Oxford Dining Hall

One of the things I will miss when I leave Oxford for Christmas would be the dining halls which is always a delightful place to be served, to enjoy the food and meet friends. Picture courtesy of Mickey (Worcester)

Students of Worcester College waiting for the Fellows to arrive before sitting down. Picture courtesy of Mickey who apparently is standing on the High Table platform where the College Fellows dine (it's not illegal, but can be frowned upon by some butlers).

Walking Back Home

A hazy picture of Broad street where half of it is only accessible by foot or bike. Most of the major streets in central Oxford are all decked up with Christmas lights. Right in front of Balliol College is a huge 30 foot tree all spruced up with lights and ready to be one of the Christmas centerpieces of Oxford.

For Those Who are Bored

I answered yet another internet quiz, thanks to my sister:

You Are the Achiever

3 You're confident and competent - with a lot of energy. Eager to reach your goals, you are ambitious and competitive. You are good at movtivating yourself and motivating others. You're also a charmer, with a great sense of humor.

What number are you?


Now, I like that last bit, 'charmer' part ;).

College Guest Dinner

One of Lincoln's most popular traditions is its guest dinners. They are held throughout the year and are sumptuously well catered and wined; a four course meal and some of Kevin the Butler's choice selections from the cellar.

The event is formal (all stiff & polite) and everyone is asked to arrive 40 minutes early for pre-dinner sherry at the MCR.

The College butler pristinely dressed as usual, served us fried fish w/ tartar sauce (Goujons de sole frit) for starters. We then had roasted duck basted in a magnificent citrus brown sauce (Canton Braise) and a good serving of vegetables (Legumes de marche) for main course. We had profiteroles for dessert and coffee. For our night cap we were served several glasses of Port. I met one of my housemates, Julia (left) who's doing her DPhil in Chemistry. I went with Jenny (right). I wasn't sure if cameras were allowed as the whole atmosphere was kind of stiff and formal. I just thought it would be an excellent opportunity to create a lasting memory of the wonderful dinner, the ambiance, the good food and fantastic company.

Clifford Meets Blogger Founder

I didn't get to meet any of the UK CEOs or Directors except for one. However, I got to meet and talk to Evan Williams (right), the founder of Blogger at the Oxford Business School reception. This more than made my week.

Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford

I've been praying to get one of the 25 coveted tickets to join the panel discussion at the Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford Event (last Monday, 22nd Nov 2004), and I got one!

I didn't know what to expect from it, but I was surprised that there were more than 100 high powered CEOs/Directors/Presidents of UK companies or subsidiaries (like MS, Oracle, HSBC, IBM to name a few) in attendance.

I arrived at the venue quite early just to make sure I get inside the theatre. At around 7:15pm, the host then introduced the 7 Silicon Valley panelists. I started to become excited and took out my trusty camera. Each panelists were asked to give a brief bio to acquaint the audience. Evan Williams (first on left), founder of Blogger who later sold his company to Google exudes humbleness. He introduced himself as a man from the midwest (Nebraska) who found it difficult talking to people about his software, let alone get people to understand its use. Mr Williams then moved to California where he experienced the highs and lows of the dot-com era, where he had money and to a point where he had to fire people and learn how to maintain the java servers all alone.

"Sometimes, you need to be insane enough to believe that your idea is great."
-Evan Williams, 22nd November, Oxford

There were two venture capitalists (third from left and sixth from left) on the panel who talked about the role of VCs in forming Silicon Valley. Raymond Nasr (fourth from left) who works as a Director for Google is perhaps the most unique in terms of looks: sporting his dotted bow tie and round spectacles. He looks geeky, but doesn't talk like one. Raymond talked about how Google received a 100K check from the SUN CEO and how Google slowly grew and broke the myth of 'first-mover' advantage long held by Yahoo!.

Overall, it was a great event giving me a chance to meet interesting people mostly from the Said Business School and of course the panelists. This for me, is a once in a lifetime experience.

Forecast for the Rest of the Month: Bright

I'm in a delightful mood despite the short daylights that we get on this side of the planet. I'm happy because of many reasons:

• I'm drinking loads of peppermint tea
• I got a pass to attend an event called 'Silicon Valley comes to Oxford'
• I will be doing my X'mas shopping
• My thesis supervisor's happy with my work.. and will be continuing to do more work.
• I'm going home in two weeks
• I think I'm well rested to do all the above.

Winter Postcard

Quintessential 'Oxford' view (as Nash aptly described) from Christ Church Meadows. The Oxford Regattas training hard under the chilly afternoon weather. My admiration goes to the swan and ducks that tread the icy river.

Standing in front of Brasenose's picturesque courtyard. Some of the Brasenose crowd claim that the dome (Radcliffe Library) on the left and the tower spire (St Mary's Church) on the right are all part of Brasenose.. or so it shows as a facade from inside the College.

Dreaming Spires Silhouette

Countryside view of Oxford. This picture was taken from my Christ Church Meadows stroll with friends last Saturday. ChCh Meadows is only a five minute walk from the city centre.

Weekly Filipino Social

Nash needing a break from his DNA experiments at Oxford's fabled Bio/Physics lab invited us to savour Saturday brunch at Brasenose with Assad, Alex, Nash and Isabela (left to right). It was one of those opportunities where Nash naturally demonstrated his charm and popularity at Brasenose especially with the continental ladies.

Keble College's Formal Hall

This is a a view of Keble College's majestic dining hall. This is one of the better pictures that I took of their Hall when I was kindly invited by a friend for one of the College's nightly formal dinner.

Autumn View

ChristChurch Meadows still magnificent despite the lack of sunshine and lush green trees.

Multi-Tasking

I'm aiming to finish several tasks before December arrives. My mum recently asked me to work on her flower shop website , while I've been working on a few of my own undisclosed projects.

Jenny and I posing in front of Lincoln's ivy covered courtyard walls after dinner.

Guy Fawkes' Night

The normally conservative Ashmolean Museum turns to 'electrified blue' on Guy Fawkes' night. It's a pretty stunning sight with everyone trying to absorb the neon blue radiation while enjoying the fireworks lighting up the sky. Guy Fawkes is remembered each year on November 5 for his audacious attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

We started posing like tourists in front of the blue building.

Coffee Season

Went strolling yesterday at Cornmarket street. It was one of the 'brighter' days of the gloomy winter season which is slowly creeping yet again. With all the complaints about the weather, I still love Oxford for its bustling and lively ambiance. Oxford's coffee shops provide a refreshing break from those (hardly) long study sessions. Any excuse to have a break. I'm still pondering whether I should get this stovetop espresso maker.. I don't drink espresso, but I'm planning to use it as my coffee maker.

Christmas Breeze

I walked into the covermarket at Oxford yesterday and particularly felt the yuletide atmosphere. I can't wait to see my family and friends when I go back to Vancouver this Christmas.

Halloween

Halloween went by this year for me without too much partying except for a quiet dinner. The Worcester crew celebrated the night with a pumpkin carving and spring rolls. Rather odd non-traditional combination, but the jack o' lantern more than enough covers the lack of tradition.