Porto

We started off our trip by going to Porto. Mind you, this isn't the best time to go to Portugal. It's rainy and gloomy - winter was coming after all. Truth be told, we didn't get to see much of anything!  That wasn't because there was nothing to do though. Once quick look at the tourist information for Porto, and you'd find a ton of attractions. It wasn't really because of the weather either.

it was because.. all we wanted to do was eat and drink.

Not terribly exciting, but we just wanted to relax. And so, relax we did. And we did so by doing two things:

i) We went to Cais Da Ribeira.

It's a nice place to chill out at. And well, it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so I do suppose it counts for something. The only problem was that it started raining, so we went off to the other side of the river, to where all the port wine houses were.


ii) Taylor's Port Wine House

The rain was pouring outside, while we stayed indoors sipping on fantastic port wine for free.

Port Wine... for free?

Yes. Free. Take the tour. The guide will explain lots of things about the History and all that, but... at the end of it you do get free white and red ports! There were many glasses leftover.

We helped ourselves.




That very night, we followed a guide from our hostel to watch a Fado performance. It's Portuguese music, played with a  Portuguese guitar and a Spanish guitar, and a singer. The songs are all deeply emotional. A very moving sort of thing. Apparently the good ones are in the little unknown, old Portuguese bars - like the one we went to. That was really good.

The next day we spent walking at the Foz district. We ate roasted chestnuts, walked, and chatted some more. We went to the Casa Da Musica. Architectural wonder? Well, I suppose. Didn't look all that fantastic to me. We were more amazed by how the price of a cup of coffee and a muffin in the cafe was only 2 Euros. Damn. That'll cost me a bloody £6 in London.

And that's it for Porto. Next stop: Lisbon.

LPO

Went for a London Philharmonic Orchestra performance at Southbank last week. It was a truly refreshing break from the studying and the essays that we had to do. Not to mention that the tickets were only 4 pounds! It's some student thing. Noise - I believe it's called. You get all these world-class players and conductors for such an affordable price. We went to watch Janine Jensen playing Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. 

It's amazing - all these perks you get from being a student. :)

Nottingham and Leeds!

Susan

And so I went up to Nottingham on the 11th of the 11th of the 11th of the 11th of the 11th... Ok. Let's not get too carried away here. Haha. I went up to Nottingham on the 11th of November to visit an old friend of mine from primary/secondary school. Well, she was the main reason anyway. The other reason was because of the annual Nottingham Malaysian Games.

It was really great spending time up there. We never actually ended up going for the games though. But I did get a good view of the University and the surrounding neighbourhood. I've sort of come to the conclusion that Nottingham is a really nice place to be in. Really quaint. But goodness me, there seems to not be any asian food around, nor is there a Chinatown! Blasphemy. 

Then on the evening of the 12th, we took a train up to Leeds. This time, to visit another good friend of mine from college (A-Levels). 

That's us: Susan, Audrey and me. 

I've been up to Leeds before. It's really cold up there compared to down here in London (obviously). We had a good time. Walked around in the morning for a little bit, and we managed to catch the Remembrance Day Parade! 

From there we had some nice Indian food at this place called Zam Zam's (or something like that). It was reallly good, and the portions super huge. I was stuffed beyond stuffed. Susan was particularly happy. She got a good dose of Asian food (and the night before we had a Chinese dinner)!

Walked around the city centre, took Susan to the Asian supermarket so that she can buy some stuff back to Nottingham (I still can't believe they don't have a Chinatown in Notts!). I couldn't help but chuckle to myself when she put a packet of fishballs into the cart. hehe. 

And then the labourious train ride back down to London. 

But it was a good trip. :)

Colours.

Autumn is here everyone!

Don't you just love the colours?

Oh, but for a simple pair of jeans!

Mum has always been lecturing me for the past.. I don't know how many years exactly (and that is no exaggeration) to basically wear tighter jeans. They look better apparently.

I think I sort of get what she means. Like, for the past.. I don't know how many years, I couldn't really fanthom what exactly it was that made me look so boyish in my jeans as compared to the other girls walking down the streets.

I mean... jeans are just jeans right?

And I found out that I was wrong.

You see, I've always been wearing jeans like the ones shown below:

And after buying my new pair of skinny jeans.. I finally realise what mum was telling me off about; not looking feminine enough. Hahhaa. And yes mum, I do think I look better now in skinnies.

