I miss Hiking!

When I read wooi yee's blog about all her hiking trips in Hong Kong, I can hear my heart screams: I Want to Hike! Yes, I miss hiking in M'sia so much! I miss all the morning and evening hikes at Air Itam Dam and Bukit Jambul, where my sweat washed away the tiredness of a working day. I miss the weekend hiking trips with Kam Meng's team and other friends. They always led me to explore the secret of forests and mountains, and returned to work on Monday morning with bruises and body ache but a fresh mind!

Therefore, on the Sunday (May13) after my tripos exam, despite the bad weather in the UK, I joined the Cambridge Hillwalking Club for a day trip to Long Mynd in Shropshire, about 3 hours drive from Cambridge. The name Long Mynd means 'long mountain'. It is part of the Shropshire Hills area which has been designated as Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (A.O.N.B). It is a long plateau about 500m height with many steep valleys along its eastern side, and affords good views out over the Shropshire plains and picturesque surrounding villages.

We were divided into two groups, led by two leaders, both of them were David. Two teams explored two different routes, one was tougher than the other. Hee! I followed the easier route. The weather was really bad that day, the sky was grey and it belted down with rain not long after we started our adventure. In the afternoon, the rain was getting heavier and heavier whereas we got wetter and wetter. Everyone carried on walking in the rain, head was down to avoid the rain that carried by the strong wind splashing on the face. We ventured from one peak to another, crossed the river valley, passed by farm houses and stepped on the green green grass of plateaus.

We walked in the rain for about 4 hours, at last stopped at a pub for drinks, to rest and to use the washroom. I didn't prepare another set of cloth so I was basically soaked in the water (wet cloths, wet shoes and wet socks), frozen stiff until I reached home at night. And I felt really sorry to my LZ1 camera, which suffered from condensation. As a result, most of the photos taken were with water vapors.

Anyway, I am glad that I have taken steps to start my hillwalking adventure in the UK. Wish to get more friends to join and have fun together! Yeah! :D

River valley

The route chosen by my group is relatively simple and less steeper route.

Our group leader, David Pettit. He is a bit quiet but always concerned about me as I walked very slowly followed at the back of the group.

a sheep stucked its head between the trunks of a tree. Marcus (in his blue wind breaker), a language lecture from Germany, was trying to help.

Photo sharing from my group:

http://ianhoward.smugmug.com/gallery/2842072/1/152285896#152276158

http://davidpettit.fotopic.net/c1278668.html

Website about Shropshire with stunning photos:
http://www.shropshiretourism.info/shropshire-landscape/

State of Mind

While I step into the 4th month of my campus life in cambridge, I start to have this strong feeling: 3 year is too short and there are lots of things need to learn, to see, to try, to experience within these 3 years. This thought has been exaggerated by witnessing the laws of nature happens everyday around me: Flowers that are in bloom today may die off tomorrow; Colorful trees may turn green after a windy night, with its vivid flowers carpet the ground. The scenery in cambridge changes everday. Different flowers take place at different period of time, present various type of beauty and paint cambridge with different colors in a sunny or gloomy day. Further, summer in the UK is just too short, I wish to grab any opportunities during this warm season to have fun and work harder and then "hibernate" again when winter arrives! haha!

However, in the state of mind of 3 years is insufficient, I appreciate every moment and treasure every friend in cambridge. The urge of plan in action is notably strong with my friends in MPhil. They have only one year in cambridge, more precise, it is only 9 months! Once a crazy idea or plan is proposed, we try to put it in action earnestly without any delay. We just afraid that once the oportunity has slipped away, we may not have chance to do it together!

A Harry Potter Night

My matriculation happened back in February 2, a Friday evening. It was a simple yet important ceremony to mark my formal admission to Downing College and Cambridge University. This ceremony was specially arranged for 3 "late-arrival" graduates: a guy from Spain, David from Scotland and me, CL from Malaysia. There was a bigger matriculation for this Lent term held before my arrival.

It followed by the Formal Hall, which is a formal, English traditional, candle-light dinner in my college. Fellows were sitting at the High Table, graduates were separated from undergraduates in the MCR tables. The Formal Hall began and ended with Latin Grace read by Chaplain while other in the Hall stood quietly. Everything was first time to me, so i was very excited. It looked like a Prime Minister's dinner, one of my friend in Penang commented on my Formal Hall photos. But to me, with the wearing of gown for dining in a medieval architecture Hall, and following the English tradition ceremony, it is just like a scene in the Harry Potter!!

This is an old story which i have shared with many friends. It was a Harry Potter night, this was my first thought. However, when time passed, i realise the significance of this night; It leads me to the world of cambridge, opens my eyes to a different western culture which i have never ever experienced before!

Formal Hall plays a very important role in cambridge student's life. It is held by every colleges at certain nights of the week for students to dine, to socialise at special functions i.e. society annual dinners or just to celebrate the end of the tripos exam! Yeah! Through this traditional meal, the English traditions and elegance have penetrated into every cambridge student's daily life. In the evening, i especially like to walk in the street, enjoy watching couples in their formal attire, walking arm-in-arm, whispering to each others, or students gentleman in black coat with tie, sometimes putting on their gown, holding a bottle of wine with their two hands and walking in the street. They are on their way to attend a Formal Hall!

We can only get romantic candle-light dinner in winter. In spring, the day is longer and the sunlight brightens the dining hall in the evening.

Everyone is standing during the Latin Grace reading.

Pretty "double Dr.-to-be" Israel medicine graduates student, Dana (Left) & CL (Center). Both of us were wearing gowns (similar to black robes we wear in our convocation in Malaysia) on top of our formal dress.

Photos of my first Harry Potter Night:-
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/chweelin_choong/album?.dir=/bde4re2&.src=ph&.tok=phzBIm

Interesting facts about Formal Hall:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formal_Hall