Monday 17 March 2008

Brick Lane, Geffyre Museum & White Cube

I went to wander through parts of the East End, taking in Brick Lane and two small museums in one day.

I have actually been to Brick Lane once before, on the night Jon and I first arrived in London, but I thought I'd explore the place in the day time to see what it was really like. On the North end of Brick Lane, it's a bustling place with cosy cafes, vintage shops, and specialist stores. Quite young and trendy. Then as you progress Southwards, the place is fringed on both sides with restaurants - the Brick Lane I met on my first night. In the day time that area is much less bustling as the touts are not on duty; and the streets are filled mostly with locals going grocery shopping at the local store (which stocks all types of South Asian supplies) or emerging from the mosque after prayers.

The colours of Brick Lane










I had heard that the Brick Lane Beigel Bake had the best bagels in London, so since I was there I had to try it didn't I? I was happily munching away while wandering about the place. But I have to say, I think the best bagels I've had are still those from New York! Mmm...










I then head to the Geffyre Museum which traces the changing styles of interior design in London.







It's like peeping into people's houses cos it's basically a series of spaces decorated in the style of various periods, from 1600s to the present. Fairly interesting to see the change in styles - from simple and functional, to ornate and flowery, then on to minimalist and modern.



















The museum also showed the evolving style of chairs over the centuries.










This chair is, I think, the most comfortable of the lot :) When you sit in it you really melt into the cushion and feel like you've become part of the chair.










The Geffyre is a small museum and quite off-the beaten track. Not really a main attraction for a passing tourist unless they're particularly interested in interior design. So having walked through the entire place without taking too long, I moved on to the last destination for the day, the White Cube. It's a minimalist art space that has changing exhibitions. The day I went there were two photography exhibitions of mild interest. I think there are probably more interesting exhibitions at other times.










Anyway, having covered everything I wanted to during the day I went home feeling mighty pleased with myself :)

Camden Passage Market

There's a weekly antique market in Islington called the Camden Passage Market, which is actually not that near Camden. It's a cosy little place, and all the wares line narrow passages behind the main row of shops lining the road. The Camden Passage Market also takes in the Pierrepoint Market, which is similar in nature, just a little distance off the main thoroughfare.










It was fun poking around the place looking for interesting buys. Quite a lot! But most out of my budget :) So just browsed...though I did get my parent's Christmas present from there! Was quite pleased with myself :)

When I went to visit the day started nice and sunny, then it suddenly burst into rain, even though the sun was still shining. That's the crazy British weather for you. But it did make for nice photos :)

Dark Materials

I actually read this series of books last November. Philip Pullman's Northern Lights , The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass make up the Dark Materials series.

I really enjoyed these books. They are engrossing reads, and I found that once I started I couldn't stop! It's been a long time since I read a book that manages to keep up the tension throughout the entire story, which makes you turn the pages faster and faster! I thought it was very imaginative - the characters, the plot, the setting were all very original. I recommend these books if you're looking for a good, adventure-filled read.

I know there are controversies regarding his apparent anti-Christian stance. But as I was reading the books, I didn't think he was criticising Christianity per se, but rather he was against institutionalised religion in general. Not that the organisation of religion is bad in and of itself, but it appears he is against the way religion can sometimes be practiced, e.g., if one has a legalistic approach. Although some reviews and commentaries, and even Pullman himself, say that his books are about killing God, the Authority who supposedly represents God, is clearly described in the books as not God himself! That seems to me an important and telling distinction! Pullman described the Authority as being an angel that has posed as God, but is not God, and that there separately does exist a Creator God! In fact, God himself doesn't really make an appearance in the book, and the issues circle around the Authority and Metatron (another angel). The whole set-up doesn't quite seem to reflect Christianity, but rather is an obviously fictional religious order.

While I can see how people may say the books are anti-Christian, I personally didn't get that feel when I read the books. I think the books are good for the storyline itself. Even if he does try to throw in some subversive ideas, it seems that overall, the books just come off as a good series of fiction. If a comparison has to be made, I think the Da Vinci Code is probably more controversial since it mixes falsehoods and truths in an indistinguishable manner.

