Thursday, December 31, 2009

I'm going to Japan...wow.


I have JUST finalised my flight bookings for Japan. I'm actually going to go! I can't believe this...It's going to be so exciting! I feel like it's the start of an adventure. Ok, I wasn't able to have a gap year but this is so much better!
* * *
In the evening I took the train up to Finnsbury Park to meet Alice and later her friend Anvita as we were all going to go to Jess' NYE/ birthday party. I'd never really travelled to that part of London but was so surprised at how simialr it is to Ealing. Alice and I often joke that we lead parrallel lives and sepearate ends of the city...
Jess' house is lovely and was already filled with people when we arrived. They were all pretty friendly and I felt surprisingly confident considering I only knew three people there to start with. Within a couple of hours I had already made friends with some of the guys and German girls that knew Jess through an exchange trip. Dancing with everyone in the living room was also hilarious. By midnight we were all standing round the TV shouting down the last few minutes of the decade...

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

London Kiss - the lights at SNOG


Chesca woke me up early this morning to go to central London with mum (when I say early I mean before 9am as we haven't been able to get up earlier than that these holidays). Being in Oxford has made me appreciate London so much more to the extent that even the tube is interesting. We got off at Bond Street as mum wanted to go to French Sole - a dainty shoe store in one of the exclusive areas of the city. The store was tiny but quirky with shelves of cute pumps and heels. We then followed on to have lunch at a retro Lebanese restaurant near St. James' square behind Oxford Street. Here we shared a selection of pita, homous, falafel and salads all with hot peppermint tea. The food was made with generous servings of strong olive oil and bitter lemon juice so it really woke us up after the drizzly morning start. On leaving the restaurant it was still spitting and very cold but I was content wearing then panda hat Chesca gave me for Christmas - it's so cute! We went all the way to Carnaby Street and through the alleyways of Soho to find SNOG a colourful frozen yoghurt bar. The guy there was really sweet and spoke Spanish. I couldn't decide what to have but in the end opted for chocolate with cute white chocolate stars as a topping. He added brownies and a raspberry too :) The bar was all white with a single pink wall and glass counter for all the toppings. The ceiling was also white with dozens of light bulbs that changed colour from shades of pink to purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red and pink again. It was truly a very vibrant shop. We did look a bit crazy eating frozen treats on a cold winter day but it was so good and totally worth it.
The last hours were spent wandering through to Covent Garden to have a look at the bead shops and STA where I needed some more info about travel insurance for Japan. By now it was not only cold and rainy but also dark plus we were very tired. Covent Garden station was packed with people but we managed to get seats on the tube back. I'm now sitting with Toffee curled up on my lap warm and snug at home. Today was a quick glimpse around some of my favourite parts of the city and showed how you can only find the best things by exploring new places.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Recuerdos


Although it's dark outside today's persistent rain seems to have stopped. I've spent all of my time inside with the family looking through old photographs that Abu brought for us from home. They're all in black and white and are of our great- grandparents and other relatives. I love seeing how people dressed, especially in the wedding photos, and comparing their features with that of our family. Chesca looks so much like mum when she was younger and Regina is a spitting image of Sandra at her age. By far my favourite photo was the only one taken of Abu on her wedding day. She's walking up the steps of the Church led by her father, Tata, and is wearing a stunning white wedding dress (I’m thinking I’d like to have something similar...). On showing us this photograph we all laughed at the random guy smiling in the background - Abu is determined to get a copy of the photo and erase his face as she claims that he ruins it (we, however, think this is hilarious and that he adds character to the shot!). Looking through all the old letters, painting and photos that Abu brought made me feel so much closer to the people I always hear about. Mum always tell us stories from when they were alive but being able to put a face to the anecdotes makes them seem so much more real. It made me think about how much I would like my children and grandchildren to be able to associate with me through this collection of photographs and writing.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Windsor


Went with Abu, dad and mum to Windsor today. It was really a shopping trip so, although I took my camera, I didn't get any pictures at all. I hate the fact that we only get a few hours of light before it goes dark again. Damn winter!
Ok, so slightly cheating, but I took this one yesterday...

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park


Met up with Twyford people today at the Winter Wonderland fair in Hyde Park. Chrissie and her boyfriend Chris were there as well as Ussif, Ryan, Dawud, James Speed, Simon (from Geography), Annurai and other people I'd known in 6th form. It was lovely to see them as it didn't feel that any time had passed since we'd last seen each other. However, it soon got very cold and everything was expensive so we began to walk towards Queensway where some of us wanted to go ice-skating. The walk was SO much longer and more tedious than we'd expected so they all went to Nandos but I decided to head back home. I was frozen and very tired.
I met Chesca at northfields as she'd just come back from shopping with Matilda at High Street Kensington. We took the E2 from there to Simona and Tamsin's house where mum, dad and abu were having tea. Chesca and I were so grateful to be somewhere warm with a hot mug of tea and a slice of Christmas cake - pure bliss! It was also nice to catch up with Tamsin, who has lots of plans to go travelling, and Simona who was telling us about this new diet she's been on. Morgan their cat was there too and spent most of the evening circlign our legs before falling asleep on Chesca's lap.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

