Have a Happy Twittery Holiday!

Welcome to December! Another year almost up, another year looming on the other side, another year older. Time seems to pass so fast!

Sorry I haven't updated for two weeks, but last weekend (and this one just past) I was quite busy doing other stuff. Suffice to say I haven't had the time. However... I have found a wonderful new way to keep you all informed during my long absences of blogging!

Twitter!

"What is twitter?", you may ask, and a good question too! Twitter is a service that lets me update what I am up to as easily as sending a free text message. This will allow you to keep up to what I really am up to, rather then relying on my sketchy blog posts.

Anyway, to summarise these past two weeks, I'll simply talk about what I can remember... which is only stuff from the past week it seems (especially considering the hour I am writing this blog post at). To start with, this past week has seen me working on both my Design report for my project, my Logic assignment, and an E-Commerce assignment, at Uni. I have also been doing various things for the companies I work for.

On Friday, we hosted a surprise party for my brother Andrew, to celebrate that he turned 18 in early November. Quite a few of his friends turned up, and we had a nice dinner followed by a late evening. Then the past two days have been spent finishing off both my E-Commerce and Design report assignments; luckily both have been completed for now!

In the future, I am going to Computer Science 2008 from the 15th-17th of December, up in Cambridge University. Looks to be a good programme of entertaining computer science stuff. Really looking forward to it and going to be sure to keep you all updated with extremely regular Twitter and Blog posts, complete with photos!

I also break up this Friday. So this is my last week at Uni before the Christmas holidays really start. And you can see my personal countdown to Christmas day over on the right (under my Twitter Updates section).

Right! I will finish this post by wishing you all a Happy Twittery Holiday!! Yeehar!! :)

Back at University

For my third year! Once again, I will be studying the sacred art of Internet Computing; working out how to make programs that can run successfully over a Wide Area Network; how businesses use these programs to further their own means; and how a good clear, clean-cut user interface benefits everyone in the end.

The third year is full of surprises! Not only do we have our third year project, which we are asked to spend no less then ten hours a week on, but we also have to choose four of our subjects out of a list. So I will of course be thinking a lot over the next week as to what subjects I am going to take.

As for concentrating my next blog post on my holiday... I have recently looked over my very descriptive review of Valencia and decided I am unable to meet that at all. Therefore, I am hoping for better success in my next holidays. Perhaps then I might actually right a diary instead of ignoring it!

Anyway, moving back to the present, I want to point out that following the complete and utter failure of my Sony Vaio's motherboard, I am dumping Sony and going for a Desktop computer. It should arrive within the next few weeks and then I'll post screenies and info on it and all it's glory! It will be grand!! More on that to come.

For now though, I've not got much else to say. Hopefully this year at Uni will be just as successful as the previous years!!

Into September

OK, so the thing about that offline diary I said in my last blog post... is that we were actually very, very busy. I didn't really get very much time off at all, far too little to write a diary. So for now, I think I will simply get round to posting a one-post review of my holiday, and posting up some pictures of it all.

Anyway, since I've got back I've been quite busy doing quite a few other things, including sorting out a replacement for my iPhone (which I stupidly and accidentally dropped in a lake in Disneyland Paris off the top of a boat), trying to fix my Sony Vaio (which has decided it doesn't like working anymore and has gone on strike), and catching up with various online websites which I neglected over the holiday (such as this one).

That said, at the time of writing, I only have around 17 days left until the end of my holiday. You can see the countdown timer on my main blog page to the right; it's slowly counting down to zero! As such, I have been preparing vigoursly to ensure that I am ready for my Uni when that day comes. I will need to re-enrol, and have my project analysed and informally designed. I know what it's going to contain now at least, it's just getting that down from the disorganised mess in my brain to an organised list on some paper somewhere (be that electronic or otherwise).

I am of course hoping (still) to get into far more regular posting, and to that degree I will be looking for an iPhone-based app or similar in order to allow me to think up blog posts while I am on the move. This will hopefully provide me with a platform from which I can create these blog posts while I am on the train to and from Uni, for example.