Anyway, since reading the book it's been fun seeing Oxford, where some parts of the book are set, chasing the Northern Lights in Iceland, and seeing the boat houses in Amsterdam. Not that I intentionally chose to go to these places because of the book! I have independently always wanted to visit these places/see these things, and it was just interesting to have this story to tie them together :)

Sunday 9 March 2008

Scottish Dance Theatre

Shan, Ben, Jon & I went to catch the Scottish Dance Theatre's (SDT) performance at The Place, a contemporary dance school. The SDT is the same group that ran the workshop I went to a couple of days before. I had heard that the dance tenderhook was "very beautiful" and was keen to watch it. It was actually the dance on which the workshop was based, but they didn't teach the choreography during the workshop, just the techniques.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed with tenderhook. The reviews were so good, and the mental images conjured in my mind after the workshop were very different from how the actual dance looked like. It's a dance that's supposed to explore relationships between people, and I thought it would evoke more emotions and be much more stirring. The music was so good! Unfortunately, it seemed more like a series of movements to me. I knew the significance behind them, since they explained it during the workshop, but I thought there'd be more to it, more blending of movements; instead they took the elements and pieced them together. That's what I thought at least, though they had some interesting use of props. I guess it's just cos I expected so much more. But that's just how it is usually right? When you expect too much you tend to get disappointed.

I was more impressed with Dog. Though requiring less technique, I liked how they kept up the energy and showed commitment to the dance. It involved a lot of explosive movements sandwiched between segments of fluid movements. I always find that you need a certain kind of dancer to be able to pull off such contrasting textures of movement. A lot of times there isn't enough explosiveness, and the movement just looks weak, and the whole effect is lost. But I thought they did it very well, and melted easily from explosive to fluid. I actually also saw more meaning in Dog than in tenderhook. The choreographer made it clear that he didn't have any particular meaning he wanted to convey when he started choreographing the dance, but that that doesn't mean his dance has no meaning. So he urged the audience to see their own meaning in it, i.e., it is pretty much up to you. So to me, it seems like well, we're all sometimes like Dogs. Sometimes kicked around by others, loved by others, sometimes affectionate, scared, conditioned to do certain things, curious, sometimes out of control, etc., but still always very human. I don't profess to understand the whole dance. There were bits that totally didn't make sense to me, but that's the little bit I pulled out from it.

Saturday 8 March 2008

Rihanna-anna-anna-eh-eh

Jon & I caught Rihanna's performance at the O2! :)










Umbrella-ella-ella!
Yes, we did see some people bringing umbrellas for the concert.










Anyway, in contrast to Smashing Pumpkins where most people were around our age, this time around most of the people attending were young, screaming girls. Gosh. They can really scream. When Rihanna first appeared I thought I would go deaf! Already our ears had a pre-taste of what those vocal chords were capable of. When some celeb (I assume) came in, the girls all started screaming, and already I thought that was loud. Actually, I first heard the screaming then noticed they were screaming over someone that I totally didn't recognise. Jon and I asked the couple next to us (who happened to be around our age) who that guy was, and they didn't know either. I think we're all too old to know these things... :) But yes, there were some others our age and older. But the bulk of the crowd were kids (with chaperons!) and teenagers. Actually it's quite cute to see parents and their kids bonding over this event :)










But lest we sound like old fuddy duddies, we actually knew quite a lot of her songs :) Jon was surprised that certain songs he was familiar with were sung by her.

Paying tribute to Bob Marley










She put up a good show, and actually sang during the concert, not lip-sync, though the back-up singers did a lot of singing too. But I like her voice, there's a distinctive tone to it. Still, the concert felt more rehearsed and structured than the others that I've been to here. I guess it's cos she has to coordinate the songs with the dancers and dance routines, with props and multi-media displays behind. So she had less leeway to improvise. It's probably all timed and choreographed. But that's probably how it is with a lot of pop acts like Spice Girls and Kylie Minogue I think. Saw on TV the Spice Girls rehearsing their moves for their latest tour that just ended. On the other hand, Smashing Pumpkins was a rocking good time that felt free form and independent, and Mika was an intimate affair and crazy fun (even if he did have dancers occasionally, they really just pranced around freely in a non-choreographed way).

