One week from now I'll have arrived in Japan. In one weeks time I'll be living in Japan.



:O

Turning Japanese

I got the grant! I'm going to Japan! I can't believe it! :D YAY!

All flights in Northern Europe cancelled due to volcanic ash

I got up at 5 this morning since I was going to go to Sweden today, but when I got to Stansted I found out all flight have been cancelled due to the volcano eruption in Iceland. Though I didn’t find this for many hours. When I got there, more than half of the flight had been cancelled, but ours wasn’t one of them. So we sat there, feeling lucky, eating our overpriced airport breakfast, after already having checked in our baggage and gone through security. Then when the gate number was announced, we started walking, and even then it hadn’t been cancelled. Halfway to the gate it got cancelled, together with all the remaining flights.

We’ve booked new tickets to Sweden for Saturday now, hopefully the ashes will have cleared by then, but it’s hard to tell. It looks like the flights will be cancelled tomorrow too..

According to BBC over 4000 flights in Northern Europe have been/will be cancelled just today. Even if there would be only 100 passengers per flights, we’re talking 400 000 people.

…

A walk along the river Colne

Today I went for a nice walk along the local river here in Colchester.
It was a bit chilly, but at least it wasn’t raining. It’s been raining quite heavily lately.


The river Colne

Sign to show the footpath to campus

A pheasant

Typical English houses and a typical English sky

Railway tracks and tags

Kuala Lumpur

Petronas towers in Kuala Lumpur. Can you see me? Small as an ant.

Two months into my PhD, and while I cannot believe how quickly these past couple of months have passed by, I can't wait for these following 3 weeks to pass too so I can get some well-deserved time off and go back to Sweden. It's so draining and while I really enjoy doing my research, I get home so late every night and it's always dark when I go home and all I have time for is to eat dinner and then go into zombie mode until I literally fall asleep from exhaustion. No matter. Only three more weeks to go. It's a good thing I really enjoy what I do, because it would so not be worth it otherwise.

Btw, it's weird but I'm already dreaming about going travelling again. I say it's weird because after I went to India for three weeks, I was so drained I didn't even think about travelling anywhere for months (which is, for those of you who know me, quite rare). And I thought that after months of backpacking around in Asia I would feel the same and for a much longer period too, but apparently not..

For now though, I'll have to make do with these pictures from around the Andaman (Thailand) from when I was there this summer.

Rural Vietnam

Hanoi

Here are some pictures from Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.

Honey, I'm home!

Ok! I'm back from my trip. Sorry for not updating more! I was too busy!

I did lots of amazing stuff on the trip, including some things on my list, so it's time for an update! Now I've done 23 out of 50. Almost halfway!


- Visit Japan
- See Stonehenge
- See the leaning Tower of Pisa
- Sleep under the stars
- See the Colosseum
- See an opera
- See a musical in London
- Eat a pizza in Italy
- Get a Bonsai tree and keep it
- Go clubbing in Tokyo
- Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower
- Go to a pub in Ireland
- Climb the Great Wall of China
- See the Himalayas
- Travel around in India
- Decorate a whole apartment
- Learn to dance tango
- Get a degree
- Go backpacking in Southeast Asia
- Sleep on a boat in Halong Bay
- See Angkor Wat
- Ride an elephant
- Scuba dive in Koh Phi Phi
- Live and work in Japan
- Climb Mt. Fuji
- Ride the Trans-Siberian from Moscow to Beijing
- See Machu Picchu
- Dance tango in Buenos Aires
- Go to Ushuaia, the southern most town in the world
- See the Pompeii ruins
- See the Nazca lines in Peru
- See the Grand Canyon
- Go to Los Angeles
- Go clubbing in London
- Gamble in Las Vegas
- Ride on a camel in Sahara
- Go to Seoul
- Touch the Pyramids of Egypt
- See the Gay Pride Festival
- See the northern lights
- Publish an article in a scientific journal
- Skydive
- Get a driver’s license
- Learn to play the piano
- Learn French
- Get a PhD
- Make a round-the-world-trip
- Watch all films on the top 250 films on imdb
- Go to the Olympic games
- Post a video on YouTube that will get more than 10 000 views (Please keep an eye out for it)

