Pictures of first snowfall...

Okay, I'm frustrated with my assignment and need some distraction so I'm uploading the photos I took during last Sunday morning's snowfall.

The names say it all...

The first snowfall - From Him to us (2)

Tonight, I watch the snow flakes falling furiously as I write this. At 2 - 3 am in the morning, there is a sense of peace and quiet about the campus even as the snow blankets the ground white. There is a sense that God is close. Of course I couldn't just see the snow, I had to experience it myself - so I threw on some clothes, jacket and my Sony alpha before marching downstairs to see, touch, and snap some photograph...okay, the pictures didn't turn out all that well coz I don't have my tripod and I was too cold to hold the camera steady. But watching the side of the loch turning white and the green grass disappearing under the blanket of snow, I felt a tug - winter is here. A change is happening right before my eyes. Yet, most would have slept through it, not aware of this moment, not sensing the implications...and I wonder...

How many significant events have happened in my life and I "slept" through them? How many times have God reached for me and I carried on, unaware? Have I squandered the time given to me?

The first snowfall - From Him to us

I saw the random snowflakes in the rain this morning and it brought the memories of writing a story back in 2001 based on my experience regarding my first snowfall at Prof Patera's place...

"Snow's falling. Snow's falling? When did it happen? Just yesterday, it seemed like summer and now snow's falling?"She looked out of the glass wall of her little house at the soft flakes falling gently to the ground. The little pine tree on one side of the house was being covered ever so rapidly with snow. She could hear the snow hitting her roof.

Ah...I remember...subhanallah! Will I feel the same when I see the actual first snowfall here? Only God knows, but there is something magical, enchanting of that first gentle flakes falling onto your outstretched hands - they've recently been with the Creator...from Him to you.

Swimming...

Finally, I got to swim after a whole two months of going without. It's quite expensive and there are few places to swim, here. In fact at almost 3 pounds, it is the most expensive swimming session I've had. But it was worth it. :) Ventured out at about 11 am after my study session to Dalry Road and found the swimming centre that Melanie talked about.

The swimming pool is small - smaller than SP's pool and not quite Olympic length of 50 m. But the weird part is that the centre has an open shower concept - you can bet I didn't shower at the pool. :D Still, it was a satisfying hour of swimming (didn't want to over do the first session). The pool is near Sommerfield and Lidl so I can do my grocery shopping when I go for the next swimming session.

St Andrews visit (2nd Nov 2008)

So, these are the pictures for the St. Andrew's trip. Not as spectular scenery as the highland trip I took before but it had a charm of its own. Now, below is the fishing village of Pittenweem, the number one port along the East Nenk. Note the extremely low tide and the beautiful sky.


Due to the really low tide, some of us (the more adventurous souls) decided to go all the way out to the edge of the waters.

The rest of us stay close to shore...like Siham (my flatmate) and I. We explored the port instead.

Okay, maybe I was a bit brave - I did venture out onto the slippery rocks and got this shot of the village skyline.

Of course, we weren't all serious explorers; some of us tried to relive our childhood too...tentatively.

And what would a trip be without the charming animals - here's the obligatory "cat in the window." :)

Then we made our way to another fishing village, Anstruther, where we visited the Scottish Fisheries Museum. The museum is amazing!! It traced back the history of fishing in Scotland to long before Christ. They actually got this archeological find of an ancient boat and the fishing equipments. Cool! The museum also had a section where they restored old boats and we can actually see them working. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the museum. So, here's a replacement picture of the harbour with its oh so beautiful blue sky...one of the loveliest days I've experienced in Scotland.

Anstruther is not just known for the museum but also for its fish and chips shop - see the long queue? Well, this fish bar is the best in the whole of Britain for several years.

That's Hajar and her delicious fish and chips!

After lunch, we headed to St. Andrews. As I mentioned, this is the birthplace of golf, but it is also where the oldest university in Scotland (St. Andrews University) is based. St. Andrews University was established by the monks and priests of St. Andrews. St. Andrews was the centre of religious activity after the monarchy decided to move it from Iona and St. Andrews Cathedral was built. Anyway, today, the cathedral lay in ruins because of neglect.

Apart from these significant historical places, we have to have at least a token castle for the trip and below is that castle. This castle was used by the powerful bishops of St. Andrews till the time of the Protestant/Catholic fighting. Look at the ruins - the castle was really very vast and was built on the edge of the cliff.

I like this picture of the only other Singaporean I've actually met (there's one in my FRM course). Wilbur is a sweet guy...I think being the few Singaporeans around, we kind of bonded. He's actually doing acturial studies.

When I shot this, I thought that the people climbing about the ruins looked like toys in a lego set. Anyway, it was just a whim.

Hajar took this shot for Siham and me at the St. Andrews cathedral - see the tower. That's one end of the cathedral.

The picture below was taken from the other end of the cathedral. Note how far the tower is from me? That's how vast the cathedral was. Now, the grounds is used as a burial ground.

