O BRAIN, WHERE ART THOU?

For the past three days, I have been attending a series of talks entitled, "Music and the Mind"... Other than it being totally free of charge (well, duh!), I wanted to check it out as I had always wondered whether musical ability is something that you are just born with, or something that could be taught over time (ie, nature or nuture)... Well, I'm not sure if I ever found the answer to that question, but what I did learn though, may have changed the way in which I look at music...

A few years ago, Professor Paul Robertson, a fine violinist in his own right, was so fascinated by what the actual brain processes were when making and listening to music, he began hounding down the world's foremost neurologists, to investigate why it was that humans are so affected by music, both emotionally and physically... What he discovered is quite astonishing, and it freaks me out just thinking about it...

The brain is generally regarded as having two hemispheres, each with its own functions - The left hemisphere of the brain is the one that does all the logical and sequential processing, as well as controlling the motor systems of the body.. whereas the right hemisphere does the abstract thinking, and deals with memory and the emotional aspect of a person... With this in mind, the two cases that Robertson showed were chilling, but profound reminders of how the human brain works and the mechanics behind it...

First, he played a video of him interviewing a patient who, after a stroke, had completely lost the use of the left side of his brain.. The patient was able to hear and understand words being said to him, but he was not able to articulate sounds using his own mouth, nor could he put the letters together in his mind to ever write down what he wanted to say.. Amazingly, he was still able to play and write music, and he communicated by drawing musical notes and playing the keyboard...

The second example was about a patient named Jim, who had miraculously survived after being shot in the head.. The right side of his brain had been completely blown off.. Oneday, while in a vegetative state, a doctor walked into his room and asked, "how are you feeling this morning, Jim?".. to which he replied, "with... my... hands..." (you may have to think about this one)

Through his research, Robertson is convinced that music is much more than just a human art-form... He suggested that there is an exquisite connection between personal memory and language acquisition, and it is through musical syntax , that it could be explicitly represented... He went so far as to say that music is the one true underlying language for all human beings.. the one that binds us into one... It all sounded kinda Pythagorean to me, but it's an interesting thought nonetheless...

Another immensely thought-provoking talk was one on Synaesthesia... This is when there is a 'cross-wiring' of the senses.. For example, being able to see smells and hear pictures... However, the talk was mainly interested in people who had the ability to see music.. literally... There have been certain classical composers throughout history, who claimed that they could see bursts of blue, flashes of pink, or little yellow dots scampering through the room, as they listened to music.. They believed that each chord had a different colour or shape attached to it, and when describing their own work, they always spoke in these terms... "It sounds like a green streak over squares of red.."

The scientific explanation is that the two parts of the brain that cater for sound and sight are close together, and this is where these synaesthetes are getting confused... But to me, it's more like maybe we're the ones that are not trained enough to see what is real... Afterall, we currently use only 20% of our brains (or something like that).. What if colours and shapes ARE the basic structures of music... It would certainly make listening to Britney a lot more interesting...

DO ANYTHING, ANYTIME

Some of the fondest memories of my childhood was rushing home from school, switching the telly on, and finding out what the latest antics were of a certain all-singing, all-prancing, trandem-riding trio.. The daily dosage of outrageous stories and slapstick humour was way more than a ten-year old could ever hope for... As soon as the music started, you knew you were in for one heck of a ride...

Goodies.. goodie goodie yum yum...

That's right.. You could always count on The Goodies (made up of Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden) to make one forget about yet another dull day, and literally leave you rolling on the floor, laughing like a complete loon.. I remember being glued to the TV set, along with my brother, occasionally getting up to mimick Tim's rubbery face, or Graeme's (vampire) bat trick... So when I read about a Q & A session of The Goodies to promote the release of their long-awaited DVD, I immediately leapt at the chance to see them live in the flesh...

Not really knowing what to expect, I made my way to Leicester Square tube station, where I scurried out of the rain (no, I still don't believe in umbrellas), and onto the back streets of Chinatown... I was taken aback by the large number of people lined up outside Prince Charles Cinema, where the Q&A session was being held.. As I approached the crowd, what looked to be a neat queue simply vanished in front me, and things became a tad ugly with the mob losing patience, leaving a messy sea of humanity, pushing and inching their way to the two tiny doors leading into the complex.. For a minute there, I thought I was back in Paris (where there isn't the slightest notion of lining up in a queue).. I had no choice but to join in from the side, and luckily managed to get in without much fuss...

