Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Gaudi, Zara and Mango

I went with May Gee to Barcelona. Have been working really hard over the last week (as you can see, I didn't update my blog) so that I won't lag behind in my readings, even though I have been travelling. :)

I didn't have much expectation for this trip. I just wanted to leave it free and easy. Yet, it has turned out to be a truly enjoyable trip! I thank God for May Gee's company and also for keeping us safe in Barcelona (I was a bit worried and comprehensive at first about our safety. I thank God for keeping watch over us and thanks for your prayers too!).

We left on Sat morning..really early. Woke up at 4am to catch a 730am flight. Didn't get to sleep at all the night before coz I was staying over at May Gee's place and I was not very used to the bed. :) We reached Barcelona at around 1030am local time and then we made our way to our hotel. We had a bit of a problem trying to locate our hotel coz the Barcelona map did not show the names of all the streets and hence it made the search difficult. But thanks to God, we managed to reach the hotel after a few wrong turns and after asking a couple of uncles and aunties along the way. By the time we reached our room, we were tired and hungry. Nevertheless, after a short rest, we set off for our itinerary for the day.

Barcelona was hot (compared to grey and windy London). We first went to 2 of the works of Gaudi (Barcelona is very much about Gaudi and his architectural designs and works) - Casa Mila and Temple of the Sagrada Familia (the Church that never gets completed). Although I know little of architecture, I find Gaudi's style interesting - very different from the normal structured form of architecture, bold use of curves and imageries, leaving a lot of room for your imagination. :) The Temple of the Sagrada Familia is the icon of Barcelona, and the most well-known of his works. It didn't get completed due to lack of funding and also coz Gaudi died before he managed to complete this project... but today, the construction is continuing, though it is estimated to take another 40 years to complete. :)

Casa Mila

Temple of Sagrada Familia

After sightseeing, May Gee and I went shopping! The second thing about Barcelona to me was Zara and Mango! hahaha... and I am very glad to have made some bargain purchases there! You should see the big shopping bags May Gee and I got... We went for a walk along La Rambla after shopping and then went back to the hotel. We were dead tired by then...

So, we slept for over 11 hours and woke up at around 11am local time on Sun. We planned to visit the Olympic Village (Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games in 1992) and then go shopping in the afternoon. I was a bit disappointed when we reached the Olympic Village coz the Stadium was undergoing renovation. :( But we had a stroll around that area leisurely and it was a relaxing afternoon (we got to see the finals of a maranthon too!). We went to the Barcelona Cathedral subsequently. This time, it is a gothic architecture. I don't really like gothic architecture coz it often gives me an unexplained feeling of unease. But nonetheless, it was a beautiful piece of work. :)

After that, we were all ready to embark on our shopping spree! BUT... to our great horror and disappointment, we found that all shops are closed on SUN!!!! Sigh.. not wanting to go back to the hotel so early, we decided to do more sightseeing instead. We went to Casa Batllo, another of Gaudi's work and then to the sea front. There was an aquarium at Port Vell. We spent some time there before moving off to a large Entertainment Centre nearby, and we had a fun time there. I actually thanked God for the closed shops coz if not, we would not be able to visit these other parts of Barcelona.

Olympic Village

On the top of the Cathedral

Casa Batllo

Aquarium

This morning, we woke up at 8am so that we can do some last minute shopping at Plaza Catalunya before making our way to the airport (to make up for the loss of opportunity yesterday). :) On the whole, I think we managed to cover most of Barcelona and had seen what we have wanted to see. Barcelona was not as lively and vibrant as I thought it would be. I guess it's coz it's winter now. :) But I enjoyed this trip a lot and I hope there are more short trips to come! :P

Monday, November 20, 2006

I, Sea, Rainbow!


I went to Brighton over the weekend. It is a seaside town, an hour and a half drive outside London. It's actually a post graduate weekend retreat kind of thing, and I went with some of my lecturers and other students from the Accounting faculty.

I have had a lot of fun in Brighton. God blessed us with nice weather. I took quite a lot of photos at the pebble beach... and even though it rained, God blessed me with a chance to see a big big rainbow over the sky. I felt like God is smiling at me! : ) During meal time, I had the chance to chit-chat with my lecturers too and I am glad to find out more about them. Oh! Last but not least, I managed to find a dress, which I plan to wear on Grace's wedding! It's been a very frutiful weekend.

