My life as an exchange student. Also attempts to compartmentalise scarce amounts of time for crazy parties, cheap beer, far-out travels and frantic studying.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Back from Dublin!
Hi everyone!
Just to let everyone know I'm safely back home in DTU!
Dublin was pretty rushed. But still it was fantastic! The close-knit and energetic Irish culture, the traditional Irish bars, the colourful flower gardens, the ancient churches. And I've lots of great photos to show you! They're by far the most colourful and scenic!!
However, there's a bunch of urgent assignments to be completed, so those will come first...
But don't worry, I'll continue with London and do Dublin pretty soon! Check back in a while!!
Day 2: A new day of adventures! Abel and I had booked the Camelot and Stonehenge tour for day 2 and we were to meet at Victoria Coach Station at 745 the next day! But we only reached back at 5am!! from the previous night's roaming! We were going to be so stoned looking at stonehenge! We made do with 1.5hrs of sleep and managed to wake up at 630am to take the train.
But the station entrance was locked. It finally opened at 715 and though we were near Victoria, it was a mad rush to reach there and find the meeting place to board the bus. But we made it just on time! phew! Yuanshuo had arrived the previous night and now we were 3! yay!
Our first stop for the day was Stonehenge! But not before a 2 hour bus ride to the outskits of London! Abel and I were so thankful! We slept like logs. And I think the bus driver/tour guide was deeply puzzled as to why his explanations of the sights were so boring. But before long, we reached! Everyone was given a audio set and off we went to start the audio tour! There are numbers along the route that correspond to numbers on the audio set and there was a recording we could listen to for each number. The recording started with grand medivial drums. ba-bum-ba-bum... Lo and Behold! Stonehenge! See for yourself just how large the stones are! Now imagine how the ancient builders managed to move the stones over 25 miles from the nearest stone quary to their present location. Mind you, each of the stones weighed up to 50 tonnes! There were certainly no mechanical lorries at 2500 BC! And worse still, Flintstones technology could no longer be used as the dinosaurs were already extinct!
And notice some of the stones have a horizontal piece resting above it? The horizontal piece is called a lintel. Just how on earth did they manage to place the lintels above the vertical stones? The exact method is still a mystery, but scholars believe the moving was achieved using a mix of horses, and ramps and the lintels was placed using pulleys and scaffoldings.
Stonehenge was initially built for pagan worship. And throughout the centuries, the pagans expanded the structure. It is thought that construction took place over 2000 years, but that the stones were erected around 2500BC. It was simply amazing staring at such this 5000 year old stucture and thinking how many hundreds of thousands of people had been involved in the construction and had been at this same site during their pagan rituals throughout the years. wow~
After we completed the route, it was back to the bus and towards Glastonbury Tor! The rest of the tour was to cover sites that were relevant to the legend of King Arthur! Glasonbury Tor is a hill that rises abruptly among the flat plains. It looks man-made, but is actually all-natural. According many scholars, Glastonbury Tor corresponds to Avalon in the King Arthur story. Avalon was the place where King Arthur was brought after his defeat at the Battle of Camlann.
Actually, the existence of King Arthur in Camelot with his knights of the round table as written in the great classic has yet to be proved factually, but many believe he was based on a great warrior leader in the 5th century. But who cares! The legend paints such a rich picture of the knight's code of chivalry and adventure; and of romance and righteousness! To me, King Arthur lives on! At the top of the tor stands St Michael's tower, which is all that is left of St Michael's Church. The church had fallen into neglect during the Reformation years. This was also the site of the execution of a prolific figure long ago - The Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey. More on that in a while. In England, it seems that many stories and places involve some execution or other. We took another path down the Tor and reached the Chalice Well. The Chalice Well is thought by some to be the location where King Arthur was miraculously healed after being mortally wounded during his final fight at the Battle of Camlann. In some versions, King Arthur was buried in Avalon. But in other traditions, people cannot bear to have the mightly King Arthur killed off. Instead, they believe King Arthur was healed and is now sleeping, waiting for the right moment to wake up. Others claim the Chalice Well is the location where Joseph of Arithmathea hid the Holy Chalice used in the Last Supper, hence the name Chalice Well. Many believe the water to possess magical healing powers and there is scientific proof that the water magically gushes at a constant rate even during drought. The water of the spring is brownish-red and some say it symbolises the rusty iron nails used during the cruxifiction of Christ. Next on the list is Glastonbury Abbey, just a short drive down the road. This was once a great Benedictine monastary, built in 712. But during the reign of big baddie Henry Vlll, many monastaries were looted and destroyed during the suppression of monastaries, including the great Glastonbury Abbey.