my shmoo


This morning, while normal sane people queued outside shops such as M&S ready for the Winter sales mum and I were sat in the PC world car park. We were waiting for them to open the store so we could find a netbook for my birthday present. A small crowd had already begun to form outside the doors and we found this hilarious. Quite a few were obviosu computer nerds and mum joked that they could even be hackers! In the end we spent 3 hours in the shop. 3 HOURS! Now who are the nerds....
I decided on a small dell inspiron netbook the exact same as my laptop but half the size. It is my shmoo.
Later, the schofields came for Boxing day lunch at ours. Marianne, Chesca, Steffi and I sat in the front room hearing all about Steffi's boyfriend who is so cute! He's the brother of Sam Hawkins who's in my year at Hertford and going out with Helena which is a strange coincidence (the fact that Steffi is dating his brother...not Helena dating him...).

Friday, December 25, 2009

Christmas!!


How can I write a post about Christmas? There is just so much to say because of everything I associate with it. Until the age of 14 I had always travelled with my family to Mexico where we spent Christmas at my grandparent's (of mum's side of the family) and New Years with our Great grandma (Nona), Negris, Alejandro, Puli, Sergio and other relatives. These were the best Christmases ever as the celebrations lasted from the day we arrived in Mexico City to our departure in early January after El Dia De Reyes (King's Day). Everything about Christmas in Mexico was magical. Chesca and I would count down the days until we were watching films on the plane wondering what our friends were doing in school at that exact moment. We loved eagerly searching for Abu and Duado among the sea of faces in the airport and arriving to the large green metal gates of San Jeronimo in the orange "combi". Abu or Pedro would always prepare us some tortillas with quezo de Oaxaca and chorizo. Sometimes, if we were lucky, Abu would have bought special blue maize tortillas from the market outside the Church. These were my favourites as well as the ones made of flour - I was known for eating them one after the other faster than they could be cooked!
Travelling always left us exhausted so it was always a great comfort to be able to sleep in the lovingly prepared beds to the familiar sounds of the Mexico City night. Our arrival was usually followed by that of the cousins and Monica so the house was quickly filled with excitement and noise (especially in the kitchen which was the centre of all the hubub). Occasionally we'd escape, just us four, for an extra mini holiday to Tulum for a week or so before the important Christmas festivities got underway.
Christmas day is fondly remembered by Chesca and me. During the years following Duado's death and the selling of the house at San Jeronimo we started to spend Christmas here. Oh, what a difference. I remember sitting on Chesca's bed on various occasions reminiscing about Mexico. Sometime mum and dad join us so we're all sighing and longing to return.
The day would start by Chesca and I waking up and then going to mum and dad's bed where we'd open the presents given to us from friends and family in England. While mum and dad got up we'd run to the other side of the house and wake up our cousins whose job it was to arouse Sandra and Mau. It was run like a military operation with us splitting into groups: one made sure the parents didn't fall back to sleep, another went to the other house to fetch Monica and we'd all co-ordinate waking up Abu and Duado. This would take over an hour as it can be very difficult getting seven tired adults into the same place at the same time (coffee usually did the trick). We would then sit, wait and usually sing outside the door to the living room where the Christmas tree was. This would take even longer as the adults would wander in and out of the room and, whenever we asked them if we were allowed inside, they'd almost always answer "no". So exasperating! However, the rush of joy once we were allowed inside was completely worth it. I remember slipping in my socks on the red terracotta tiles of the room as we races towards the Christmas tree surrounded with gifts wrapped in brightly coloured paper. There would be traditional English Christmas carols (probably sung by some choir or another in Oxford) playing in the background. Abu was assigned official present-distributer status and would call our names as she read them off the tags. Duado would all the while film with one of his new camcorders or cameras (mum says he was always into any type of new technology which is true as he often had the most up-to-date gizmos and gadgets still impressive by today's standards!). After all the commotion of unwrapping the presents, saying thank-yous and lots of kissing on the cheek all the cousins would rock a basket Abu held with a figure of baby Jesus inside. We would all sing a lullaby together and then separate with our gifts to get changed ready for Christmas lunch.
Dad and Mau were always in charge of peeling and cutting the sprouts and potatoes. They would sit outside in the sun together drinking beer while we took our toys to the garden to play. Sometime Duado would fry the potato skins and make crisps which we'd all eat together in the kitchen while Abu roasted the turkey. I don't like turkey too much as it always seems to be dry but it didn't matter. Cooking took up almost all of the day and we'd sit together in the dining room at the tables (on for the adults and one for the children) eating a huge traditional Christmas feast. This was followed by Christmas crackers made by mum and then Christmas pudding (of the Tesco variety to be exact) imported from England by us. We'd turn down the lights as mum came into the room with the blue flames licking and flickering round the pudding. She'd always wear some foam reindeer antlers and a flashing rudolph nose which made us laugh. Ok, so our Christmas was in fact quite British as mum and dad would even hide coins in the pudding (although they were usually Mexican, English or Canadian). We'd finish off the meal by eating some After Eight chocolate and watching a Christmas film (more recently these would be the newest instalment to Regina's Barbie DVD collection which I secretly enjoyed).