Broke in Nam

Hoi An - a small, tiny even, town in the mid parts of Vietnam. A dangerous little town where you first arrive with no intentions of buying anything, but leave with what looks like the beginning of a whole new wardrobe. The only thing stopping me from having even more clothes tailored is that I honestly don't have any space in my backpack. Charming little town, Hoi An. With extremely sociable locals, even by Vietnamese standards, delicious specialities, and hundreds and hundreds of tailor shops, with everything and anything you can imagine. (Amongst many other, relatively more reasonable clothing items, I bought 2 jackets. That's right, not one, but TWO jackets! In JUNE!!)

Oh, btw, Halong Bay was amazing. Simply incredible. We went kayaking around the cliffhills and small islands, walked around amazing caves, met lots of people.. Which brings me to a funny series of events. We met 3 French people on the boat, and ever since, they have been appearing to follow us everywhere. We've met them continously here in Hoi An. Where ever we eat, they suddenly show up, where ever we go, they soon follow. This morning I found out they are now even staying at out hotel. They insisted jokingly that they are not following us, but they are. The second time we met them, one of the girls had broken her arm! The third time, the guy had hurt his leg badly from falling from a motorbike. They were just laughing, not able to do anything else, and said we could go home and tell our friends about the unlucky French people who kept being in accidents and hurting themselves. That's what happens when you follow people around, I guess. The last thing I said to them was "See you in Saigon!". And we probably will.

Regarding the blog title, I found that my English visa card wasn't working. Dispite having money on the account, I couldn't withdraw any money what so ever. I phoned and phoned my bank with no luck, and finally I had to wait in a telephone queue for 20 odd minutes (it's bloody expensive making international calls from Vietnam!) I was told that they had "blocked" it (AGAIN, this is the 3rd time it happens in less than 2 months) because it had been used in suspicious situations (In other words, I had been using it more than 2-3 times a month... Seriously.. in this day and age?! Of course I buy things on the internet, I'm out travelling in Asia for 2 months, of course I book flight tickets, of course I try to withdraw money from ATM's in Vietnam...). After an apology (like that's gonna make up being broke with 2 months of being stuck in South East Asia ahead of you) he said that he had made sure now that I wouldn't have any problems with my card for 30 days, but after that, he couldn't guarantee the card wouldn't be noticed by their security system and blocked again. So basically, I've got money for another 30 days... I guess it'll have to do - for now. But they do it one more time, and I'm chaning my bank first thing when I get back to England. And oh btw, the bank I'm talking about is Lloyds TSB, spread the word!

Today, we are going back to Da Nang, because we're taking the train from there tomorrow to go to Saigon. It's a long journey from Da Nang to Saigon, around 18 hours or so.

Till next time!

Hanoi

I had this beautiful, detailed rubbish for story in my head, but I lost it, like all the liquid in my body, so I guess I'll skip to the short version:

After a very long journey, 3 flights, 4 countries and 42 sleepless hours later, we finally reaced Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. We spent 14 godforsaken hours at Bangkok International Airport, and I can't say it was the most exciting day of my life, but I take comfort in the fact that it could've been worse. I once spent a night at Stansted Airport (in the middle of the winter!), and let's just say I'm glad Bangkok's airport isn't as small as Stansted. Or worse still: Vasteras.

The flight from Bangkok to Hanoi was delayed a further 2 hours, which was just what we needed. And I kept thinking that if we didn't catch the swine flu there, we probably never would. As of yet, we still display no symptoms of such a flu (or any kind of flu for that matter).

Earlier that day, whilst still in Bangkok, I spent half a day's budget (slight overexaggeration) phoning the hotel in Hanoi to arrange for an airport pickup, as we would now arrive in Hanoi in the middle of the night. When we arrived, a taxi driver was waiting for me with a sign with my name on it. Needless to say, I felt overly cool.