Overall it was a worthwhile trip, and fun to join in and sing the songs when I knew them...and of course we all know the ella-ella song! :)

Thursday 6 March 2008

Brackets, Squirrels, and Kites

The dance workshop was great!

Not what I expected, but very interesting and inspirational nonetheless. Instead of teaching their repertoire per se, the gave insights to the thinking and creative techniques like "brackets and squirrels", "kites", "paisley" and "canon" that went behind the work. A lot of it requires improvisation and creativity, which I found great fun! We rotated with various partners, and each partner brought something else to the equation. Some of the dancers were fantastic! It was so inspirational watching them! Strength, grace, and creativity all rolled into one. Turns out that they are intending to audition for the Scottish Dance Theatre (SDT) - no wonder they were going all out to impress, and it was clear the SDT dancers were impressed!

My whole body feels worked-out and stretched. We really used every inch of our bodies tonight, and I'm definitely going to ache tomorrow. How wonderful!

Dancing In London!

I've been wanting to go for dance in London, and finally went for two classes several weeks ago. The first was for a contemporary 'Graham technique' class at The Place, and the second was a jazz class at Pineapple Studios near Covent Garden. Both we great fun, and it was fantastic to get to dance again! More than anything I realised that contrary to what I had thought - that a lot of the people who attend these things are really fantastic dancers and I'll look so horrible next to them - there are many people here who go to class just to try out something new, or indulge in an interest...why worry? :) There are of course many fantastic dancers, but, who cares? :) Not like they know me. Just do it!

So tonight I'm going for a repertory class with the Scottish Dance Theatre at The Place. I was thinking of attending the Rambert Dance Company's repertory class, but decided that the work they were going to teach was probably better enjoyed as part of an audience than to learn. The Scottish Dance Theatre is going to lead the class to learn tenderhook which has been described as simply beautiful and stunning. I'm not too sure whether there is a requirement for the level of dance experience, but I'm just going to go for it and try! :) Wish me luck!

Wednesday 5 March 2008

Iceland - Photo Link

Here's a link to the photos we took on the trip!

Click here.

Iceland - Day 4

For our last day in Iceland, we headed to Hafnarfjordur where I went horse riding! Icelandic horses are more stocky than other horse breeds, and are famed for their smooth gait and warm personalities. Most guidebooks say that they are friendly and willing. But I think the Insight Guides was most accurate, "surefooted, intelligent, affectionate, home-loving and sometimes headstrong". Yep..it can be headstrong too as I discovered!

My horse, Sqwisa, was certainly not willing. He refused to walk faster even when kicked! He'd walk slowly, resulting in a large gap between myself and the person in front. Initially I was in the middle of the pack, so one of the guides rode up to me and urged my horse on. It seems Sqwisa only responds when under peer pressure. Cos even when the guide gave me a riding crop to use, and asked me to kick my horse more, Sqwisa refused to move faster. Only when the guide rode alongside did he oblige to trot a little, but otherwise he ambled along at his own pace. So when the group turned to head back to the stable, all the other horses walked ahead and I ended up right at the back. After a while I was 20-30 metres behind everyone else!

Near the end of the ride there was a snow plow behind, and the guide asked everyone to kick their horse and trot forward to the stable. But I kicked, and kicked, and hit with the crop..and thought that maybe I'm hurting Sqwisa so tried stroking, I tried talking to him, then tried kicking again, but all to no avail. He just walked on while everyone else galloped away.

Later on when I was changing out of the riding gear, one of the other riders asked if I enjoyed my ride. I said yes, but that my horse was really slow. She said that I should have used a riding crop. When she used it her horse moved faster. But I told her I had kicked and hit no end, but he still went slowly. Then she asked, "were you the last one?" And when I said yes, she and the others all burst out laughing..... TSK! Great.

Anyway, it seems there's this love-hate relationship. Because at one point before our ride, Sqwisa was nuzzling his snout against me in an affectionate way. I thought that was sweet. But then he turned out to be quite stubborn. Hiya. So much for the willing, good-natured Icelandic horse :) I guess even they have a range of personalities :)

But I do love how Icelandic horses look so cute with their thick fringes that hang over their eyes :) And you get all sorts of colour combinations. Brown horses with blonde hair, white horses with brown hair, black horses with brown hair, etc.