I wish more than ever to be able to go back to then. As much as I love Christmas in England it will never be as beautiful as the ones we used to have. The houses have been knocked down and the garden divided up to accommodate new flats. I try to record as much as I can remember about the house in San Jeronimo as possible as I am so scared of forgetting it.

Christmas, however, is not a time to be spent mourning what used to be. It is a time when you give thanks for what you have including all the precious memories lovingly stored away. This Christmas was calm and relaxed which I am very thankful for. We unwrapped gifts under the tree in our front room with mum, dad and Abu. There were the traditional Christmas carols playing in the background and exchange of thank yous and kisses on cheeks. We ate a delicious Christmas lunch (mum really made a fantastic effort this year) until we thought we'd explode and then watched Christmas TV together. There was no room for Christmas pudding and we forgot the crackers but we were all content and happy to be in each other's company. I would give anything to go back to Mexico but also love spending time with my family regardless of where in the world we may be.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve, Ealing


I haven’t been to Ealing for ages so went to get some errands done. My Nikon has been acting up recently and the auto setting doesn't work but I got talking to a really nice guy in Jessops who fixed it for me - yay! I was so delighted that I went to the central park of the shopping centre to get a shot of the Christmas tree there. They've been putting it up for years now and I was really trying to find something Christmassy for today's photo. I remember playing on the statue of the children with Chesca and my friends after school when we were kids and mum chatting with other parents on the benches. Ealing hasn't changed much in my opinion which is why I love returning to see the parts I miss when I'm away. Traditions such as the Christmas displays being put up in the Broadway make it feel as if I had never left at all...

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Frosty December Morning


Woke up fairly early today to discover that everything was heavily frosted over. I eagerly went outside in my PJs with my camera (the neighbours already know our family is mad) and took pictures until my hands felt that they'd freeze. I love how frost delicately coats the edges of leaves like sugar grains and is especially striking on evergreen leaves. However, this was my favourite shot. Do you remember the picture I look back in summer of the jasmine? The flowers were still out but had thick crystals on their rims. They look so crisp and icy that I had to take another shot...

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

two days to go...

Monday, December 21, 2009

The day we decorated the tree


Had a Christmas lunch at a local Church and later went home to decorate the tree. As usual we've been running a little late with setting up our Christmas decorations. However, on returning home I had to delve deep into the bitter cold of our dark attic to fish out all the Christmas stuff. Our tree this year was pretty good although mum and dad had left it outside so it had a huge block of ice at the base which we had to smash off with a hammer. We proped it up in a bucket with rocks and began to add the fairy lights and various mix-match of baubles etc. Chesca and I are proud of our work of art but couldn't help but think that it looks a bit Ugly Betty-esque...

Sunday, December 20, 2009

The day Abu arrived


We went to pick her up at the airport but I forgot the SD card for my camera - arg! So, I've used a photo which Chesca took in the Summer of 2008 when she came to stay with Andres and Ceci. This is my Abu; she is beautiful, funny, smart and wise. I love her so much and hope to be like her when I'm older.
She was sitting waiting for us at the terminal and it was so brilliant to see her. She looked smaller but not much different to how I remembered from last year. We went home and she took out all these gifts for us from Mexico. We're all so happy to have her here with us <3

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Christmas shopping


Its 23:14 and this is the first time in about two weeks I have been able to sit down and blog. Ok, this was supposed to be a photo per day and I have been taking pictures but have had no time to put them up. This is pretty rubbish as it means that I'll have to remember the stories that accompany them...
I'm back home in Ealing and have been since Thursday. Today mum and I woke up really early and drove to Kingston for some Christmas shopping before it got too busy. We had coffee at the Starbuck's in Border's which is in its last days before closing. So many beautiful shops seem to be suffering from the recession that it's sad to see them go. What's worse is wondering what'll replace them - usually pound shops that don't even make it 'til summer. However, this last coffee in Border's was pretty good and kept us fuelled up for a very busy day. Best of all was seeing Amelia in H&M as this was totally unexpected but made me so happy! I think I've been having Oxford withdrawal symptoms and it was brilliant to see her and chat for a while in Pret. I also found this beautiful green skirt in my size which I've been after since summer. It was the last one in the shop. Double amazingness! Mum and I spent most of the day shopping and were pretty tired and hungry by the end. We finished off by having some soup and coffee in the John Lewis cafe.
Abu arrives tomorrow from Mexico and I am SO excited!
I promise to start uploading the past couple of week’s photographs but for now I'd like to catch up on some well-deserved sleep...

