Posted on 29 July 2006 @ 01:42 in Pictures, Travels
Liverpool Street Station … modern and spacious and clean, unlike Victoria which is older and has more character. Lots of shops to explore.
Norwich Bus Station, which had been rebuilt and is really nice and modern looking now.
The campus … everything looks the same. Even the Chaplaincy, which still has the word “Chaplaincy” taped across the window facing the Square. May even be the same sign from all those years ago.
I presented myself at the Accommodation Office, checked in, got my key (one access card, one card for two doors – main and my room – and breakfast card).
Nelson Guest Suite, in the direction of Waveney Terrace (where I lived during my first two years and recently torn down) … a bit of an uphill walk. Wet, too. Seen here from the dry interior of Mango cafe.
Late, late lunch at Mango … wasn’t much left but I got a sandwich, a bag of chips and a really nice coconut latte.
Went back to EAS and there was some activity in some of the rooms but I didn’t go into the School Office to say hello cuz no one there I know.
Coffee at 5:30 in the morning …
And the view outside …
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Posted on 29 July 2006 @ 01:39 in Personal
Tuesday, 11 April 2006
Got into Norwich at 1:55 p.m. I almost cried when I saw the “Welcome to Norwich” sign. After 17 years, I was back at the place where I lived my most formative years.
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Posted on 29 July 2006 @ 01:13 in Personal
When I left Norwich 17 years ago, I never thought about if I’d go back again. At the time, I was moving to a new place (San Diego in the States) and it was exciting and took up all my time thinking and planning for it.
Going back to Norwich in April had been a pilgrimage of sorts. Can it be called a “pilgrimage” ? Cuz pilgrimages are done to places one’s never been. I’ve been to Norwich before, in fact lived there 3 years, called it home, still think of it as home, this is where I lived three of the best years of my life.
No, not pilgrimage, but trip down memory lane. One that I wasn’t disappointed at all.
I’d been told over and over again (mostly by Mel) that both the city and the campus have changed. So I visited knowing a lot of things are not how I remembered them. Trips down memory lane are usually trips not just to a physical place as it is now, but a trip through our memories of that place. Such trips have often been disappointing because for some people, the places are not how they remember them to be.
Well, I wasn’t expecting everything to be how I remember it. But I was pleasantly surprised. Like coming through the city from the train station, I recognised a lot of places. And walking around the city, the surprises remained pleasant. Despite the physical changes, which are mostly add-ons, a lot of the places I used to frequent are still there. Including the shops, the businesses occupying the shops. I was pleasantly surprised to still see a lot of familiar store fronts, from big names like Marks & Spencer (still at the corner and serving as a landmark), Debenhams, Jarrolds to smaller ones like Millets, an outdoor store where I bought a sleeping bag cover that I now use as a laundry bag.
The marketplace is still there, still with its colourful awnings which are new and clean. The place is organised, with transparent awnings in-between stalls to protect from the rain.
And the most pleasant surprise? I walked to where I used to live in the city, and it is still there. Mary Chapman Court. From where I stood (at the start of the short bridge going over the river), I could see the flat where I used to share with three other women. It was a pleasant surprise, but in a way, weird, too. As a university city, Norwich’s students graduate and move on. Some of the city hasn’t. For some reason, that’s a comfort to me.
The movie shop is still there, as is the tobacco shop Albert used to buy his tobacco from. I walked down St Benedict’s Street all the way to the junction but it wasn’t the one with the bridge going over to Su Kappeler’s old flat. And I was too tired to keep walking and turned back instead.
I kept coming to places that were there during my 3 years in Norwich. The ice cream man was there at his usual place, altho I’m not sure if it’s the same person. The one I remember used to sell roasted chestnuts in the winter and ice cream in the summer.
I remembered a burger joint Anne Bevan and I went to one time and wondered if it was still there. I remembered it was across the road from Jarrold’s so I went there, looked at the shops, and there it was!
I didn’t take many pictures, mainly because the places still look the same, so a picture taken now and taken 17 years ago don’t look all that different. Including the campus. It still looks the same, including the steps where I fell and cut my left shin badly.
There was at least one place I couldn’t find – a corner shop in the city selling coffee and a little cafe upstairs selling coffee and a fresh scone with butter for 90p. The coffee cost 60p and the scone 30p.
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Posted on 25 July 2006 @ 23:26 in Pictures
So I eventually got off my behind last Saturday and went to get the new printer from the car. The previous evening, I’d gone to a computer store to get the necessary supplies – A4 glossy and matte photo paper, 4×6 glossy photo paper, A4 iron-on transfers (visions of my own Tai Ts), even a labeller, but that’s another story.
I spent some of the weekend printing out some favourite pictures. Here’s the collection:
All the three Tai pictures were taken by somesai, who has been called Tai’s unofficial personal photographer. Then there’s Boo’s official publicity shot (Boo from the movie Monsters, Inc, yes, that’s her in the pink nightie and pigtails), and two Janis shots from my UK LRC holiday back in April.
And a small voice nags, What about your trip to Norwich?
Me: What about it?
Small voice: You haven’t written about it, and it’s more than 3 months …
Me: Oh …
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Posted on 22 July 2006 @ 10:50 in Being Silly
I have a new all-in-one photo printer in the boot of my car. Trouble is, the car is 10 floors down (7 + ground + 2 basesment). Just thinking about going all that way to get it tires me. Eventually I will, when I think of all the lovely Tai Shan photos waiting to be printed.
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