Once seated, I noticed the three empty chairs on the make-shift stage at the front.. 'Wow, I'll get to see them soon!' - I thought... My seat was on the top level looking down, about four rows back.. As I stuffed around with the camera to get the best setting in the dark (yet moody) lighting, two burly Aussie lads came and sat next to me.. Thinking how it was a bit of a coincidence to be seated together, we chatted and reminisced about memorable Goodies moments.. Soon enough though, it was made apparent by the accents being heard all around us, that basically the whole room consisted of only Aussies... I had no idea that the series was never repeated on the BBC since it was first aired in the 70s and early 80s.. Strangely, Australia is and has been the only place the series is repeated...

Eventually, the mic dude came on stage to announce that two classic episodes will be shown first - Saturday Night Grease and Kitten-Kong!! To me, the most enduring memory of The Goodies is that giant white kitty cat terrorising the streets and citizens of London.. and it was so very satisfying to see 'Twinkles' in action on the big screen.. The special effects is kinda lame and corny to see now, but it really was ground-breaking stuff back in those days... Saturday Night Grease featured a Olivia-Newton-John-obsessed-Tim, disco-club-boss-Bill, and a cross-dressing-Graeme.. The final sequence was an all-dancing number, sending up movies like 'Singing In The Rain' and even 'A Clockwork Orange', with help from a group of policemen, all with questionable sexual orientation... It left the whole audience in stitches, including one teary-eyed pike...

Then it happened.. Three genuine living legends, that inspired a generation of comedians like Mike Myers and Lano & Woodley, walked onto the stage upon huge applause.. and with flashes going off everywhere, I felt like I needed to get up for a standing ovation, but everyone's bums remained firmly planted on their seats, perhaps for the fear of the whole balcony collapsing in the rickety old theatre...

The first question was the one of how it all started.. They had met as students at Cambridge University, performing revues with members of Monty Python, including one John Cleese.. In fact, Tim once shared a room with Cleese (and some other dude whose name I cannot recall), and as he remembers it, it was like "living on the set of The Young Ones".. Bill told a story of how he once fell victim to a random act of police brutality (apparently he was beat up fairly bad), only to be later charged and convicted with assault on an officer, who just happened to be a 6-foot-5 hulk of a man (Bill just barely clears 5 ft!).. He went back to court and lost the appeal, and this is the sole reason why he always wrote about dodgily-corrupt policemen into the storylines for the show... Graeme remained quiet for most of the time, but every now and then would kill the audience with classic one-liners.. Yes, he was still in very good form.. His sideburns were replaced by his rounder cheeks, but his impeccable timing and staggering wit had not changed one bit... He was always my favourite, and always will be...

I was totally fascinated by every single word that came out of their mouths.. After more than 20 years, the chemistry was still there.. They did not look uncomfortable at all, as one might expect of a trio of geriatrics (well, they are nearly 60 now!) who were once famous on TV.. I just never realised there was such a big fan base still (mostly made up of Australians), including a huge web presence.. They seemed to relish the situation while not getting carried away, and were ever so down to earth...

Afterwards, I attempted to line up for autographs, but again there was no sign of an orderly line, and gave up after 10 minutes of fighting with the other 'nerds'.. However, I did manage to take a couple of photos of them through the bobbing heads... The whole thing was an awesome experience.. and I have Time Out magazine to thank for, which is fast becoming my bible here in London...

ROAD TRIP II

Over the Easter weekend, Hubes, Shaun and I went on a road trip down to the south coast of England.. stopping by several towns before arriving in Southampton, and spending a day at the Isle of Wight.. and coming back to London on Monday...

It started on Thursday night when Shaun and I met up at Paddington Station to catch a train out to Maidenhead, where Hubes had been calling home for the past few weeks... He picked us up in the impressive Renault Megane and had a quick dinner at a Thai place before seeing 'Shanghai Knights' at the local cinema for a bargain price of 6 pounds (movies are 10 pounds in London!)... I should also point out that we were the only ones in the cinema.. and man, did we take advantage of the situation!

We planned to have an early start on Friday morning to miss the traffic on the M4, but it didn't quite work out that way, after staying up til 2, watching 'Pay It Forward' (I still don't get the movie, but we did miss the start of it)... Fortunately, the traffic wasn't so bad and we arrived in Bath just before lunchtime... Having been there only 2 weeks ago, I was expected to know the place like a local.. My memory held up ok, and managed to lead the others to the Abbey, where all the action happens in Bath... I really enjoyed the guided walking tour last time, and recommended doing the same.. Lucky for me, the guide took us around another route and learnt some new things - like how Governor Phillip (so called Father of Australia) used to live in Bath, and currently, it is tradition for the Australian High Commissioner to spend Australia Day at Phillips' former home.. and how Charles Dickens used to stay at Seracen's Head Hotel on his frequent visits to Bath... Nowadays, Seracen's is a typical old English pub, with wooden decor and dim lighting, but also with a friendly atmosphere.. There, we had dinner, together with some of Hubert's friends, who are on a road trip of their own en route to Wales... One of them, Yan, just recently moved to London from Sydney, and it turns out that he is also an avid Sharks supporter.. We will be getting together in the coming weeks to see them come out of their 'form slump', starting with the Dragqueens next week...