Friday, December 18, 2009

Chesca

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Anna P's 20th


Woke up around 9 when my alarm went off but fell back asleep still sitting in my bed. It was about 10:30 when I stumbled out of my room to find Geoff (our scout) pottering about on the landing. He was not a happy bunny. Apparently he'd come in around 7am this morning to find people crashed on the sofa and floor as well as loads of rubbish everywhere. Uh-oh. I helped tidy up as Amelia had done most of it before setting off to College. Afterwards I got all my stuff together and left my room for the last time this year *sigh*. After saying goodbye to everyone in the old lodge I took a train to London and got home in time to have a shower, eat and get ready for Anna P's birthday. Chesca let me borrow her soft pink chiffon dress as the theme was 1920s (not only until later did Poweel notice the coincidence between the theme and her age..). It was a very relaxed party with some old friends (Sam Gregg, Lee..) and newer ones (Polly and Katie from RHUL). Just before midnight, and during Anna's last minutes being a teenager, it started to snow really heavily. Some of us went out to the garden and ran around in the snow which was quickly covering the grass in a thick layer. I love how we both got snow on our birthdays... I hope it stays until Christmas.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Bubble




There are hardly any interview candidates left so we've all been pretty relaxed. Someone brought some bubbles in today so I took pics of Alice and Amelia blowing bubbles. I'm really proud of the shots I took of each so it was specifically hard to pick which one I'd use today. I think I may end up tossing a coin...

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The tower of power...


Made with spaghetti and wine gums by the engineers with the interviewees. Pretty impressive - I wish Biology was that inspiring!
I woke up in a sleeping bag in ALice's room. Marja was still asleep so I got borrowed one of Alice's summer dresses and went to start my shift. It was not surprising to find about three people at the Old Lodge as it had been a pretty rough night. However, in no time we had a large queue of interviewees needing to be taken to other Colleges. As I had a bike I made three trips to St. Cat's (a very modern and impersonal College - the complete opposite of Hertford!), one to St. Hugh's, Wadham. Queen's and anything far away from Hertford! It was a pretty cold day and I was only wearing tights, a dress and the interview week jumper. It was quite busy today but I still really enjoyed chatting with the interviewees who are all quite friendly (alb eight a bit nervous). I couldn't help but notice the difference between now and last week when we had the arts students. The science students seem to be far more reserved and, well, eccentric? I preferred the arts students as they were livelier, down to earth and you could have a proper conversation with them.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Manasi's birthday


Alex came to visit today. He was in London for the weekend and managed to get a free ticket to Oxford so decided to come and see me. I told him that I didn't have much time free as we've been very busy and also needed to sort out Manasi's birthday stuff. However, we managed to find a snug corner table at Costa where we were able to sit, drink coffee and chat. It was lovely to see him and sad to say goodbye.
Once back at Hertford we all hid in the basement of the Swift room around lunchtime for Manasi's surprise birthday party. Marja bought loads of food and a Topshop voucher with the money we'd all donated towards the gift so it was very tempting to not eat it all as we waited in the dark! Amelia had planned to ask Manasi to take some boxes downstairs before setting off to pizza Express where we'd told her we were going to have lunch. However, as she came through the door we all surprised her (she didn't scream as much as we'd hoped) and sang "Happy Birthday".
Went out with all the interview helpers to Keble's bar for an interview week crew date. It was pretty dry as the only other interview week helpers there were from Balliol and Keble. They were very civilised and boring. However, the traditional Hertford spirit kept us up and we were all sconsing and singing in no time!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

star


Gabriel bought us all a huge box of chocolate as congratulations for doing so well with the arts students. They've almost all gone home now so it's pretty quiet. Alice and Amelia have been very busy organising everything and have had hardly any time to think! I took this shot of the cutest chocolate in the box and only later found out that both Amelia and Alice had independently blogged about stars today too...

I returned to Summertown where Manasi and I had the sudden urge to bake cupcakes. We sprinted to Tesco's (and managed to slip in before they shut the shop) to buy icing. We followed the exact same recipe as the one used to make the Hummingbird bakery cupcakes which is always very successful. As soon as it reached 12am we burst into "Happy Birthday" for Manasi as she is now 19! This was then followed by gorging on cupcakes and watching TV on her laptop.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Pink skies over Oxford


Caught this just as I was heading off to the library to do some earl vacation work...

Friday, December 11, 2009

Om nom nom


Nabs and I eat the huge pile of biscuits and cake Johnny bought for the interview helpers. Later we all went to the JCR to play cards and watch The Butterfly Effect until the early hours of the morning. I lent Fi my camera and have spent ages going through the pictures she took. I should have never shown her the continuous frame button...

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Early morning...


Caught this as I cycled into Hertford this morning. It was so cold I thought my fingers would freeze off! However, the sunshine was beautiful and I had to stop and take this photo. This did however almost make me late and I peddled furiosuly down the road just as the bells tolled 8 o'clock...