They also display some interesting behaviour. When they first come out of the stable, and also after we dismount from the horses and remove the staddles, the horses start rolling around in the snow on their backs as if to cool it or scratch it! I've never seen horses do that! They'll prance around, lie down, then roll to and fro until they are satisfied. A fascinating sight :)

Anyway cos my Sqwisa was rather stubborn, plus the riding path was much less adventurous than the brochure made it out to be (just walk out then turn and walk back), I was a little disappointed with the experience, though I still love the horses and being around them.

Jon and I then drove to The Pearl back in Reykjavik to get some panoramic views over the capital. The Pearl is a revolving restaurant that sits on top of hot water tanks, and has an outdoor platform that you can walk on and look out in all directions. It was a bright and clear day, so we were even able to make out the glacier Snaefellsjokull on the Snaefellsnes peninsular in the distance, almost 80 miles away as the crow flies!

We then made our way to Gar
ður, a small fishing town near the airport. It was very small and the port really smelt heavily of fish, which was fine with me :)

Time was catching up with us so we had to make for the airport to catch the flight...the end of our trip! Again it was a day flight, and this time we sat on the correct side of the plane and managed to see beautiful views of the Reykjanes Peninsular - the roads we drove on, Reykjavik in the distance, bird cliffs in the South that we didn't have a chance to go to; and as a bonus we also saw Heimaey and Surtsey! It brought the trip full circle, ending with the islands we got to know through the volcano show on the first day in Iceland. I felt really privileged to see Surtsey, the tiny island that didn't exist not long ago in geological terms.

Anyway, as we got higher into the clouds, we settled in for the short flight back home to London :)

Iceland - Day 3 (The Food!)

We decided that we'd try some local food that day. For the previous few days we'd been self-catering our meals. We had brought bread, canned tuna, canned salmon, pate, corned beef, and clementines from UK. Apparently other travellers often also bring along food with them from home cos the cost of food, and the the cost of basically everything, is very high in Iceland. Iceland tops the Big Mac index! One of the guidebooks described how it is pitiful to see travellers who normally travel in style and luxury end up penny pinching, and even taking food from breakfast buffets to make lunch packs. Our hotel had a sign on the dining room door that read "it is not the custom in Iceland to make lunch packs from the breakfast buffet" to prevent exactly such behaviour. But Jon and I are used to self-catering anyway, having done that many times on our various backpacking trips.

We got to see just how expensive food is in Iceland that Sunday. We shared a snack of soup and a kebab and it added up to S$36! But the food was really good! The soup was made from lobster (and was excellent), and the kebab was of Minke whale! Wait wait wait! Before you say anything, Minke whales are not endangered! In fact Iceland carefully watches the Minke whale population. Of the 45,000 Minke whales, less than 1% are allowed to be caught. Whale meat is surprisingly like red meat! It really looks like, and has the texture of beef steak, though the taste is slightly different.

We were glad for the hot meal because it was another freezing day!

Having warmed our stomachs, we went to explore the Sunday Kolaportio flea market. It's rather an ordinary flea market, except for the food section. Oh...the food section. There we tried some yummy Icelandic food like smoked fish (like giam he) and smoked herring (sweet, fishy, and tasty). We also bought some of their flat rye bread (yummy! sweet and with a slight burnt taste), a loaf of sweet malty bread, some smoked salmon and fish pate to try.

But the king of Icelandic delicacies that we tried was Hakarl, which is rotten shark. Yep...rotten shark. It is buried for up to six months in sand to break down the high levels of ammonia and neurotixins contained in its flesh. Different parts of the shark yield either white or dark meat. We tried the white one... While the initial taste was sweet (though Jon will dispute that heh), the aftertaste which came quickly after was horrible! Oh man...you cannot image the taste! Ammonia plus some other gross concoction of flavours...yucks.. And the worst part is that the taste stays in your throat for the next few hours. Even though we ate other things after that...there was still a lingering tinge of the rotten shark. The smell was horrible too. At the stall selling Hakarl there was an overwhelming pungent smell that I kept trying to blow out of my lungs! I couldn't imagine working in that stall and being surrounded by that smell all day long. But I suppose the stall keeper was used to it..and maybe even likes Hakarl!

