Thoughts of a Rodent

Woke up at 5.15am this morning to catch a train at 6.55am from Bath Spa to Cardiff Central today. Why wake up so early? Cos have to walk for 40 minutes (fortunately, down the hill) from the house to the train station. It was a nice morning walk tho although the sun has not really risen above the horizon but the sky was already navy blue. As the dawn fades away.... whooooosh......

Oh yeah, anyway the train took about slightly more than an hour to reach Cardiff Central. It was drizzly when we reached there. Sook Meng arrived not too long after that to pick us up. Thereafter we went to the Central Market to shop for some buns for breakfast. Then Sook Meng brought us to her home and ate something there. Along the way the wind was so strong. You know sometimes over here in Europe it isn't the temperature itself which is the problem - it is the wind chill. Just imagine when a gust of cold air just smack right at your face. At one point in time I just feel like going expressionless and give a "dont talk to me" kind of look. Hahaha...

Anyway, Cardiff is the capitol city of Wales, another state which is part of the United Kingdom. It is quite different from England in that the people in Wales speak a completely different language - Welsh which is part of the Celtic language family. So it looks completely different from English or any other Indo-European language that you can think of. Check out the pictures I have uploaded on facebook.com and you would understand exactly what I am talking about. Its so cool la. haha... for example, if you know anyone whose name is allan tan, it means Fire Exit in Welsh. And their sentences start with a verb!

So before we took a bus to visit the Open Air Museum of Welsh Life in St Fagans, somewhere relatively far away from the city, we actually walked through the Bute Park to the Cardiff Castle but did not get in coz the admission fee was too ex. Somewhat around 3.95 pounds. So we went straight to the museum. Unfortunately the weather was not that good in that there was heavy rain. So we did not stay for long (fortunately the admission is FREE... hha)and left the place when it was still drizzling.

One thing about the weather in UK: It has been raining almost every single day since my arrival at London! Initially it was alright in that the rains are not as heavy as back at home BUT over time it gets irritating. Plus the wind chill - you just feel frozen. And when ur shoes and clothes get wet, you will just get frostbite. Ok la it is exagerrated. But overall for someone who has been living under a tropical climate for most of his life, this kind of temperature is just so comfortable.

Anyway, no one expects the bad weather so nothing to blame about. Feel a bit bad as SM later purposely cooked dinner for us. It was very delicious! And her housemates happily joined in. they are all just so awesome and friendly that we feel so bu hao yi si. Even her landlord was so friendly he talked to us to entertain us for a while while SM was preparing the dinner. Good for her that she has a good landlord!!!

Then we made our way to the train after dinner and we would have missed it if we walked all the way. Yes, ran until like mad. Luckily in time but it was crazy. More than 20 minutes of walk man. Anyway really glad to see SM around. And Cardiff is a nice place to visit :) For those planning for a holiday in the UK, you can consider Wales. :)