Andy arranged to get together with some of his fire-spinning friends for drinks to celebrate his birthday. Somebody brilliantly pointed out that since Andy doesn't drink anyway, they should go out for cake instead. So the plan ended up being cake and drinks yesterday evening ( Read more... )

Over the weekend, I noticed the leaves of some trees were just starting to turn colour, with a few branches tipped with oranges and reds. This morning, I just caught my first TV commercial for winter tires. A bit early, surely, although it has turned very grey and gloomy today and the temperature have dropped significantly from a gloriously sunny ( Read more... )

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I had lunch today at Club Lusitano, a Portuguese/Macanese club in Central overlooking the bustling financial and goverment district of Hong Kong. It was hosted by someone who was at my talk last week and his dad, both of whom are lawyers with banking experience. So the talk invariably turned to work-related stuff but also very stimulating ( Read more... )

Nothing much has been happening these few days except working on that Nottingham City Council report. It is due at the end of this month so AL and SF seems to be stepping up on meetings now. The undergrads have also abandoned campus now that the Easter break has started so everyone just seems to have more breathing space for things other than ( Read more... )

Andy and I just got back from Malacca after spending the past two and a-half days eating and sight-seeing and swimming and having too much sun and generally having a great holiday. I've forbidden Andy to get me any flowers yesterday (I said he could buy me flowers every day of the year except for Valentine's Day :p ) but we had a lovely dinner out ( Read more... )

There's not too much going on this past week. More reading for my viva. Lots of reading. Trying to refresh my memory of things that I have already read, as well as catch up on contemporary debates and more recent publications. My eyes feel like dropping out and my brain feels scrambled at the end of the day. Still, it's all strangely satisfying, ( Read more... )

Andy and I went over to Andrew's house for dinner last night. Joined by Boon, who picked us up, and Mark and Huifen who also live in the house. Yummy chicken rice with really hot chilli and the most awesome garlic and ginger puree dip. I need to get that dip recipe from him. Dessert was caramelised bananas (Mark enjoyed using his blowtorch) with ( Read more... )

Or at least that's what it felt like. Three people at the back of a tiny Corsa for average 3-hour journeys = not fun. The wedding was great though and it was really lovely being able to share the special day with the couple ( Read more... )