So as of a week ago, I've been wearing them and looking like:

So mum wince. I mean, wins.



*Note: the above pictures were taken from websites online. The only two pictures so far that did not come from my own camera.

Bloomsbury Festival

And so I'm back in London! Surprised? Maybe not. I haven't posted in about a month after all. Just really busy with work lately. 

We went to the Bloomsbury Festival last weekend. It was good fun! A brilliant little excursion out of our flats and into the sunshine (I make us sound like hermits, don't I?). The weather was perfect. It had been quite cold for the past week, but this weekend the cold went away for a little while. A comfortable temperature of 15 degrees Celsius. 

There were lots of things going on. Walking tours, galleries to visit, exhibitions, little fairs at the gardens surrounding the Bloomsbury area. We went for the fair at Russell Square Gardens on Sunday. 

There were groups performing at different sections of the Gardens. A choir group at one side, a dance group at another. Music was playing everywhere. It wasn't as crowded as we thought it would be. 

There was an exhibition going on as well. I'm not very sure about what the name the exhibition was, but the point of it was that members of the public could pick up individual words from the set which they keep at the side and put them together to form poems. They can then hang the poems up on the space provided. They look like the picture below. 

This one says "on and on and on". Clever, no? The 'author' made it really long and hung it in a circle (instead of letting it hang from the top like the others did) to emphasize even further that it's never ending. 

There were lots of tents set up too. People selling arts and craft, bookstores selling books, a children's corner, a photobooth. It was really quite cool. Lots of things to see. I bought a book called "Wreck this Journal". It's a journal in which the pages will tell you lots of random and silly things to do, such as, 'bring this journal into the shower with you and get it wet'. hahaha. It's been pretty amusing. Good way to release stress I suppose. 

After walking around, ZW felt a little hungry because she hadn't eaten lunch yet. So we walked over to the food tents and bought some Churros. No pictures unfortunately, but I can tell you that they were really fresh and really good and really worth the money. They make the Churros on the spot (with a nifty machine that churns the dough out!). I talked to them and they said that they are at Portobello Market every... Saturday was it? I think they said Saturday anyway. 

Churros in hand, we sat on the grass at the other part of Russell Square Gardens, where they had set up a stage. The SOAS World Music group was playing. You could see old people dancing to the beat, some families just sitting around on the grass (some on the table provided slightly further up), people playing with their dogs, couples snuggling... and like us, friends just sitting around and enjoying the music. 

We decided to go home when it got a little chilly. We walked back towards home, but stopped by one last tent (the children's art and craft tent). Little kids showing off their works by hanging them on the trees. Some had inspiring and touching messages written on them. 

And that wraps up a perfect weekend. 

Broga Hill

Going on a journey?

How does going to Broga sound?

Being back home feels really good. And one of the first few things I did (besides eating all that food!) is to go trekking with a good friend of mine. We went to Broga Hill at Semenyih.

We left the house really early hoping to see the sunrise (thus, preparing to trek in the dark). The funny part was that we got lost on the way to the hill itself, and ended up driving around quite aimlessly. The GPS that we had didn't help much. Lol. When we finally got there, the sun had actually risen quite a bit. There goes the 'watching the sunrise' plan. But we continued on anyway. :)

There were so many people going up, there were times when we actually had to form a line as we went up the hill. It's kinda funny. Like a pilgrimage of sorts.

And when you get to the top, you'll see lots of people just chilling and hanging out and talking. Like the people below.

I suppose that if you want to come up here to pray and meditate, that might possibly be a good idea as well. But then again, if it's just for fun, to pose for the camera, you might want to watch out for people like me with a camera. You might just be caught doing something rather funny. ^_^

Anyway, the view from up there is really nice. There is a lot of open space, and the sights that you see would not be obstructed by tall trees. In fact, the hill is actually nick-named 'Bukit Lalang', which is Malay for 'Thatch Hill'. It'll be good for photography buffs who want to take some good shots as well. The trek to the top isn't that bad. It's quite easy actually. A beginner's hill. And even at the slightly more challenging parts (challenging for beginners that is), there are ropes and stuff to help you go up and down. 

So when you get to the peak... What a sight you'll see!

Looking through the thatches, on the way up. 

Some scene from a movie of a lonely hill top maybe?

So yes. Broga Hill. One of the small pleasures of my country. Bigger trekking/hiking buffs would go for Gunung Kinabalu or Gunung Tahan. But for a weekend trip? this would be good for the soul. Kudos to Eu Jhin who brought me here on a lazy Sunday morning (dragging me out of bed! D:)

T'was really good though. 

