Sunday afternoon, 28May06.
Had a fairly interesting mid-day Annual General Membership meeting last Friday, which our batch all attended in business attire. All of us truly felt like British bankers then, in our full regalia. After the meeting, we had the afternoon pretty much to ourselves so we headed off into the heart of London for a movie.
We went to Camden Town and watched Da Vinci Code in a small theater in the center of the town. It was a dodgy kind of place but we went anyway because some of us wanted to explore the flea market there. After the movie, some of us wanted to immediately head back to The Farm (which we say in fondness) while the rest of us wanted some more time in the city. We split then, some heading off back to the campus, others heading into Covent Garden to meet up with some other friends who were shopping there. I was with the Covent Garden group.
We ended up at this quaint Greek restaurant called
The Real Greek which was a truly excellent place with great food and a very relaxing and cozy ambiance. They had a real meal deal promo which basically had an appetizer (meant to be shared) and a souvlaki (a type of wrap, similar to a gyro from Cafe Med, but much tastier) topped off with either a glass of red or white wine or a half-pint of draught Greek beer (called Alfa). The food was simply superb and the beer was cold and crisp. Our other companions, who had already been drinking at another pub, had another carafe of white wine which only served to inebriate them further. At one point, we were laughing for almost 10 full minutes over nothing at all.
Saturday at 6.45am found us poised to leave the campus again, this time for a day trip to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. The tour was slightly more whirlwind than I liked but I guess to fit all that into one day was a challenge in any case. Anyway, the trip was eye-opening but a little tiring. At the end of the day, we were all aching to get back. The whole group (16 of us in this case) split again, some heading back into London for a night of clubbing at Ministry of Sound, the rest heading back into The Farm. I was part of the group heading back.
Surprised? Don't be.
Remember, I'd had a pretty full day of traveling all over the UK and was pretty tired. Also, I'd neglected to bring any appropriate clothing for any clubbing. And finally, the clubbing group had reserved rooms at a hotel in London. I wasn't particularly looking forward to a cramped hotel room after a night of clubbing in Ministry of Sound. Ah well. An opportunity missed perhaps? Only time will tell.
We're thinking of heading into St Albans for some shopping this afternoon. Hope it happens since I'm getting a little bored.
Cheers!
Wednesday, 24May06, 9pm.
Another fairly standard class day today, nothing special.
Went swimming at the pool today, though. It was an exhilarating experience. The pool was heated so it almost felt like swimming in a hot spring, although the smell of chlorine kinda detracted from that. All in all, since use of the pool was free, I'm definitely not complaining.
Got some more research to do though. We're planning to head to Stonehenge and Baths this weekend. Hopefully, I'll have more interesting news to report soon.
Cheers!
Tuesday afternoon, 23May06.
We got let off class a little early today so I got cracking on the research that needed to be done. We're going to be in class mostly over the course of the next 2 weeks so little exciting news there. As opposed to the first week, where we were mostly outdoors, the next 2 weeks look like they're going to pass fairly slowly.
One bright spot this week is the upcoming Annual Shareholders Meeting at the head office. We will be the only group this year who will be attending and, once finished, we'll be free from class the rest of the day. We're already planning on watching a movie perhaps or catching another show. The only bad part is that we'll be in business attire (i.e. suit and tie) so walking in leather shoes around London will be quite a chore.
I'm sure we'll manage somehow.
Cheers!
It's a lazy Sunday afternoon here in the UK.
Yesterday, though, was fairly eventful. Bright and early, we set off to London to do some shopping and see the sights. We had roughly 30+ people in our massive group although we noted that splinter groups were breaking off gradually over the course of the journey. The guys from the Middle East went off to watch a movie (Da Vinci Code, if I'm not mistaken) while the guys from India went off sightseeing in the Westminster area near Parliament.
Our more diverse group ended up at Harrod's where we stayed for a bit, doing mostly window shopping. We then split up, some guys heading to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum while others headed to who-knows-where. I was with most of the HK people and we were responsible for acquiring tickets to the theater for that night. We headed off to Leicester Square to complete this task. After a while, it almost felt like Amazing Race, really.
At Leicester Square, we found the Lion King to be sold out already so we opted for Chicago instead. At £22 a pop, it was a fairly pricey purchase but, since I had never seen a play here before, I felt it was worth the price. Thus armed with our tickets, we headed off to Covent Garden for some shopping. The girls totally enjoyed it (of course!) while us guys stood around and watched. I myself bought some much-needed personal items but was pretty bored most of the time. We hooked up with the rest of the group for lunch. As many of the places nearby were very full, we ended up at TGIFriday's. Not bad, not bad.