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Shmoo shmoo shmoo


The eternal joke of interview week...
We have to escort the interviewees to other Colleges but have managed to make this more exciting by also wearing a pink visor. Any College which has been "visored" gets circled in pink on our map of Oxford with the initials of the person next to it. Amelia has even started a star chart for good deeds. Taking the visor counts for four stars. We've also been taking round tiny colourful tinsel Christmas trees as the visor is looking a bit worn out. People are getting pretty competitive over those stars as there’s a prize at the end!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The Ashmolean Museum


Before starting my shift at 4pm I decided to have a look around the newly restored Ashmolean Museum. I was expecting it to be small and dark like the Pitt Rivers with dimly lit rooms resembling an extensive rabbit burrow. However, I walked into something completely different almost like the British Museum in London. It is truly a lovely light building with over three floors and fifty different rooms filled with art and artefacts from different areas around the world and various time periods. I went straight to the second floor which had all the oriental pieces including tiny tea sets and miniature animals. Another room had a collection of European rings and watches similar to those from Alice in Wonderland. The display cabinets by the staircase held various European portrayals of foreigners as well as oriental pictures of Westerners. This was incredibly interesting to see what each culture first thought of the other. Other rooms held intricately carved boxes made from white ivory depicting hunting scenes, robes made for the Chinese Emperor's children, Grecian vases, rows and rows of coins, portraits and various paintings. I could spend forever in this treasure trove of history and culture! All the while I took pictures of my favourite pieces and found this tiny golden statue in the India and Asian section. I love how it stood out from the rest of the artefacts regardless of its small size.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Two cities. One day.


Returned to Oxford today on the coach. It went through London and I had a brief longing to visit Portobello road, Brick Lane, Carnaby street....As soon as I arrived at Hertford I got lunch and started my shift ferrying Geography interviewees to their interviews. Most seemed fairly relaxed and I tried to keep their minds of the interview by chatting about random rubbish. I can't believe that they'll all be first years when I'm in my last year of my degree. arg.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

The day I relaxed at home


I was finally able to sleep in my bed last night - such a well needed rest after a long day! I watched TV and pottered around the house before having a walk around Llamas and Walpole park with dad in the evening light. It was cold and rainy but I am so delighted to be home - even ambling down the avenue of trees in Llamas felt inspiring as the wind whipped through their bare branches. The more I am away from home the more I appreciate it when I return. Even simple things like walking down my street or seeing a 207 bus. I took this picture of Toffee as he was falling asleep on a chair in the back room. He always seems to have this cute blissful expression on his face.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Mi mami; there are not enough words (or photos) to describe her


The time I woke up to catch a 6:30am train home to London. I cycled in the early morning down an empty Banbury road where the only sign of life were the birds singing the dawn chorus and the milk, baker and fish monger's vans delivering goods. I got home around 8:30 when everyone was still asleep. Dad came down the stairs to make sure I'd been able to open the door as he'd locked it last night. I then crept up to Chesca's room and tapped lightly. She was delighted to see me and we went quietly downstairs and waited for mum to wake up. It turned out that she had slept really badly so didn't wake up until 10:30! I hid behind the clothes horse as she came downstairs and jumped out to surprise her. She screamed so load three times - it was hilarious! In the evening we all went out to eat at Okawari as a family. It feels as if I had never left. I'm so happy she liked her present (including the earrings I'd bought the other day).

Friday, December 4, 2009

Oxmas Party


Today was the last ever four lecture Friday of the term. After four consecutive hours of lectures all the Hertford Biologists met up at the KA with our tutors, Martin and Clive, for a Christmas lunch. Kirsty (my college mum) had organised it and even brought Christmas crackers. At the end of the meal Martin gave each of us a cute chocolate from Thorton's in the shape of a Christmas Yule log or pudding. I then went to the Old Lodge to give Alice and Amelia a hand with setting up stuff for interviews. In the late afternoon I cycled to Ab where Marja and Felicity were busy making Dutch pancakes for the Christmas party. Sarah went out to dinner at the MCR and people began to arrive a little later. By then the three of us had eaten so many pancakes that we were feeling slightly sick. The rest of the evening was spent in Felicity's room where loads of people eventually gathered to drink mulled wine and eat pancakes, Christmas cake and pudding.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Christmas Carols at the Sheldonian and Hertford....and the Sheldonian again


