Oxford for the win!

Sunday afternoon and no school tomorrow, Easter Sunday with lots of chocolate and just finished watching the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race (which Oxford won all the races Men's, Women's, Reserve's and Lightweight's). The competitiveness between Oxford and Cambridge in the likes of rowing for 159 years beginning in 1829, the current winning score to Cambridge with 81 and 77 to Oxford (men) and Cambridge 40 and 27 to Oxford (women), however the first race in 1829 was won Oxford by a long distance. Being a supporter of the Oxford team it was a good turn out today, an improvement from last year. However Cambridge won the Goat Race for the fifth year in a row and the Veteran's race. Information, history and stats can be found of the Boat Race Website. 

Table flowers

Prior to this i went to lunch at the local pub with the fam which was so yummy and they had a special Easter Sunday menu, so for pudding they had mini egg ice cream which was such fun, with a brownie current mixture. For a main i ordered pan-fried salmon fillet with hazelnut pesto and potatoes which was so good i did not quite get the chance to take a photograph the plate before i ate it all, so i only have a photo of my empty plate. 

Salmon Fillet

Brownie and Mini Egg Ice Cream 

Easter chocolate bunny

A few maintenance improvements and bug fixes for the blog - i was thinking due to the frequency of me photographing my food i might start up an independent blog with just photographs of my food, rather than clutter this blog with just my food pictures. But just a thought. Additionally, i have come head on with a few scheduling issues as i am away from my mac, for five days to a week at a time, therefore i either need to blog less frequently or just schedule posts for when i am away, so need to knuckle down and do something about sooner rather than later. 

And to conclude a shot of how unusually long my hair has grown. I am currently contemplating on getting my haircut in the near future (by which i mean in six months, prior to university) and cannot decide what to do with it (i look like i am headless because i am leaning backwards off the back of the sofa).

What to do???

Drinks at the waterhole, in their natural environment.

Had a crazy busy day yesterday, so did not post anything. I am  hoping to get into the habit of posting every other day if possible.

Yesterday began with my best driving lesson yet and i hope to take my test within in the next two months which is so exciting! Then had my penultimate shift at work and bought a bag of thirty or so keys for £1.50 - because I could.  Then went to town to dinner with friends afterward. 

We went to this Asian fusion restaurant in the back alleyways of Piccadilly Circus, called Satsuma. They had lots of noodle dishes with chicken or beef as well as lots of little side plates and mixed platters of sushi and vegetable dumplings. It had a really warm atmosphere and we were on the ground level, instead of the underground level so we could see the streets. It has a communal table layout so you end up sitting across from some stranger eating your dinner but we were sat with a group of French guys, so they just spoke French and we just spoke English so we just got on with it.

Table and menus

I ordered a Chicken Yaki Soba, which is basically noodles and chicken with a bunch of other stuff that i do not question because it tasted so good. Also order Duck Gyoza as it is my favourite side and was so happy they served it. The service was really quick and the waiters were super nice. It was also really cheap with my whole meal a £12.50 or something.

Chicken Yaki Soba

Duck Gyoza

The desserts looked good and they had a green tea ice cream which sounded intriguing, but instead we got got the bill and when to this late night drink place down the street called Bubbleology. 

Drink mixers

Bubbles of flavour

Print on my drinks cup

My empty drinks cup

Bubbleology

Science is cool!

So they basically set this whole place out like a science lab, the baristas making your drinks wear lab coats and there are equations are formulas all over the chalk board walls. My friend got a mango and passion fruit tea and i shared a drink of lychee and white peach with a friend which was amazing and so easy to drink. The whole unique selling point about this place is the drink has these capsules of flavour in the bottom which you drink with the cold tea. Its a really nice place just to take a break but there is not much space and only a dozen or so stools to sit down at. Its a little pricey as well considering how much ice they put in the cup - £3.50 for a regular and £3.75 for a large. 

Front door alley

Side of the building

Front door

Tall shot, front door

Then everyone else bailed because they had been out shopping all afternoon, which gave me the opportunity to get some great night shots, so i went for a late night wonder up Piccadilly and got photos from The Ritz who always have really friendly doormen who will talk to anyone, even though i was not a guest. At the south end there were a group of local performers who were entertaining in the cold weather and then i took a random photo of one of my favourite Asian restaurants called Wasabi, in its emptiness closed for the night.

Performers ring

From the statue

Piccadilly

Wasabi

I got the train back at about 11 and waited round for a lift back home, which gave me the chance to photograph the train station when it was abandoned at night.

Waiting for the Bakerloo northbound to Paddington

Calling for a ride in six layers of clothes in the cold

Undying love for my docs

So will put up a post tomorrow of my latest CD haul or a recent TED lecture which was so inspiring, but will going to Stonehenge on Wednesday so will post that photo set later in the week, when i am reunited with my mac.

Outside the City.

I feel all ever post about is my living in town, i thought it would be appropriate to inform you all, i know what grass is and i do go to the countryside - occasionally.