1) Brighton Beach

2) Royal Pavilion

3) St Nicholas Church and Rainbow

4) Brighton Pier - Fun fair and rides at night

Friday, November 17, 2006

Lost in Translation

Went back to school in the evening for a seminar titled: Lost in Translation, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. : )

How does language play a role in the formation of an European identity? Can Europeans ever really understand each other, or must languages defy even the most expert translators?

Speakers include:
Catherine Audard - Fellow in philosophy at LSE and translator of English book to French
Rachel Bowlby - Professor of Modern English Literature at UCL and translator of French books into English
Maria Fairwearther - historian, biographer and simultaneous interpreter for Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major in European languages.

I have often been intrigued by the apparent disparities and yet inherent commonalities of the different languages of this world. After all, the Bible said we spoke one language before the Tower of Babel. Now that we spoke diversed langauges, can we truly understand each other? When we cannot understand the other's language and we need to rely on translation, there are bound to be things lost in translation, though there will be things found in translation too!

I agreed with the speakers that to be able to produce accurate translation, one must have a good grasp of the culture behind the language. There are many nuances and subtleties in a language and a culture that one must be aware of when translating to avoid being offensive.

The speakers shared their experiences in translating English to French and vice versa. I am surprised to learn that there is no such word as "fair" and "fairness" in French. And that French philosophers have an aversion towards Americans, which makes the translation of an American English philosophy text as much a matter of politics, as linguistic. :P

Another difficulty faced by translator is that some things are not translatable, e.g. poems. It is unavoidable that the beauty of the phrasing and rhythm of poetry in one language will be lost if it is translated literally into another language. Subjectivity is involved when the translator decides on which words and phrases to use to capture the images and "feel" behind the poetry. I think translating our Chinese short poems into English is definitely no easy task!

One speaker mentioned about making English a common language for Europe. I guess, with the emphasis on a single market within the European Union, we may see a common European language one day, though not necessarily English. (English has become so powerful and so widely used thanks to the Americans.) After all, most if not all of the European languages originated from Latin! Nevertheless, the focus of the single market is currently very much on economic matters and hence, I don't think we will see a common European language in the near future.

Another point of interest that a person from the floor brought up was the translation of the Bible. In the Muslim context, the Koran is the Word of God and hence it CANNOT be translated (and should not be translated). However, for the Christian Bible, there are so many versions of it. Can the Word of God be translated? Is there divine revelation from God to the translator when he is translating the Bible? My view is, it is the work of God that the Bible can be translated to so many different languages so that more people can come to know Christ and be saved. There is definitely divine intervention involved. But I don't think the translator would have received any other kind of divine revelation that would allow him/her to add or subtract anything from the original word of God. :)

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Economic Theory - Monetary Policy vs Fiscal Policy?!

Went for a debate on this topic tonight:
The Chancellors' Tales: Managing the British Economy

Food for thoughts:
1) Should economic policies be decided by economists alone? Is it true that politics always get into the way for the implementation of sensible tax and economic policies?
2) What is the role of Treasury? Should it control public expenditure or should it be the one who incur the public expenditure?

But actually the most important learning point for me is regarding presentation skills. The speakers who read from scripts tend to muffle and fail to engage the audience. The ones who can speak confidently without referring to prepared speeches, on the other hand, make people want to listen to them more! I am quite impressed by George Osborne. He is the current shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. He is eloquent and charismatic and humurous too. : ) ha ha.. must be because he is an MP.. and you know the kind of debate that can take place in the UK Parliament la.. he must be well-trained. :P

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

I want to learn! : )

Today was not a school day for me but I was in school from 11 am to 8 pm. Why? because I wanted to be exposed to new things (outside my normal classes) and hence...

I went for computer class in the morning. It was on Excel: Formulas and Shortcuts. I have always wanted to learn more about Excel functions coz I think it can be very useful in performing indepth numerical analysis. This is only one of the few classes that I will be attending. And I am looking forward to upgrading my computer skills. :)

Then I went for a lecture on Corporate Taxation. This is not one of the courses I have signed up for but I just want to sit in to learn more about the UK Corporate Tax system. The lecturer is again a QC! And he had this air of wisdom around him that made you want to listen to him. :) His presentation was clear and my main takeaways from the lecture are the concept of taxing true economic income and the interaction between domestic and international taxation of dividend. He will be talking more about the international aspect next week. Think I will sit in too!