Friday was to be the last day of the gorgeous weather we had been experiencing.. Temperature had been in the mid 20's since the start of the week... Saturday morning was, however, a total turn around, with the icy gale welcoming us as we raced from the Holiday Inn front door to the car... It astounds me how it can go from T-shirt-weather one day to 4-layers-of-shirts-plus-a-parka-weather the next... We drove through Stonehenge, and spent some time at Old Sarum - a medieval fort in the outskirts of Salisbury.. We then continued onto the town centre, to see the magnificent Salisbury Cathedral... The huge spire could be seen from miles away, and I was greatly impressed with the sheer size of the grand old cathedral.. The chapel next to it houses one of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta... From there, we drove down to the coastal town of Bournemouth, and it was nice to see the beach again.. There weren't too much to do there though, so after walking around for a bit, we ended up at an amusement arcade playing Time Crisis and shooting down zombies for an hour or so... Dinner was at another local pub, but I could never get tired of trying out new beers and ales... After that, we headed to Southampton, where we would be spending the next two nights...

Yet another late start on Sunday, and we boarded the 12pm ferry (Red Osprey) to the Isle of Wight, having just missed out on the 11am one.. It was one of those car ferries, similar to the one seen in 'The Ring'.. and it took about an hour to reach our destination.. Lucky for us, there were no freaked out horses on board... The island was larger than I thought.. It is roughly 30 miles wide, and we decided to head out west to see The Needles, some cool rock formations on the western end of the island... On the way there, we stopped by Yarmouth for some fish and chips.. Hubes found it a good opportunity to talk to Denise back in Oz, while Shaun and I played with some talented seagulls... At Needles Park, we went down to the pebbled beach on chairlifts, and held rock skimming/throwing comps.. There was also a good view of the white cliff faces and, of course, The Needles... After a glass-blowing demonstration, we decided to walk along the top of the cliffs to get a better view of The Needles, but were somewhat disappointed to find that parts of it was closed off... As dusk approached, we were hankering for a fisherman's basket, and we scaled the south side of the island looking for a place that would offer us such a meal... We went all the way around to the east side, and settled on yet another pub in the town of Shanklin.. but alas, not much seafood to be found on the menu, although I did have some nice scampi.. I also had a local beer called 'The Village Idiot'... After dinner, we took a wrong turn in getting back to East Cowes to catch the ferry back to Southampton, and only just managed to board on time...

As expected, we missed our continental breakfast on Monday morning (seeing as though we arrived back to the Holiday Inn close to midnight).. but we had the next best thing - a big breakfast at a cafe in a huge Safeway (supermarket) nearby.. for cheap too! At this point, we weren't sure where to go next on our way back to London.. After careful deliberation, and a frantic look through the thousands of brochures we had collected along the way, we decided to go for Beaulieu, in the heart of New Forest, a little west of Southampton... It features a Motor Museum, which it claims to be one of the finest collections of automobiles in the world.. Amongst the early 20th century antiques, was a lone Delorean, seemingly having been transported through time (from 1985 perhaps?), to sit with the 1920s Benzs and Ford Model T's.. Further on, we saw some F1's, formerly driven by Prost, Hill and Schumacher, as well as the Bluebird, which at one stage broke the world landspeed record... There was also a James Bond Exhibition, showing off some of the boats and vehicles that were made famous in the 007 movies.. One example was the white car submarine, otherwise called the 'Wet Nellie'... Beaulieu also has a smallish palace that the Counts of Montagu and their families used to live, with a picturesque garden surrounding it... When we had enough of that, we made our way back to London, with a short stopover at Hampton Court Palace.. We weren't able to go inside as it was late in the day, but it was a nice stroll around the gardens outside... Our next and final stop on our journey was the vietnamese place we had pho at a couple of weeks ago.. The drive through the centre of London took more than an hour, but it was well worth it - you can have pub food only so many nights in a row, and the pho tasted even better than it looked...

