A Glimpse of the Fireworks

the fireworks from Universal Studios, as glimpsed from our hotel's balcony through further windows.

after all the antics, chatting, junk food and monopoly deal, the four of us, from our blue-pinafore days, went into a satisfying 9-hour slumber.

An Artificial World

i have never been a fan of artificial worlds - never quite saw the appeal of the Disneylands. suffice to say, i wasn't quite entertained by our little red dot's newest tourist attraction, Universal Studios.

a picture taken from the window of one of the many shops within.

Wanderlust

admittedly, our trip to Japan in June was to attend a wedding, but we also made our way down to Kobe, from Osaka, to meet up with a university friend. the last time we visited Japan, he introduced us to a trendy, hole-in-the wall izakaya in Shibuya, Tokyo. this time, he zipped us around Kobe in his awesome Japanese sports car. this was taken during dinner at another izakaya in Kobe.

the trouble with browsing travel albums, however, is that wanderlust hits like a fist to the face.

(and i'm sorry for our reflections in the window)

London

of London, sent in by the one who calls the world his home.

we met when i was on exchange in Newcastle in 2007, he was a friend of a friend. a couple of months later, we ran into each other unexpectedly at London's Leicester Square (the coincidence!). a facebook message arrived two/three years down the road - he was preparing to pack his bags for Singapore (with side visits to Southeast Asia and the frequent trips back to Hong Kong). after a short stint in Singapore, he decided to return to wet and gray London, but apparently he can't get enough of the sun on our island...and he's travelling halfway across the world once more.

hello again, looking forward to catching up, steven!

The Sky

"The merciless winds of change; overshadowed by the drone of construction and the lights of the enveloping skyline, the unforgiving barriers of buildings that mar our view of the angry sky."

(gui an, a first submission from a student of mine. brilliant!)

Late Night Marking

the slashing of the mighty red pen, accompanied by the occasional droning car engines.

taking a breather, from the 19th storey.

a window of his own

i'm cheating here, technically this isn't a window, but the yakitori chef works his magic behind this glass partition.

i stopped updating this blog two years ago, after our commencement from the university, after our graduation trip to Japan. i was exhilarated then, having completed my thesis, thrown my mortar board into the air the way they do in the films (and then scrambling to retrieve it, unlike the films) and was getting all ready to be a Grown Up.

it has been two years. we revisited Tokyo, after attending a wedding in Osaka (oh, how grown up). we're now engaged, Working Adults...but we are all, in a way, still looking for our own window, to work our own magic in this world.