For the afternoon prior to the show, I wanted to go to a museum so some of us broke off from the main group and headed to the Imperial War Museum. The rest went and did more shopping at Oxford Street. The museum was pretty awesome, with displays on WW1 and WW2 including other conflicts. Vehicles were in the main display with tanks, cannons, and planes decorating the hall. The war displays had real uniforms, sidearms, medals, and all that. Very good stuff and the museum was free to boot.
At the proper time, we headed back to the Cambridge Theatre to see Chicago. The show started at 8pm and we were just in time. Our seats weren't great since they were bargain seats but the show was pretty good. Money well spent, in my opinion.
After the show, it was pretty late so we headed back to the Underground to go home. As Radlett station was pretty far from the main campus, we called ahead for hire cars. Unfortunately, there were no hire cars available anytime soon and the fastest one would get there in 30 minutes. We then decided to WALK back to the campus from Radlett station.
It was a 45-minute walk through freezing wind-chill conditions. With feet already weary from a day's traipsing around London, we set off amid the darkness and cold. We made it to the main campus around 1am, bone-tired and cold. Let's just say none of us are going to do that again.
Woke up at 8.30am today. Had breakfast (which suddenly tasted really good after last night!) then relaxed before lunch. Got some reading to do so will get to it now.
Cheers people!
It's been a busy week so I haven't been able to post regularly.
Monday, 15May06. This was technically our first official day so there was an introductory talk followed by mostly mundane activities. We were divided into 2 groups which would last the whole week. My group included the following people.
Asil - Turkey
Ronald - HK
Nickie - HK
Carly - HK
Govind - India
Amaresh - India
Jaime - Mexico
Emily - Mexico
Alvaro - Mexico
Wannapa - Thailand
Kerry - UK
Khalid - Saudi Arabia
Abdul - Saudi Arabia
Huda - Qatar
Aisha - Dubai
Pawel - Poland
Thomaz - Brazil
Teresa - Singapore
As you can see, a fairly diverse bunch. Most of the week was taken up by outdoor activities which were lots of fun. At night, we trooped off to the Hexagon Bar for pints of Kronenbourg or Guinness beers. Getting to know my classmates has been tons of fun.
We went to Batchwood, a club near the campus, for a party last night. The outgoing batch was hosting the event so we managed to get in for free. Again, loads of fun with dancing and drinking. Got back at around 1am. Definitely not to be the last time we head over there.
Classes have ended for the week so we're pretty much left to ourselves at this point. I'll likely head to the bar again later this evening although I'm currently doing some research for a project due on the 3rd week.
We'll likely head over to London tomorrow to either watch a play or visit a museum or both. Hopefully, we'll do both. Oh, and we also need to visit Harrod's (did I spell that right?).
Cheers all!
Sunday, 14May2006.
Woke up bright and early in time for breakfast after a refreshing sleep after a 15-hour flight. Our new peer group, which basically includes the guys from Hong Kong and Mexico plus one person each from Dubai and Brunei, had planned a day in London since Sundays were basically dead days here in Bricket Wood.
We managed to get all-day passes on the train lines which included access to the Underground. After much waiting and walking, we got out at Leicester Square near Chinatown and looked around a bit over there. Once done, we headed over to Picadilly Circus (not sure if I spelled that right, though) then to the London Eye which was a massive ferris wheel. It was located on the south bank of the Thames River and we headed along the riverbank in the direction of London Bridge and the Tower Bridge.
We didn't reach Tower Bridge though but we did manage to reach London Bridge. We also got into the London Dungeon which was an interactive horror show complete with actors and mechanical puppets. The dungeon detailed historical events like the Black Plague and Jack the Ripper. Really very nice.
Half of us didn't want to go into the London Dungeon so they headed back to the campus. The rest of us got ourselves to a pub beside the river and had a beer before heading back. To cap the night off, we headed to the Hexagon Bar for more drinks. We eventually called it a night at around 11pm when the bar closed, it being a sunday and all.
It's one of the delegates, Alvaro from Mexico, birthday today so we're heading off to Hexagon Bar for drinks and some cake. After which the previous batch has challenged us to a basketball game at the sports center. Should be fun, even though it looks like they'll slaughter us on the court.
Cheers all!
Arrived at London-Heathrow airport at around 3.30pm (UK time).
The flight from MNL-HKG was fairly routine although the flight was very full. We were basically packed in like sardines and it was really early. The flight left on time at 6.50am and we arrived in HKG at 8.45am. Transit to the HKG-LOH was a breeze. Actual flight time was 12.5 hours (holy shit!) and there was some turbulence so sleep was on-off.
We linked up with 5 of our batchmates from HKH. Ronald, Joe, and Angela are from CMB while Nikki and Jacqueline are from PFS. There are some guys from Mexico and Singapore who arrived right before we did as well.
Everybody's pretty knackered (ooh! british term!) so there might not be any gimmick action tonight. Anyway, more posts coming soon.
Cheers!
