網誌
2004年9月16日 上午7點22分00秒I will write a quick one since I need to...
I will write a quick one since I need to tidy up and pack my things for tomorrow's removing.
Went to Hampton Court today - the greatest palace in England (so it says). I walked over Vauxhall Bridge to Vauxhall rail station and took a SW train to Hampton Court station - my first time taking a train 
(Actually my first time was in F.3 when the family went to Edinburgh... but I recollected nothing of it so it does not count 
)
I was there and started with the introductory exhibition, then the Tudor Kitchens, the King's State Apartments, the Queen's Apartments, the King's Apartments, the Wolsey Rooms, then the Georgian Rooms. They spent me like half the day - when I was finally out in the gardens it was approaching 4pm 
As for the gardens, they followed the Baroque style = very large. My sequence: the Fountain Garden overlooking the Long Water, the Royal Tennis Court, the Maze (I was expecting a real challenge... but I solved it like within 15 minutes... slightly disillusioned 
), the Privy Garden, the Knot Garden, the Pond Garden, the Great Vine, the Mantegna Gallery. As I strolled along the gravel paths I imagined myself wearing extravagent court dresses which rustled with my movements; and by my side accompanied a handsome gentleman reciting poetry while we were admiring the picturesque landscape... I am such nuts 
Got the souvenirs and took the train home. Later in the evening went out to dine with May at China Town. I insisted to have the bill because May had been so kind and helpful to me these early days at London. And so May said she would pay for the dessert. So I had a really full stomach tonight
Not sure if I can go online the followings days when I am in hotel...
2004年9月14日 下午8點48分00秒Today's weather felt like Hong Kong's winter...
Today's weather felt like Hong Kong's winter Overcast and windy and showered too! Looks like my summer's clothings are never to be used again now...
Went to see the Buckingham Palace Changing the Guard ceremony - I was delayed and when I got there the brass band was already making music and the gates of Buckingham Palace and the Victoria memorial were piled with tourists 
With much difficulty I squeezed myself into the crowd and thought to myself next time I MUST come earlier to reserve a better place. All I could do was to hold up my camera, take a shot, and look at what I got 
The marching reminded me the days when we the Girl Guides practiced for the Sports Day 
I like the red uniform and their formality. I am really touched to the quick by anything that is carefully arranged and elaborate. The sense of control. No wonder the Aesthetic Sir Walter Pater said the ideal form of Art is Music - the control of temporal power.
And no matter what people say nowadays, I still adore (to some extent) the national spirit of Empirical England. It is condemned beacuse it led to colonization and the World Wars. But then national spirit, which stresses loyalty to the monarchy, is just the same as Medieval Chivalry, where knights swore loyalty to their lords. People recite these Medieval lores with regret that those golden days are gone, and make all forms of its celebration, and yet condemn nationalism - what kind of reasoning is that?
And then I visited Queen's Gallery and the Royal Mews. Went back and out again to Argos to get a duvet set - Argos is such an amazing place! I like it 
Soon I will move to hotel... I shall miss this flat...
2004年9月13日 下午2點33分00秒Suddenly it became so cold today! Really...
Suddenly it became so cold today! Really cannot believe it... London weather is so full of changes
Went to Jewel Tower today - not much to see. And then Banqueting House was closed for a lunch-time concert, so I walked over to Wellington Arch, passing Buckingham Palace on the way. A goodlooking Japanese guy approached me and asked me to shoot a photo for him and his girlfriend. His English was really quite good, and he even explained to me how to use his camera - though I thought to myself then digital camera was not such a rare thing now. But I forgave him because he was very polite and goodlooking On the other hand his girlfriend was a bit too plain
But it made me think of this: though English people always mistook me as a Japanese (it happens almost everyday, and the guard at Tower Bridge even sang "konnichi wa" to me 
), it was not so difficult for the genuine Japanese themselves to distinguish that I am not of their kind. I think it is just the same as my inability to tell two different black people 
When I finally walked past St James Park and Green Park and reached Welling Arch it was closed again I was not aware that it only opens on Wednesday to Sunday. Then I went back to Buckingham Palace and saw that the Changing the Guards ceremony was to be tomorrow morning. I walked on and was back at Banqueting Hall - it was not yet ready, and I walked up to Trafalgar Square and walked back down. Then I was admitted in.
There was again not much to see there - just a hall, with ceiling frescoes by Peter Paul Rubens. Then I walked home by River Thames and stopped by Tate Britian to get some postcards. I had wanted the "Ophelia" poster but it was aligned too uglily and very expensive too, so I gave up. I am looking forward to something better in the National Gallery now.
