T-Rex, I miss you

Yes, I indeed miss U of C Rex, the dino. I mean I miss home. So when I saw the T-rex it just made me happy. standing in line was worth it. Yus! but after a while my batteries dies..le sigh.

Welcome to Jurassic! 

Say it with me...U..of...C!! =D Dinos!!!!!! Rexxxxy

This is where my camera ran out... sigh... stupid batteries =(.

All things natural

Museums, as some may know I have thing for em. I went to the natural history museum this weekend and here are some pictures.

Yes, let us start off with some cellular plushies, there is a neuron, HINI, the kissing bug (blue).Dawwwww I know!

Talk about recycling, if you cant read that " rhino poo in a book" is what it says.

Speaking of biology, heres some more quirky pics from the biology section, cuz I am just that awesome. Thats right!

Yeah you all knew that but they way they put it is very cute...so...here it is, stuff of life.

This is cool, 8x real life size of a 8 month old baby, its was 2x my size. HUGE...poor uteri out there.

This in some way shape or form, justifies the way men behave? no?

This reminds me of something I might have seen in neuro unit in MDSC404, huh fun times err NOT!

MythBuster: the good, bad and ugly of London

London is one of the biggest metropolitans in the world. Not only that, it is also has historical significance as you know Britain colonized most of the globe at one point in history. Anyhow this is my attempt at a comprehensive (um no...rather opinionated) look at what is good, bad and ugly about London.

The good :
# Beautiful city!! really you just have to look at the right places. Central London is one of my favourite spots. I love hanging out there.
#Amazing transport system in the city (Yes Canada this is aimed at you! improve please).
# The groceries here are fairly affordable! Actually. Contrary to what many people may think and to what I had thought.
# Most museums are free to enter.
#Cheap and good fish and chips is available. =) Yayz!
#People have amazing accents that is hard to follow but awesome to listen to.


The bad:
# People really can't be bothered to be courteous. That said, there are courteous people as well.
# Crime hot spots all over the city!! really gotta be careful with your stuff
# Living is expensive, and it is overcrowded.
# Rain is frequent but not always (really it doesnt rain everyday) there is sun here and it might rain once a week or so.
#Churches like St. Pauls and Westminister Abbey cost you money. Huh??
#No drinking at concerts and football games. -_- I am miffed already. How do you go to concerts like Floyd and not drink people? Seriously!

The funny:
# Rihanna's song S&M has a line called 'Chains and whips excite me'...in UK radio it is censored to '***** and *****' Interesting I thought ;)

Will keep this updated.

Little Venice

Sorry for being ridiculously lazy, but here is an update.

Last weekend I went to a slightly secluded place called Little Venice. I read a lot about this place before going there. I had some really good reviews and it was really quite nice to go there. Its a quite stroll in the canalways of  London. People live there in their boathouses over the weekend. It's a picturesque area but there is not really much to see. A nice walk!

The location, Warwick Avenue is beautiful! Amazing looking houses and beautiful gardens with each of the houses.

I came back home and started reading a bit more about this place to only find out that it is one of the top crime spots in London. Cheers! for making it alive and unmugged.

Tasks and more tasks

In the middle of all the fun, I have lost sight of things that need to be done! Sure travelling is amazing and finding out interesting is way more fun. But losing sight of things is just not an option. Here is a list of things I thought I would share:
1) Study for MCATs: le sigh... not again this time without books.
2) Select and register for courses: mm one more struggle, like every year I am optimistic but about 2 months in I will be frustrated. Peachy!
3) Apply for scholarships and such
4) Finish CMMB: man such as draag
5) Look at med and grad schools. Not gonna lie this is very exciting yet aggravating.

This is life as we know it, school work never ends.

Nonetheless, I am super excited to be here and doing things I have always wanted to do. Maybe someday it will pay off??

Cheers to hoping...

Have you had your spirit diagnosis yet??

Ahh more posts about the trip to the British Museum, so many... oh that's so cool moments and aahh Did You Know moments...So here are some more.

These pictures are from the same gallery as the pill cloth, surrounding the pill cloth. I find all their beliefs slightly supernatural but very intriguing.

African way of getting rid of diseases. Have you had you spirit diagnosis yet?

Pray me healthy

There were many more of these from different parts of the world, unfortunately the pictures did not turn out so great! =(

Creationism and evolution... here is a interesting bit of history (or so I seem to think anyway). So apparently god created everything in 4004 BC. Who knew??

The beginning of the world, 4004 BC (before cloning?lol) apparently

These are some interesting things I found, I will keep updating my visit as I enjoyed it a whole bunch.

Om nom no!

Britain, the land where they call fries chips and chips crisps. This place is known for fish and chips... om nom nom one of my favourite dishes ever!!

After British museum trip I decided to grab some food, and I just had the most expensive and crappy fish and chips I have ever had in my life.... le sigh =(. No tartar sauce, really??

