Dublin

I have been waiting for good weather to do an extensive travelling and it seems that it doesn't work. In the end, I just went ahead with it. Coincidentally, the weather turned out to be nice. The whole trip was just perfect. It is the first time I travelled to a different country for a while. The adventurous spirit rekindled! Dublin is a nice and peaceful city with River Liffey splitting the city into two halves, both equally exciting. Statues can be found everywhere, and it adds to the charm. Dublin also happens to have the widest road in Europe, the O'Connell Street.

6 June 2018, Sunny, Sheffield > Dublin

It was a hot day. I packed up and rushed to the train station and I reached the train station just in time to see the train arrived, while panting rather heavily. The train took me to Manchester Airport, and then I took the Ryanair flight to Dublin. Sounds of seagulls were constantly heard, reminding me that I am very close to the sea. I checked in a budget hostel, Generator Hostel, got a simple dinner at a nearby store, grabbed some food and water for tomorrow and slept.

7 June 2018, Sunny, Dublin > Cliffs of Moher > Dublin

Woke up really early since I planned the day tour to the famous cliffs of Moher. I deliberately put the day trip on the first day because the weather is good, and the tour guide would be able to share a lot of secrets about travelling in Dublin. As we departed Dublin, the nuce guide filled us up with the history of Ireland, how there were kings of regions, thrones, and warfare. It all sounds like a game, and was very interesting. Ireland is full of stone ruins here and there. As we travel eastwards to the cliffs, I also saw for myself how it was greener in the west, and more bogs and stone walls of the east. After 2.5 hours, we reached Galway. Galway is also known as the city of the tribes. I ate cheap McDonalds' burger as further breakfast. Next, we headed off along the Atlantic Way. The guide also shared that Bailey's Irish cream, one of my favourite alcohol, requires very good milk to make, and the milk comes from the cows here, locally produced, as fresh as it can get. As the bus moves along, I also can't help but notice that the houses in Ireland are all very beautifully designed. After a short drive, we finally reached the world famous Cliffs of Moher. The weather today was perfect. We had sunny weather, which means that the pictures that we took have beautiful blue skies.

The path goes along the cliffs and went very far. I walked till a certain point when I realized I should not go any further or I will not make it back in time. Our next destination was a random abbey, which was a graveyard. Pictures here tend to be a little dreamy. We just took a few pictures before returning back to Dublin. We reached back to Dublin at about eight. I had ramen for dinner before returning to the hostel for a good rest.

8 June 2018, Dublin, Partly Cloudy

In the morning, I went to visit the Guinness store house, the place where they make the famous Guinness stout to ship worldwide. It was overall a very organised tour of the place. I learnt some of the processes of making the black beer.

I chose to have a hand in trying to pour myself a pint of Guinness, and even got a certificate for it. After enjoying the pint, I felt like my time in Dublin is already nearly complete. The next things I need to do was to do the city exploration. I visited many places on foot, starting from Christ Church, then Chester Beatty Library and City Hall. Lunch was at Beanhive cafe. Their wrap tasted wonderful. After that, I went into St. Stephen's Green, which was a park, then to Trinity College Dublin, then Temple bar and O'Connell street. At this point, my legs were very tired. I went back to my hostel and rested for a while. For dinner, I tried to go to The Cobblestone and The Brazen Head, both of which were Irish Pubs. As usual with all the Irish Pubs, both were packed with people. I was unable to get any food in the mess. The music was pretty good, it was performed by local people. Since I had no company, I left after a whole minute. In the end, I ate at a place called My Meat Wagon. It was pretty decent. After that, I went to the Ha'Penny bridge to catch a nice sunset and took an awesome picture alongside many professional photographers. The picture is the cover photo of this post.

9 June 2018, Dublin > Liverpool, Clear

Today, the skies turned clear again. I basically retraced the steps I took yesterday, but this time, taking really beautiful pictures. My favourite is Dublinia, Christ Church and the bridge between them. The framing was the same as a postcard I found later.