Okay, Hajar is a good photographer. I love this picture she took of me standing on the altar stone at the other end of the cathedral.

Now, for the oldest golf course in the world! Okay, it's not the fanciest nor the biggest, but this is the first golf course and it's where the golf rules are made.

And what's remarkable about the golf course is that it's right next to the beach, as seen below with Siham, Menal, and Flora.

Beach and sunset - good combination but the beach was on the wrong side (east instead of west). Still, I managed to find this slither of sunset behind me. I was using the timer and sunset function for this shot - turned out okay.

Had to take the skyline of St. Andrews below.

and the long stretch of beach.

Here's the quadrangle of St. Andrews University. I wish my university was this charming...hmm...seems like all the universities I've attended do not have this kind of old charm to them.

November's adventures

Well, today's adventure is going to be the last weekend adventure for a while until after my exam on 19th December. With two projects due, a challenge to be won, and exams to prepare, I will need to break my "sacred" 'no work on the weekend' rule (which I've instituted since my SMA days). I'm definitely breaking that rule this weekend as I will have to work on one of the projects tonight and another tomorrow.

But I thought I'd update what I've been up to for the past three weekends. On 2nd November, the Chaplaincy organized a trip to the fishing villages along the eastern coast, culminating at the birthplace of golf; St. Andrews. In one of the fishing village, I managed to taste the best fish and chips ever after visiting the museum of Scottish fishing. In St. Andrews, besides visiting the oldest golf course in the world, there is the beach - a long stretch of sandy beach (of course, it does not compare to the Maldives, Phuket etc...but not having seen a "real" beach for so many months, it's a treat.)

Then, my friend, Jenni, invited me to her place in Dundee last weekend. She and her husband John were so kind to host me and will be hosting me again for the Christmas-New Year vacation when Natascha is coming over. They live in this cute little place - not sure what to call it, but it is a house that is divided into four, each with a fourth of the grounds/garden. Since John's stroke, they built an extension to their part of the house and so, I had the upper bedroom all to myself. They also have this cute little dog, Gemma, who is even friendlier than Copper (San Diego Chris's dog who passed away last year.). While I was there, she would sit either on my lap or beside me (and keeping me warm).

Jenni and John took me to a place near Abernethy, the wee village of Aviemore if I'm not wrong, for lunch on Saturday where John used to flyfish. The river was definitely good for whitewater rafting! We then headed for the Spittal of Glenshee (where there is a skiing resort) - to find some snow for me. Unfortunately, the weather's too warm for it (ironically). But the view was breathtaking...(no, unfortunately we didn't stop to take photos.) I'm just sorry that John wasn't feeling well with all the twists and turns of the road.

By the time we got back at their house, I hurried to make dinner for them - made improvised chicken rice, after which we watched Merlin on TV. Wow! It's been over two months since I last watched TV. After John retired, Jenni and I watched two episodes of Lois and Clark from season 2. (LOL! I'm hoping that we can do a LnC marathon next time with Natascha and hopefully Chris {from Scotland} - a mini FoLCfest.) One lovely thing about Jenni is that I definitely felt no age gap between us - I guess the FoLC and fanfic writing gave us a point to start from but we found quite a number of other interest in common like history. Jenni is very knowledgable in British and Scottish history - hmm...another history buff, like me.

After chatting all the way till midnight, I found an interesting book in the bedroom called "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffeneger. Well, predictably, I spent three hours reading it - beautifully written and very engaging (though quite disorientating due to the jumps in time). On Sunday, it was a lazy Remembrance day where we spent the morning watching the previous' night's telecast of Remembrance day celebration in Royal Albert Hall. Wow! It was very moving and John and Jenni helped me to understand some of traditions. (John served in the Army military band when he was young.)

After lunch, Jenni and I went to visit a museum in Dundee - the historic ship that ventured to the Antartic twice, the second voyage a fatal one. It wasn't a big ship so it was quite surprising that it managed to survive the first voyage. Gemma went with us, getting quite giddy with being outdoors. Really, she is sooooooo cute. Anyway, I had a great time in Dundee, all thanks to Jenni and John.

And today, I went on another Haggis highland trip - this time, it's to Loch Lomond and the Campbell country. I'll load up the pictures from St. Andrew's trip and Loch Lomond trips soon. But here's some pictures of Gemma and Jenni.

Cheers,

Sid

LOOK AT THAT WAGGING TAIL!

An inspiring article on inter-religious activities

As I read this, I remembered the effort we, the MIT MSA, Jewish student groups, and some others, put in back in 2001/2002 to start something like this...hope that such efforts will last and bring good to the community.

Visiting a friend

Woke up this morning early so that I could visit Jenni and her husband. They've been gracious in extending their invitation to me. So, I'm going to try to replicate my success at cooking chicken rice for them. Will probably update the blog when I get back...:)