Anyway, we tried it! :) It seems many Icelanders also don't really fancy Hakarl, and the traditional way of eating it is to drink a glug of really strong alcohol once you've popped the Hakarl in your mouth so that you don't taste the rotten fish.

Another really fantastic bit of Icelandic food that we tried was their hot dog! We went to the most well-loved stall called Baejarins Beztu Pylsur which was near the flea market. It looks like a simple hot dog, but you know you've got something wonderful when you bite into it! The flavour and the blend of sauces is excellent! And there's an extra crunch from the fried onions they put inside. Fantastic! Don't think I've had a better hot dog!

We couldn't resist going back to the hot dog stand after coming back from the Blue Lagoon and getting a hot dog each as a pre-dinner snack. It's clear it's a well-loved stall cos there was an endless flow of customers going to buy hot dogs, even at night! We then had dinner proper back at the hotel, eating some of the stuff we had bought from the flea market. Yummy smoked salmon and the super tasty rye bread with knobs of butter! :) So much better than canned tuna! :)

Iceland - Day 3

As we got back pretty late in the early AMs from the Northern Lights hunt, we slept in a little on the third day. Anyway, the forecast for that Sunday was snow, which was accurate. So our plans to either drive east to see the Jökulsárlón lagoon, or to drive North to Snaefellsnes peninsular had to be scraped since it would be a long drive and the snowy conditions would make our progress slow and potentially dangerous.

Instead, we decided to wander around the capital of Reykjavik then head to the Blue Lagoon in the afternoon. Reykjavik is small compared to other European capitals. We went to see Tjörn, which is a large lake in the heart of the old part of the city. It was mostly frozen over except for one corner, as a result, all the ducks, geese, swans, and other water fowl congregated in that corner. It was so noisy!

The City Hall stood by the lake, and in it was housed a 3D model of Iceland. It's a huge model that took 4 people 4 years to make. I thought it was nice to catch a glimpse of the landscape that we wouldn't get to see in the rest of Iceland. And what I saw made me want to come back to Iceland again to see the rest of the magnificant landscape. In our short 4 days (actually only 3 days if you count by 24hr periods), we'd cover only a small portion of what Iceland has to offer!

The rest of the town was quaint and cosy. And it felt very safe. We felt no need for heightened alertness to danger, much like when we are in Singapore. We could walk about freely with peace of mind.

After wandering through the Sunday Kolaportio flea market (more on this in the food section), we started to make our way to the Blue Lagoon, a popular geothermally heated pool. The wind was strong and it was blowing snow across the roads, making visibility poor. If we thought the highway was bad, the smaller roads were much worse! It was covered in snow, and at one point we experienced a near-whiteout situation! We couldn't see the road, and we could barely see the road markers! The wind was blowing very strongly and all around was snow. We went slowly and carefully because we didn't want to end up off the road and onto the lava fields - not terrain that you can drive on with a regular car. In that snowy condition, we got stuck in the snow twice! But Jon was the hero and immediately got out of the car to push it out of the snow! :)

What a drive! On hindsight really exciting, but during the drive itself was a situation that required one's full concentration, lots of patience and perseverance! I'm glad we went through that it, but I hope we won't have to go through that again!

In contrast to our adventure on the way to the Blue Lagoon, the Blue Lagoon itself was like a paradise of calm and serenity. Everyone who was already there was totally oblivious to the strong wind and poor road conditions outside. They were just enjoying the dip in the blue waters.

It's an amazing place, sounded by snowy mountains. Steam rises from where the water enters the lagoon. The bottom of the lagoon is covered at some parts with black lava sand, and at others with soft silica mud. Some purer silica mud (probably taken from another pool, not the blue lagoon itself) is set aside for patrons to use as face masks. Apparently the silica mud is really good for the skin, so you'll see men and women alike swimming around the lagoon with silica mud on their face :)

And the water is so wonderfully hot! The air is 0 degrees Celsius, and water temperature ranges from 38-41 degrees Celsius! We took the brave route and ran in the open to get to the warm water :) There is the more tame way of entering the water from the indoor pool, then wading out into the open. It's lovely to be in hot water out in the open. The only problem is that your ears get soooo cold if you don't dip your head in every now and then. I tried not to dip my whole head in cos the water is supposed to really dry out your hair. So every so often when my ears start to freeze, I'd dip my head side ways :) It was so cold that ice crystals even started forming on Jon's eyelashes!

