Sunday, October 21, 2007
Chapter 251 - Overrun by fatigue
Cambridge terms (for me) seem to be characterised by this constant fatigue. You're meant to be doing something at every minute of every week of every month. Your timetables are packed with lectures, supervisions, practicals, meetings, trainings, interspersed with a million emails. Time flashes before your very eyes, so much so I had a shock when I realised this is week 3 of term already. Unbelievable. :(
Anyhow, the last two days have been somewhat crazy for me. Yesterday was Oxbridge Games 2007, held in Cambridge. Not v exciting - I played just Frisbee, which is somewhat of a "walkover" 'cos Oxford were too scared to send players down (muahaha), so we had a mixed game instead. It was somewhat fun to have fresh faces from Oxford joining the game and more fun since it wasn't QUITE as competitive... ;p
Also coxed a race for the X-Press veteran ladies yesterday for the Cambridge Autumn Head. We came in first in our category (Women's Vet C)! Well, mainly because there was only one boat in our category.. haha.. Although we did kinda beat a few other younger crews.
Sunday, 21 Oct 07
Today was an even more tiring day. Cos I offered my room for Jung Hans (from Oxford) to stayover for the night, I walked him to the tour of Cambridge this morning at 10am, walked around Cambridge for a bit, then cycled down to the Cambridge Apple Day, rushed back to college to get changed, went off for this Grantchester Meadow Run, cycled by a damn long way, had lunch, then went the boathouse to coach an outing and then came back to my room, absolutely drained and knackered. boohoo.
I think I almost did a mini-triathlon today, less the swimming. I imagine I covered 25km on the bike (at least) and 6km of running.
Cambridge Apple Day (photos)
This is the 2nd Apple Day I've been to this year. I thought the one in Cambridge was bigger and better. (cos there were more stuff to look at, although Audley End House was pretty awesome as well ;p) The weather was so nice and warm today and I got to take some lovely shots (click on the photo link above to get to the photo-album!
Apple Sampling Station! yummy, juicy, delicious, crunchy apples!
Playing around with my macro lens, I found this bunch of pretty purply flowers!
And this thistle plant/bush/scrub/whatever... Although I kinda think it looks more like a toilet brush...
CUH&H Grantchester Meadow Race
Recently, I've found more motivation to run, with Keng Rui as a running buddy. And we decided to enter ourselves in this race organised by the CUH&H, which stands for Cambridge University Hare & Hounds club - a cross-country running club in short. ;p Given that we had been pretty physically worn out by the frisbee session the day before as well as a very long cycle to the start point, which took us to Grantchester and back (many thanks to the (lack of) instructions on the website), we weren't really expecting much. I guess my aim was to NOT make it into the top 10 (from the bottom of course... *grinz*).
We actually came in with pretty decent times for this race, 24:30 for myself for a 6km (approx) run and 24:32 for keng rui. This gives a 2.4km-split time of 9:48, which we thought was real solid actually... Although, I should put this in perspective, with reference to the rest of the runners. We came in 54 and 55 out of 70 runners. The first guy came in with a time of 17:51 (!!!!!) - that's a time of 7:08 for 2.4km. WTF! We're like totally pwned man... (go google pwn). But who cares... =X
Off the start line. Because of our very extended "warm-up" cycle down, we arrived spectacularly late, just before the ladies got flagged off, and ended up at the back of the pack off the start...
I love this shot man... For some reason I looked kinda shocked... wtf! (this was at the end of the first lap - we had to do 2 laps)
Racing to the finish. Keng Rui managed to close the distance down by quite a bit towards the end, and that's me running away from him. *must not let KR catch up* haha...
Anyhow, the last two days have been somewhat crazy for me. Yesterday was Oxbridge Games 2007, held in Cambridge. Not v exciting - I played just Frisbee, which is somewhat of a "walkover" 'cos Oxford were too scared to send players down (muahaha), so we had a mixed game instead. It was somewhat fun to have fresh faces from Oxford joining the game and more fun since it wasn't QUITE as competitive... ;p
Also coxed a race for the X-Press veteran ladies yesterday for the Cambridge Autumn Head. We came in first in our category (Women's Vet C)! Well, mainly because there was only one boat in our category.. haha.. Although we did kinda beat a few other younger crews.
Sunday, 21 Oct 07
Today was an even more tiring day. Cos I offered my room for Jung Hans (from Oxford) to stayover for the night, I walked him to the tour of Cambridge this morning at 10am, walked around Cambridge for a bit, then cycled down to the Cambridge Apple Day, rushed back to college to get changed, went off for this Grantchester Meadow Run, cycled by a damn long way, had lunch, then went the boathouse to coach an outing and then came back to my room, absolutely drained and knackered. boohoo.
I think I almost did a mini-triathlon today, less the swimming. I imagine I covered 25km on the bike (at least) and 6km of running.
Cambridge Apple Day (photos)
This is the 2nd Apple Day I've been to this year. I thought the one in Cambridge was bigger and better. (cos there were more stuff to look at, although Audley End House was pretty awesome as well ;p) The weather was so nice and warm today and I got to take some lovely shots (click on the photo link above to get to the photo-album!