Lastly, I went for another public seminar in the evening. The topic was: Protecting the Press of the People?

The speaker, Sir Christopher Meyer, had been a diploma for 36 years, He had been the Press Secretary for UK Prime Minister and also the ambassador to Washington. He is currently he chairman of the Press Complaints Commission.

Some interesting points he raised were:
1) Freedom of Speech and Expression is fundamental to any democracy. This entails freedom to offend and freedom to be offended.
2) The State should keep away from regulating the press. Since the Government has a clear comparative advantage over the press in the area of information, it is expected that the press will be probing and will try to dig for information.
3) The least bad way to balance the relatioship between the rights and responsibilities of reporters is to allow them to self-regulate. Instead of curbing the freedom of speech, allow people to debate on the issue and share different views.
4) It is unavoidable that subjective personal judgement will go into reporting. Hence, it is good for readers to be skeptical and read from different sources so as to get different perspectives.

He also mentioned the different between US and UK Press. The freedom of the US Press is protected under the US Constitution and hence they have better access to information and freedom to report. The style of reading is usually factual reporting plus commentary/editorial. In the UK, the press is not protected under the Constitution and the reports tend to be tainted with partisan views.

It's quite an interesting talk. Sir Meyer is witty and candid. What he said set me thinking: is absolute freedom of speech desirable? some remarks/expressions can be irresponsible, can hurt, can be discriminatory. Does freedom of speech means we can disregard other's feelings? And does the maturity of the society matters - must the readers be of a certain level of sophistication to see through the bias etc that will permeate in reports?

Monday, November 13, 2006

When Princess Cindy-rella meets Queen Elizabeth II

Today is Sun! God has been so good to me. Ever since I arrived in London, I have been experiencing very good weather on weekends so that I could go out and play! So yes, I went for a day trip with May Gee to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath today!

We started our day at Windsor Castle. It is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. It is one of the official residence of Queen Elizabeth II and she stays there every Easter. At the castle, we toured Queen Mary's Dolls' House and the State Apartments. The miniatures in the Dolls' House are created in the ratio of 12:1 and they are functional! i.e. the piano can be played, the toilet can be flushed and the books can be read, despite their small size. The Royal collections - including paintings and procelain china, in the State Apartments are magnificant too! But walking through the castle made me realise something... despite its grandeur and magnificance, this castle for man did not stir within me the sense of awe that I felt when I am in the ancient churches.

I realise that only God and His presence can inspire humans to create buildings and architectures, write hymns of praises, paint great works of art that befit God's status as King of kings. And His greatness can never be surpassed by any beings on earth. Man can aspire to attain glory and power, but God is the glory and power, and we cannot help but to worship Him and bow before Him. : )

Our second stop was Stonehenge. It is a World Heritage Site. It is a prehistoric monument formed by stones. Why and how it was erected is still a mystery, until today. I managed to capture some very nice shots there. :) And once again, I praise the Lord, for the nature speaks of His glory and magnificence.

1) See the rainbow colour in the cloud!

2) See the rays from the sun breaking through the clouds

Our last stop was Bath. Bath is a city and what is there to see? As its name suggested, we went there to see Roman Baths - where the Romans built public baths over hot springs.

The day ended on another high note when we were allowed to be dropped off at Gloucester tube station. I have always wanted to go there to see the exhibition by a Japanese artist. He has painted the station and it looked very cute! Wah! I was so glad!

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Fireworks + Christmas Lights = Sparkling Saturday

It's the weekend again!

I prepared herbal chicken soup in the morning and invited Kenneth and May Gee to my house for lunch. : ) After lunch, we went to Westminster Abbey for service. This is because May Gee and I will be going to Bath and Stonehege for sightseeing tomorrow and we will miss our usual service...

Worshipping in yet another ancient church (we went to St Paul's for communion some weeks back) made me ponder over who God is. St Paul's, Westminster Abbey, the chapel at King's College etc all looked grand and magnificent. Service was very formal and solemn. You are being reminded that you are worshipping the King of kings, Lord of lords, the creator of the world, the One who is worthy of all praises. But somehow, I felt a distance between me and this magnificent God. He is too high above, far out of reach. He is too big, I am too tiny in comparison...