Anyway, I will leave this blog for now so I can concentrate my next blog post on my holiday to Paris/Barcelona that I have just gone past. So, until then!

Back to the Net

Well! It's been just under a month since my last blog post, so I thought I would update you all and hopefully go back into regular blog posting. So, here's what I have to say (once again split into sections...)

University
My second year is over! Exams are outta the way and I've now got four whole juicy months ahead of doing things other then University work. Does that mean I am not going to do anything for Uni? Nope, of course not!

I still have the development of GooLife to continue, and re-spark back into life. And I have recently released the Project Presentation and Project Report's for my third year Uni project, that is the LCARS Terminal Starship Commander. Just click that if you want to see them (apologies for the poor sound in the presentation, but there's not much I can do at the moment to fix that).

But other then these two projects, that's it for Uni work until my third and final year kicks in mid-september. Just check the number of days I have left on the time shown on the right... yeehar!!

My Room
I have pictures! Although my room is quite messy, I can point you to my web album that is holding the latest pictures of my room, including my new Sliding Door Wardrobe, and soon my new Desk and Chair! The album will be updated as and when I get new pictures, but my room is far from finished yet and there's still a way to go.

Gaming
Recently, I have been playing quite light games on my Mac and Windows PC during the free moments I've had, as I've been quite busy catching up on things (such as Blogging!)

Hopefully soon though I will be back in the game that I really want to return to... EVE Online. I want to celebrate my summer holidays by going online for an entire day and trading throughout that day non-stop, making lots of money. So I will look out for a day that's relatively free to do that sometime in the future.

And of course, now I'm on Summer holidays, I can get to play other games too!

Online
I also have to sort out my website at some point, and I'm still planning on moving away from basic XHTML to PHP produced XHTML. But that is a big project so I haven't had time to take part in it yet.

Final Notes
So, as you can see, even when I'm off from Uni I still have a lot of things I want to do! So I will be just as busy throughout the Summer holidays, also owing to the fact that I will be working on iPhone development throughout the holidays as well.

Until the next blog post then!

South Africa... here we come!

I have faced the inevitable and come out victorious!! I have a passport that is valid, working and doesn't need to be replaced until 2018. It's greeeat!

So, I can officially confirm that I am off to Cape Town, South Africa, this Thursday 17th January and returning next Thursday 24th!!

Bon Voyage all!!

Preparing for the Inevitable

Well, I recently posted this on my Facebook account as my status, and I thought it deserved a little bit more then I put. So, I will post this on my blog now, and make this as public as I can.

This Thursday, there is a 50:50 chance that I will be going to South Africa. Why a 50:50 chance? Why not 100%?

It all started sometime last week. With under one week to go until we need to go to South Africa, my brother and I find out that our passports had expired. Not only had they expired, but they were children passports and we were adults. Under new British law, it is required that those needing new adult British passports for the first time have to sit an interview and possibly wait up to 6 weeks for the new passport.

But what was extremely strange was that our passports should have still been valid. We had 4 and a half year passports, and we should have had 5 year passports. A short call to the passport office, and we had an appointment booked for Tuesday (tomorrow).

So, the inevitable is that we are going to fail to get our passports, not be allowed to fly to South Africa, and not turn up for the wedding we are invited to go to. All in all, that's something that needs to be prepared for.

Here's to the inevitable being obliterated!!

Easter Hols: Revision

Wed 11th April
When we got back from Valencia we found that Ella, our Au-Pere, had left her keys in the house when she had went out. As she had to catch a flight, she had smashed a couple of our windows in order to retrieve them. Let's just say we weren't best pleased and leave it at that.

Thurs 12th April
A trip to London for a University Meeting...

Weekend (Fri 13th April - Monday 16th April)
A long weekend break with my younger brothers and my Dad taking Monday off to work from home. I spent a lot of the weekend working on my Java Program.

Yesterday
A trip to the cinema to see Meet the Robinsons with my Mum and younger brothers, followed by a night at my Mum's house where we watched a film called Click, which is an extremely good film I highly recommend.