Ok, so today I was able to tick off two things from my list of things to do before I leave Oxford. Last year I was ill and missed out on both the Hertford and Sheldonian Christmas Carols. However, this year I was determined to go. They were both today so I decided to go to the Hertford ones first. However, I was really early so popped into the early carols at the Sheldonian for about 10mins before heading back to the chapel. The atmosphere at Hertford was lovely and really put me into the Christmas mood. I was surprised to see Martin and Alison there as well as some of the other tutors (I thought Biologists didn't believe in God - maybe they went for the traditional aspect...). Tom Davies, Emily, Charlotte, Clare and Matt were all there too which was good. The chapel looked so beautiful with the decorations especially as the lights were all turned down and the only light came from our candles. Afterwards I went with them all and some of the choir to the Nosebag for dinner. It was delicious and we all had major food babies. We then headed off to the later carol service at the Sheldonian. This time I stayed for the whole thing. This photo was taken in the covered market as I think it has the best Oxmas atmosphere - I love Oxmas!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

this place is my inspiration


Had an incredible tute today about creating C4 rice to help solve problems of food shortage. While picking up my bike from Hertford I noticed the Cupola at the top of the Sheldonian which I'd visited with the KG students. I decided to climb it and get some pictures of Oxford on this frosty first day of December.I love how the two plane paths cross in the sky so the blue almost looks like a ceiling and the reflections from the glass as the windows.
Today is mum's birthday so I rang home - I've planned a surprise visit this week as part of my present. As I was cycling along Broad street I also so Anusha who used to go to Twyford. It was so strange that I did a double take and stopped a few feet further down the road. It was great to see her and know that there is someone else from Twyford here!

Monday, November 30, 2009

Hertford Christmas Party



Finally, my last essay of the term is complete. This afternoon I went to the chapel and helped set up the Christmas decorations with the other Hertford students. We decorated the trees with silver, baubles and fairy lights, twisted gold and silver tinsel around the wooden pillars and hung glittered snowflake around the walls. This was all done while drinking the first mulled wine and mince pies of the year. In the evening we all got ready for the Christmas party and Amelia did all our make-up. Alice was a snowball (with cut-out snowflakes selotaped to her white outfit), Amelia was a cat, I was an angel and Tom....? .....was a .....er....I don't really know....
We went down to the packed bar before heading out with the rest of the college to Po Na Na for another fantastic night of cheesy music and dancing.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Japan


Ok, so this isn't my photo - it was taken a couple of days ago by one of my friends from KG when she went to visit some garderns in Japan. Looking through them has made me want to visit the country more than anything else in the world. I have to go! I don't know why but I know that If I don't visit I will be missing out on an amazing experience so different from anything here in England or even Europe for that matter. There is a chance that I may be able to go during the Easter vacation with the Hertford exchange group. It would only be 10 days or so but I'm sure it's just enough to stop my craving.....

Saturday, November 28, 2009

The Covered Market


Woke up this morning with the need to listen to “Fidelity” by Regina Spektor. I have always blamed this song for making me feel anxious during my AS level Chemistry exam and the subsequent disaster. However, this morning I knew that I just HAD to listen it and the rest of my day has been filled with her voice.
I cycled into Oxford to buy mum's birthday present. I wandered through the streets in the vague direction of the covered market via Past Times where the shop assistant was being told off by an old lady for having music playing in the background. I hope to never be old and grumpy. I want to be like Abu and smile at the neighbour's Israeli bodyguards as they do their morning jog past my house.
Anyway, the covered market was packed with people and I just about managed to take some quick pictures of the mistletoe strung between the florist's and delicatessen, the English lavender piled in thick bunched on wooden shelves (if only I could smell it!), branches with bright red berries twisted into wreaths and the venison and game hung outside the butcher’s. My favourite delicatessen had the amaretto biscuits spilling piled in the window below a shelf of Lindt chocolates. I love those biscuits as they remind me of sitting with my family curled up on the sofa with the fire crackling away. We always ate them when we had guests for tea and sometimes dad would do this trick where he'd curl up the paper into a role and light the bottom. The paper would float up into the air for a few seconds before slowly drifting back down when the flames stopped.
It took me forever to find a present for mum. I want to get her something she'll love, something that’s worthy and shows just how much I love her. I ended up in aspire and bought a cute hot water bottle with a Scotty dog and bow - to keep her warm when Fudge decides to be grumpy.... However, I'm not sure if this is what I was looking for.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Thank God, Friday.


I detest being ill. My head feels all heavy and headachy, my nose is blocked and my throat sore. I got it from Jeremy after sitting next to him in lectures when he was ill.Hopefuly it will go away soon so I can get on with my life. I was thinking of going to London on Sunday as a surprise before mum's birthday. Chesca and I thought it'd be nice to eat at Tas as a family.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

The day they cancelled the race


Made a salad and took this pic of red onion skin I used. I love it's fragility...

