet is working!! woo hoo. thanks to my neighbor. okay, so instead of trying to do some reading before tucking into bed, I decided to upload the most recent photos. I realized, I took alottt of photos in Denmark & Sweden but Ill post them up another time

Celebrate Oxford St festival; traffic free; view from my room

Law society event @ Fuel bar in Covent Garden

(Group pic: Leo, Cara, ??, Christelle, I and Julia. E)

Last night in Covent Garden; coffee shop on the Strand with two Julias; Porterhouse Pub with Christelle and her boyfriend)

Selfridges Department Store; night view from the computer room (I really cannot complain where I live!)

Okay, thats its for now. Will upload some old photos...especially of beautiful Copenhagan soon

1:41 PM
Lura