Looking for better fish and chips

From cradle to grave

The British Museum, an interesting place to pick up on some history but who would have thought it would also provide interesting perspective on health. 

There were regional exhibits and thematic exhibits, a particular one caught my eye! It was health based, being a student of health and issues surrounding health, I took a look...an hour later...so many "OMG that's so cool" moments.

From Cradle to grave:

Interesting conglomeration of art and health

Here are some more pictures from the exhibit....

Pills

 More pills, this is the pill cloth, a piece of fabric made with pills 

and thread about 20 ft long (guesstimating here)

Point in life where medication is a necessity for living, 

where we can no longer synthesize our own enzymes. Bummer.

Overall, an amazing exhibit. More on the way stay tuned =).

The groundling

First day of work for the job that I have shed sweat and tears on to achieve. It all starts off with a meeting with 10 or so random strangers in a room. Oh fun! right? NOT!! After being utterly confused all day, and going thru a rapid review of the campus map without a map, I headed off to St. Paul's station to see Shakespeare's Hamlet. 

Ophelia and Leartis

Ophelia and Horatio

Walking into the area, I see a long lineup of people who have literally been there for hours. Surprisingly, I was still fairly early and could queue after 20 or so people.  After the gates finally opened, some rushed, some budged... I ended up in 2nd row off the stage as a grounding. Pretty fricken cool if you ask me! Although I had to stand for nearly 3.5 hours, it was totally worth it. The actors, the stage, the experience. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat plus I got to see scenic London at night. Gotta say pretty beautiful as well. All in all, I think I am off to a good start =).

St. Paul's at night from the back of the church as you head off to the station

Cute little cafe I felt like taking a picture of! =)

Sense of adventure or the lack of sense of direction

Still jetlagged, this gets less and less fun when I get to sleep about 4-5 hours on a weekend during summer. So, I wake up at 3 AM, bum around and watch TV and do some homework. Anyhow, I go out at around 10 AM. I go to St. Paul's Cathedral... ahh the familiarity with this place. I recognize everything which is kind of great. This time I even went inside, stayed a bit for the Sunday mass. Very beautiful and ethereal experience.

From there I decided to cross the Millenium Bridge and go to the Other side as they used to call it during Shakespearean era. The other side  referred to the cultural side, i.e the side of the river with the Globe Theatre, Tate modern at this point. History says, that if one was caught crossing over to the other side they were beheaded and their heads displayed at the traitors gate in Henry the VIIs castle. Then I went to the globe theatre and purchased a ticket to be a groundling at Shakespeare's Hamlet. Interesting bit of history here as well. At the globe there are the groundlings who stand, the nobles who sit in the arena and the dukes (or higher ranked officials) who sit in the balcony seat with the best view. The groundlings generally consist of people who could not afford to pay for entertainment, it was free or cost very little during the Elizabethan Era. Same thing holds today. £5 for a groundling whereas nearly £25-30 for a balcony seat. I suppose I decided to be pauper for a day.

From here, I went in search for the tower bridge! Popularly known as London Bridge but its not actually. Beautiful and right across the bridge was King Henry the VII's castle where he beheaded many at the traitor's gate. The thought of people being beheaded for loving arts and their heads displayed... slightly frightening.

After this very nice adventure I decided to take the train....le sigh who knew that 3 of the main lines were closed....so I take a bus and get lost around the city and finally make it back to St. Paul's.

The walk from St. Paul's to the castle. Might not seem that long, but it is!

Getting lost around town...from tower bridge (A) to Camden (B). It takes skills only I possess.

Departures and arrivals!

After a 2 hour car ride and almost missing the flight, I caught AC 850 to London. Following this uberstressful event and an 8 hour flight (very little sleep) I finally landed in the city that I have always wanted to be in, London. There is something about this city, or so I thought. Cute little streets, now that I think of it very narrow lanes for driving. Random islands on one side of the road, tons of one ways, right wide left narrow turns. I would never be able to get a license here. So the first thought that comes to mind is that of wide roads in Canada and how much I appriciate them. Second thing, people have sense enough to dress themselves abut have no conception of dental care whatsoever. This comment slightly judgmental but very true.

Now moving on to why it took me 3 hours to get to my destination in London.
a) 3-4 train changes between LHR and destination.
b) Delays on the Piccadilly line, the only line that connects airport and the city
c) Slow movement due to luggage
d) People being in my way and thinking they own the platform, giving me a #wtf look everytime I say excuse me!


Moving on to the essentials, unpacking and all, I decide that I need some groceries.

I go to the store buy carrots, lettuce, chicken, apple (small kiddy size) and banana. Little did it occur to me while shopping that I also need to buy spices to cook the chicken. Bright! I know.

Thats pretty much been my day and I have learned to appriciate Canada and my friends a wee bit more. I wish they had British accent, I love them regardless though.

 Himika