Hanoi is a relatively quiet and calm capital. Relatively because after all, it is a big city in South East Asia, but I've seen worse. A LOT worse.

So by now, we've walked the narrow alley's of the Old Quarters of Hanoi up and down and know them like the back of our hands. We've bought conical rice hats (which I'm decisively unwilling to wear because of all the small insects and lice crawling in and between the tightly bundled straws). We've even seen the (boring) traditional Vietnamese water puppet show, which is said to be at its best here in Hanoi.

I do like Vietnam so far. The people are extremely friendly. One of the friendliest (and genuine) you can find in the East (it goes without saying that Easterners are friendlier than people in the West, despite their intrusive habits of wanting to sell you all sorts of crap for a special price, just for you!)

I would post some pictures, but a majority of my patience was lost uploading pics on facebook on a barely cooperative computer, so I'll ask you to just look at the pics on facebook, or alternatively, wait about two months till I get home and upload the pics then.

This is the kind of news I shouldn't read before a long-haul flight and a long trip: Plane hit by lightening and disappeared from radar

YAY!

I've received the e-ticket for the trip now! I'm so excited!

This is the dates and times:

Departure: London 09.10 (July 20)
Arrival: Abu Dhabi 19.15 (July 20)
Duration flight: 7h 5min

Departure: Abu Dhabi 21.55 (July 20)
Arrival: Bangkok 07.15 (July 21)
Duration flight: 6h 20min

*************************************

Departure: Bangkok 20.35 (September 14)
Arrival: Abu Dhabi 23.50 (September 14)
Duration flight: 6h 15min

Departure: Abu Dhabi 02.35 (September 15)
Arrival: London 07.20 (September 15)
Duration flight: 7h 45min

It's sad we're not gonna see this amazing place.. But at least the booking and payment is sorted now.. Still waiting for the e-ticket though. Hope they'll send it tomorrow.

I booked the tickets yesterday, but apparently there was a payment failure. I'm not gonna write the whole story now because I'm too tired, but I've sent them an email now and hopefully it should be fine now..

What's more is that we will have to change our route slightly. Not much, but basically, we will have to skip Yogyakarta and Borobodur, which is a great shame because I was really looking forward to it. The reason is that we are going to Bali after that and we were planning on flying there from Yogyakarta. But apparently, ALL domestic flights in Indonesia are black listed because of very poor security, very old planes (often more than 20 years old), and just generally very bad standard. Accidents are very common, happening every week, and it's so bad that the insurance companies don't cover domestic flights in Indonesia.

And we don't have time to take the bus/train, but that would not be secure anyway, as we're going during the monsoon period and the roads are often flooded and closed off.

So we could either skip Indonesia completely or just choose one destination, and as we really want to go to Bali, we have to skip Yogyakarta and Borobodur.. Unfortunately.

This trip has not started very good.. I hope the rest will go more smoothly.

I've spoken to Lesley, the graduate administrator, and asked her about whether I need to be here over the summer and when the latest I need to be back by is, because I was a bit worried about going on the trip. But she said it was fine and if I had plans, then they'll just have to wait. She's so lovely. So basically we can book the tickets now!

I want to do it soon as it's only some 50ish days left!!

But I still have one exam left :(

Btw I'm coming to Sweden in a few weeks so let me know if you want to meet up, people!

X

Update

Still 34 left on my list.. Wow I should hurry haha!

