Blog 2005
Introduction
On one fine day in Easter 2005 when I had nothing better to do at home I foolishly decided to start a blog. What a mistake...
Sunday 5 March 2006
This term is going rather quickly. As usual. I think the highlight so far is the Peterhouse Chamber Orchestra last weekend. My first ever flute performance on stage and what a learning experience it was! I'm also keeping up with ballroom dancing classes, just about. I've decided to stay in Cambridge next year to do Part III maths so I'm not going anywhere just yet.
Not that I care but the guestbook suffered a series of abusive postings. I'm introducing a password field so that programs don't keep posting silly ads.
Thursday 5 January 2006
Hello, and happy new year! I begin this section with a little review of my inspiring visit to Egypt. A family trip of course - otherwise I'd be heavily in debt!
Itinery: Started in downtown Cairo - easy access to the Egyptian Museum, Mosques, and markets. Visited nearby areas Saqqara, Giza (Pyramids & Sphinx!). Flew on the third day to Aswan - a calm and beautiful city - and visited Philae Temple, standing on a little island. The next morning a mini-bus ride in the desert took us to the Two Temples in Abu Simbel, very close to the border between Egypt and Sudan. Spent the three days that followed in a luxurious boat - a Nile Cruise from Aswan to Luxor. Beautiful scenery, good company and brief visits to Kom-Ombo Temple, Edfu Temple, and Esna on the way kept us entertained. Finished our run of site seeing in Luxor, by visiting the Valley of the Kings, Luxor Temple, and Karnak Temple. All truly impressive.
We were only witnessing large stones with writing everywhere, yet each time we visited a different site the scale and complexity were spectacular. The whole place was full of suspense and wonder (much of ancient Egypt remains a mystery of course). So interesting, I'd recommend it to anybody!
Friday 23 December 2005
Holidays are going well - snow's been really good this year so skiing's been awesome. Teaching A-level equivalent maths has been good fun, and catching up with school mates in Geneva has always been a good laugh. Last night I went to see an opera - Tosca - and it was great, the music in particular. Italian is a language I must learn at some point.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Right, I'm now off to Egypt.
Sunday 11 December 2005
Pictures from last term are now available under 3rd year cambridge photos page. I didn't feel the urge to take that many pictures, partly because Patrick kept insulting me for being too Japanese (!), and mainly because other people were snapping shots and said they'd share :-) Lots of pictures from Boat Club Dinner are available under 'Events' on the PBC website.Saturday 15 October 2005
This is my third year in Cambridge! I've stopped rowing and started taking dancing lessons this term for a change. Still a beginner but hopefully not for long. The plan for the next few days is to get all Amals work sorted out and find something useful to do next summer. Let me know if you have any interesting ideas!
Monday 5 September 2005
Just an update on my website progress. Thank you to those who have been kind enough to add questions to the Quiz Database, but there are still not enough so please please keep adding! I've also tweaked the poll by updating the question and preventing people from voting more than once. This should stop Patrick from voting himself as a good friend over and over again, sorry Patrick!
Friday 2 September 2005
User Edition Quiz is now up and running. You can attempt questions which other users have contributed, and submit your questions to the User Edition Quiz database for others to attempt.
Thursday 1 September 2005
Do you want to test your knowledge on Cambridge? Take the Ultimate Cambridge Quiz! Go through ten multiple choice questions and find out your grade.
Monday 22 August 2005
I returned from Japan over the weekend. Spent a week sightseeing in Tohoku region, two weeks in Osaka, and two weeks in Tokyo. Lawrence came to visit from Singapore for a week, so we traveled a little, including a brief visit to the Himeji Castle.
Here are two signs I found in Japan, supposedly written in English. Enjoy!
Friday 15 July 2005
I'm flying to Japan today. Part of the plan is to travel around various places in the country. I'll be back by mid-August.
You may have already noticed but I'm currently developing a Japanese guide to the subtle world of Cambridge. Japanese tourists are everywhere in Cambridge but they don't often get a full picture of what it's actually like here. When have you heard tour guides talking about students getting wasted? I thought I should reveal the truth of how students spend their time in university.
I hope everybody is having a good summer!
Tuesday 12 July 2005
Apologies for lack of updates. I was in London for two weeks with no internet connection:(
I've put up a picture from Downing Tribal BBQ. Worked in Jesus May Ball, and went to JCR Garden Party during May Week. I then visited Tom's hometown, Gloucester. Definitely enjoyed visiting Cheltenham and Bristol as well.
I'm going to play around with my website for the next few days, so expect some big changes soon!
Sunday 19 June 2005
May Bumps didn't go so well for Peterhouse this year. Rowing for 1st Men's VIII was a great experience but enjoyed little success as we went down 3 positions in the bumps chart. I've posted some pictures on my Photos Page from last night, when we celebrated the end of Bumps Week by the traditional Peterhouse Mays Boat Club Dinner.
Sunday 12 June 2005
Hurray! My poll is working! I finished my exams on Friday and had plenty of free time today so I decided to teach MySQL to myself. The remaining problem is that you can vote more than once. I may have to use cookies to get around this.