Singapore!

Had a whirlwind trip to Singapore!

Was there for an internship at a law firm. Valuable experience, I must add. But definitely not the focus of this post. 

The picture above is at Marina Bay Sands, taken on the Helix bridge. Yeah, it's a really cool bridge which was meant to look like a double helix strand of our DNA (complete with the protein molecules, I must add). I was there with my friend Zhi Wei and her family for her birthday. We were there to catch the light show. Apparently it takes place twice a night during weekdays and three times on the weekends. We went for the 930 show. 

It's pretty cool. Lots of lights, bubbles and music. Instead of using a screen for their show, they use water sprays and lights. Cool concept. And of course, it's to be expected that everything is a Singaporean production, including the singers featured. 

And we had a gathering at her place too. Hehe. 

Had a great time. :) 

More on Singapore in a bit. 

The HighLine

In the last post I was talking about visiting the High Line in New York, and indeed, that's a very nice place to visit (and you should!). The only problem with that place is that there are no actual restaurants at the place itself, so it'd do you some good to eat before you go. There is a coffee stall (which I will talk about later), and an ice cream stall and one mini cafe that just sells cakes and sandwiches, but nothing substantial. 

We went to this Diner which is really close to the HighLine. I do recommend this place. It's really good, the portions are big, and the service is great too. The waiters are really friendly, and it's a A-listed restaurant. 

I promise you that this place, Star on 18, won't let you down. 

Now, the other thing that we did when we walked down the Highline was to stop by at the coffee stall. The name of the stall is Blue Bottle Coffee. Yes, it's the same one brewing at Brooklyn!

Their hot chocolate is really unique. It seems like you can really taste the dark chocolate (so in that manner, it's slightly bitter). It's not exactly very thick, but the consistency is just about right. It has right amount of milk, and just a whole mouthful of sinful melted chocolate. Sounds good no? 

Also, another thing which I find pretty funny about the American coffee places is that you usually have to ask for a double shot of espresso. I guess I'm too used to the ones in the UK. In that same manner, I keep forgetting to order double shots! And thus my coffee has less of a kick. Shame, because I can tell that the coffee is brewed really well. That's my fault. 

Ahhh.. Food and beverages. Who doesn't live for them? It should only be right that we live to eat and not eat to live. 

New York

And so I was in New York!

Some say that it is the city of...

It can also be a great place to chill out. Take Central Park for example. We also caught Shakespeare in the Park (T'was a bit strange though. We caught "All's Well That End's Well". So British, yet, spoken with the American twang. :S )

And you don't even have to travel all the way to Central Park. You could go to the Highline. Pretty place. It's a suspended park, built where there used to be suspended train tracks. Places to sit and chill, some nice ice-cream shops and a coffee cart and a restaurant (the restaurant is not really worth it though, if you ask me). Flowers blooming, butterflies flying. :)

New York is also the place where immigrants used to arrive with the hopes of a new and fresh start. Arriving in a boat from places far away to cry at the promise of freedom and democracy.

And for the artsy kids too. There's really something for everyone. This picture below is of the MOMA. 

And there are lots of other things to do too! The Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Natural History, the Met.

There's the Meatpacking District. Greenwich Village with all the quaint little coffee shops and some nice bars and pubs around, Washington Square, Flushing. 

And for the shoppers? Macy's, Bloomingdale, 5th Avenue (the list goes on!)

(My favourite place was Greenwich Village). I didn't really get to roam around Brooklyn and Queens though. 

More about some New York shops later. There's a good coffee place and a good diner that I want to talk about. But as this is a post on New York, I'd like to sum it up. 

New York is a great place. Lots of things to do. Lots of sights to see. But when I listen to the song 'Empire State of Mind', where it goes:

"New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of"

And I can't help but think that there definitely is a charm to this big ol' city. 

But it's hardly a place where my dreams are made of. 

For me it's London. I just feel that there is no way that this American city can compare to Little Britain. It's the only place I want to be right now.

Can't wait to get back. 

Speedy

And so, 2 weeks ago we had a whirlwind trip to Washington DC (our hearts go out to those affected by Hurricane Irene).

A friend once told me that the city was one of the highlights of the east coast, the other two basically being Boston and New York. But to be honest, there is nothing much here. 