But when I worship in more contemporary churches like All Soul's, Chinese Methodist Church at King's Cross and even Grace Church, I find God much closer to me. He is my Daddy in heaven! My loving Daddy in heaven, whom I talked to every night before I sleep, whom I shared all my happiness and sorrows with. He is in my heart. He is always there for me. He calls me His precious dearest daughter.

So my Daddy is actually the King of kings? Wow! I can't believe this. Does that make me a princess? :P I want to bring this great God close to my heart. To fear Him, because He is indeed the ruler of the universe; but also to love Him, because He loves me.

Back to my adventure today. After service, we went to watch fireworks at River Thames. There is a Lord Mayor's Show tonight. This is an annual event marked by processions and fireworks. I find the fireworks ok. :P Not too spectacular. I think the one we (the cell group) caught during National Day was nicer. :P

After that, we went to Oxford Street to see the Christmas lights.. again, not very impressive.. think the ones in Hong Kong are better. :P But I did some Christmas shopping.. again.. heehee...
Shall upload some pictures tomorrow. :)

Friday, November 10, 2006

I have a QC as my lecturer!

Went for class at 5pm today. I was actually a bit reluctant coz it is a make-up class... but well, I wouldn't miss lessons la, so I went all the same. And I didn't regret it!

Coz today, the lesson was conducted by an external speaker, he was (and still is) a Queen's Counsel. I find his lesson interesting because he was able to put across his arguments in a logical and systematic way and he also shared his own experiences with us - from cases he has handled. And they are big cases - ECJ cases (European Court of Justice)!

This reminded me of my childhood ambition - to become a teacher. To be a good teacher, I need to develope my analytical and presentation skills so that I can bring across concepts and ideas clearly and also add value to the class by incorporating my practical experiences into the subject matter. I wonder if this dream will be realise one day. : )

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Are Power and Ethics incompatible?

Went for a seminar on this topic tonight. One thing I like about LSE is that there are always public seminars/talks on a variety of topics that are free for all the attend... and they are really "free". :)

The debate tonight was on: what is the relationship between morality and power and what can be done to raise the ethical standards in politics?

Speakers are: Satish Kumar (editor of Resurgence magazine - Indian), Geoff Mulgan, Julia Neuberger (a rabbi - Jew) and Shirley Williams (served as leader od the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords from 2001-2004).

I attended this seminar because I always wonder whether politics and christianity are compatible. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But I feel that there is a place for Christians in politics. Shouldn't we be the salt and light to this world? and isn't the most influencial way of doing so is to be the leader of the nation/world?

There is no answer to my questions but there are a few takeaways from the seminar:

1) Small is beautiful. Democracy works in small communities but it gets distorted when the community gets larger. There are limitations to democracy - it is inherently short-term, as parties are elected for a finite term and self-interest etc comes in when people want to maximise their power.

2) Government is like the thread in a necklace. The thread holds the beads together, but you see the beads only, and not the thread. Similarly, the people/the socitety are the beads and the government should facilitate the growth/development of the society, make it flourish but don't dominate it.

3) People in power should not always assume that they know what is the best for the people. Talk to the people. Listen to the people.

4) If Government is the servant and people are the leader, then the moral and ethical standard of the government depends on the moral standard of the people. The government is only as good as the people. Hence each of us need to play our part. We have power from within, and we can change the society in our own small ways.

5) Is there absolute moral and ethical standards? There seem to be no objective standard and it changes with time. Should we ask our politicians to disclose what their moral values and standards are?

It's interesting listening to the speakers debate on the topic and share their views. Because of their diverse background, each brings a different perspective to the discussion and I find it enlightening. Anyway, in my humble opinion, due to the sinful nature of mankind, we will never have a perfect government. But I wonder what the world will be like when we live out the biblical teachings of servant leadership, faithful stewardship and the absolute moral standards that are delightful in God's eyes. I guess, I will get to see it when Christ come again. : )

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Rejoice!

I finally have internet access at home! :)

Was so excited that I kept surfing the net last night and even bought a chocolate cake to share with my flatmates to celebrate the arrival of the internet router! heehee... I admit it was just an excuse to satisfy my sweet tooth... :P

Nevertheless, the house is still in need of repair and we are still unable to contact the landlady. She seemed to have switched off her mobile now.. it's been a week since the leakage happened and I am not sure if she's ignoring us intentionally. Anyway, we will write her a letter and see what we can do to make her contact us. :) Luckily the stench is going away.. but i found a family of ladybird in one of our rooms yesterday. I am scared.. not sure if it is due to the moist environment... sigh... hope the problems can be resolved soon. :)

But I am still rejoicing coz I have internet now, I have bought a new hole puncher (heehee...) and the blister on my thumb is getting better. Yeah! Thanks to God for His protection!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Eternity

Where would you want to spend your eternity?