Wednesday 8 June 2005
Japan have qualified for next year's World Cup in Germany! Yahoo!!! I must say the team hasn't impressed lately with narrow victories against the likes of Bahrain and North Korea, but they've done enough nevertheless (sigh of relief).
Football in Japan has developed immensely in the last decade. It all kicked off in 1993 when the professional J-League was set up. Although baseball remains the national sport, the arrival of various players from abroad (Zico, Lineker, Mboma, to name a few) has attracted many fans. Popularity increased further when Japan co-hosted the World Cup with South Korea in 2002. The challenge now is to promote football at junior level, so that the next set of talented youngsters can improve the standard of the game.
Saturday 4 June 2005
Rowing was great today. Brad Crombie, former President of Cambridge University Boat Club and winner of the Boat Race in the late 1990s, came to coach us and give us a few tips on how to row. He came up with some interesting drills to correct our problems which turned out to be quite effective. I also had a haircut yesterday, which obviously helped the boat speed.
Wednesday 1 June 2005
A new blade arrived today and is being displayed in our room now:) Had to wait for almost a year but it was definitely worth the wait.
Thursday 26 May 2005
I'm fed up with British weather forecasts now. I can see they want to be optimistic at times, but let's be honest: England is not the place for sunshine. I don't understand why they get it wrong most of the time when BBC has a very good symbol corresponding to weather in Cambridge (shown right). As a solution to the problem, I have started my own weather forecast. If you want an accurate forecast of the weather in Cambridge, visit Daisuke's weather forecast.
Wednesday 25 May 2005
I couldn't stop thinking about last night's Champions League final, because Liverpool were truly inspirational. To have come back from 3-0 down at half time and clinch the title is something special. I found the scenes of the team celebrating after the final extremely touching. You don't often get this kind of feeling. Liverpool showed great character and reminded us all that football can be exciting and dramatic. Football is indeed, a beautiful game.
Wednesday 18 May 2005
I'll be working in Xanadu, this year's Jesus May Ball. Very much looking forward to it!
Saturday 14 May 2005
Patrick's grandparents invited me for dinner, which was very nice. I was really impressed with their beautiful Japanese styled garden and collection of Japanese paintings. They seemed to know a lot more about Japan than I do, which is embarrassing, so here is my attempt to learn a bit about Japanese gardens: History and Gallery.
Saturday 7 May 2005
Revision is under way now for exams in June. The timetable is rather confusing this year so I felt the urge to display it in spreadsheet format. If you're taking Part IB Maths Tripos exams then you might find it useful.
Thursday 28 April 2005
I've finally managed to launch the Amals website and announce this brilliant news to everybody in college. Great!
Sunday 24 April 2005
I'm back in Cambridge now, after five weeks of relaxing. It's time for some work, and some more fun in university! I shall add pictures to the photos section as term progresses so keep coming back for regular updates.
Sunday 17 April 2005
Let me talk about takoyaki, another type of Japanese food I had today. Takoyaki is a ball-shaped wheat-flour batter with octopus pieces embedded inside, served with brown sauce, green lever and dry bonito slices on top. It is cooked on a special "takoyaki pan", which has semi-spherical shaped dips where ingredients can sit. I've added some more links to my links page including a comprehensive list of Japanese restaurants in London.
Wednesday 13 April 2005
Just had sukiyaki for dinner, yummy! Sukiyaki is a Japanese speciality, consisting of thin slices of beef, shiitake mushrooms, tofu cakes, chinese cabbage, and various other vegetables all cooked in one big pot at a table. The "sukiyaki sauce" differentiates this from all other dishes giving sukiyaki a unique flavour - you've got to give it a try! More details about Japanese food accessible from my links page.
Friday 8 April 2005
Posted some Japanese pictures in my Humour section. I shall add some more soon...
Wednesday 6 April 2005
I passed my practical driving test today, WOOHOOO!!!!
Have you all taken the test to identify Japanese/Korean/Chinese people yet? It's linked from my FAQ page. I got 10 out of 18, and I must say it was difficult. Share your scores here if you think you've done well.
Friday 1 April 2005
The Links page has been updated, with more links to Japanese and Swiss food pages! Don't miss out on the comprehensive guide to Cambridge pubs if you're living in Cambridge, and the links to table manners and etiquettes which you may find informative.
Wednesday 30 March 2005
A brand new section has been added to the menu today: it's the photos! Another new addition is the poll of the week; it was suffering problems last week but it's now up and running again with full functionality.
Tuesday 29 March 2005
I've received complaints that my poll doesn't seem to work... so it's been removed now. I shall add more photographs soon to keep everybody happy.
Friday 25 March 2005
Here is my brand new website. I've learned a little about web designing, so expect some fancy stuff on this page very soon! In the meantime, sit back and enjoy what I've created so far.
You may like to know that this website isn't as meaningless as it seems. I'm currently attempting to create a useful website for Amals. So I've taken advantage of my Easter holidays in the countryside of Switzerland, where life is easy and merry, to learn a little bit about web designing and test a few bits and pieces of my fancy html script.