Lorraine Going for More Work in Malaysia

Dining at Worcester College's student accomodation. Assad (3rd from left with a devlish grin) once again prepared a sumptuous meal. This is the 3rd night in a row - farewell party for Lorraine (4th from left) who is leaving for her DPhil. field work in Malaysia. Heiko (1st from left) brought wine, but the rest of us were too faint-hearted to drink alchohol (at least last night). Good bye, Lor. Have a safe trip and don't come back married.

The University's broadband connection has been erratic the past few days. The last few nights were spent either in the library or at my friend's place.

Last night, Assad (MPhil Economics), Lor (DPhil Education) and I were invited by a friend (Heiko, MPhil Economics from Germany) to visit Nuffield College. We watched a movie in one of the many rooms with an enormous plasma TV and free drinks. I might be spending a lot more nights at Nuffield enjoying the movie facilities, since it's only a 5 minute walk from my place at High Street.

I will be driving down to London tonight with a few Oxford friends. I can't wait to see downtown London at night again.

On a more academic note, I've been trying to finish my XML work and hope to finish by this Friday (deadline is next Tuesday). I've also been working on the back-end system of iAteneo.com for awhile now. I'm constantly tweaking the content management system that I created because the editorial department is ever expanding (30 writers).

Last Wednesday, I had an opportunity to meet two producers from the British Broadcasting Corp at their office. After the rather stressful meeting & filming, I went for a walk in central London. I was unable to take photos anywhere inside or near the BBC compound as it was heavily regulated.

Inside a bookshop in London

View of the Magdalen Tower on a sunny day.

It is a tradition for most Oxford colleges including Lincoln's to wear a gown whenever one goes to the Hall for dinner every night. This is one of the shops that sell the gowns. This is the same gown that one wears for matriculation. Matriculation is an event that every Oxford student has to attend where one is formally welcomed to the University. The local stores in Oxford are now preparing to welcome (and sell the gowns to) the new students who are bound to arrive in the coming weeks.

Street Sign Number 2

Street sign number 2. Three colleges share the street, with Lincoln being the smallest. The other two colleges are Jesus College and Exeter College.

The bike's color is not one of my favorites, but the wooden basket certainly looks useful for carrying items after shopping.

From today, I shall be taking street sign photos and see how many street signs I can find with bikes attached to it here in Oxford (where do I get all these corny ideas?). This is also a chance to showcase the different bikes of students (not that they're anything fancy, unlike this car).

Here's street sign number one, just around the corner of Lincoln. Brasenose College is at the other end of this street.

The bike sports a nice metallic blue color, but has a very tattered (perhaps useless) steel basket*.

*-why do i talk about baskets? i think baskets are important for bikes especially if you have lots of books to carry around the university and if you do a lot of shopping. imagine a car without a trunk/boot (but, i wouldn't really know, cuz i dont own a bike).

I got locked out today in the department, as I forgot to bring my swipe card. I decided to go to Borders (a book shop) and spend the rest of the morning reading a Java book.

Jenny and Ayako enjoying their cocktails.

A Night Out in Oxford

Cocktails with Sascha, Ayako and Jenny after a hard day's work. We went to this modern and clean restaurant called the Noodle Bar and had a sumptuous dinner. We capped the night with a few drinks at one of the bars on Little Clarendon Street here in Oxford.

An obfuscated night picture of Nash and Clifford at the Radcliffe Square.

Assad visits Lincoln library after dinner at the college. Nash pointed out that my second home (the Lincoln Library) is an inspiring to place to study (or rather sleep?).

A Picture from Work

My obscure workspace area at the department. I don't have much specs of my Sun Java computer except that it runs a distressed Solaris OS. Too much work this week, so I had to bring in the camera to cut my computer and espresso-choc routine this week (all-you-can take caffeine is free courtesy of the department's vending machine. the coffee is awful!) .

St. Giles Fair

This fair is full of beer drinking teenagers at night (presumably, as one of my profs suggested), so I decided to dropby the fair during mid-day instead. Fatty food served in every corner (chips, oily burgers). I didn't have any food, and didn't take any rides (it's already pathetic enough to be visiting a fair in the morning).

Phantom of the Street

A Rolls Royce Phantom caught a few steps outside the accomodation gates today. This V12, 8.5 litre car weighs around 3 tonnes (3000 kg). The vanity plate: 28 RR is all about being vain and showing off the Rolls Royce (am I just jealous?).

The Ashmolean Museum at Beaumont Street from Assad's window.
For some eagle-eyed viewers, the black speck on top of the picture is something I still have to figure out. It's either a bird or a plane and quite possibly your typical summer bug stuck on my camera lens.

Autumn in Two Weeks

The sun's been hanging out too long here in Oxford. I can't help but take my camera with me whenever I go out for a stroll. For one, the sunshine doesn't help me with finishing a 10,000 word paper due on Monday. On to the lighter side of things, the Radcliffe Camera is one of Oxford's most visible and most photographed structure. Recalling what I just said, I think I'll be sad to see summer go away. Autumn is looming yet again.

Bridge of Sighs at Oxford named after the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. The Bridge of Sighs in Venice connects prison cells to the interrogation rooms. The name comes from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice before being taken down to their cells. Take a look at Cambridge's Bridge of Sighs(perhaps better looking than Oxford's).