To put things into context, Henry Vlll had married Catherine of Aragon but Catherine was unable to give Henry a male heir. Henry intended to divorce Catherine and requested an annulment of his marriage from the Pope. But this was refused as the Catholic church believes marriage is very sacred and cannot be so easily annuled. Henry then made himself the Supreme Ruler of the Church of England. However, this changed the course of religion in England, which is now mostly Anglican instead of Catholic.
To prevent uprisings, Henry went about formally dissolving monastries where his greatest threats - the abbots and monks lived. He confiscated the land and sold off everything he could, destroying many religous relics and sculptures in the process. This is known as the Suppression of the Monastries. A great pity! The Abbot of Glastonbury refused to hand over his abbey and was executed at st. Michael's church. Several other abbots met with the same end, but others had no choice but to relent. With the monastry dissolved, the Abbey fell into neglect. Now all that remains is its ruins. Wandering around, I cannot help but feel a tinge of sadness that such a majestic abbey had to be destroyed. It could very well have been like a St Paul's Cathedral!
Here's a site that purportedly marks the grave of where King Arthur and his wife Queen Guinevere were buried. The Glastonbury monks had claimed to have found their bodies in Glastonbury and relocated their tomb into the Abbey. For many years, this was a site of religious pilgrmage. But the tomb was destroyed and lost during the Reformation.
After that, we headed down to the town of Glastonbury for a walk. It was a small town and there were many new age religion shops along the streets - not surprising considering its past affiliation with King Arthur and Avalon. Last on the itinery was a trip to see the Avebury Stones. This is a ring of huge stones that is similiar to Stonehenge. But it is slightly older than Stonehenge, but it is coarser made. The stones used were not finely chiselled into rectangular blocks but were simply chosen for their size and moved into location. The stones were huge, some larger than the largest in Stonehenge. And the circle is also wider than that of Stonehenge. But many of the stones were already missing after so many thousands of years and in some places, a man-made stone structure is planted to mark where the original stone is supposed to lie.
Also, some of us tried our hands at dousing. With an L shaped metal rod in each hand, the douser would walk around in search of secret energies. Apparently, the rods would mysterious swing around to point towards the source of such energies. But nothing happened when they tried - the rods pointed straight and did not move. But I was standing in front of them. Does that mean??? That was the last stop of the tour. We had such a fun time! Actually, it started even before the tour - I was King Arthur, Abel was Lancelot and Yuanshuo was Gallahad. Oh, and my Excalibur is the longest and hardest around. Dinner was at Victoria Station, where Deep Pan Pizza had a pizza buffet for 5.99 pounds. It was ok. There were lots of pizzas available. And also a salad spread!
We headed back after that. And as luck would have it, we met our roommates at the Village! Just as we were getting ready to check-in! This time round, the girls were early! And we were all ready to party! We decided it was not a good idea to wander far away and shiver in the cold. So why not stay at home - The Village! The Village has a nice bar that serves lots of alcohol. And add good company to that mix and we've got the best cocktail ever!
We crapped and joked and had a whole lot of fun. It's just amazing how we managed to connect so well! All of us - Abel and I, 4 Swedish girls (Maria, Emma, Sara), an Italian (Marco), a French (Raphael) and we had another Italian tonight - Simon! Here's some of the gang from the night! From left: Marco, Abel, Sara, Simon, Maria and me! The bar sold something new - the B52! It was just like a normal shot, except it was sold in a small plastic cup. To consume, just open the metal wrap and drink! They were going for 1 pound (S$3) each. And apparently 3 of our Swedish friends like the B52! From left: Maria, Emma and Sara! After the bar had closed, we went to the Chill Out Room. The Village had this room with a big projector and nice comfy sofas. And there we chatted some more!