Today
Today I had an Orthodontic Appointment in the morning (tightening my braces) and a much-needed haircut (trust me, it was a BIG one!)

And the future can be summarised in one word... you got it! Revision!

Easter Hols: Valencia Summary

Valencia 2007 Summary

Hotel Sidi Saler (*****)
Service: ****
Facilities: *****
Location: ****
Visual: *****

My Rating: ****
Summary: Hotel Sidi Saler has all the usual 5-Star amenities, such as two swimming pools and 24-hour room service. Although located on the beach-front, it is still very far from Valencia's town center, and its lack of a 5-Star service means this hotel's rating should be set to 4-Star.

Highlights
Best Moment: Hemisferic Film
Worst Moment: Looking for Taxis!
Other Highlights:
Chelsea 2-1 Valencia
Rest of the City of Arts and Sciences
32nd America's Cup

Overall
The trip was fun, interesting, enlightening and relaxing. Although we probably won't go back to the same Hotel, it was still a very good hotel, and Valencia is an extremely good town (with some crazy drivers!). Valencian's like to do things big, as we found out many a time at looking at the large Post Office, and other large buildings around Valencia. Our main reason for going to Valencia (the football) was both great fun and a great victory. All in all, very good!

See my Photo Album here!

Easter Hols: Valencia Day Six

Weather: Cloudy (Both in England and Valencia)
Wake Up: 11:00 (Spanish Time)
Home By: 19:00 (UK time)

We woke up and ordered cheese and ham toasties before packing our bags for departure. The toasties arrived shortly after, and we quickly ate them before checking out, dumping our bags and taking a long walk on the beach - our final walk on Spanish soil. We then took a taxi to the airport, and boarded the plane back to the UK.

There really isn't anything left to say about Valencia, so I'll continue the rest of this day in another blog entry, and leave you with a final picture.This entry was posted on the 11/04/07 and represents today in my trip to Valencia. Please see the Valencia Summary for general information on my trip.

Easter Hols: Valencia Day Five

Weather: Cloudy, Light Breeze
Wake Up: 09:00
Sleep: 01:00

We woke up in the morning by alarm, and went down for breakfast. We then took the 11:30 bus out into Valencia, where we browsed through a couple of markets. The first market we went to was indoors, and was huge! It was a genuine food market, and I thought it was wonderful the way local people had set up stalls to sell their goods to local Valencians. It's something I think we lack here. The second market we visited was arranged in a circle, and sold clothing, knitting items and other related bits and bobs. There was even a pet store!

Afterwards, we took a visit to the city's local Post Office, which was huge! It had at least ten desks where people thronged and a beautiful glass ceiling which had a pattern on it. As I went to take a picture, I was told by the local security guy to not take a picture of the surrounding desks, and only the ceiling.

After we had finished in the Post Office, we went for a drink and some food outside a Tapas bar before getting a Taxi back to the hotel. When we got back, it was just before 3 o'clock, so we stayed in our rooms for an hour generally relaxing, before taking the 14:15 bus back into town fully kitted out for the evening.

We had a couple of drinks in a local Irish pub, not Finnegans which was packed with Chelsea fans, and casually watched a Spanish news-reporter interview them on the Spanish TV. Then we were extra glad we weren't there! When we had got bored, we decided to walk and find where the stadium was. To get there we had to cross a bridge, except not over water, but over a park. Valencia has a central area that looks like it should hold a river, but has been turned into a large park that meanders through the city. Bridges stretch over the park as well as providing ramps and stairs down into the park.

We soon found the stadium (quicker then we expected), so we searched for a local restuarant or bar. Finding none, we crossed back across the bridge and stopped outside a small cafe, where we waited until we needed to leave for the stadium. On arrival at the stadium, we went through security, and sat at the top. It provided a nice view (from my point of view) as you could easily see exactly what was going on, although it was a little too high to tell who was doing what.