So that's my weekend.. Thanks to Hubes for all the driving and organising beforehand.. and I hope Shaun managed to get some sleep over the four nights... I'm starting to plan my next trip and that could be to see an annular eclipse in Scotland or Iceland in late May!

STRANDED

Highlights and lowlights from last week

The good news is that I managed to land myself a ticket to see silverchair live at Shepherd's Bush Empire in June.. It was apparently the very last available one.. and for a not-too-bad price of 16 pounds... The bad news is that I was too late in getting a ticket for Ben Harper's Astoria gig in late May.. although I'm seriously considering heading over to Germany earlier that week to catch him in Berlin.. or if not, I can see him play at a festival in Bologna in June, along with Audioslave, QOTSA, and Radiohead...

There is also the V-Festival at Chelmsford (just outta London) in mid August, featuring Coldplay, Chili Peppers, David Gray and the Foos... Is it any wonder why I salivate at the thought of going to all these shows and festivals.. potentially having another summer of awesome live music... And this is just the tip of the iceburg - I haven't even mentioned Evan Dando, Rufus Wainwright, The Vines, or the Glastonbury Festival yet (not til just now anyhow)!

There was a bit of an 'incident' up in the loft last week... On Wednesday night, I tried to be smart and attached a square panel to the hole I crawl through to get in and out of the loft.. to soften the possible noise coming out from my room (ie, my snoring!)... I just assumed that I could fix some sort of handle to pull it back up, but this proved to be a little harder than first thought, as the panel sunk right into the hole, and it was a real tight fit with seemingly no means of lifting it back up from my end... It was quite late already, so I decided not to disturb the girls downstairs, and thought better to ask for help in the morning...

As you may have gathered.. I slept in... Don't know why but I have been sleeping so much on my time away.. It's been at least 8 hours of sleep every single day, when I could usually get by on 5 hours... Anyway, I woke on Thursday morning to find that there was no one downstairs to let me out! I wasn't in a state of panic, but I was pretty damn close to it.. as I really couldn't see myself being stuck there for the whole day, but it was quite possibly becoming reality...

After an hour or so of pondering about life in the loft, and the occasional feeble attempt to free myself, I eventually gave in to the idea of spending the whole day (maybe the lifetime) there... I told myself there were plenty of things to keep me occupied - like folding my shirts, then unfolding them, then folding them again.. and there's always that scab on my wrist I can play with...

At around midday, I heard a noise downstairs.. It was Yin going into the kitchen... She had been home all along! It turns out that she had slept in herself, and was doing some reading... Naturally, I screamed like a girl as I pathetically pleaded with her to let me out... She managed to use a broom stick to push the panel up from below.. I grabbed it and my first reaction was to chuck it through the window, but thought better of it... With the obstacle gone, I was free again to roam the streets.. It never felt so good to be able to walk out the front door... The moral of the story here, folks.. is when you are going to trap yourself, make sure that there is always a plan B...

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

Talk about moving up in the world...

There have been developments as to where I will be residing for the next few weeks... Jane and her flatmates have kindly offered me to stay in the loft of their flat for a very appealing rate, while I'm looking for a job and a more permanent place to stay... It is a fairly big room, with a couple of mattresses, which is all I need really... Just one slight problem - there is no real easy point of access to get up there.. Just a hole in the ceiling (which is about 3 metres high)...

Shaun and I looked at the place Sunday, but with no means to getting up there to have a look, I had to trust Jane that the mattresses were actually there.. I had no choice but to buy a ladder from the local hardware store... Now, when I originally thought of moving over here to London, I never envisaged myself carrying a steel ladder down the streets of the inner suburbs.. but this is exactly what Shaun and I found ourselves doing...

I've just spent the last few hours in the loft, vacuuming and cleaning in general, to make the place liveable again... I have moved all my stuff over (which required two trips), and somehow managed to carry my huge suitcase up the ladder (don't try this at home, kids)... This arvo, I will need to buy some bed sheets, pillow, and a sleeping bag.. and the room will be complete!

At this point, I would really like to thank Shaun and his flatmate, John, for letting me stay with them for the last 10 days... It's been a such a big help, with the spare set of keys and all... So thanks Shaun.. You're a lifesaver! :)

On Sunday night, there was a bit of a Sydney reunion, after Van surprised me with a call saying that she was in town (I did not expect her to arrive until the Easter weekend)... We went to Brick Lane, a street lined with Indian Restaurants, and settled on a place called Famous Curry Bazaar... There were 8 of us (Van, Bank - Van' bf, Van's mom, Hubes, Shaun, Ray, Jane, and myself)... Van came at the right time, as the forecast is for sunny days in the mid-20s, even in the Scottish Highlands, where they will be spending the week... Also, Hubes, Shaun and I have decided to go on a driving trip down south for the Easter break.. with most of the expensed paid for.. woohoo! Let's hope the weather holds up until after the weekend...