I had lunch at Tang, very close to the one I went to the day before. It was a healthy lunch. I walked back to O'Connell street. There, I bought myself ice cream made from irish cream. It was delicious. I then took a bus to go out of Dublinc city centre, out to Phoenix Park. Phoenix Park is a very large green space with a gigantic Papal Cross. Why did I come here? That's a wrong question to ask. Why can't I come here? That's more correct. After walking around collecting pictures of green fields, I went back to Dublin, intending to try The Vintage Kitchen, but it was packed. I ate the sushi rice next door. It was not too good. That ends the trip to Dublin. I took a bus to the airport, to start the next part of my travel. Liverpool.

As it slowly transits from spring to summer, I have finished my collection of beautiful spring pictures, many flowers of which I am unable to name. Incidentally, I am also already past the halfway mark of my exchange. Spring is a wonderful season, and this was the first time I experience a proper spring. A sunny day and beautiful flowering trees will be sure to brighten anyone's day. I spent a long time trying to get a perfect frame of some places in Sheffield...

I guess I am used to living in Sheffield now, I know where to get all I need, and know what I cannot get. I am also getting comfortable with the people I know here. Seems that all is well. I like the life here, and I am definitely going to miss it. I have this feeling that I have not travelled enough. I did increase my 'cooking level' a lot, however.

Kinder Scout Peak District

Not intending to waste the wonderful weather that is to come, I planned a quick hiking trip to Peak District. Looking at all the possible walking trails, I ended up selecting one of the harder ones that will take me to the highest point in Peak District, and that is the Kinder Scout, a flat high peak.

6th May 2015, Sunny, Kinder Scout

The day began with me walking around Sheffield to collect spring pictures. I thought I had a lot of time, but I got too complacent. I arrived at the train station five minutes early, but queuing to collect the tickets made me miss the train. I had to wait an hour for the next train, setting the whole schedule back by an hour. The train took less than half an hour to reach Edale. I started the hike from here. It is very difficult to hike in UK because there are no road signs along the hiking trails. I basically navigated my way using memory from the routes I saw last night, and by looking at where most people are walking. The sun was hot, and I regret not using sunblock lotion. After walking through green pastures, the path led into a valley with small rapids and waterfalls. Here is where the climbing began. It was a rough climb over large rocks beside the waters. After about half an hour, I reached a gathering area. The view up here is quite good,

I took a wrong turn and I ended up cutting the route short. I kinda felt that I was on the wrong track and kept trying to walk to the correct track by walking over the grasses, but I always end up walking into wet bogs. After trying to about half an hour, I gave up and walked the regular (wrong) path. I did manage to locate the highest point in the area, the Kinder Scout trigonometrical station with a little bit of detour, so all was not wasted. After that, it was the descend. I descended till I reached Jacob's ladder, which was proper stone steps down, to a long path, and to a small village.

Here, I walked the wrong path again. I ended up not walking on the Penine Way trails, and instead, walked on the main road in the area. I guess I am too used to having signboards telling me where to go, and this was just absent in the Peak District. I reached the train station and realized that the next train is in an hour and thirty minutes. Hence I just walked around the village for a small exploration. Soon, the train arrived and it brought me home.

York

I deliberately looked at the weather forecasts for a perfect day to visit York, and my efforts were paid off. For the first time since I am in the UK, I started travelling around, finally. York is a modern city with an old English feel mixed with remnants of roman architecture.

19 April 2018, Sunny, York

I took the Cross Country trains which left Sheffield at 10:20. Today is the first time I have used public transport in more than a month. After a few stops, I have reached the city of York. My first stop was the National Railway museum. There were many trains on display, new and old, in the large hangar. I like trains since young, so I was quite happy to look at all the old trains. Wanting to keep in schedule, I moved on quickly to the Yorkshire museum and the St. Mary's Abbey. The museum itself has nothing much. The abbey was an old wall ruin. Many people were lying on the grass and basking in the sun. I joined them for a while to take a small break. I then continued to walk to York Minster, the most iconic landmark in York, a gothic church. This church is jaw dropping beautiful, although a little old. I walked around it a few times trying to get a nice picture. 