The Stadium itself is called the Estadio de Mestalla, and it is a magnificent stadium that can hold just under 52,500 people. Being away fans, we were stuck high up in the corner of the stadium, with the majority of the supporters being Valencian. On nearly every seat in the stadium were orange coloured posters, that the Chelsea fans turned into paper airplanes! Although most of them just floated around the stands, a few special ones found themselves on the pitch, much to the delight of us Chelsea fans!!

The experience was electrifying, filled with songs, cheers and determination to win. It was unlike any other match I have been to. Chelsea started off poorly, and by half-time we were 1-0 down. The Valencian fans had a drummer who was constantly drumming away to some unknown rhythm, which the Valencian fans often sung and clapped to.

After half-time, Chelsea came back with determination and soon equalised. Yet, victory was still not certain. By the 90th minute, we were still singing as determinedly (and still making paper airplanes!) and hope that we would win before extra time was fading. But in the 91st minute, Michael Essien took the ball and slammed it past the keeper.

The stadium went wild. And by the Stadium, I mean the Chelsea fans, as the Valencian sides (all three of them) were silent, including that drummer! From then on, the singing was relentless as we cheered our team to victory.

After about an hour from the end of the match (or it felt like it) we were allowed to leave, and we made our way to the nearest taxi, which took us back to the hotel. We stayed around in the bar until about 00:50, when we went to bed and slept.

This entry was posted on the 11/04/07 and represents today in my trip to Valencia. Please see the Valencia Summary for general information on my trip.

Easter Hols: Valencia Day Four

Weather: Cloudy, Light Breeze, Rainy Evening
Wake Up: 08:30
Sleep: 23:30

Today, unlike the other days, was preplanned a bit more precisely. We woke up by Alarm at 08:30, and made it down to breakfast by 09:00, rather then having it in our room as usual. The selection was far greater then that offered in our room, and I enjoyed my chocolate-covered Pain Au Chocolate.

After breakfast, we got ready to go out and around 10:20 took a Taxi to "Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias" (which stands for the City of Arts & Sciences). Our first stop was to book the Hemisfèric, which was basically an iMax film centre, but we had to come back later.

So, while we had time, we visited the Museo de las Ciencias Principe Felipe (Principe Felipe Science Museum). The outside looked like the spikey exterior of the skeleton of a giant whale, and the inside was huge. It was a proper Science museum, with displays on Sound and Light (which was the best part, my Dad particularly liked a duck-sounding machine), Space, and it even had a Life & Genome section.

Once we had visited all the areas in the museum, we found it was time to go, so we moved onto the Hemisfèric (link to another picture). The actual Hemisfèric is quite uniquely shaped like an eye, with the eyelids on each side and the pupil in the middle. We had booked to see the iMax film called The Mystery of the Nile. The actual film itself was very good, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterwards, I probably look back on that film as the best part of my visit. It showed me some interesting things, and taught me a few things as well.

After the film, we decided to go to our final destination, the Oceanogràfic, which was an aquarium. It is supposed to be one of the largest in Europe, but we didn't think so. It contained things like Walrus's, Fish, a Dolphin's Show, Fish, Whales, Fish, Sharks, Fish, Crabs, and more Fish. We had a great relaxing time looking around and the Dolphin's Show was, as usual, extremely good. Take a look at some of these pictures! I might put up one or two videos in the near future, so watch out for a later blog post!

When we had finished, we headed back to the Hotel where we had a light dinner of Cheese and Ham Sandwiches in the bar (no visit to Valencia) until about 23:00, where I also drank wine, before crashing in our room.

This entry was posted on the 11/04/07 and represents today in my trip to Valencia. Please see the Valencia Summary for general information on my trip.

Easter Hols: Valencia Day Three

Weather: Sunny Morning, Cloudy Afternoon, Rainy Evening, Light Breeze
Wake Up: 10:00
Sleep: 23:00

We lounged about in our room (having another full-English breakfast) until 12:30, when we decided to go down to the beach. A nice walk along the beach in the sun. As we reached the half-way point though, the sun went in, so we turned back and headed back to the Hotel. We then wanted to go out, but we had missed the bus and there were no Taxis, so we ordered one and went to wait.

