Formal dinner

Friday evening was the formal dinner to welcome all residents in the new academic year, and it was really formal. Everybody donned the smartest suits and then we had the apertif first, followed by the traditional three course English dinner. I drank a bottle of beer for the apertif, quite a bit of red and white wine during the dinner and then unexpectedly got a bit tipsy after the dinner (oops!). Some of us (mainly Asians) weren't full after the dinner, so we went around Hampstead in search of food, and haha, in the end all of us couldn't decide what to eat and bought the Hampstead crepes instead. After which, five of us went to a pub and had more drinks (I had a bit of Guinness). Overall, it was just a short and simple dinner, but really a pleasant evening with lots of interactions. It's really, really amazing how cosmopolitan this place can be and all of us can be connected together via a common language - English.

The Chilterns

Nine of us went hiking in the Chilterns today, and amazingly all nine of us are from different countries - (1) Singapore, (2) Italy, (3) Spain, (4) Japan, (5) Trinidad, (6) England, (7) India, (8) Belgium and (9) Portugal.

Today was surprisingly sunny, the weather exceptionally good, perhaps its because we weren't in London.

The Chilterns lie only a few miles north-west of London in Buckinghamshire and yet they are an unspoilt area of rolling chalk hills, magnificent beechwoods, quiet valleys and charming brick and flint villages. A wonderful mosaic of woods, fields, hedges, sunken lanes and clear streams.

We took a train to Chalfont and Latimer, after which we walked about 10 miles in the Chilterns in 5 hours. A pretty relaxing walk with plenty of down-hills and up-slopes. The landscape was fantastic, but not the best I've seen (Peak District offers better views). Nevertheless, everybody agreed that it's a good workout on a Sunday and heh, Yoichi was almost half dead in the end.

Should be going somewhere next weekend as well. :)