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Christ Church and Jess' 21st


and Christ Church Regatta in at midday. Finally, I was able to compete in an Oxford boat race! It was freezing out on the river and the sky was overcast. We were up against Exeter's A novices and one of team couldn't make it as she had to go to the embassy. As a result, one of the mixed crew was put the replace her and we realised this might be a problem as soon as we set off from the boat house. The boat was very unbalanced and the new novice couldn't even feather her blade on the water, keep in time or feather during the stroke. We were in trouble. As soon as the race started it began to rain and Exeter was way in the lead. The boat tipped and slowly made its way up the river against the strong current which has picked up pace since last saturday. They beat us by a long shot and were extremely skilled. We were alla little disheartened but still happy to have the glory on Nemphis in our minds. There was also the recharge to look forward to tomorrow where the boats the lose get a second chance.
In the late evening Amelia did my make-up and hair so I felt like a princess for the party. I cycled down to Hertford and dropped off my bike before running into the biochemist Chris Anderton who had come for the weekend for his graduation ceremony. We walked together and he dropped me off at the club - it was great to see him. The party was beautiful with jazz music and various Hertford people packing out the room, Jeremy and his boyfriend Jerard were also there as Jeremy knows Jess from school. I say Leila who told me that the whole of Christ Church had been cancelled dueto the awful weather which was unsuitable for novices. This wasn't too bad a news as the conditions had been bitter earlier on. Anywaym, we danced drank lots of wine and cocktails. Before long I was feeling a bit tipsy but met this really sweet guy called Jacob. We chatted for ages and danced together until the end of the night.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Where I live now


This year I've felt that Oxford is my home. I live here among the spires and wierd traditions. It makes me proud.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Rainy Monday


Just about finished the first draft of this week's essay. It’s just a bit past midnight but I'm sure this counts as my photo for today/ yesterday! I found two of my favourite pieces of music on youtube as well as a video by Carla Bruni for L'Amoureuse. They've kept me going for the past 4 hours I've been working consecutively....
Gnossiennes No. 1 - Erik Satie
Comptine d'un autre été - Yann Tiersen
Theres something about these two pieces that gives you a soft uplifting feeling, almost like a secret smile. I want the Gnossienne to be louder, bolder, faster but its that feeling of straining to catch every perfect note that makes me love it. The way in which your heart elevates as the notes reach a creshendo and slowly tumble back down.
Then theres the Comptine d'un autre été which is so simple and cute. It reminds me of a spring shower - when the rain is really heavy but warm. The notes fall like fat drops into a puddle and then gradually fade away. The piece stops and I'm left slightly sad that the moment was so beautiful and brief.

Its been raining most of the day (I love that sound as it whips against my window but I'm all dry and warm, curled up in my duvet) but stopped a few hours ago. I want to watch a film - The Painted Veil perhaps?

Sunday, November 22, 2009

those three words


Had another outing today, not as fun as yesterday though. It was freezing and very rainy. We were all soaked by the end but happy as Tom, our coach for today, seemed very pleased with our progress. This morning Alice and I made pancakes for breakfast which were are my ideal brunch food. Later, during a break from work, I had some green tea and sat by the window of my room. As I removed the tea bag from the mug it made this heart appear on my window. Tom said he may have drawn it ages ago. I had also seen it this morning as I drew my curtains open. It fits in well with today.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Nemphis Regatta


Today was the day of the Nemphis regatta. Its not as big as Christ Church, which is this weekend, but still important all the same. I met the rest of the crew at the boat house and we had a brief meeting with our coach. He wasn't too happy to hear that we hadn't rowed as an all eight before, had never done racing starts or feathered our blades and had never rowed together either. Hm. It was very encouraging to see him rush off to phone Sarah and ask why the hell we'd been entered. However, in the end, they decided to just see what happened. We had a quick 10 mind warm-up on the ergs and it was then out onto the river. As we rowed past the gut Joe, our Cox, tried to get us to practice rowing all eight. It wasn't too bad, a bit splashy, but all the same pretty good considering the circumstances.
Our first race was against St.John's B novice crew - we were all pretty nervous but as soon as the race started just concentrated on doing our best. About half way through I could feel myself getting sick. My stomach was all knotted as if I was about to throw up. However, we gave it our all and it was a brilliant feeling to just be concentrating on those crucial milliseconds as your blade reaches and pushes through the water. From the corner of my eye I was aware that we were neck-and-neck with the other crew and somewhere up ahead was the finish line. We made it and everyone assumed that we'd lost. However, it turns out that we'd won by a bow-ball - amazing! It was such a close race but we were all over the moon to have won it - our very first outing as a team was a success!
However, we didn't get to celebrate too long as it meant that we had to go through to the next round - against Trinity A team. Arg! We all ate some malt bread (they were sponsoring the race) and got back into the boat. By this time it was getting cold, windy and a bit rainy so this only added to the creeping exhaustion. My hands hurt and I could already see blisters forming. This race was not as dramatic - Trinity won by a whole boat but we still powered through. To be honest, we're all just delighted to have won our first ever race against a better team. I guess it shows all the potential we have and, if all goes to plan, Christ Church will certainly be as exciting if not more as today!

Friday, November 20, 2009

The day Alice and I went to formal hall at LMH


After another long Saturday Alice and I had a delicious meal with Liz and her friends at their college, Lady Margaret Hall. Thats another one off the list... another twenty something to go! We ate roast vegetables with green pesto and bread for starters, roast duck for main and vanilla panacotta for pudding all with a nice glass of rose - yum!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

You, me,


(and your guitar)
I found this book on the free table in zoology - I had to bring it back for Alice and Amelia. We have to go travelling sometime..