We spent almost three hours just enjoying the water there, and emerged relaxed and having really smooth skin! :)

We were so glad that the road has been plowed so that the drive out was much more manageable. Got back to our warm room safe and sound :) Such an eventful day!

Iceland - Day 2

On the second day we decided to do the Golden Circle, a route which covers some of Iceland's main attractions. We first headed for Þingvellir National Park, where the Alþingi - Iceland's national assembly (also the world's first) - was first instituted in AD 930. It's apparently still a place regarded with reverance by Icelanders. It's set on the lava plains lying between the European and American tectonic plates, two plates which are constantly moving apart! The Alþingi itself was held at the foot of the Almmannagjá - just one of many large fissures. The place, like everywhere else, was beautifully covered in snow except for the rivers and ponds that hadn't frozen over. It's always nice to see fresh snow that hasn't been trampled on. Some bushes looked like marshmallows or frost covered muffins :) I also loved how the snow glittered luxuriously under the bright sunshine.

Our next stop was to Geysir, the original water spout that lent it's name to all other water spouts around the world. The road we wanted to take was snowed over and impassable, so we had to take a longer route to get there. But that was fine as we got to drive along Iceland's largest lake Þingvallavatn. Some parts were frozen over, but at sections the bright blue water appeared and contrasted beautifully with the white snow.

We also had the bonus of seeing the Keri
ð crater. There was actually a lake in the middle, but it was frozen. We met a Polish guy there who was on his third trip to Iceland. He thought that Iceland though beautiful in winter is at its best in spring and encouraged us to try to visit Iceland again during that season.

We also saw Icelandic horses grazing in the fields :) It was a lovely sight! Horses of various colours contrasting beautifully against the white mountains the fields.

It was a long detour, and eventually we got to Geysir. Geysir itself has stopped having regular activity for years. The nearby geysir called Strokkur has taken over as the key attraction. It consistently blows up a spout of water every five minutes or so to a height of around 20 metres. Before the geysir blows you can see the water level drop significantly, then it starts to swell, then it suddenly bursts!

The entire Geysir area is just gorgeous. Because of the warm ground temperature, some of the snow melts away revealing the colourful moss that lay hidden elsewhere. Again, the snow-covered mountains provided a lovely contrast and brought out the colour even more :)

We saw Strokkur spout three times :) So being satisfied, we moved on to check out Gullfoss, one of Iceland's best known waterfalls. It's a stunning, jaw-dropping sight that will stop you in your tracks. As you walk towards the path that leads to the waterfall you can't see anything because you're on a ridge. Then as you step to the edge of the ridge onto the staircase leading down to the falls you are hit by the wonder of the sight. Photos don't quite capture it. The waterfalls tumble down a series of cascades, onto a lower level, then tumbles again down into a narrow ravine.

The wind was also incredibly strong...and cold! Already it was a -5 day, add the wind and the spray from the waterfall, it was even colder! I was so thankful for the jacket, raincoat and beanie I borrowed from Shan! Even through all the layers it was cold!

We walked down a path that leads right to the next of the waterfalls. I was a little worried when I was walking down the path cos it was slippery due to the ice. The path was narrow, and next to it was a rather steep fall down...so clumsy me made my way slloowwllyy and carefully down the path. But the walk down was well worth it! Surprisingly it was not that windy down by the waterfall, so it was a little relief from the cold :) But eventually we had to walk back up into the wind and cold.

We had to head back to the hotel cos we were going for the Northern Lights hunt! We got back in good time, and found that the tour was not cancelled, meaning that there was still a possibility for us to see the Northern Lights!! I was really excited! But was also psyching myself up for the possibility that we wouldn't see the lights. You need really clear skies and good auroral activity to see the lights, but the though the afternoon had clear blue skies, the clouds had come in! Ahhh!!

