Winter Trip

每次去完旅行後總是覺得香港最好。我於28 Dec已完成十二天的旅程,除了我這個一年的Oxford「旅行」外,這是我第一次去歐洲旅行,亦是日子最長的一次。返到Oxford宿舍居然有回家的感覺,很舒服。不過我這個「家」好像一個死城一樣,我估計整個college只有十個宿生,其他人已歸家或是去了旅行。我的至愛Melody 去了Caribbean, Shasha返Amsterdam屋企,唯一的MBA鄰居Deepti回去印度, Tarun也去了Cyprus. 靜有靜好,多點時間諗嘢,睇書,上網和寫blog. New Year Eve會去London熱鬥一吓。

我覺得香港除了工作和生活壓力大之外,地方小小但什麼都齊全。壓力這東西可以自已調整,而且食得鹹魚抵得渴,都習慣了。Barcelona 的商店很晚才關門,HK也一樣,但UK六時就沒有商鋪經營,想去Starbucks坐坐傾偈都難,所以UK人那麼喜歡去pub飲酒,無得揀。法國的crepes好味,都不及HK的雞蛋仔好。Marseille old port的夜景很吸引,望望吓跟維港差不多,連Sirena都有同感。如無意外我九月尾才回港,有半打家人復活節會來探我,我要強調係半打,即很多人,包括上圖穿著Oxford hoodie and rugby T-shirt 的兩位。

At Monaco (Day 11-12)

Monte Carlo Casino, a tax heaven country with annual Monaco Grand Prix


A wonderful eagle nest village of Eze

At Cannes / Nice (Day 8 - 10)

因為是聖誕期間,所以每個城也有Christmas carnival,摩天輪和merry-go-round.


Cannes Film Festival held annually in May.帶返副黑超扮型先.

At Marseille / AIX-EN-Provence (Day 6 - 7)

Notre-Dame de la Galline in Marseille


Flower market at AIX-EN-Provence

At Arles - France (Day 5)

The Espace Van Gogh, former hospital of Arles where Van Gogh was a patient. Very c~o~l~d~~~~~

Yummy yummy seafood in the coastal cities

At Montpellier / Avignon (Day 4)

Not easy to find an internet cafe. It is weired that the keyboard has different setting. It would be nice if the weather is warmer. No good mood to take picture in the same coat. Yesterday been to Montpellier, will go to Marseille tomorrow. A very busy trip.

At Barcelona (Day 1 - 3)

At Barcelona right now, will go to France tomorrow. Still cold here, just 12 degree celcius. Fun so far!

I love EasyJet, only GBP52 from Oxford to Barcelona.

Sagrada Familia - every part of the design is rich in Christian symbolism. Building work began in the late 19th century and is still under construction.

Paella ...... delicious!! Restaurants open very late at 8pm, have night life in Spain.

Gift shop at Football Club Barcelona

Basketball Team

Basketball practice at Iffrey Road Sports Centre for MBAT (MBA Olympic) and Oxbridge(Oxford against Cambridge).

Goodbye Michaelmas Term

Goodbye Michaelmas term! We have three weeks term break after the exam. I will go to Barcelona and France (Nice, Montpellier, Avignon, Marseille, Cannes and Nice) with Sirena for 12 days starting from next Monday. I've sent my second batch of X'mas cards, hope could arrive at HK before 25 Dec. Many friends have left Oxford already, some going home, some going for tour. The weather in Oxford is getting cold, just 2 Degree Celcius today, scarf and gloves are must bring items, can also add a beanie.

Term break is really a nice time to have a stop after rushing for 10 weeks. Hope I could spend more time in coffee shop after my trip, to read the books that I brought from HK, the business magazine that I ordered and to feel more about life in Oxford. Trust that we will do better in Hilary term because we learnt how to management the time for practical work. I think I did pretty okay in the written exam, found it not difficult.

End of Exam

Second day of Exam

At Costa coffee shop during exam break. 2/3 subjects finished, 2 days remaining, can back to freedom soon!

First day of exam

See the Managerial Economic / Financial Reporting exam paper, my new plastic pencil bag and calculator.