Went for service at All Souls Church this morning. The message reminded me of the existence of Hell and how horrible it is… I would never want my loved ones to be there… I thank God that I was born in a Christian family and have this assurance that we will see each other in heaven again. But how about other people that I cared for? I must be fervent in praying for the salvation of my friends…

Another reminder I got was how much have I cared for God’s creation – in terms of resources and other people in need. I admit that I am not a very environmental friendly person… and sad to say, I am also not very compassionate towards people whom I don’t know. But, God has given me so much… shouldn’t I do something to make this world a better place for others? I am not sure what I can do, but God has given me this little prompting and I guess, I need to keep a look out for little things that I can do to make this place a bit more pleasant and warm for everyone. : )

PS: Thanks Boen for bringing my winter wear and slipper over for me! So happy to have them with me, especially when it is getting cold in London. : ) But our carpets and lights are still not repaired because we are unable to contact our landlady. She is ignoring our calls. Hope my house can be restored to its original condition soon…

Cindy in Copenhagen 2

Have had a wonderful trip in Copenhagen. Thank God for the wonderful weather and thanks Jun Lin for hosting! Although it was freezing cold (around 0 degree Celsius), it had been fun.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so enjoy my photos…oh! I love the hat a bought in Copenhagen! :)

Itinerary for first day: Amelienborg – Marble Church – Lunch at Mediterranean restaurant Rizraz – Canal tour – dinner at Thai restaurant

Itinery for second day: Carlsberg brewery


Friday, November 03, 2006

Cindy in Copenhagen

Thank God for today!

After a depressing 3 days in the week, today is the beginning of my 3-day trip to Copenhagen (to visit Jun Lin).

I met with a bad start though. Was supposed to go to Victoria Station to take a coach to Stansted Airport. Victoria is not far from Waterloo and normally I could get there within 20 minutes. But when I reached Waterloo station, I found to my horror that there was severe delay along the line (Jubilee line) that I was supposed to take and due to over-crowding at the platform, the Station staff was restricting access to the station! I was very worried and I prayed very hard that I could get to Victoria on time…

Thank God that I was let into the station at 9:05am. But since there was severe delay along the Jubilee line, I had to take Northern line as the alternative, to change to District/Central line. Then, to my dismay, there was also minor delay along District/Central line due to signal failures! I prayed very hard. I was worried but I trust that God will watch over me. (Sigh… London tube was often unreliable…)

By the time I reached Victoria, it’s already 9:28 am and my bus was leaving at 9:30am! The bus stop is about 5-10 min walk away! I felt like giving up, but a little voice in my heart told me that I should try. So I ran from the tube station to the bus stop. It’s been years since I last ran.. my legs ached terribly… but I prayed as I ran and asked God to help me! Thank God! By the time I reached the bus stop, it’s just boarding and I managed to catch my bus to the airport! Praise the Lord..

But think I breathed in too much cold air as I ran, and I started coughing… that was another story…

So I caught my flight to Copenhagen too (with minor hiccups like I have to throw my tiny toothpaste and shower gel away coz they are not allowed in hand luggage…) and went shopping happily with Jun Lin upon arrival. The winter clothing is cheap, compared to London. I bought 2 sweaters and 1 cap! :)

Then it dawned upon me that there is something wrong with the way I am spending my money. I think so long before I buy antiseptic cream for my wound and a hole puncher for my notes, but I am so willing to splurge on clothes and accessories! My priorities are wrong…. Hmm.. I thank God for this realisation.

Oh! After shopping, I went for ice cream with Jun Lin. It’s 1 degree in Denmark (freezing cold) but it’s fun eating ice cream in the cold. :) After that, we went back to her residence and we had dinner with her Singaporean friend. He prepared curry chicken for us! I am so touched!