- Visit Japan
- See Stonehenge
- See the leaning Tower of Pisa
- Sleep under the stars
- See the Colosseum
- See an opera
- See a musical in London
- Eat a pizza in Italy
- Get a Bonsai tree and keep it
- Go clubbing in Tokyo
- Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower
- Go to a pub in Ireland
- Climb the Great Wall of China
- See the Himalayas
- Travel around in India
- Decorate a whole apartment
- Learn to dance tango
- Get a degree
- See Angkor Wat
- Take a boat trip around Halong Bay
- Get a scuba diving certificate
- Swim/ scuba dive in Koh Phi Phi
- Sun bathe on Bali
- Ride the Trans-Siberian from Moscow to Beijing
- See Machu Picchu
- Ride an elephant
- See the Pompeii ruins
- See the Nazca lines in Peru
- See the Grand Canyon
- Go to Los Angeles
- Go to a gay club in London
- Gamble in Las Vegas
- Learn to surf
- Go to Fucking in Austria
- Take a gondola ride in Venice
- Go to Seoul
- Go to a fetish club
- Touch the Pyramids of Egypt
- See the Gay Pride Festival
- Go backpacking in Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia..)
- Publish an article in a scientific journal
- Go to Mexico
- Skydive
- Get a driver’s license
- Learn to play the piano
- Learn French
- Get a PhD
- Make a round-the-world-trip
- Watch all films on the top 250 films on imdb
- Go to the Olympic games
- Post a video on YouTube that will get more than 10 000 views (Please keep an eye out for it)

Backpacking 2009

It's decided. I'm going on a backpacking trip around Southeast Asia after my graduation.

I haven't booked the tickets yet, but the following countries will hopefully be visited during the two months long trip:
Thailand
Vietnam
Cambodia
Malaysia
Singapore
Indonesia

It'll be great! I've dreamt about this trip since I was 15.

Top 250

Ok, the challenge is on! I’m gonna watch all top 250 movies on imdb!
Deadline: 30 Sep 2009


So far, 13 April 2009:

