Jurong Open MIC - Nov 2018

My performance at the Jurong Open MIC in Nov 2018.

They are all my own compositions.

My School Life

T'is My Home

Good Friends Always Be

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

My simple arrangement of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.

Merry Christmas to everyone

Da Yue Zhai Dong Ji

My arrangement of Da Yue Zhai Dong Ji (I think it is translated as Around Autumn)

Da Yue Zhai Dong Ji

Majulah Singapura

My arrangement of Singapore's national anthem.

My transcription is available here.

Visit to London, Edinburgh (Nov/Dec 2018)

Visited London and Edinburgh from mid Nov to Christmas eve in 2019.

My eldest son, his wife and child are in London for a year.

Below are some of the places my wife (who joined me later) and I visited.

One of the first thing that I did was to buy groceries and I also took the opportunity to walk around Dalston.  It was cold and wet.

Ridley Road market

It was sunny and cold (below 9 degree celsius).  Visit St Paul's Cathedral, Picadilly Circus and Chinatown.

St Paul's Cathedral

Picadilly Circus

Chinatown

Today I visited the British Museum.  It is free (most museums are) and I suggest allocating half a day for the visit.

The British Museum

Did not do much today - just did the following sketch.

Long boat parked along Regent Canal

Today is Saturday.  We passed by a small market on the way to lunch.

Hoxton Market

It is Sunday today.  Attended Mass at St Scholastica Roman Catholic Church at Hackney.

St Scholastica Church

A view along the street at Hackney

Also went to Thames crossing the Millennium Bridge.  

The Millennium Bridge

Art display at Tates Modern

Had lunch with my son at the London School of Economics today.  Probably the oldest guy sitting among the students.

Just outside LSE, there is the Old Curiosity Shop that appeared in one of Charles Dickens' story.

The Old Curiosity Shop

Next I headed towards Picadilly Circles to look for the Waterstone Bookstore - suppose to be the largest in UK.  Below are some street scenes along the way.

Street scenes

It is 26th Nov (Thur).  Today went to the Transport Museum with my grandson.  Need to pay for entry to this museum but it was worth it for me (the ticket is valid for 12 months).

Later in the afternoon, went to a local park to play.

Today was a sunny day.  Visited the famous London Bridge and the Buckingham Palace.

London Bridge

Buckingham Palace - people watching the changing of guards

The weather was nice today.  Went to the Spitalfields Market and the Brick Lane Market.  My suggestion is to go to the Brick Lane Market for street food.

Had Mass at St Monica's Church

Nice weather on the way to Spitalfields

The Spitalfields Market

Crispy Duck Salad

Entering Brick Lane Market

A very talented busker from Italy

It is 5th Dec.  Had a short walk with my son and grandson along Cambridge Road - it is closed to traffic for Christmas shopping.   There are a lot of small shops selling curio.

Cambridge Road Christmas shopping

Went to St John the Evangelist Church for Mass.  There were quite a few young children and I enjoyed the homily.

St John the Evangelist Church

After Mass, went to the Natural Science Museum.  There is a small fair there and my grandson took a ride at the merry-go-round.  Definitely recommend visiting the museum.

Natural Science Museum

Later in the afternoon, walked pass Kensington Park to get to Hyde Park.

The Albert Memorial at Kensington Park

1. Entering Hyde Park

Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park

Speakers' Corner

Today is 12th Dec (Wed).  Joined a tour to visit Stonehenge and Bath.

Stonehenge

Scenes around Bath

The Roman Bath @ Bath

We watched Mamma Mia the musical at the Novella.

The Novella

A horse carrier parked along the street

From 15th Dec to 21st Dec, my wife and I rented a car to drive up to Edinburgh.  On the way there, we spent 2 nights at York.  It is definitely worth the visit.

Staying in the Brentwood Guesthouse is also very pleasant.

 Traditional English breakfast

Outside the guesthouse

We went for Mass at Church of St Wilfrid.

Church of St Wilfrid

Below are some scenes of York.

Scenes around York

Drinking mulled wine

We also drove to Whitby.  Pity it was winter - it was dark when we got there.  But here are some scenes.

Whitby Abbey and scenes from the abbey

18th Dec 2018.  Got our first Scot breakfast - similar to the English breakfast except for haggis.

Scottish breakfast

After breakfast, we went to the Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh.  We drove part of the way and then walked to the top.  

Views from the Arthur's Seat

We then drove to visit the Rosslyn Chapel which was featured in the Da Vinci Code.

The Rosslyn Chapel

In the afternoon we walked the Royal Mile and around the Princess Street area.  Unfortunately it gets dark early during winter and most of the photos were taken after sundown.

Scenes walking the Royal Mile and Princess Street

Shop selling roasted meat (near Scot Parliament House)

The Edinburgh Castle and the end of the Royal Mile

After breakfast, we drove south and headed for the Melrose Abbey.  Learned about the Cistercian Order.  Worth visiting.  If you are visiting, take the spiral stairs to the top of the tower and you can have a birdeye view of the town.

The Melrose Abbey

From there, we drove to Ambleside at the Lake District.  It reminded me of Pat the Postman where one can see granite slate walls.

View at a lake

Scenes around Ambleside

We visited the Castlerigg Stone Circle before visiting Windermere where we had lunch.

Castlerigg Stone Circle

Windermere

We headed back to London via Stradford Upon Avon - the birth place of Shakespere.  By the time we reached there, it was already dark and I could not take much photos.  There was a Christmas market at the town centre but we did not visit it.

Stradford Upon Avon

We still have a few hours to use the car and we drove to Cambridge.

It is a beautiful university town.  Do visit if you are in the UK.

Cambridge

Today (22nd Dec) the weather was kind to us.  The sun was out and temperature was about 10 deg in the day.  Being a Saturday, there are less cars on the road and there seems to be less crowded too.  We follow a walking tour according to the following Youtube video.

Here are the photos along the route.

Saw this group along the street

This was where the first public toilet was

Photos following the Youtube walking tour.  Please refer to the video.

The walking tour brought us to the Tower Bridge area.

Around Tower Bridge

After the Tower Bridge, we went to Covent Garden area to soak in some Christmas atmosphere.  There were a few baskers there and we sat through one sining songs familiar to us.

Around Covent Garden

Last day in London for 2018.  Went for Mass at Camden and walked around Camden Market area.  The place seems to come to life at about 11 am.

Church of Our Lady of Hal

Around Camden Market

Car that I rented - KIA Sportage

The car is pretty intelligent and easy to drive.  For example, it detects the amount of rain and the wiper respond accordingly.  If you change lane without signalling, the car beeps you.

Food I cooked in London:

Bacon, egg, mixed vegetables

Fried zuchini "guo teow" with beef stew (beef stew is cooked by daughter-in-law)

Roasted chicken with vegetable