It has been an eventful day!
It has been quite a depressing week till Wed…

On Monday, I waited anxiously for someone from BT to come and install the phone line for our house. I have waited for this day for a month, coz our understanding was that once they set up the phone line for us, they will come down 2 days later to install the router and activate internet access for us as well… but to my greatest disappointment, the technician from BT told me that he did not receive any instruction in relation to the internet connection and when my housemate checked with BT, it seemed that our request was not registered… I felt so sad…

Then when I cooked dinner, I carelessly spilled very hot soup on my hands and scalded my 2 thumbs.. my right thumb was worse, and there is now a big blister on the right thumb. I hope it will dry up soon and I won’t carelessly break my skin and cause infection…

Then on Tue afternoon, the pipes in the flat above ours burst and water came flowing down to our flat. Our toilet, bathroom and kitchen were flooded. Carpets damaged and lights short-circuited… Till now, there is still a stench in our house coz the carpet didn’t dry easily…

Then on the same day, I carelessly broke my hole puncher too. Actually I am not sure how this happened, but it just snapped all of a sudden.

Hai… feel so sad…coz stationery is expensive here. I checked and found that a hole puncher costs at least GBP 1.6 (S$5) and antiseptic cream for my burnt costs GBP 1.3 (S$4). Sigh… don’t feel like spending this money when I have been spending so much on notes, books, food and rents…

And then, the temperature in London suddenly dropped below 10 degrees on Wed. The weather caused the city to feel gloomy and cold… Hai.. what a week…

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

4 LSEian found in Oxford!

Must tell you all something interesting. From today onwards, due to daylight-saving, we will have to adjust our clocks one-hour backward. So, instead of being 7-hours behind Singapore time, we will be 8-hours behind Singapore time from now on. And you know what, I actually thanked God for it coz I was supposed to go on a day trip today and had to wake up at 630am. Due to the adjustment, I gained one extra hour of sleep and could leave home when the sky is brighter (so it was safer to walk)!

Before I went on to give details of my trip, I must put in a disclaimer first, especially for my dearest students. ;P Don’t think that your Cindy Dao Shi is always having fun, traveling around.. I took my studies seriously and worked hard on weekdays, so that I could play hard during the weekends! : )

Ok. So this morning, we set off first for the Warwick Castle. It belonged to the family of King Henry VII and is currently owned by Madam Tussauds. Hence there are wax figures exhibited at various parts of the castle.

Our second stop was Stratford and we visited Shakespeare’s birthplace. Hmm.. it was quite a bit of disappointment coz there isn’t really much to see. But I find Stratford a nice little town. It has a population of 30,000 only.

Our final stop is Oxford. Oxford is a college town, like Cambridge. It has a population of around 150,000. It was built around the 1400s and had a total of 39 colleges. 28 of the colleges offered undergraduate subjects. There are around 200 – 700 students in each college and students are supposed to live in his/her college. We visited Christ Church College, the most famous of the Oxford colleges.

I was again a bit disappointed coz we only managed to see a small part of Oxford. By the time our tour of Christ Church College ended, the sun was already setting and hence we had to make our way back to London. There was no chance for us to walk around the town centre and to go punting along the river. Hmm.. think I had to find a chance to come back to Oxford again. : )

For dinner, we went to a Chinese restaurant at Bayswater and had roasted duck again. : P
It had again been a tiring but fun day. And I thank God for giving us good weather and making my weekends in UK interesting. : )

Woo-Hoo! Yummy Duck Rice!

I had so much fun today! : )

Went to St Paul’s Cathedral for Holy Communion service in the afternoon. I know I am a bit naughty to say this, but… the wine (taken during Holy Communion) tasted really nice! :P

After service, we went to the weekend market at Notting Hill Gate. There were so many things to see. And the vegs and fruits were really cheap! I bought a box of strawberries for 50 pence and lettuce for 40p only. : )

Then we made our way to Baywater for the famous duck rice at Four Seasons. On the way, we passed by Boen’s shop! Heeheehee….

And I went into a shoe shop called Office and bought 2 pairs of shoes – a silver pair and a golden pair! : P I know I shouldn’t be spending too much… but but but.. I have a weakness for shoes! I saw these pairs 3 days ago and I have been thinking of them… and and and since I am a size 9, it is soooooooo much easier for me to find fitting shoes in UK than in Singapore (where everyone has small feet, making me feel so embarrassed for having big feet… : ( )! I have London-sized feet! :P

Haha.. But I know Law Ying, Lee Imm and Hui Hsien will say I always buy similar designs. The only difference is in terms of the colour of my shoes. :P You’re right! Shall bring a pair back to Singapore in Dec and show you!