D(EEP) FUNK, BEEF, AND MINGER

On Friday night, there was a reason the celebrate.. Ray finally found a job after 6 tireless weeks of searching... I first met up with him at Leceister Square (where my phone does not work at all!), and accompanied him to pick something up from a friend of his... The bar/restaurant we ended up at, must be the poshiest place I have ever been to... First, you need to be on 'the list' just to get in.. We somehow sweet-talked our way in... and when we realised how swanky the place was, we thought we'd stay for a bit and mingle with some new 'friends' we made... A beer was 4 and a half quid each!

A few minutes later, it occurred to us we had to meet Hubes at a tube station.. We wanted to tell him to come join us there, but couldn't get through to him.. He must've been underground, we thought... So we had no choice but to scull our drinks and bolt to the station (seeing as it was 20 minutes after our scheduled meeting time!)... It turned out that there were train delays and Hubes himself was 40 minutes late... grrr...

But that was cool.. the night was just beginning...

Ray had been talking about this cheap Italian joint in Soho, and since we were in the area, we decided to grab a quick bite to eat there... This is when I announced that enough was enough, and ended my month-long (almost) run without beef... I ordered a lasagne... Man, it was just awesome... We then met up with Shaun and had a couple of drinks at the original O-Bar.. while waiting for Jane and her friends...

Walking around on the back streets of Soho can be an interesting experience... Jane told me earlier that we were gonna boogie on down at a club called Madame Jojo's... We found out that the place opens at 10:30pm, and while waiting for the others to arrive, the 4 boyz stood there in the cold outside the club (which just happens to be in between an adult bookshop and a strip joint)... One by one they would ask us, "What do you want to do tonight?".. one dodgy character after another (thinking we were Japanese, of course)...

When Jane and her friends did arrive, we first went to a classy Dutch (?) bar, before putting our funky dance shoes on at Jojo's... Hubes in particular was all funked up, and it was also quite a sight seeing Ray and Shaun getting jiggy wit it... We just went on and on, til it was time for brekkie at Crispy Duck at nearby Chinatown... We stumbled home at 4am...

Saturday consisted of a hour-long walk around Regent's Park, looking for a football (soccer) game.. but alas, we were not successful finding my friend Jono and his buddies... It wasn't all bad though.. It was a warm 14 degree day with the sun out, and the grass inviting as ever - It didn't seem like dreary London at all... Although, we were a little worse for wear from the shanadigans that went on the night before, we soon found ourselves on Old Bond Street, checking out the white gold section at Tiffany & Co... Then Shaun scared us all with his expertise in women's high fashion, in particular of handbags...

In the arvo, I tortured myself by watching the Sharkies go down for the fourth straight time this year, at the Elusive Camel... I really don't have much to say about my Sharks.. except that I know their season will turn around.. You just wait...

At night, we thought we'd have a quiet one at home in front of the box.. After dinner, Hubes and I finished a bottle of French wine each (just so that we can both wake up with throbbing headaches in the morning), while trying to decide between 'babe or minger'... Yes, life is hard in London...

THUMBING MY WAY

Been in London for a little under a week now... I'm quietly going about life, without being noticed... I'm like the invisible man (hmmm... if only...)

On Sunday, Hubes, Shaun, Ed & Daph watched "Bombay Dream".. Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest musical... Since I haven't seen too many musicals in my days, I can't really compare it to much else, but I do know that I liked it... I have since learnt that the girl lead was also in Bend It Like Beckham... shakalaka baby shakalaka babe...

Speaking of Becks, we saw him and the rest of his Man Utd misfits get a total football lesson by the giants, Real Madrid... Hubes made his way into town (from Maidenhead) and together, we watched the Champs League quarter final at a pub in Angel.. Shaun joined us for the second half after another long day (the guy just loves working!)...

Apart from that, I really haven't done much here... The last 4 days have been spent going from one public library to another, for free internet access.. and trying to figure out how to top-up my mobile phone account... Earlier today, I had a 3 hour meeting with 1st Contact, so that they can help me set up a bank account.. hopefully, that should be done by Monday next week...

Managed to catch up with Jane last night.. She took me to Misato in Chinatown, a popular Japanese place, famous for their big servings... She also showed me around Soho.. It really didn't look like much on a Wednesday night, but she assures me the place is kickin' later in the week...