Apple Sampling Station! yummy, juicy, delicious, crunchy apples!Playing around with my macro lens, I found this bunch of pretty purply flowers!And this thistle plant/bush/scrub/whatever... Although I kinda think it looks more like a toilet brush... CUH&H Grantchester Meadow Race
Recently, I've found more motivation to run, with Keng Rui as a running buddy. And we decided to enter ourselves in this race organised by the CUH&H, which stands for Cambridge University Hare & Hounds club - a cross-country running club in short. ;p Given that we had been pretty physically worn out by the frisbee session the day before as well as a very long cycle to the start point, which took us to Grantchester and back (many thanks to the (lack of) instructions on the website), we weren't really expecting much. I guess my aim was to NOT make it into the top 10 (from the bottom of course... *grinz*).
We actually came in with pretty decent times for this race, 24:30 for myself for a 6km (approx) run and 24:32 for keng rui. This gives a 2.4km-split time of 9:48, which we thought was real solid actually... Although, I should put this in perspective, with reference to the rest of the runners. We came in 54 and 55 out of 70 runners. The first guy came in with a time of 17:51 (!!!!!) - that's a time of 7:08 for 2.4km. WTF! We're like totally pwned man... (go google pwn). But who cares... =X
Off the start line. Because of our very extended "warm-up" cycle down, we arrived spectacularly late, just before the ladies got flagged off, and ended up at the back of the pack off the start...
I love this shot man... For some reason I looked kinda shocked... wtf! (this was at the end of the first lap - we had to do 2 laps)
Racing to the finish. Keng Rui managed to close the distance down by quite a bit towards the end, and that's me running away from him. *must not let KR catch up* haha...
Monday, October 01, 2007
Chapter 245 - Apple Day!
Just before you go "wtf has Kenny gone", i've returned! Got back to Cambridge, safe and sound, on Saturday after what has been a pretty long journey. I shall write about my last leg of Ireland trip, as well as where I've been since I got back to the UK really soon. (although if you want a brief summary, i went to gort/derry/dublin/london/wisbech)
It's been REALLY frantic since I got back, unpacking, as well as clearing the backlog of work that's been piling up since I left the cottage. *frownz*
Anyhow, it's been kinda scary to suddenly be in a big city now, not that Cambridge is big anyway, but having just been in a tiny, laid back Irish VILLAGE for six weeks, this is a bit like country pumpkin visits the city. Suddenly, there're people and cars everywhere! But I kinda managed to escape to Audley End on Sunday (which in my head seems like ages ago, but was only yesterday - it's just that i've done so much since i've got back, time seems to slow down. Relativity you might say. ;p)
Went to Audley End House because it was APPLE DAY! And just to enlighten you, it's apple season now, and an apple day kinda "celebrates" all things apple related. (and yes, i'm talking about the fruit apple. A for A-P-P-L-E). If you've got an unknown breed of apple, you can bring it down where experts will identify it for you, there are apple juice stalls, apple stalls, cider (which is made from apples btw), and more....
Apples hanging in the organic garden of Audley End House
Of course I got more than I bargained for, because I'm also an "English Heritage" member, I got to visit the house as well, which was quite a typical old English household - very Jane Austen!
One of the water bodies surrounding the house
The greenhouse/vinery where there a grapevines climbing all over the walls.
View of Audley End House from the gardens - very thankful for the lovely weather we had...
It's been REALLY frantic since I got back, unpacking, as well as clearing the backlog of work that's been piling up since I left the cottage. *frownz*
Anyhow, it's been kinda scary to suddenly be in a big city now, not that Cambridge is big anyway, but having just been in a tiny, laid back Irish VILLAGE for six weeks, this is a bit like country pumpkin visits the city. Suddenly, there're people and cars everywhere! But I kinda managed to escape to Audley End on Sunday (which in my head seems like ages ago, but was only yesterday - it's just that i've done so much since i've got back, time seems to slow down. Relativity you might say. ;p)
Went to Audley End House because it was APPLE DAY! And just to enlighten you, it's apple season now, and an apple day kinda "celebrates" all things apple related. (and yes, i'm talking about the fruit apple. A for A-P-P-L-E). If you've got an unknown breed of apple, you can bring it down where experts will identify it for you, there are apple juice stalls, apple stalls, cider (which is made from apples btw), and more....
Apples hanging in the organic garden of Audley End HouseOf course I got more than I bargained for, because I'm also an "English Heritage" member, I got to visit the house as well, which was quite a typical old English household - very Jane Austen!
One of the water bodies surrounding the house
The greenhouse/vinery where there a grapevines climbing all over the walls. 
View of Audley End House from the gardens - very thankful for the lovely weather we had...
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Chapter 205 - Asparagus Pee
Since it's the English Asparagus season, I thought it might be wise to educate everyone on some asparagus eating ethics... ;p For those of you who are wondering what I am talking about, I suggest you try this - Go buy a bunch of asparagus, cook it and eat it, and the next time you visit the loo (to pee that is), just be a little conscious of the "fragance"....
For some scientific explanation, check out this article. Which I quote, "It is said that in a venerable British men's club there is a sign reading "DURING THE ASPARAGUS SEASON MEMBERS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO RELIEVE THEMSELVES IN THE HATSTAND." "
Or you can also check this other article.
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For some humour now, check this out: (it's one of the NEW mac/pc clips... never fails to amuse me... ;p)
For some scientific explanation, check out this article. Which I quote, "It is said that in a venerable British men's club there is a sign reading "DURING THE ASPARAGUS SEASON MEMBERS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO RELIEVE THEMSELVES IN THE HATSTAND." "
Or you can also check this other article.
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For some humour now, check this out: (it's one of the NEW mac/pc clips... never fails to amuse me... ;p)
Labels: Apple, Asparagus Pee