At 4am, there was only Maria, Sarah, Marco, Simon and I left. We passed by the bar and met the staff there who were having a round of drinks. And before long, we had joined them! Everyone's so friendly! There was Dave (the Aussie manager of the Village), the big-sized Michael (who works at a bar across the street) his pal, Roger (the heavily tatooed but very friendly Londoner) and several others. Too bad I didn't get a photo with all of them!
What a night! I only reached my room at 6am. Another day full of adventure. And breakfast would be served at 830am. wow!
I know most of you are probably feeling violently envious me and of the things I'm putting up here, especially when things are getting so rough back home. Please carry on, I'm totally fine with it!
But really, I wanna tell everyone to take care of yourselves and try to take it easy during this tumultuous period!!
Now think a happy thought... Really, I mean it! Now try even harder... Good!!
I know some people who are going to have their first papers soon. Study hard people! Pretty soon it'll be your hols! And oh man, the start of my papers!
Day 1: Day 1, and we're in business!!! We had a better look at St. Christopher's Orient Expresso in the morning. It was a small, cozy place - the rooms were upstairs and there was a nice cafe at the ground floor. Our room was on the 2nd floor - it's the window on the right!
For breakfast, we had to go over to St. Christopher's Village which was just a 2 minutes walk away. Breakfast was consisted of toast, cereal and tea. The toast was surprisingly good with the spreads of butter and marmalade! But everyone, including the waiter agreed that the coffee was terrible! By day, breakfast was served in this nice, quiet bar during the day. But by night, the whole place is transformed! The music was blaring like crazy from the dance floor below when we checked in. More on that when I tell you about tomorrow night in the next installment!
We briefly discussed our plans over breakfast and decided to cover the city area by foot. Borough Market was just outside the Orient Expresso and we chose to walk through it on the way. It was so colourful! There was a kind of carnival atmosphere to it all! The vendors represented different farms selling their all types of produce. And Abel and I agreed that that in London, even the female butchers and fishmongers are pretty! To think this is the equivalent of wet-markets in Singapore! London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. This classic nursery rhyme had new meaning for us when we reached London Bridge. For we wondered if the bridge had indeed fallen down! At the site was a boring bridge that had less artistic sense than the Causeway in Singapore! London Bridge was just a flat concrete span that stretched from one end to the other. I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this kids! We walked on along The River Thames and took in more beautiful sights. The sky was a rich blue, river was calm and the breeze blew gently. It was just so peaceful and serene! Around us, people were jogging and taking nice leisurely strolls. So many smiling faces around. It reminded me of Roxette's song June Afternoon - "Look at all the people happy faces all around. smiling throwing kisses busying making lazy sounds. It's a bright, June afternoon, it never gets dark... " Give it a listen as you see these pics! It's one of my all-time fav feel-good songs! Further up, the HMS Belfast was berthed along the the Thames River. The Belfast was the largest battlecrusier in the British Royal Navy that served in World War 2. Now it's a naval museum. Abel and I did think it was worth visiting and gave it a miss. But this is a must-see! Like the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge also crosses the Thames River, but it is way more impressive! No wonder so many tourists mistake it as London Bridge! It was built in the 19th century to increase traffic flow across the river after London Bridge was built and the economy flourished. It got its name from the Tower of London that is at the end of the crossing. More on the Tower of London just below. The Tower Bridge is able to open at its centre to allow large shipping vessels through. But large vessels only come by rarely. Plus Abel and I figured that building a large wooden ark by ourselves would take too long. So we decided to move on. We crossed the Tower Bridge and saw some kind of old castle. We had reached the Tower of London! It didn't look very grand from the outside, but step inside, and you'll realise just how big it is! There are so many museums inside! So many things to see! We bought the tickets for 12 pounds (S$36) each under the student concession rate. The usual price would have been 15 pounds! But if you ask me, it would still be well worth it! The Tower of London is famous for its Beefeaters. These are the guardians of the Tower throughout the ages since it was built (in the 12th century). Ready to defend the tower against all sorts of perilous invaders! But now, they simply conduct guided tours. Now that is funny! Abel and I joined the tour and our beefeater was such a friendly and humourous chap! His name was Patrick and he explained more about the beefeaters. In his words: the ER II emblazoned across the chest of their uniform stands for Extremely Romantic. Twice. Right. It actually means Queen (Regina) Elizabeth (Elizabeth) the 2nd (II). Ok, not very funny, but he was afterall a big burly guy and we had better laugh!