Well, you have the White House, lots of memorials and museums... but nothing much basically. Just a day trip kinda place. 

Although I do get bored with memorials, I think it's great how they put them all in one area. So you can sort of complete all of them in one sweep, and feel like you've done a lot for the day. 

Some places to go to:

- the memorial area (Jefferson, Lincoln, Vietnam War, Korean War, etc)

- the air and space museum

- ** The NEWSEUM! :D Best highlight of the state if you ask me. 

- Capitol Hill (really pretty)

- The White House (just to take a picture of it to say that you've been there. If it wasn't the administrative building of the country I wouldn't even have bothered visiting!)

Darwin's Ltd.

There are actually two of these places in Cambridge, MA. I happen to go to the one on Cambridge Street (and that's the one I'm posting about!). 

Darwin's Ltd. is a splendid little place. It's pretty spacious, almost always buzzing with life. They serve excellent sandwiches. It's rather cute too, how they name the sandwiches after the local street names around the shop. It would be for that reason that some people might find that their favourite sandwich has different names if they went to the other shop! (note: I took that last sentence and paraphrased it from their website. Just to let you know) I've never tried the daily specials however. Those are pretty interesting because they sell it by weight. You tell the server what you want, and how much you want, and they'll cut it up, pack it, and weigh it. 

They also have a wide variety of salads for those who are of the healthier sort. And if you're one for pastries, they sell some cookies, muffins and (i think they're called) whoopie pies!

Anyway, although the lines are always long, it doesn't actually take forever to get your food. You'd be quite certain, actually, to get your food within a maximum 20 minutes (unless there's some monster at the front of the line making it hell for the server of course).

Their coffee is nothing really to shout about. Their cafe latte is just so-so. BUT, for some reason, their iced latte is quite good! Funny. And if you come in the evening, where there's less of a crowd, you'd actually be able to see the staff joking around and having a great time. I shouldn't be eaves-dropping, but sometimes the conversations are pretty funny (and they talk quite loudly too!).

There are plenty of seats and chairs, and a good large sofa for customers to sit on. Wifi is free and they don't really chase you out of there. 

I suppose that can be a good or a bad thing. 

Good because you can sit there and do your work and get all comfy and... well, you get the gist. 

But well, if everyone is gonna do that, then pretty much.. You won't be able to find a seat sometimes. And that's possibly the only downer. It does tend to get overrun by people interacting only with their computer screens. 

But otherwise, I really like this place. It's my escape from the over-populated and gimick-y Harvard Square area. It has more of a local flavour, and the neighbourhood is just lovely. 

I'd give this place a B+. :)

(On a random note, I've noticed that I only write about places I like. I never have the urge to talk about bad places that I've been to. *shrugs* I don't see myself changing)

On this journey

Waiting. 

It'll be a while until I next find a place to talk about. I won't be going anywhere this weekend, nor will I go anywhere next weekend. I've got quite a bit of work to do. But in any case, all I can say is that life.. is a wait. In this journey, that's always a part of it. You wait for the train. You hop on the train. You wait until you reach your destination.  It's not rocket science. 

And so I'm waiting. 

On the train that is. 

I'm sorry for being cryptic, but maybe I'll let on next time. 

I'm Jet-lagged.

When I think about my life, from last July to this July, I have been to the following places:

Melbourne, Petaling Jaya/ Kuala Lumpur, London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Cardiff, Bristol, Rome, Warsaw, Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Boston, New York (and soon Washington DC). 

Sometimes, after being away from home for so long, you can't help but listen to songs like these. 

Well, I don't really have anyone waiting for me, but in terms friends at least, we've been all been having those moments where it's been really difficult for us to talk and stuff like that because of the time zones. 

So in a non-romantic way, I dedicate this to some of my best friends and my family. I don't need to list them down. 

"I want to share your horizon and see the same sun rising". 

Crema Cafe

Introducing: A little place in Harvard Square where I go to to have my daily fix. I found this place by chance actually, mainly because the chain that I had been going to, Peet's, was closed for renovation. Peet's was quite good, wayyyyy better than Starbucks, but it wasn't just quite right. So although it caused me quite a bit of inconvenience to close for renovation, it helped me find Crema.

Crema is a delightful little place. It sells some cakes and other treats like muffins and cookies. It also has some quiches too. The ambience is a little dark, definitely not that conducive for people who came by to read, but it's good for chit-chat. A sign hung up on the second floor reminds customers to be polite enough to leave after an hour so that other customers will have seats to sit on when they come in.