And we waited. And waited. And waited. And finally, a taxi turned up and drove towards the hotel. And a guy came out the hotel, saundered down the steps and commandeered our Taxi!! After all that waiting!! So, we had to wait some more while the Hotel ordered another. So we waited. And waited. And then finally, after a total of 45 minutes waiting around, another Taxi that was obviously booked already, as it had people in other then the driver, came in. And we commandeered that one when everyone had got out.

We then told the Taxi to take us to the America's Cup. America's Cup is a yacht challenge that is divided up into thirteen acts. There are some twelve teams including the defender and current winner in the standings, Switzerland's "Alinghi", and the great American "BMW ORACLE", whose country has won the cup some 27 times!! Britain didn't seem to have a team there though, which was a little disappointing, but not much as we decided to support China instead (mentioned later).

Each team had their own building the size of a supermarket, and these were perched right near the edge of Valencia's port. They nearly always contained a shop, sometimes an interactive area and sometimes even a restuarant on the top of them. Of the buildings, China Team's was the most visual, as they let us look around at their yacht and sails. Take a look at how big they are! Notice that the red arrow points to the top of a large doorway! Their yacht was also quite colourful: red with a white dragon down the sides (see in the picture above). Unfortunately though, they were last in the standings of the races that had taken place, but they were still good. We visited many of the other team's buildings as well, and I bought a shirt from Alinghi's shop (as I loved their logo!) while Andrew bought a shirt from America's shop.

We left once we had got bored of looking around, and tried to find a Taxi. But we really couldn't find one! We spent at least the next half-an-hour, wandering around Valencia's port, looking for a Taxi rank or a Taxi that could take us out of the area. It was only when we came across a 5-Star Hotel that a Taxi casually drove out after dropping someone off, which we could then thankfully commandeer.

We headed for Plaza le Reina, the small Plaza that had we had spent most of yesterday in. The Taxi Driver must of thought he was a racer though, as he sped down the roads coming up to 120 km/h in some areas! And he would slow down just enough to let the lights change before he would spin through them while they were still red!! Once we had arrived from our whistle-stop journey, we settled outside a restuarant to have a snack while we decided where to eat for the evening. Eventually, Andrew decided we should eat in Hollywood, an American Restuarant on the main Plaza (Plaza del Ayuntamiento).

We went in there and sat down. We ordered our meal (after a quick request from the waiter) and the starters came in literally a couple of minutes! The main course came a couple of minutes after that!! Really, it was fast ordering and fast delivery! Quite a contrast compared to the slowness we had experienced with the Taxis during the day.

After the meal, we wandered back to the Hotel bus and took it back to the hotel, before crashing for the evening and then settling down for the night.

This entry was posted on the 11/04/07 and represents today in my trip to Valencia. Please see the Valencia Summary for general information on my trip.

Easter Hols: Valencia Day Two

Weather: Sunny with Clouds
Wake up: 10:15
Sleep: 00:00

After having a relaxed full-English breakfast in our room (which was nice) we headed for Valencia on the 11:00 hotel bus. The trip around Valencia lasted the entire day, and was most enjoyable. We started off heading for the Finnegans, an Irish pub that just happened to show the Chelsea-Tottenham game, live in Spanish. A close 1-0 win.

We left the pub after a couple more drinks and headed for the major shopping road, Colon. Along the road we found a major store (similar to Harrods) which we bought a couple of shirts in to wear to dinner at the hotel (which demanded no t-shirts, shorts or tracksuits). Further on we also found a sunglasses shop (for me) before we headed back towards the Plaza where Finnegans was (Plaza la Reina).

At the end of that Plaza stood Cathedral Valencia, which had a tower that you could climb to the top of for a fantastic view. It was closed, so we looked round the Cathedral instead. A mixture of feelings from awe to shock pervaded me as I walked round. The Cathedral was huge with beautiful carvings, paintings and drawings, but also didn't feel like God's home to me, which was sad.