And why beefeaters? Cos back in the old days, beef was scarce and these guardians had the important task of guarding the tower and were given rations of beef. The public was envious and called them beefeaters. The name stuck! And now you know!
=fixing bug. video coming soon!=
Patrick brought us around the Tower and explained to us the significance of all the sites. The tower later became a prison and here he is telling us about some of its many "guests". During the tour, we learnt so much about England's rich history - all about the many kings and queens and lords and ladies. And exactly how many of them were beheaded here! It was one messy web of deceit!
Patrick could make a great history teacher - he's really good with dates! The way he rattles on about what Henry the Vlll did to Catherine of Aragon in 1538 blah blah... I only know Sang Nila Utama may have done something that was probably quite important before or after 1538. Could be 1538 itself actually. And torture was usually used in the tower! This is the rack. First, allow the prisoner to lie down comfortably on the wooden board. But that's the only good part. Next, securely tie the prisoner's fingers to the top and the toes to the bottom. Now, crank the lever as hard as you can and literally strech the prisoner like a piece of play-doh. Guaranteed to get signed confessions of any kind! And here's another torture device: The Scavenger's Daughter. This time round, allow the prisoner to sit down and lean forward. Next, clamp his back and legs together, squeezing his body together. Ouch! Now tighten the metal clamp as far as it will go. And squish the internal organs and force out all the air. Gasp!
After all that gruesomeness, we went to see the crown jewels! Not some cheap imitation but the real deal! It was housed in one of the towers but with maximum security! You should have seen the thickness of those steel doors!
As a sort of prelude to the jewels, we were shown videos of the coronation of the present Queen Elizabeth. Although it's mainly something for the British royal family to boast about during afternoon tea, the jewels have been used during the elaborate conoronation ceremonies of the British monarchy. The crown jewels are not simply a few jewels but a whole collection: the crowns, the orbs, the sceptres, the jewelled swords, the rings etc. Each of which holds a special meaning in the ceremony! Security was tight in the vault, and we were not able to take photos of the jewels. But as usual, there's always wikipedia!
Without realising it, we had spent 4 hours in the Tower of London! We were also prisoners - prisoners of time, trapped in the endless maze of corridors and exhibits! Right. With all that history that filled our heads, we needed to fill our stomachs. Time for lunch! Our next stop was the famous St Paul's Cathedral and the plan was to have lunch at the cheapest place along the way. We settled for - Burger King! For 1.99 pounds (S$6) we can get a huge whopper. It's just the whopper, but it's the cheapest hot food you can get around. A whole meal would have cost about 4 pounds. After a very satisfying lunch, we walked down the street. And then we saw it. St Paul's Cathedral! I had heard so much about it! It has an illustrous history - the first version of st Paul's (also at this exact spot) was built in 604AD! It was rebuilt over the years and this latest version was completed in 1708. And it was such a grand sight! So huge and majestic! Just look at the people compared to the size of the pillars! And it was built so long ago! How did they do it??? Now enter the church, and IT IS a sight to behold! wow! wow, wow, wow!! It is so grand in a classic way! Such a huge expanse of space! Dedicated to the worship of God! Inside, although there was a small visitor crowd, there was this holy, peaceful feeling that stayed with me. From the main entrance, you can just make out the end of the church which has a long panel of magnificent stained glass. Yep, in the photo, it's that bright white vertical panel at the end! This picture is taken at the centre and right below the main dome. Just look up and you may never want to look down again. The roof is so high! The minor domes are already so high and there's an even higher main dome! And where the main dome is, you notice the mosiac designs round the walls of the dome. They include that of the prophet Isiah, St John, St Matthew, St Mark and St Luke. But look futher on and you notice that the roofs of the minor domes in the front are also adorned with more intricate designs! The altar is at the far end, and someone standing there would look so tiny! Now look higher up and you'll see the main dome is also intricately drawn with the life of st Paul! Such detail at such a grand scale! The dome is 111.3 metres high. But more impressive is that it weighs in at a staggering 65,000 tonnes! Putting that in perspective, the humongous cruise liner Queen Elizabeth (one of the largest cruise ships in the world) already weighs about 70,000 tonnes! Abel and I reached there after 4pm when the Cathedral was closed to tourists. But it was now open for evening service. And we could enter for free! Though there was only limited access to certain areas. St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican church, like most of England (Read about how that happened because of Henry Vlll). The Anglican evening service is called evensong and the photos above show the cards that were used during the service. Abel and I decided to attend the service. And we were astounded by the choir! It was like a shortened version of a Catholic mass and almost everything was sung. The acoustics of the cathedral was fantastic!