I then walked onwards to The Shambles. At a nearby shop, I bought a cheap lunch and continued window shopping around the Shambles market. It was very touristy and very similar to our Pasar Malam. After browsing at the souvenir shops, I went back to the Minster again to take a picture, just like in the postcard. This picture is the over picture at the beginning of the post. I then walked down to Clifford's Tower and York Castle Museum. A fee is required to go up the tower, so I skipped it.

At this point, I realize that I still have a lot of time, so I began the York City Walls journey. I walked on the York walls, which took me a whole big round around the city. Since it was under the hot afternoon sun, it was rather draining after a while. I can say, I accomplished this task once in my life before! Some parts of the walls offered unique views of the Minster. After the tiring walk, I went to eat a three course meal at a recommended French restaurant called Rustique. The food was really delicious, although I find that the duck confit was slightly too salty. The dessert was the nicest I have ever had in a while. After the satisfying dinner, I walked back to the train station, just in time for the train back to Sheffield.

The snowy days have stopped and it has gradually began to become warmer. It snowed a little last night though, as evident from the white snow deposits on the roofs of the house opposite my room... Yes, my room. I finally have found a place to stay for the next four months, and I have finally settled down.

The supply of student homes in the vicinity is higher than demand as many students need other people to take over their contract. I got a large room in this house for a very good deal. I will be staying with 4 other British students. This will be a fun and interesting exchange.

I have been cooking for myself for all three meals, just like how I did when I was in Australia. The strategies are quite similar, actually. I can finally start to have proper, full and healthy meals.

As for the administrative matters side, I am finally able to enter the office using my visitor card, which is a great relief. I have made an appointment next Thursday to open a bank account. Things are finally turning for the better and I can look forward to a new kind of life in Sheffield. Looking forward to start my research with Maria here!

Most of my blog entries have a title, which is usually the name of the place I am going to for that particular trip. However, for the next few posts, probably, there would be no titles. It would become my PhD exchange diary, very much like what I had during my undergraduate exchange. Today is already my fourth day in Sheffield. I finally found time to jot down all my thoughts and feelings that I have so far.

This time, my exchange is to The University of Sheffield, Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change (LC3M for short), to carry out research under the supervision of Prof. Maria Val Martin. Anyone who has been in the CESM modelling community would definitely know of her, a semi big shot in the field. I am truly thankful for this opportunity.

On the night of 24th Feb, I bid farewell to my friends and loved ones, and journeyed for about 20 hours from Singapore, all the way to Sheffield. Thankfully, I managed to find my way from Manchester Airport to Jonas hotel while carrying all my luggage. I also gained 8 hours. 25th Feb was a bright and sunny day. The picture above is the train station at Sheffield. After putting down all my luggage, I went out to the nearby shops to get some groceries and food. The architecture of the houses along the streets of Sheffield is really different, and I find them beautiful.

On the first day of work, I was greeted with warm hospitality. I was warmly introduced to some of the staff working in here. A lot of administrative matters to handle in the first week. The picture above is Alfred Denny Building, where my office is located. The two biggest things I have to settle is probably the accommodation for the rest of my four months in Sheffield, and to open a local bank account for convenient purchases. It snowed lightly the next day. A cold front coming from Siberia will pass through Europe, bringing chilly weather for the entire week. I was happy at this, because I would be able to witness snowy conditions again.

Today is where the snowy conditions picked up. Temperatures of -6C combined with heavy precipitation means that the whole of Sheffield is covered in thick snow. Since it stayed constantly colder than -5C, the snow didn't melt even when the sun shone. I took my time to walk to my office, capturing many beautiful pictures along the way while being mesmerized by the snow.