Also met up with Jono today for coffee (late lunch for me).. then walked around the National Portrait Gallery.. featuring a black-eared Sooty, and a cheeky Harry Kewell.. amongst others... many others... In fact, I was too tired after two levels, so I'll have to do the third some other day... I mean, I do have some free time these days...

I have a rough plan of what I will be doing for the next few weeks.. Find a place, most likely a single room in a share house for 6 to 8 weeks, paying upto 90-100 pounds a week.. and then depending on what sort of work I can conjure up (or more specifically how much I get paid), either go up or down (rent, that is)... I think this is the smart thing to do at this stage...

Oh, the other thing I wanted to say was that I have finally managed to find Jeff Buckley's first EP - Live at Sin-e... It was at Virgin Megastore at Piccadilly of all places... 8 pounds for 4 songs.. but they are just brilliant... His cover of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do" blows me away everytime...

Ok.. gonna have my beef-free dinner now... ciao...

MORE PHOTOS FROM PARIS

Follow this link guys... enjoy...

The photo album should now be available for public viewing... Sorry about that...

CARDIFF TO LONDON

Following was written on Saturday night, after I arrived in London...

Well I've finally made it to London.. I'm writing this at Shaun's place in Islington (near Highbury)... Not too sure how long I will be staying here - hopefully for no longer than a week... The thought of not knowing where I will be and what I will be doing in a week's time petrifies me, but no one said this was going to be easy... Basically, in the coming days, I will be attempting to set up my life for the next five months or so... The first task is to find a place to live and I'd like to have this organised by the end of the coming week.. Next will be finding a job, and I'm giving myself a time limit of 4 weeks... If I can get these things done, then everything else should fall into place...

Ok, with that outta the way, I should update you on the last 3 days:

Thursday started off with a tour of Cardiff's most impressive sight - The Millennium Stadium... The old Cardiff Arms Stadium was knocked down 5 years ago to accommodate for what is generally regarded as the most intimate sporting venue in the world today, with its enormous stands hanging over the playing field... Think of the Great Southern Stadium (MCG), but about 50 yards closer in to the action... We even managed to go up to the royal box, where Prince William and Harry watched events such as the FA Cup Final...

Continuing on the sporting theme, we drove out a little west from Cardiff for a round of golf in a small town... The weather was almost perfect with blue skies overhead, but we did struggle through 9 gruelling holes... Now, all I'm going to say next is that the place was called St.Andrew's Major Golf Course...

A little north of there was the Welsh Folk Museum at St.Fagan's.. There was a castle that turned out to be a house, and a maze for.. um.. small people... We were all fairly stuffed from all the walking during the day, but did manage to see some black sheeps and a corn mill - both firsts for me, so the little excursion was not in vain...

After a short stroll through Cardiff Bay, we ended up at yet another fine Welsh pub called Eli Jenkins for some fish & chips, and pints of Caffrey's Irish ale... The excessive drinking continued at the Walkabout Bar, conveniently located next door to where we were staying... A cool covers band and 2 for 1 Steinlagers - a dangerous combo...

A little about the city of Cardiff: I think that in a couple of years, it will be a fine place for a visit, but right now, it fails in developing any form of character.. You can tell that they're trying really hard though, with some sorta development on almost every corner and street, in particular at Cardiff Bay... There is a tremendous level of buzz over Wales in general, and once it loses that tag of being nothing more than a cold remnant of the industrial revolution, the warmth of its people and its natural beauty should make it a 'must-do' for any visit to the UK...

Friday - A handful of people had recommended a trip out to The Big Pit - an old coal mine in the outskirts of the Black Mountains, near the town of Blenoven... A group of ex-miners took visitors down a rickety old mine shaft, and gave a tour of the various tunnels and caverns some 100 metres underground.. all for free... They had many stories about the place, like how kids 6 years old would work down there on 12 hour shifts in total darkness.. Their only job was to open and close the doors for the mechanical trolleys going past... and how horses and ponies used to work in the dark, never to see daylight again after entering the mines at a young age...

From there, we drove down the beautiful Wye Valley to the ruins of Tintern Abbey and Chepstow Castle... The latter was especially charming, with its location along the river and the fact that most of its walls were still left standing... All throughout the valley, we could see that parts of the Welsh landscape is just irrisistable.. Everything is just so green...

It was off to Bristol next, to stay the night at our final Travelodge...

Saturday - An early start, as we needed to be at Heathrow by 12:30pm to pick Daph up... Our fleeting visit to Bristol only consisted of a walk through the city centre the night before... As we approached the greater London area, it turned out that we had some considerable time up our sleeves.. Ed had the idea to make a quick detour to Windsor Castle...