1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
2. The Godfather (1972)
3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4. Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966)
5. Pulp Fiction (1994)
6.The Dark Knight (2008)
7. Schindler’s List (1993)
8. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
9. 12 Angry Men (1957)
10. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
11. Casablanca (1942)
12. Star Wars (1977)
13. Shichinin no samurai (1954)
14. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
15. Goodfellas (1990)
16. Rear Window (1954)
17. Cidade de Deus (2002)
18. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
19. C’era una volta il West (1968)
20. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
21. Fight Club (1999)
22. The Usual Suspects (1995)
23. Psycho (1960)
24. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
25. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
26. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
27. Memento (2000)
28. North by Northwest (1959)
29. The Matrix (1999)
30. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
31. Citizen Kane (1941)
32. Se7en (1995)
33. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
34. Léon (1994)
35. Apocalypse Now (1979)
36. American Beauty (1999)
37. Taxi Driver (1976)
38. American History X (1998)
39. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
40. Vertigo (1958)
41. WALL•E (2008)
42. Forrest Gump (1994)
43. Paths of Glory (1957)
44. Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
45. M (1931)
46. Double Indemnity (1944)
47. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
48. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
49. Alien (1979)
50. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
51. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
52. The Departed (2006)
53. Das Leben der Anderen (2006)
54. The Shining (1980)
55. The Third Man (1949)
56. The Pianist (2002)
57. Chinatown (1974)
58. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
59. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
60. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
61. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
62. Aliens (1986)
63. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
64. L.A. Confidential (1997)
65. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
66. Das Boot (1981)
67. City Lights (1931)
68. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
69. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
70. El laberinto del fauno (2006)
71. Rashômon (1950)
72. Raging Bull (1980)
73. The Wrestler (2008)
74. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
75. All About Eve (1950)
76. Modern Times (1936)
77. Gran Torino (2008)
78. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
79. Der Untergang (2004)
80. Metropolis (1927)
81. Rebecca (1940)
82. Some Like It Hot (1959)
83. The Prestige (2006)
84. Amadeus (1984)
85. The Elephant Man (1980)
86. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
87. La vita è bella (1997)
88. The Apartment (1960)
89. Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988)
90. The Great Escape (1963)
91. The Great Dictator (1940)
92. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
93. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
94. Sin City (2005)
95. The Sting (1973)
96. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
97. Touch of Evil (1958)
98. Ladri di biciclette (1948)
99. On the Waterfront (1954)
100. Back to the Future (1985)
101.8.3Det sjunde inseglet (1957)
102.Braveheart (1995)
103.Hotel Rwanda (2004)
104.No Country for Old Men (2007)
105.Batman Begins (2005)
106.Jaws (1975)
107. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
108. Strangers on a Train (1951)
109. Blade Runner (1982)
110. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
111. Unforgiven (1992)
112. The Green Mile (1999)
113. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
114. Notorious (1946)
115. High Noon (1952)
116. Gladiator (2000)
117. Oldboy (2003)
118. Per qualche dollaro in più (1965)
119. The Big Sleep (1946)
120. Fargo (1996)
121. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
122. There Will Be Blood (2007)
123. Die Hard (1988)
124. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
125. Mononoke-hime (1997)
126. The General (1926)
127. Donnie Darko (2001)
128. Yojimbo (1961)
129. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
130. Smultronstället (1957)
131. Ran (1985)
132. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
133. Annie Hall (1977)
134. It Happened One Night (1934)
135. Heat (1995)
136. The Deer Hunter (1978)
137. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
138. The Sixth Sense (1999)
139. Le salaire de la peur (1953)
140. Ben-Hur (1959)
141. Into the Wild (2007)
142. Platoon (1986)
143. Le notti di Cabiria (1957)
144. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
145. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
146. Les diaboliques (1955)
147. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
148. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
149. Life of Brian (1979)
150. 8½ (1963)
151. The Big Lebowski (1998)
152. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
153. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
154. Ratatouille (2007)
155. The Killing (1956)
156. Snatch. (2000)
157. The Graduate (1967)
158. Finding Nemo (2003)
159. Amores perros
160. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
161. Stand by Me (1986)
162. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
163. The Gold Rush (1925)
164. Brief Encounter (1945)
165. Gandhi (1982)
166. Gone with the Wind (1939)
167. Trainspotting (1996)
168. The Wild Bunch (1969)
169. The Lion King (1994)
170. Scarface (1983)
171. V for Vendetta (2005)
172. The Thing (1982)
173. Groundhog Day (1993)
174. The Princess Bride (1987)
175. Harvey (1950)
176. The Incredibles (2004)
177. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
178. Toy Story (1995)
179. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
180. Sleuth (1972)
181. The Hustler (1961)
182. The Terminator (1984)
183. Umberto D. (1952)
184. Children of Men (2006)
185. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
186. La battaglia di Algeri (1966)
187. Twelve Monkeys (1995)
188. The Kid (1921)
189. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
190. The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
191. The African Queen (1951)
192. Låt den rätte komma in (2008)
193. Duck Soup (1933)
194. Stalag 17 (1953)
195. Hotaru no haka (1988)
196. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
197. Casino (1995)
198. The Conversation (1974)
199. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
200. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
201. Dial M for Murder (1954)
202. In Bruges (2008)
203. King Kong (1933)
204. Ed Wood (1994)
205. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
206. Le scaphandre et le papillon (2007)
207. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
208. The Exorcist (1973)
209. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
210. The Lost Weekend (1945)
211. Crash (2004/I)
212. Rope (1948)
213. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
214. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
215. La strada (1954)
216. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
217. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
218. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
219. Changeling (2008)
220. His Girl Friday (1940)
221. Safety Last! (1923)
222. Patton (1970)
223. Frankenstein (1931)
224. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
225. Network (1976)
226. Wo hu cang long (2000)
227. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
228. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
229. Manhattan (1979)
230. Magnolia (1999)
231. Glory (1989)
232. Big Fish (2003)
233. Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)
234. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
235. Mystic River (2003)
236. Roman Holiday (1953)
237. Spartacus (1960)
238. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
239. Great Expectations (1946)
240. La dolce vita (1960)
241. Rocky (1976)
242. Laura (1944)
243. Harold and Maude (1971)
244. Good Will Hunting (1997)
245. Barry Lyndon (1975)
246. Planet of the Apes (1968)
247. My Man Godfrey (1936)
248. Vals Im Bashir (2008)
249. Les quatre cents coups (1959)
250. Hauru no ugoku shiro (2004)


92/250

Brighton!

Kay peeps, here are my pics from Brighton 1-3 April.