I visited Weston Park, a park nearby my office. The park was converted into a white winter wonderland. The snow here is clean. Adults lose their age here and started playing in the snow just like the children. As for me, I was truly amazed, since everything here is very different from what I am used to. More snow awaits for the rest of this week.

New Orleans

Thanks to my department, Hong Kong Research Grants Council and of course, the American Geophysical Union, my trip to New Orleans to attend the 2017 Fall Meeting was made possible. Also, many thanks to Danny, who organised a significant part of the trip. New Orleans is a small, very chill city in the state of Louisiana. It is proud of its exquisite food and French-American mixed culture. The most striking culture in the states is perhaps the very good customer service, and the need to give tips because of it.

10 December 2017, Sunny, Hong Kong > New Orleans

It was hard to define the dates since I am travelling to a different timezone. I left my room somewhere around 12 and set off for the airport with a few friends. It was a long flight, very uncomfortable indeed. We flew over the Pacific, riding on the jet stream, making the flight very fast. When we finally reached New Orleans, we booked a limousine to get to our hotels. Since we had twelve people, this option was actually a cheaper option. Danny and I checked into Hyatt Regency New Orleans.

After we checked in, we went out to the nearest grocery store called Rouses market and bought some food to satisfy our hunger. Fell asleep very quickly.

11 December 207, Clear, New Orleans

We started the day with a wonderful buffet breakfast by the hotel. It really was great. After breakfast, we found our way to Earnest N. Morial Convention Centre without any navigation tools, purely by remembering road names. There was a very long queue for registration, so we were late for two talks we intended to attend. In the end, we walked around the poster hall. We attended a talk about deep learning at about twelve. After the talk, we wandered off to a less visited place to find a local prepaid sim card. After looking at a few shops, we finally settled for a very expensive plan... Oh well, everything is expensive here. We the walked around the city to explore a little.

New Orleans does not have much content, it is just a really chill city. We had late lunch at Jimmy John's, which sells sandwiches. It was good, much better than Subway. We went back to the hotel for a very quick rest before coming out for dinner. We met up with our supervisor, Amos, for dinner. It was fried seafood at Deanie's seafood. It was just of average quality. We then returned to our hotel quickly and rested for the night.

12 December 2017, Sunny, New Orleans

We woke up slightly later than yesterday. I called dearie while eating breakfast, and it was an awesome call. After breakfast, we went to the convention centre. We hit the poster hall first. I talked to a few people who were standing by their very interesting posters. Lunch was with friends at Riverside Outlet. I had some cheeseburger, which wasn't nice. We then went back to the poster hall to check out the afternoon session, but we didn't stay for long. Danny called Uber and we were off to visit Lake Pontchartrain. We arrived at a nearby park called Lake Oaks park, and then walked to the lake along Lakeshore drive.

A very chill place indeed. Locals can be seen fishing. There were also a few others just playing and hanging out. We walked all the way to Pontchartrain park, which turned out to be a golf course. It was getting dark here and we didn't manage to get reception to get an Uber ride back. We walked towards the Wesley Barrow stadium, where reception is better, and got our ride back to town. We chose to eat dinner at Felix Restaurant and Oyster bar. ACME oyster house, which was very recommended, was always overly crowded. I had fried alligator meat, and some 11 fresh oysters on the half shell to complete the day.

13 December 2017, Sunny

Again, we woke up even later, ate the usual good breakfast and made our way to the convention centre. Today was not as productive, but I met Dadi, my old colleague. We had a rather long catch-up before heading to Riverside Outlet for dinner. It was rather healthy. I chose salads. I then spent the afternoon walking around the poster halls. In the late afternoon, Danny and I took an Uber ride to Jackson square to visit it while there was still light. I took a few beautiful shots of the area.