Wednesday, November 18, 2009


Today I realised that this is not how I feel. I was cycling down Banbury road, on my way home from lectures and was just really content. It was a bright crisp day and I just felt so content with all the different things I'm doing asides from my work. While I sped down the cycle lane I realised, "I do not need to be in love to be happy".

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Bubblsh


Pinned this to Alice's door as a thanks for letting me borrow her shampoo and shower cap (not both at once..).

Monday, November 16, 2009

Henna


Ok, so I should technically be doing the reading for my essay but yet again find myself uploading the picture for today. This was taken of Amelia after Alice and I covered her feet and hands in Henna. It gets addictive, honest, and we spent about 3 hours completing it while chatting like the old times. It looks really striking against her pale skin, almost like some kind of weird tribal tattoos...
Later I made Mexican burritos with the help of Alice. Mum would be proud - there was chicken, Mexican-style rice, home-made guacamole, pico de gallo, tortilla chips and beans to fill the wraps. I was quite pleased that I managed to pull it off and even got a culinary compliment from Amelia! Proudness indeed :D

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Where I meditate




I woke up at 1, having had the best night's sleep in a very long time. Everyone was out and I wanted to enjoy the most of the sunshine that was coming through the curtains of my room. So I took my bike and camera and cycled down the canal path to Port Meadow. Before reaching the path there is a row of Victorian-looking workers houses very similar to those found in the north. They're packed together along the curved street with different coloured front doors leading right out to the pavement. All the roofs are aligned and, although each house is the same shape and size, they all look individual and bright. The houses opposite the canal tow-path are very different and have gardens leading right down to the water. Some had dingy boats or punts moored alongside the riverbank and treehouses overlooking the water. Living out of the center of town has really helped me appreciate all the quirks that make Oxford such a unique place to be. It seems that around every corner is something intersting and different - I hope that I don't let any of it pass me by.
The meadow was a striking as I had imagined this morning. There were families and people walking there dogs so it was quite busy. However, the magic of this place is that it makes you feel asif you are the only one who knows about it. For a moment, I stopped to look out across the expanse and felt asif I was the last person on this planet. It was not a notion of melancholy loneliness but more of clarity and happiness. Being alone isn't necesarily a bad thing as it gives you time to reflect.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

The Diwali Ball


Today was the day of the long-awaited Diwali Ball organised by HUMsoc. We didn't go last year but had all promise Chandni (who is now co-president of the society) that we'd go this year and make it extra-special.
On arriving to the Kassam Stadium in Oxford we had a non-alcoholic drinks reception with rose and mango flavoured Lassis, orange, lychee and mango juice. Here I saw Bhanvini, Rima and Hasina from Twyford and they were just as shocked to see me and I was to see them! Everyone from Oxford was there too including Marja who looked stunning in a red dress (as usual) and Mel from Biology. It was great to wander around and see so many familiar faces. Chandni also looked beautiful in a cream and gold sari which matched with her co-president’s outfit. After the drinks we all went upstairs to the stadium's dining hall and had an exquisite three-course meal which left us all very full. This was accompanied by some music, dancers, comedians and entertainers. After the meal we all went outside to see the beautiful fireworks display marking the festival of light. It was very impressive and you could hear the crowd oohing and ahing in appreciation. The display was followed by the opening of the Humsoc bazaar which included a chocolate fountain, more Indian finger food, sweets, Henna artists and a masseur - we were very spoilt! We spent the rest of the night and early morning eating, dancing and getting henna painted on our hands. As it was a non-alcoholic event it was really nice to truly enjoy the evening with everyone.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Tough day


3 lectures, 3 hours of labs and a cells class on Gibb's free energy. oh dear. Today was pretty hectic and it was pouring as I cycled home. My head hurts. (I would like to point out that the fact thats It's Friday 13th has nothing to do with this !).

Thursday, November 12, 2009

The day it rained and my mudgard decided to be useless


It was quite depressing to realise, half way through the day, that although it was incredibly sunny and glorious I would not be able to appreciate the un-characteristically warm weather. I am right slap-bang in the middle of my week of doom - 9 lectures, 1 tute, 1 computer lab, 9 hours labs, and 1 1/2 hours cells class all crammed into the space of 4 days. Tomorrow is the mother of all days - 9-6:30pm straight with a break for lunch among the lectures, 3 hour lab and cells class. Oh dear. I'm actually quite looking forward to it as I'm really enjoying this year. Ok, its not like I would voluntarily ASK to do a day like tomorrow but I always that its important to make do with what you have and try your best to turn a potentially bad situation into something good. I've just finished as much as possible of my cells problem sheet. I hope its not too bad. As always, Albert’s saved the day. It truly is the Bible of Cell Biology... On the plus side, I've been indoors for most of the time it was raining :) Here is a picture I took in Amelia's room as we admired all her costume jewellery. That’s my new word for today, before then I didn't really know what it meant. I love jewellery and will ensure that I wear something extra-pretty tomorrow.