We then went back into the Plaza outside to sit outside a nice Tapas restuarant for lunch, where we had a mixture of hams, cheeses and bread. It was during that time that we found out Portsmouth were beating Man Utd, so we rushed back to Finnegans for the last 30mins of the game. Funny stuff, with a strange own goal and Portsmouth finishing off Man U 2-1!

After leaving the pub a second time, we walked along randomly before finding a sweet shop, where we bought some Pick'n'mix style sweets, and a record store we had found in our earlier ramblings, which we left €100 shorter and 11 CDs heavier, and with a very happy Dad.

We finally took a taxi back to the hotel before settling down for the night.

This entry was posted on the 11/04/07 and represents today in my trip to Valencia. Please see the Valencia Summary for general information on my trip.

Easter Hols: Valencia Day One

Weather: Mixed (Sun in England, Sun/Rain in Valencia)
Wake up: 07:30 (UK Time)
Sleep: 00:00 (Spanish Time)

After waking up, we (my Dad, my brother Andrew, and I) spent two hours preparing to leave, before leaving at exactly 9:30, right on time. We arrived at the Airport early, checked in early, went through security early, and soon arrived in the departure lounge. After a trip to a few duty-free shops (where I bought a few packets of Werther's Original and a PC Gamer Mag) we boarded our flight and set sail to Valencia.

We arrived in Valencia and the Weather was quite clear. After collecting our baggage, we hailed a Taxi and soon found ourselves at our 5-star luxury hotel that my Dad had booked, Hotel Sidi Saler. We went and looked around our rooms, settled in, and then headed straight for the bar. After a couple of drinks, we explored the hotel, before taking the hotel bus to the City Centre.

Valencia reminded me in some ways instantly of my previous Spanish trip with some of my School friends, so it was quite satisfying walking through the streets of Valencia. We walked for about fourty minutes or so, before finding an Italian restaurant and having dinner, particularly because I fancied Spagetti Bologenise, which I then went ahead and had. The restaurant itself was quaint, if a little bizarre and very popular. It was quite nice. The evening ended with a final walk around Valencia as it started to rain, and then a bus journey home in the heavy rain before we settled down for the night.

This entry was posted on the 11/04/07 and represents today in my trip to Valencia. Please see the Valencia Summary for general information on my trip.

Easter Hols: Preparing for Valencia

A lot happens in a week. So before I talk about the present and future, let me tell you the highlights of the past 7 days since my previous blog entry...

Last Thursday
New TVs! We have finally upgraded our TVs, one that was as old as fifteen years! So we now have a Plasma TV with Digital TV and Sky in the main lounge, a classic TV with Digital TV and Sky in the second lounge, a new VCR in that lounge, and Digital TV in the kitchen. Nice!

Last Weekend
Friday was a lazy day at home. Saturday included a trip to Curry's to get a new Freezer and last minute things to sort out the TV delivery. Sunday included an earlier-then-usual Easter celebration with an Easter Egg Hunt, lots of chocolate, and a Sunday Roast, followed by an evening movie of Superman Returns.

Monday
My cousins came round on Monday, and we had a relaxingly active day. If that's possible. And a more relaxing evening. I have to say, heads up to my cousins, they rock!

Yesterday (Tues)
A trip to the doctor's for a minor operation. For what? Oh, you don't want to know... you do? Well, if you don't look to the next paragraph now. I had my toe cut open and an in-grown toenail taken out. Trust me, the worst thing about it was the needle for the anaesthetic.

Today (Wed)
Today so far, I've gone for a redressing at the Doctors, got the new freezer from Curry's, and I plan to go to Chessington Theme Park to pick up my brother and his friend. So a mostly relaxed day really...

The Future
We have a trip to Valencia this Friday - next Wednesday, so I may not be posting blogs. If I can't, I plan to keep a small diary and update you when I get back. Plus, I seem to not be that good at posting blogs anyway...

Easter Hols: Duke of Edinburgh Gold

For those of you who don't know about the Duke of Edinburgh Award and want to know more, or those who want to read about my experiences with that award, see my Web-page here on my experiences during the Gold section.