The service lasted for about 45 mins and when it was time to go, I was reluctant to leave without being able to see the rest of the cathedral that was already closed. Besides the grandeur of the church, there was this holy presence about St Paul's that made me want to come back. I made up my mind to return. Check day 4 for a little more info on St Pauls.
Tate Modern was just across the bridge from St Paul's. The supports of the bridge do look very much like cataput sticks!
Tate Modern is an arts museum that houses collections of art that are more abstract. It was newly opened in 2000 when an old power plant was refurbished to become - Tate Modern! But even with its second-hand past, the design is innovative and it does look like a modern arthouse! Not impressive enough? Then come on in and take a closer look!
This is the very spacious interior of Tate Modern. It's very modern and minimalistic!
On the ground floor, there was a huge exhibit using thousands of white plastic boxes. I did not get a chance to read what it was supposed to be, but looking at the massive stack, I had the feeling that someone had bought way too many Ikea boxes. There were several more levels, each of them containing different art collections. But unfortunately, the area was tightly patrolled with guards, so I could not take any photos of the exhibits. But at the end of the day, I learnt a lot about abstract (conceptual) art. There were many of these boxes with a speakerphone that allowed you to choose what topic you wanted to hear. This one was on conceptual art.
I also learnt that really, anyone could be a conceptual artist! Take for instance Marcel Duchamp, who in 1907 took an ordinary urinal, signed it and called it Fountain.
But I feel nothing can top this. I almost burst out laughing when I came across this. It's an untitled piece by Clyfford Still in 1953. All it is is a big canvas of blue with a randomly painted stroke of red at the bottom and another randomly painted yellow stroke at the top. Clyfford claims the red stroke was intended to contrast with and therefore emphasise the depths of the blue. Ok, fine.But it gets better. The yellow stroke was - "a reassertion of the human context - a gesture of rejection of any authoritarian rationale or system of politico-dialectical dogma." I say give me a canvas and a thick dictionary! I can do art too!
After that, we returned to the Orient Expresso. And met our roommates! Our room was a 8-bed mixed dormatory and we had a great crowd! Besides Abel and I, there were 4 Swedish girls (Maria, Emma, Sarah and Sophia) as well as an Italian (Marco) and a French (Raphael). Everyone was very friendly and we hit off very well! The next thing we knew, we were looking for a place to go party together! It was a rather last minute decision and we finally set off after 1am. This photo above shows our little gang! From left: Marco, Abel, Sophia, Sara, Raphael and me!
And here's another photo! From left: Raphael, Maria, Sophia, Emma, me and Abel!
It was an adventure really. Marco had stayed in London for a few years and we followed him as he brought us out. However, when we reached the club he recommended, we were told it would be closing within the hour! We agreed it was too short, and since Marco had no more ideas, we simply walked around and around, looking for an alternative. A passer-by recommended The End. But where was The End? We walked around asking for directions. And finally, we were at The End. But it was really the end of our little party. We realised it would cost 16 pounds (S$48) just to enter! And it was already almost 4am! In the cold, windy night, we huddled together as we navigated and found a bus to bring us back home. We didn't exactly get to party, but we had a great time all the same! Joking and crapping. And we promised ourselves we would set off earlier the following night. Will we make it? Come back and find out!
Wow! So much has happened! And it's only day 1!!! More on the other days coming right up!