Breakfast Day One

Breakfast Day Two

So this is my little adventure with my the hockey first team at my school, our tour to Wiltshire led us to  play two games of hockey and the rest just trawling round the area.
We went to Longleat, which is like an open zoo - in a style that only England could create. For the half the time you walk round open areas to see smaller animals like wallabies, lemurs birds and giraffes (not all so small then) - but most importantly the deer and they let you feed them which is so much fun!Then the other half, you drive round in your car, in our case the school minibus. We ventured around the park to see rhinos, deer, lions, tigers, wolves and so much more, however we did not go to the monkey park to everyones disappointment. The monkey park at Longleat has a loud reputation for your car leaving the area without windscreen wipers, side mirrors and radiator grills due to the over confident, over curious monkeys. Consequently, as we were in the school van this was not permitted. And then finally, we went on a canal boat to feed the seals sardines see Gorilla Island and lots of hippos!

Marquis of Bath's Crib at Longleat 

Feeding the deer

Amazing light + a fantastic subject = a top picture

Deer feed

I WANT A DEER PET!

I feel its necessary to caption all my photos as i really did not like my pictures without captions on my last post

Previous caption was a little bit much

I think we spent half an hour feed these deer

The best animal to visit at Longleat 

There was no barrier between us in this area so you felt really exposed, like one was going to jump off the rope and on to your head or something 

Rhino walking away after it came up to the bus and gave it a little nudge 

Bit of a fuzzy image - not getting to close 

This bird photographs really well

After our weekend packed with hockey matches (sarcasm) we made the journey back to school stopping off at Bath city centre and passing Stonehenge. Adding to this point, i am going to Stonehenge and Avebury next week, which are these ancient formation of rocks in England, of which Avebury is the largest circle of rocks in the world (although i doubt there is much competition). So look out for that trip next week - an adventure to the countryside!

Cathedral in Bath city centre (most amazing fudge shop opposite)

Stonehenge!

The bus did not really slow down enough for my little iPhone

I would also like to add i took all these photos on my iPhone, as i didn't realise how little hockey we would be doing and we subsequently not prepared, however i was surprised and pleased at how well the pictures turned out.

Is that your grandma's coat.

New Post. This is not a usual shallow post about my socks, controversial already.
So last week i had a little music haul as i had earned a little cash over the week and bought some new CD's from amazon (seeing as His Master's Voice (HMV) is no longer with us online). I bought Jake Bugg's album, Bad Blood from Bastille and The Heist from Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (i just told my Mac to learn the spelling of Macklemore). 

Everyone's favourite song from The Heist is most likely to be Thrift Shop, but mine is Same Love Featuring Mary Lambert. And it got me thinking (time for some deep thoughts) how today's generation is thought to have such an objective and equal view on the people in today's society, reguarding sexual orientation and lifestyle preferences, yet we are so far from this ideal. 

I am sure loads have people have seen this website but it just reminded me of it when listening and really paying attention the the lyrics of Same Love. No Homophobes (i assume its a spin off of the no homo hashtag) is a website that tracks the global feed of twitter for the use of four homophobic words and phrases: faggot, no homo, so gay and dyke. I allows you to see how frequently these phrases have been used today, the previous week or overall (since 5th July 2012). It also has a never ending roll of recent tweets which include this language. I feel shame for the generation i belong to, that the words so gay are used as insult, that to hurt another we name them something, that to another person is just a part of their lifestyle. Not only that, but the trend of the use of the phrase faggot, is seen to be increasing.

On a lighter note, i think the website layout is swell and the fact that it is constantly changing and updating really emphasises the frequency of each comment. And if you go on to the all time tab, there is an interactive graph, and i love a good graph. 

I do not feel entirely at ease at posting without a photo, but i am not sure how to screen print on a Mac to show you a snapshot of the website so i think i am just going to have to go with it.

Academic Flop.

Got my January module grades a couple weeks ago and was super happy that i wanted to share it with you all. My ECON3 paper was surprising as it surpassed any expectation or target and got a mid A (predicted a B). My GEO4A however was not so good. I was predicted to get a high A, but got a low C (one mark off a D, a fail). Although this does not bother me too much as i do not have many exams in the summer and i will retake to get an A. Additionally, i think i might put myself up to retake ECON2 which was a low B and increase my overall grade to an A. 

The English grade system is such a game. 

Beginning with some fly alliteration.

Its Sunday! The day of procrastination, panic and a pitiful attempt at family socialising. Therefore instead of doing my art coursework, of which i and the class are "substantially behind schedule" according to my art teachers, or preparing the potatoes and other vegetables for the Sunday Roast. I decided a good portion of procrastination was necessary before i actually begin any attempt at trying to have a productive day.

Consequently, i have made a post about a pack of socks i recently purchased.
I literally can not think to date a better waste of my time than creating a photo shoot to document my sock choices.
But to elaborate on an enthralling post, i am really feeling these navy socks.

They see me rolling.

Finally, after we had the emotional courage to detach ourselves from the stores in Carnaby, i dragged my friend to a skate park on South Bank near Waterloo. However, we were so distracted when getting off the train we got off the train one stop early at Embankment and could not be bothered to wait for another so we thought it would be okay to walk across the bridge to the other side of the Thames. When we made this decision we were still in the underground, we immediately regretted this decision once we were above ground, but powered on.
The weather drastically changed into a forceful blizzard. Not our best idea to date.
We took shelter in the skate park and i took a few photos, so i could justify our trek across the exposed bridge. On the 7. March. 2013 new plans were announced for a Festival Wing which will consequently effect the area, this website lets people share why this place is important and why it must be kept as a key part of the community.