November 05, 2014 – Guy Fawkes Night

“Remember, remember, the fifth of November.” In addition to being my sister’s and my good friend’s birthday, November 5th is Guy Fawkes Night in Great Britain to celebrate (is this the right word to use?) the events that took place on November 5th, 1605. Basically, the king back then survived an attempt to claim his life. Yay! There are firework displays all over the country and the ones here took place on the Glasgow Green. I went with several colleagues and while the fireworks weren’t all too impressive, it was a good time with good company especially since the night was unconventionally warm and get this…not rainy!! 😀 What made the event even better was the presence of the full moon, which seemed to add an extra dimension to the displays.

October 31, 2014 – Bagpipes

I heard the sound of bagpipes as I was walking in the university. Not knowing what was going on, I followed my ears. I turned a corner and arrived at Wellington Church, where a bagpipe was performing at the door, presumably for a wedding as I saw people dressed in wedding attire. First encounter with bagpipes, many more to come!

October 04, 2014 – Nuit Blanche

My first experience with Nuit Blanche Toronto, which happened tonight (and is still happening, in fact), had been more than just interesting, even though I only stayed for about three hours. The most ubiquitous display of artistic installation has gotta be Global Rainbow, a set of laser light projections spanning from the Spadina Chinatown all the way across the sky towards the CN Tower. As a result, you can see it in a lot of places, and this photo was taken right on Spadina, close to one end of the rainbow. Spectacular! I will definitely be looking forward to future Nuit Blanche events, and I will be more prepared next time 😛

September 27, 2014 – Korean BBQ

I’ve had Korean barbecue (Chinese-style, I suppose) plenty of times, but today was I had my first authentic Korean BBQ experience at a real Korean restaurant. The dinner was planned by my awesome group of friends (9 excluding myself) for my birthday tomorrow, also as sort of a farewell before Scotland. The food was great and the company was even greater. I am certainly going to miss these guys a lot!