We drove out of Reykjavik to escape the bright city lights, and to try and find a patch of clear sky. Along the way, in the dark of night, and away from some of the clouds, we saw a faint but distinctive green light glimmer in the sky!! It had to be the Northern Lights cos there was no large city around the area, meaning it wasn't the reflection of the city lights on the clouds. It stretched lengthwise with a slight curve. I can still remember it clearly in my mind, even though it was faint, and nothing like the beautiful postcards you see. But it's a haunting image, and the green is just so distinctive. I was hoping that we'd step off the bus to see the lights, but the tour leader thought we might get a better view of it further up the bay, so on we drove. The light remained in the sky, but by the time we got to the location he wanted, it had faded away! :(

So we went on north again to find another patch of clear sky. Again I saw the glimmer of the green light in the sky! I was hoping it would get brighter and more spectacular, but the clouds were getting thicker above us. We got off the bus and saw some of the green stretch further across the sky, but eventually the clouds came in and obscured the colours. Without the clouds it'd probably look something like this.

Anyway, I was a little disappointed that we didn't see the full spectacle of the Northern Lights, but some of the others on the tour with us didn't manage to catch the lights at all! And others who've gone to Iceland before have not seen even a glimmer of it either. So I'm really happy that I got to see at least a shimmer of the haunting green :)

[Again..the photo uploader is wonky.... photos akan datang].

Tuesday 4 March 2008

Iceland - Day 1

What a wonderful opportunity! We're so close to Iceland, and Icelandair had a flight/hotel offer. We had to grab it! The package included a Northern Lights hunt!!! I've always always always wanted to see the Northern Lights!

I was filled with excitement at the thought of going to Iceland! Never thought I'd ever set my foot in that country! And oh, how beautiful the place is. Although what we saw was great, it looks like Iceland will be all the more gorgeous in spring/summer. We hope to head back there again someday!

We took a day flight, which was fantastic because we got to look over the snow-covered landscape of Southeast Iceland. Jon and I were really awed by what we saw. It was literally jaw-dropping! That's how Iceland is - it bewitches you even before you reach it!

Anyway I saw something funny on the plane. Under the "Golden Oldies" category of songs I saw U2's "With or Without You", and Madonna's "Like A Prayer" ;) Poor U2 and Maddie!

I have been wishing it would snow in London, but it hasn't. It's snowed almost everywhere else in UK. But God answered my prayers in a big way. It was snowing in Iceland! And apparently it hardly snows in Reykjavik :) The wind was so strong the snow was blowing horizontally! All that snow made driving a new and exciting challenge for me. Think I won't forget the drives in Iceland any time soon!

Unfortunately because it was cloudly that night, the weather was not ideal for viewing the Northern Lights. So we decided to go catch the Volcano Show. It was a series of two films on Iceland's recent eruptions, filmed by Villi Knudsen - a man with a passion for the volcanic activity in Iceland. He's filmed eruptions up close and personal, tracking the changes in activity as long as the eruptions continue. The films gave fascinating portraits of the formation of Surtsey (Iceland's newest island) and the activity at Heimaey. He also covered the eruptions at Lake Myvatn and at Vatnajokull. We thought that the films really have perspective to the still-changing land of Iceland, and gave us insights to better appreciate the landscape. The footage was excellent, though we found the soundtrack to be highly amusing. It was a collection of random noises and space-age sounds, much like the type of soundtrack they used for sci-fi movies long ago. There were "UFO" sounds, crashes, knocks, etc. At points Jon and I couldn't help laughing because it was really quite hilarious watching volcanic lava flow to such a soundtrack :)

It was only after watching the first film that we started to suspect that the guy who was showing us the film was Villi Knudsen himself! The films were quite old, and the man who appeared occasionally in the film resembled the man at the theatre, only much younger. We got confirmation after the second film that indeed, the man at the theatre was Knudsen himself! How amazing to meet the man who's been so close to the eruptions. He was a lot older now, but he was still very interested in volcanoes and their activity. He told us about some of the places they are monitoring for potential volcanic eruptions. He also told us that he had been to Singapore too, although it was quite a while back :) He was a very nice man, and it really did feel like an honour to meet him.

Well it was just a short first day since we arrived in the afternoon. But there's a lot more to come!

[Hmm...Something's wrong with my photo uploader, so I'll put up the photos another day]