Monday, March 10, 2008

Leeds (8 Mar 08)

Decided to make a trip up to Leeds to visit Huiyian although i was constantly bothered abt the cost of the bus trip (18.80 GBP) and also the insane bus timing. Missed the chance to go there during the Frank Morten games cos i cld not find a car pool at the last min. Anw after seeing tt the girls in my exchange grp were headed down to Coventry and the guys were going to stay back to finish up their homework, I just decided to go ahead with the booking. And so i woke up at 5.15am to fix breakfast before arriving at the bus stop at 6.15am. It was a quiet and chilly morning and it was the first time I saw sleepy Loughborough at dawn.


The very deserted Loughborough town area

Sleepy sleepy Loughborough

Anw, the bus ride for National Express took 4 hours plus, which I tried to sleep aboard. The bus journeyed to Leicester, Nottingham, Chesterfield, Sheffield and Sheffield Meadowhall before arriving at Leeds. Along the way, witnessed just how heavily industralised Sheffield was....esp. at the Meadowhall area. Anw was just glad tt the bus finally arrived at Leeds!

Oh well....look at the time there.....close to a 5 hours bus ride...anw received a sms from Huiyian tt she wld be late, so decided to roam abit by myself first...

The West Yorkshire Playhouse, apparently a theatre of sorts, was more amused at the Year of the Rat performance though....considering it IS the year of the rat for the chinese...lol

The open market beside the bus station....a very pasar malam feel here comparable to tt in Loughborough...although i heard it opens everyday except wed! Tt's so much better than in Loughborough la!



Interior of Kirkgate Market, another huge indoor market in Leeds





Outside Kirkgate Market





Shopping area of Leeds....notice FCUK? Yep, tt's the retail building here

Victoria Quarter, a very posh and upmarket shopping district





The crowd on a typical day in Leeds...

Anw finally met up with Huiyian and Amelia at the market. Was kinda glad and excited to find fellow Singaporeans and more imptly fellow chem engrs here in the UK. Proceeded to find food for lunch...although as usual the price of eating out put the calculator converter *3 to my head...lol...so just decided to settle for McDonalds where i had a deli instead...

Amelia and Huiyian with their cheeseburgers....cheeseburgers are the cheapest here liaoz

Tried to decide on where to go next, and was kinda amused tt the girls had no real clue as to where to take me....I guess Leeds is more of a shopping city...anw there was this really nice church tt i saw on the bus at arrival, so I pointed it out to them. Was again amused tt they had no idea where it was and have never been there b4...(eh....u sure u all never fake me hor....)...anw tt was where we were headed to next!


The church, also known as the Parish Church, as seen from far along Commercial Street

The archway before the Parish Church



Damn street lamp spoiling the pic....lol....





Was kinda disappointed tt the church was not open on the weekends





So we decided to roam the church grounds...lovely garden in it...







After tt, with no clue as to where to go, the map pointed out the Royal Armouries Musuem as another attraction so tt was our next stop!....Was again bemused tt the girls have not come to this part of the city. Amelia even commented tt they cld even fake their friends tt this was not in Leeds! On a side note, Huiyian's camera died off and Amelia did not bring hers, so I guess I was the photographer of the day....


Approaching Langtons Wharf

Brewery Wharf by the River Aires

The Centenary Footbridge







The whole area here reminds me alot like Boat Quay





Setting foot upon the Centenary Footbridge





Super amusing sign...lolol...

The dock near the Royal Armouries Museum, the place feels like a very high-class, upmarket residential district





Knights Way Bridge



Royal Armouries Museum

Hugging the cannon-ball



The girls playing tug-of-war up there

Oooh...wat a sexy cannon! It's big, bold...and sassy!





Proceeded into the musuem, was surprised tt it was free of charge, so all the more we had to explore the place! Anw, this helmet here sure wld fit Pinnochio!



War exhibits.....liked the medieval fighting section part



Standing in se di ya position! Amelia was commenting on how her friend loves posing in tt position so I just did the same thing here....lol...



Came to this exhibit with the armour gloves tt medieval knights used to wear....did a bit of goofing arnd....

The boxing champ, Huiyian

And same goes for contestant no. 2, Amelia

Tried to do something very wrong here.....can you guys see it?

Guess not....but this clearer pic wld....i was psychoing Huiyian to point the middle finger....and she did! Tsk tsk.....wat a naughty girl....

Huiyian trying to grab onto her mace

And Amelia brandishing her sword

And my turn now....though as in the case in Nottingham when pulling out the Excalibur Sword, my bag started reflecting light at some angle....ooh....now i'm lighted up!

Ooh...lemme have a go with tt weapon!



Plenty of goofing arnd at the souvenir shop.....Crazy Viking brandishing his halberd! :p

And introducing princess ameee and princess ah huiii!!!

Oops...a bit of cap reversal here

A group photo together...cam-whoring is gonna happen when u girls make me the photographer of the day...muhahaha..

The Corn Exchange Building. According to Amelia, it's one of the oldest building here in Leeds...but now refurbished as a shopping arcade...



Where are we?! Can't even see myself here...

Oh there we are!

A very nice mural here beside the Corn Exchange


Time was running short, so decided to head back for dinner, but not before stopping at Morrisons and the market for supplies. Morrisons price is quite comparable to Tesco, but oh well...they dun haf Morrisons in Loughborough...Weather changed for the worse with heavy rain and strong winds. In fact, in the one month here in the UK, this was the 3rd time it has rained and the 1st time I have experienced it so heavily here....now I know wat Huiyian meant by her cold and miserable days...lolol...


The road to Leeds University, with the Parkinson Building in the distance

Some cool looking nightclub tt looks like a church, apparently favourited by Leeds students

The Parkinson Building, an iconic landmark for Leeds University





Victorian style buildings in Leeds University









Yea!! I conquered Leeds University!....Though can't see myself again....



The slope down to Huiyian's residence....so this is the route she has been complaining abt
Decided to take a pic of Huiyian's smoky dungeon room view of the outside....but weirdly ended up taking a pic of our reflections! Turned out surprisingly ok actually....lol...

The girls preparing dinner



On the whole, I think their kitchen is very much well-maintained and neater than mine! The floor of my kitchen forever feels sticky..



Dinner's rdy!

Fried rice, there's ikan bilis in it! Something I have not had in a long long while....

Lettuce stir-fried in oyster sauce...I guess oyster sauce goes well in anything :)





And I am a very happy, well-fed man!


Dinner was kinda rushed cos my bus departure was at 1840hrs. So we headed off without washing up and ended up half walking and half running until both the girls had stitches...aiyo....felt so guilty....anw somehow they were like more kan chiong than me throughout the whole thing...lol....


Day ended quickly enough and I was tired but realli happy. Spent about 7 hours in Leeds and I feel it's a very cosmopolitan city, with a heavy emphasis on shopping and high rise buildings....very unlike in Loughborough.....oh well prob. I have been sticking arnd in the town areas for too long le....lol....


Anw, a really really big thank you to both Huiyian and Amelia for making my stay in Leeds so enjoyable! Though I must say tt somehow our little tour down tt unexplored corner of Leeds (I'm still wondering whether u girls realli haven went there b4 or not....lol) was kinda random and just happened there and then, it turned out surprisingly well. Dinner was delicious and I realli cldn't ask for more le...In any case, hope to see you girls arnd again and here's wishing u 2 a very happy and exciting Easter break!

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