We then tried to walk by the side of Mississippi river, but it was difficult to find a route. There was some construction going on. We did find the Street car tracks and walked along it until we came across an opening, where we could see the river. We met Chen Xiang and her friend for dinner. Danny chose Estrella steak and lobster house, which has the theme of what we both want. The waitress here has really good customer service. She was exceptionally patient in helping us decide what we want to eat. I had New York strip, a rather nice steak that didn't break the wallet. The ambient music played by the saxophonist completed the atmosphere. After dinner, we did a short walk back to the convention centre, to find that it was closed. After a short trip to the groceries, we headed back to our hotel to rest.

14 December 2017, Cloudy, New Orleans

We just kept waking up later and later. We had the usual buffet breakfast in the hotel. In order to save time, we walked a different route to the convention centre, passing by Cochon butcher, where very good burgers were sold. I bought Le Pig Mac, a very nice double pork burger. In the morning, we walked around the poster halls again. At about 2, we walked to the south corner of the convention centre. Danny's and Amos' presentations were held there. I sat in the session and listened to the talks. Some were really relevant to my work. One of the speakers was working on the effects of future climate on aerosols, without land use changes, and has extended the idea further to include potential impacts on humans. After the session, I hurried back to look at Dadi's poster. He is doing really interesting work. I gained a lot from his poster. At 6, the poster hall closed. Some friends brought me to NanJing University's open house to grab some free food, which left us not hungry, but not full either. We then made our way to Riverside Outlet to eat some more. I tried the crawfish etouffe, which really tastes nicer than it looks. I returned early, snapping a shot of the entrance to Fulton street.

15 December 2017, Rain, New Orleans

We started the day with a nice breakfast as usual, but we were early today. I arrived at the convention centre, set up my poster, and immediately, I was bombarded with people and questions. The main getaway from all the interactions was that other scientists were actually getting similar results even when the methods used was different. That is really comforting to know. I hope I am on the right track. Lunch was back at Cochon butcher again, because it was nice. We even queued in the rain. I ordered their coleslaw this time, and it was not too bad. Although my poster session was in the morning, I decided to stay near it even in the afternoon. It was underwhelming, however. I went around the convention centre to take some pictures, marking the end of the five day AGU fall meeting.

I met with some Singaporean friends, three of which I just met on the same day. We went to eat dinner at Mulates, and we all shared our stories of how we ended up where we are, far away from home. I ordered seafood gumbo, which I think, is quite similar to etouffe, except more liquid. We shared a whole platter of fried stuff, which we quickly got sick of, but still finished. It was a pretty awesome chat with people who speak in a similar accent. I went back pretty late, after the long chat.

16 December 2017, Cloudy, New Orleans

So now that AGU has ended, we are free to explore New Orleans. Our first stop was the World War 2 Museum. The museum was a lot larger than I expected!

I really learnt a lot about world war 2, from the American perspective. Peace sure does not come easy. We stayed at the museum from morning till about 2 PM. After the museum, we took Uber northward to meet with our friends who went there for shopping. We stopped at Cheesecake Factory first to have our very late lunch. We were famished when the food finally came at 4 PM. I had a vegetarian pasta, which was pretty okay. We then went to the mall, called Lakeside Shopping Centre. This mall is large, in terms of area, not height. I walked around myself and bought some gifts for my family. We went back rather early today, skipping dinner. I had two friends who came over to stay in our hotel because they needed to check out of theirs. We had to share our beds.


17 December 2017, Rain, New Orleans

It was the last morning of our stay in Hyatt Regency. We went down for the usual breakfast and reluctantly checked out. Since it was a rainy day, we tried to reduce our time spent outdoors, resulting in a rather uneventful day. We stayed in the hotel till about noon, when we bid farewell to Danny. He will fly to Austin to continue his trip in the US. When the rain finally stopped, I brought my two other friends to check out Willie's chicken shack, a very local style fried chicken, fast food, bar. It was all in one, and had a very local atmosphere. We did get a few weird glances from the locals, but that did not deter me from enjoying myself. We ordered some fried chicken and sat down to eat, while watching the live rugby match, which was actually going on in the city itself. It was in fact, in the giant dome behind Hyatt Regency. After the meal, we decided to move our luggage to Hilton Riverside, because that is where our other friends are. We met with them there, and then made our way to meet up with more friends for dinner. Dinner was at French Quarter, in an oyster bar called Desire.