I can't sleep well yesterday night, not really feeling nervous on the performance, but seems there are many uncertainties : no experience in wearing sub-fusc for exam, haven't been to the examination hall, no idea on Oxford "unique" exam system. Not used to write a lot by pen, may do better if we are allowed to type. Anyhow, still okay on today exam. Has finished 1/3 subjects, so quick!

Finance lecture

終於upload到靚仔professor的影片,都係嗰句,唔教得都睇得!

I will have Economic and Financial Reporting examination tomorrow. No confident on Economic although I did it very well in HKCEE and undergraduate. I am very familiar with the past paper of FR because I have explained the same questions five times to different classmates. Nevertheless, I feel good to help others clear their queries. Good luck to me and all of my classmates!!

Winter

Photo taken from my home on 27 Sept 07 when I just arrived here.


Photo taken today. Winter comes, leaves fall, rains a lot. Temperature maintains at around 5-10 degree Celcius but still not very cold compared with HK because of the low humidity. This picture somehow describes my mood in this week, dull and not energetic. Reluctant to wake up because I know my major activity is studying. Rugby practice was cancelled today due to the rain, so I slept until 11:30am. Just played a round of pool at JCR (junior common room) before lunch, my performance is not too bad.

Prepare for exam

Other than revision, I need to do the following preparation work for exam:
1. Iron the sub-fusc ( I nearly burnt my black trousers and my white shirt still have many wrinkles, can't manage to use the iron in the laundry room)
2. Site visit the exam hall (not convenient to take a cab here)
3. Register to use a bilingual dictionary
4. Find a transparent bag as pencil case
5. Get used to the Sharp calculator which will be provided during exam (I hate this calculator!)

Studying again

Not easy to study 6 subjects (effectively 5 subjects only because I don't need to revise Financial Reporting ^o^) at a time. A bit frustrated because I found that my memory (inversely proportional to age *o*') is deteriorating, can't memorise all the finance formula. The textbooks are for reference only, don't really have time to understand the content. I just study the handouts (in my fancy box files ^o^) and do the past papers. Should be no problem in passing the exam because a certain percentage of marks are secured from the group practical work. Around a minimum of 40 from each written exam paper will be sufficient. I cannot use the word stressful to describe this week, but definitely not enjoyable. However, still found it less pressure compared with GMAT exam.

Sick

Feel better after taking the medicine from Boots but still cough in the mid-night that makes me can't sleep well. Thanks Sandy for making a diagnosis over the phone. Hope I can get well soon, find annoying especially when studying for the exam.

Touch Rugby

Studying

Nothing special in this week, just studying for the coming exam. Sunset very early everyday at around 4pm. The weather is getting poor, it rains a lot recently. Pouring may be a more suitable word than raining. The wind blows very strong when I go to church today, it takes me double the time walking to the church because I need to hold the umbrella in an angle that the wind won't break my umbrella (already broke one in last month). May be wearing a raincoat is more practical. Smart Marge successfully claimed VAT refund on my Burberry stuff when returning to HK, million thanks! Have money to buy more umbrellas and raincoats.

Term Break for undergraduates

Feel a bit sick because I cough a little. I will see a doctor if I won't get better on Monday. Besides, I have muscle fatigue on my waist, may be the consequence of playing squash without warm-up on last Sunday or improper sleeping posture. A bit better after playing touch rugby at New College Sports Ground today. It's my first time playing rugby, quite enjoyable!!

My college is nearly empty because term break starts for the undergraduate. All students moved out today. Many parents parked their cars outside the college to pick their children home. Very silent in the college, like two months ago when I first arrived here. There are only 6 people booked dinner tonight, we go to the kitchen and pick our food from the Chef directly, sounds weird.............

Section C Photo

Last lecture in Michaelmas term. The one beside me is Owen Darbishire who teaches Developing Effective Manager ("DEM"). I like his lesson because it is Friday afternoon, the only day that I have morning off and DEM is fun with many psycho elements.

220 MBA students are divided into three sections in Michaelmas term. Different sections have different characteristics, some talk a lot, some have fixed seats. However, I am still not able to recognise over 70 classmates in my session...........too many.