Went to Tesco to get some food then went back. May came back in the evening because somebody was coming to pick up the bed. Then we made dinner. And then May went to shower and I sat down to write this entry. Beginning to feel sleepy now...
2004年9月12日 上午6點00分00秒Finally it became cooler today [IMAGE] Gave...
Finally it became cooler today 
Gave a call Dad this morning, and then he told me it was 9.12 - the Legislative Council Election... Clearly I have lost track of the going-ons in Hong Kong already
And today May moved her things to her new flat, while I set off to Kensington Palace. If it were not for the GBH Pass I would have stayed and helped. I had wanted to go to Buckingham Palace, but remembering that the Circle and District lines were closed, I changed my plan.
Kensington Palace is a - should I say "humble" - palace. But this palace had housed Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana - so that was what made it so important. I had nothing to say about the architectural design and decorations, but I did like very much the displayed costumes of the royal household and aristocracy. To me, lace making is the greatest invention on earth 
My dream is to be able to own some handmade lace now
Again bought the guide book, postcards, and a tin box of tea. I am not sure if the tea tastes good (my father spoilt me with a cup of Twinings tea every evening), but the tin box is quite nice - black with gold Kensington Palace print. Another thing to collect - tin boxes 
And then I walked out to Kensington Garden and decided to walk across it, over to Hyde Park, and then go home from Marble Arch station. But it was so windy I could not quite enjoy the walk, though it was a very pleasing park itself, extended masses of green with trees and artificial ponds housing many wildlife. I ran into a squirrel that approached me for food instead of running away 
There was a BBC event in Hyde Park, something like an open-air concert. And there were some people in fancy clothings shouting at the Speakers' Corner
I went back but forgot it was Sunday and the supermarkets were all closed by the time I arrived. Fortunately there was still something to eat in the house. Most of the things were gone and it became so quiet! I connected myself to the internet and listened to the music I recorded earlier into my notebook. I know I am in a dangerous condition now...
2004年9月11日 上午4點36分00秒I am surprised at myself too: I walked 5...
I am surprised at myself too: I walked 5 tube stations' distance today, which was exactly the two ends of the City of London - and not in a straight line too, but winding around the places of interest. And when I finally declared the end of my day's excusion, my feet were already so sore that they could not properly bring me to the tube station, and I dozed off in the tube too.
It started off with the Shakespeare City Walk. Before going to take the tube I went to post a postcard, and then got to Blackfriars station through Circle line. Today's tour, including me, had only 4 participants. The guide was a nice man, and a Shakespeare researcher, and he kept criticising the other Shakespeare tours. He talked a lot about Shakespeare's life - including that Shakespeare was a bi-sexual Also what that part of London looked like during Shakespeare's time - exactly what I would like to know, seeing that I shall attend a course called "Public and Private Cultures in Shakespeare's England". Saw some remains of the Blackfriars, where Shakespeare lived writing Othello... etc. He also quoted lines from Measure For Measure, Richard III, "Venus and Adonis", The Tempest 
And then I went to St Paul's Cathedral. But the man at the reception said apologetically that the galleries were closed today, and offered to grant me a free admission the other day. This is a replica of St Peter's at Vatican, but I guess the British Baroque is still subtler than the flamboyant Italian Baroque. John Donne's memorial contrasted with my idea of the great man Then a choir set to sang unknown hymns at the Crossing, and I sat down under the great dome to listen to the mystical but soothing music echo through the air. Suddenly my mind drifted back to Britain before Renaissance - Medieval Britain, Arthurian myths - an interesting blending of Celtic and Christian cultures. The myth of King Arthur and the Holy Grail. The music had made me think of these - the hollow church hymes with no accompany, reminded one of an Age long-forgotten, when spiritual strength was everything. Then I went down to the Crypt and saw the memorials of Christopher Wren, William Blake, Florence Nightingale, Duke of Wellington, etc. Got a guide book and some postcards and left.
This was the second time I dropped my ticket and miraculously retrieved it. I do not believe there would be a third time that I would be so lucky. Always making the same mistakes, this is the human flaw never got over in man's history.
As I walked towards Tower Bridge I passed by St Mary-le-Bow, St Stephen Walbrook, Monument, Billingsgate (the first time I heard about this word was from M.M. Bakhtin's Rebalais and his work in Professor Tambling's course) and Tower of London. I would save Tower of London for another day since it looked like it would consume a whole day itself. So I went to Tower Bridge - which when small we all mistook it as London Bridge in the child's tune "London Bridge is falling down". Looked at the exhibition but it was boring. If I knew earlier I would abandon the exhibition and go to Tower of London instead. Anyways.
When back at home I saw Queen Mary had sent me a letter. My advisor is Dr Jerry Brotton. Calling for a meeting on 23rd - O what will become of it? I am so nervous now