Such buildings are a common sight in the French quarter, which also means the entire place is very pretty, full of holiday decorations. I ate very good for this meal, to prepare my body for the long travel back. I ate some meat mixed with rice, a cocktail called Tropical Hurricane, and then finished off with a dozen of oysters. Needless to say, I spent the most, out of all my friends. When I went to the toilet, I actually chat with a local youngster. I found it so amazing that random people will just come and talk to you, and it isn't awkward. I can literally see his eyes lit up when I replied his greeting and started talking to him. After the sumptuous dinner, we walked towards Jackson square. My friends wanted to see it, even at night, so I brought them there. After the short visit, we sat down at a local cafe called Cafe du Monde. The beignets here are a local treat, or so I was told. It is actually some form of bread topped with a lot of sweet sugar icing on top. It was actually pretty good, I had it with hot chocolate. It was a really comforting supper. After this, we walked back via Bourbon street, checking out the night life of New Orleans. I gave away all our coins to a busker along the street. There were many loud pubs, strip clubs, people dancing on the road, and most importantly, police officers to maintain the order. There was one quiet and peaceful pub along the street, which was more of my style. We left Bourbon street at about ten, and made our way back to Hilton to rest for a few hours.

18 December 2017, Fog, New Orleans > Dallas > Mid Air over Arctic

In the wee hours of 2 AM, I was awakened by my friend, telling me it is already two and it is time to go. We hurriedly collected our luggage and went down to meet the Uber driver we have previously arranged. It was a smooth ride to New Orleans airport. We continued to rest there until about four, when we then begin to check in our flight. I was lucky enough to get window seats for both my flights. The security here is really strict. I had to remove all electronics from my bag, as well as take off coat and even shoes. The flight took off at six. It was the most beautiful flight I have ever witnessed so far. I saw the sunrise from the plane. When it was about to land, the wheels came out while the plane was still above cloud level. I thought something was wrong. I took this picture when the plane was just above cloud level.

The answer revealed itself just when the plane penetrated the clouds to reveal the runway, not far below (How did the pilot see?). Turns out Dallas was experiencing foggy weather. We stayed at Dallas airport in transit for about two hours. We did a little window shopping before sitting down to wait for the next flight at ten. This flight from Dallas to Hong Kong was the longest plane ride I ever had in my life. Due to some delays, we only took off at about 10:45 AM. The flight took us eastwards, which means we're kind of going back in time, and when we pass the international date line, we just go to the next day. Rather complicated. We flew over the arctic. Since it was December, the northern hemisphere was having winter, night time. I witnessed a beautiful sunset. I tried to get some sleep when it was dark. I shall consider the day to end here, when we cross the date line.

19 December 2017, Cloudy, Mid Air over Arctic > Hong Kong

I only caught a glimpse of the arctic ice using the first rays of light from the rising sun. When there was substantial light, we were already above Russia. Over Russia, I saw the vast landscape of snowy mountains.

It was quite an amazing sight. My jaw dropped when I first saw this. I guess I am not that well-travelled after all. The plane ride dragged on. I tried to get as much sleep as I can, but it was not comfortable. A snowflake formed between the two layers of airplane window glass, and this was my company for the flight. It melted when the plane lost altitude when landing. Again, I witnessed a sunset. From my 24 hour perspective, I witnessed the sun cross the horizon four times. We landed safely in Hong Kong at about six, making the entire flight about 17 hours long. This marks the end of the nearly ten day US travel. I have had amazing experiences, and the gain in this trip is definitely much more than the sights, sounds and tastes of New Orleans. Till my next travel, or rather an exchange programme.