We deemed that there was not enough time to do the tour, and walked around the outer walls of the grand castle instead... At the back gate, we did manage to see a short glimpse of what looked to be the Queen! She was on horseback, coming back from her morning ride, or so we were told...

Daph came out at around 1:30pm and by the time we made it through the congested streets and onto Islington, it was almost 3pm... There (here), I was greeted by Shaun, and a coughing Hubert, who is staying in London for the weekend... He is working at Maidenhead, a 35 minute train ride west, for the next couple of weeks... The three of us caught the tube to Leceister Square, and wandered around Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St.James's Park, and Buckingham Palace... It was then I realised I finally made it to London - my supposed home for the next several months... It was yet another clear day and it really felt like I could enjoy it here... I guess only time will tell...

Later, as we were walking around West End, I bumped into Jane! She was naturally shocked to see me (as I was shocked to bump into her like this)... It spins me out just thinking of all the millions of insignificant chain of events to have led us to meet each other like this in Central London... She told me she would be going on a day trip somewhere with friends on Sunday, so we said our goodbyes for now.. I will get a chance to catch up with her later in the week...

We met up with Ed & Daph for dinner in Chinatown of all places... I couldn't help myself ordering salt + pepper squid (wasn't too bad, actually).. We also bought matinee tickets to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Bombay Dreams" for Sunday.. which I'm sure I'll write about next time... :)

PARIS TO CARDIFF

In Cardiff now.. Met up with Ed and Ray, and been driving across the the English and Welsh countryside... Will report more when I have time!

-- o --

This next bit was written at the airport in Paris and also on the plane to Heathrow on the morning of April Fools Day...

I'm now at Charles de Gaulle Airport waiting to hop on the plane bound for Heathrow... It has been a fantastic last few days.. I feel like I have soaked every last bit of the essence of Paris.. Done a lot of walking (thank God for my new Colorado's), and I'm feeling quite worn out... Waking up at 5:30 this morning does not improve the situation.. Here's a rundown of what I've been upto -

FRI 28/3

Slept in after the marathon I participated in the day before.. Made my way to the Louvre after brunch... There, I spent the rest of the day, in awe of the masterpieces that hung on the walls... My appreciation of art seems to have gone up a notch after this experience... I was fairly lucky in that I did not have to endure throught the notorious long queues at La Pyramide to get in... Armed with an audioguide, I attempted to take it all in and be lost in the grandeur of the masterworks that were presented before me... Blondel, Champaigne, Le Brun, Mignard, Chardin - the list went on and on... The walk along the Grand Gallery was simply breath-taking... At the end of the walk is, of course, Mona Lisa.. I always wondered why this one painting has been so revered over the years, but once face to face with the smiling assasin, i wasn't hard to see why... There was a Japanese guy taking photos of every single item displayed, only to stop every so often to upload the data onto his ever-ready laptop... I wasn't so obsessed but I did take my share of photos - perhaps 30 or so...

The final exhibition I came across was of the Greek antiquities.. I was totally and utterly spent by this stage, and I could only think of lying down somewhere, curling into the fetal position, and hoping that I would be left alone by the bustling feet of the herds of people wondering by - I decided it would be wiser to go home instead... However, I found enough energy to stop at Saint-Chapelle along the way...

When I walked through the door, Van was preparing dinner.. I like to think that I helped cook the curry but I was really only a bystander.. The end result was pretty good, then I rested up, expecting another gruelling day...

SAT 29/3

It was the first time I could go around with Van (or Vanisa, as she is called around here)... After a quick brekkie, we were off to the Congenarie, the site where kings, noblemen, and general 'celebrities' were held prisoner during the French Revolution, & at other parts throughout history... It was the place where Marie-Antoinette was kept before being be-headed at Place de la Concorde...

ok, have to board the plane now.. think i have a window seat.. yay!

After that, we had a gentle walk through the streets near Saint-Michel.. Some nice shops and restaurants here... That distinctive Parisian smell, of bread & coffee, filled the air... I had my first ham & cheese crepe for lunch.. reckon there was too much 'fromage' on it though... There, we parted ways - she went back home to finish off a presentation and I made me way to Musee d'Orsay...