The coffee is great, that much I would say. It is just the right strength (for me at least. Like I have mentioned before, I like it pretty strong). The only problem I would have is that it is pretty inconsistent in a peculiar way:

If you have your coffee in-house, it would come out great. And... If you didn't, and ordered take-away instead, it comes out pretty bad. My cafe latte comes out tasting like just hot milk. Strange, how it's supposed to have two shots of espresso. 

My conclusion?

Why, sit down and have a cup of coffee in the cafe of course!

And perhaps you'll get to meet some interesting characters too. I had a great conversation with this old man the other day about South East Asia and China. 

How about that for another great coffee place?

Harvard COOP: Musings

I was walking slowly down the well-lit aisle, browsing through books. The shelves, taller than myself, housed thousands and thousands of fiction titles. My hands were hovering above, "Thinkers", a new book that was just published recently, and had earned the Putlizer Prize for fiction in 2010. I was near the back of the store, where the back entrance was, that would take you to the second half of the Harvard COOP, which sold all the merchandise. 

I walk a few more steps, and I noticed this sign which said:

Looking for Harvard Insignia Gifts and Clothing? 

Go straight back and exit to the right. 

You will find the Insignia Department by using the Brattle or Palmer Street entrances of the Harvard COOP located in the building just across the street.

Just 3 seconds after I noticed it, two girls shouted, "Hey guys! We found out where to go!"

They read the sign out loud, then turned around, AND HEADED STRAIGHT BACK TO THE FRONT OF THE STORE. As they walked off in a hurry, I couldn't help but burst out in laughter. 

The sign had meant that they should walk straight, until they reached the back of the store (near where I was), and exit through the back entrance. 

I smiled in amusement and walked to the cashier. 

Summer School

I haven't gotten around to posting about it yet, but here I am, in Boston. I'm attending summer school in Harvard. Some people have asked me why I'm so willing to put myself through school and study during the summer, but hey, there's so many interesting things to learn! Learning is an adventure in itself.

So yes, I'm back to staying up late to finish assignments and with my cup of coffee. 

And I'm loving it. 

Wien

Wien, Austria. Or, should I say, Vienna, as it is more commonly known. This was our last stop during our epic Central Europe trip.

It would seem a little unkind to summarise all that we did in this place down to a few paragraphs, especially when I've elaborated quite a little on the previous places. The main reason for this was just simply because it happened quite some time ago and I've been busy doing things.. and thus not really having the time to come back here.

But in any case, I'll just make a list of the places I really enjoyed.

Haus der Musik:

House of Music. It has some really cool things in there, and there are free concerts too. You can even pretend to be a conductor (and there is a simulated orchestra that will actually move in tune with your conducting. hehe). Some floors were just weird. You'd have to go there and see what I mean. But it's a very nice experience nonetheless. :)

The Opera House:

Well, we didn't exactly watch the opera. It was a play. I'm not exactly sure why this was so, but we got to see it for free. Basically we think that it was because we happened to be there on a Friday. The Opera House would have a wide screen on the outside by the courtyard, and they'd lay mats out for people to sit on and some chairs as well. What we did was that we bought some Chicken Schnitzel, some crisps and some drinks and had a nice meal while watching it! Sure, it was all in German, but heck, we couldn't care anyway. We had fun. :)

Food!!!!!

Who doesn't love food?

When in Wien, go try some coffee. But the place you should go to for that (and some good cakes and some AWESOME asparagus soup!) would be DEMEL. :)

For the Chicken Schnitzel, go to this place called Figlmuller. It is cheap, and tastes fantastic. Reputed to be the best in Vienna, and I agree!

And last but not least, Cafe Sacher, for some brilliant Sacher Tots. :D

Some places to go, which might be a nice experience but I wasn't that fascinated by, was Mozarthaus (Mozart Museum) and the Imperial Guards Horse Practice.

Also, there is this really cool church. Now, most churches have stained glass. This church is a little different. It has coloured glass panels, and thus when the light shines it, it gives the church a trippy kind of feel. It becomes colourful! Weird, but cool.

I'm sorry to reduce Vienna to this, but my memory isn't that fantastic. All this is just based on pictures though.

Oh, and you should definitely pay for the walking tours to get a good overall view on Vienna.

Wien.. I love this city. Definitely one of my more favourite places in the world.