This morning dawned at 7:30am, half an hour to late according to my Dad later on. I got showered, and dressed up into my suit, complete with red tie and my Gold DofE Pin. Then, my Dad and I set off to the train station. We caught the 8:57 to London Bridge, and then got to Charing Cross by 9:50am.

After a delightful breakfast of a ham and cheese croissant, which we were happy to have had afterwards, we headed for St James's Palace at a relaxed place, walking down the road "The Mall" (said The Mal, as in Malware, not maul, is in what a bear does, as I found out!)

On arrival at the Palace we were sorted into groups and gradually let into the palace, showing our identification to the police on hand. We then took our seats and, with minor interruptions here and there, sat there waiting for an hour. Trust me, the wait was worth it!

Around 12:00, we were told to marshal into the groups we were put in, and then His Royal Highness (HRH) The Duke of Edinburgh (ie Prince Phillip) himself walked through the door. He asked a couple of us questions, congratulated all of us and made the occasional joke as he walked through the room. It was a real honour to have met him.

After that the official presentation took place, with a special guest, the Chief Councillor of West Sussex, giving out the certificates. We assembled in our groups and were called up one by one to receive our certificate. A couple of speeches later, and it was all over.

We then walked through the remainder of the rooms of the palace, and I will do my best to describe them. All the rooms were covered in a rich, royal red carpet, that really spoke the word "regal" out of the colour. The wall in the presentation room was also the same colour red, and had large paintings on the walls.

The next room we walked into had red, gold and white walls, and similarly large pictures hanging on the walls. It had a high ceiling, also white and gold rimmed. The lights on the walls were gold-coloured electric candle lights, and they really brought an antique feel to the room. It was truly spectacular.

Which made the next room even more so. The red carpet was removed for a more grey carpet, and was the only room to have this in it. The walls were covered with paintings. And I mean that in a wallpaper sense, the entire wall was a painting! It was almost one continuous painting around the entire room, with some weird events going on in the paintings! It was quite interesting compared to the previous room's regal feel.

The next and final room returned to it's red carpet and red walls. But hanging on the walls was the largest stash of weapons I have ever seen hanging on a wall!! They swords, and guns, and more swords, and more guns! On every face of every wall in that room were weapons. There was even two rows of guns arranged in a nice circle and all pointing inwards towards a hat. It was quite spectacular!

We left the palace, and then went to the pub, followed by a walk around London (which was very interesting as I got to see the more touristy parts of London!), finally followed by a trip to a restaurant called Maxwell. After a final half-hour trip to Waterstones (where I bought 3 books, one of them being 3 books in 1) we took a train home.

And now I have an evening ahead of me which looks to be quite relaxing. So, I'll end my blog here. Feel free to comment!

Easter Hols: Introduction

The Weekend was spent relaxing around not doing much. We had a couple of barbecues and a day of computer gaming.

Monday was a little more constructive. I got some work done (including sorting out my dry-cleaning of my suits) and sorted out the shed completely, clearing what was a most chaotic shed!! The difference is amazing, and we can now walk in the shed!!

Today was also quite good. It was my Mum's birthday, and I had bought her a Dell Computer to go into her house. I also collected the dry cleaning that I put in on Monday, and then went down to New Cross Gate for a Loom of Tales meeting. That was very interesting and I got some proper feedback which I can work on.

Anyway, I'm gonna play on the Sims 2 now, so until tomorrow...

I would like to welcome... my ONE MONTH EASTER HOLS!!

The past ten days have been busy. I have handed in my Computing and the Internet (CIS110) Assignment 3, and that has taken up most of my time. I've also been working hard on my Java project. And finally, I had a Maths test today.

But that's the past, let's look to the future!! A month-long Easter holiday!! Although it will be filled with lots of revision, throughout all four-weeks, it will also be filled with relaxation, and a trip to Valencia over the Easter weekend.

So it's really looking up. Well, that's the end of this post, but expect to see more of these over the Easter holiday.