Situated on the opposite side of the River Seine from the Louvre, it was once a major train staion, before it was converted into the grand museum it is today... It mostly features the works of the great French impressionists of the late 19th - early 20th centuries... One of the first paintings that I had the pleasure to see was 'Olympia' by Eduoard Manet in 1863.. The painting was extremely controversial at the time.. A nude on a bed, staring directly at the viewer, while a black maid sums up the situation in the background... Still on the bottom level, possibly my favourite painting in the museum - 'Le dejeuner sur l'herbe' by Claude Monet... I realise it is a hard call to say that there is a favourite but there is something about it that can make me stare at it for hours.. The girl's big eyes, the old man's hat, the intricate brushwork... As you progress, you are met by the works of Coutre, Corot, Millet, Delacroix and Degas... The top level has all the big names like Renoir, Cezanne, Sisley and Bonnard... It is a damn pity that I had to rush through this last section as it was near closing time.. and in my haste, I completely failed to see the Van Gogh room (d'oh!)... Vince will just have to wait until I see him in Amsterdam some other time...

After the parade of spotty landscapes and pensive looks, it was time to meet Vanisa (hehe) outside Hotel de Ville.. for I was about to shout her to a lavish dinner...

the plane has now landed.. i will continue this later...

We went to a restaurant called Petite < something >, seemingly in the heart of the gay district.. and I had no choice but to try the escargots...

SUN 30/3

We were on our way to Fontainbleu, upon a suggestion from Jane (one of Van's uni friends).. We made it all the way to Gare de Lyon, when one look of Frommer's Paris Guide made us change our minds to go to Versaille instead, which was located on the other end of town... I felt reluctant to go there as Van had been twice before but she assured me that she didn't mind...

One word comes to mind when I think of Versailles - GRAND... This is the Palace where Kings Louis XIV, XV, XVI spent and lived during most of their reigns... The King's Chamber and Chapel are majestically decorated by gold-plated-gothic-motif-thingies.. Everything there is big... But what impressed me most was its gardens.. Acres and acres of pristine land.. The sun shone brightly that day and there was a whole lotta squinting going on from all the glare... The huge ponds that ran down the middle of the garden with remarkably well kept trees lining the sides gave the place an imposing atmosphere.. a place for ancient Gods perhaps... The two of us lay in the grass for a while (a pastime that is rarely allowed in Paris) & chatted away about the mysteries of life and its ambiguities... Walking back to the station, and looking back at the palace re-iterated the fact that everything at Versailles is just grand...

Later that night, we cooked pho together and had an early night... Before going to sleep, though, Van taught me how to sew a badge of the Australian flag onto my backpack... It took me the whole listen of 'The Internationalist' to complete the task...

MON 31/3

My last day in Paris.. I've had so much fun, it was a little sad to think that I would be leaving the place... I can totally see myself living here someday...

In the morning, I decided to climb the tower of Notre Dame, since I was not able to do so on Thursday... I arrived fairly early and the queue was not very long.. but ended up waiting more than half an hour anyway due to some sorta problem up above (never did find out what the hold up was)... However, once I eventually reached the top, I was totally blown away... It's an incredible view from up there.. 69 metres high, and a 360 degree view out to all parts of Paris... I wanted to stay up there forever, but there were other things to see...

After spending a few minutes in the pretty garden just behind the ancient cathedral, I walked along Rue de Ravoli until I reached Bastille Square.. There, I perched myself on an outdoor seat at one of those typical Parisian cafes.. Wrote on a couple of postcards while watching the world go by...

Then, it was a short five minute stroll to Musee Picasso... I've always been fascinated by his life.. ever since my mom introduced me to him when I was little... The museum chronologically details his life from the early part of the 20th century to the time he painted at the ripe old age of 82... The contrast in his styles over various periods of his illustrious career is astounding... I especially liked his early works when he began to experiment with cubism - 'The Man With the Guitar' for example...

From there, I made my way to Pont Neuf, where I boarded a ferry for a cruise along the Seine... I was not planning on doing this initially, but I'm very glad that I did... The cruise gives a whole new perspective on Paris, and its countless glorious monuments... As dusk settled in, one could only hope that the next phase of this journey would be just as enchanting...

-- o --

2nd night on my road trip with Ed and Ray.. we are in a Travelodge room at Cardiff.. a quick run down of the last two days

TUE 1/4

Woke up at 5:30am to get to airport by 8:00am

Bye to Van

Plane is delayed for 90 minutes!

Meet Ed & Ray at Heathrow

Drive to Stonehenge

Tour of Stonehenge in inclement weather

Town of Avesbury for more stones

Arrive in Bath mid afternoon

Dinner at Saracen's Head - pub

Porter's Bar -> Star Inn Hotel

WED 2/4

Free guided walking tour of Bath

Lunch at the Abbey's courtyard

Tour of Roman Baths

Drive to Cardiff

Drinks/dinner while watching England v Turkey