Scarborough

Map of Scarborough
I have not been updating this blog recently, have I? Well, firstly because I have been busy on weekends, the last being a visit to Scarborough. It is a seaside town, so the beach is the main attraction here. The British students were most excited whenever the sea came into view.

However, as this trip was organized by the Birdwatcher and Naturalist Society, our main purpose of this visit is the Sealife Centre. It is not a bad place at all (see the photo album). I especially like the way the tanks are build. They have a lot of glass area, so you can really peer into what's going on within the tank. If you look at some of the photos I have taken, it looks like I took the photo in the tank, right? Too bad my camera is really quite low-end so the quality didn't turn out too good.

Some of the display area also have background music to accompany the movement of the marine life. For example, "space-like" music (any one can comment on the proper genre name of this?) accompanied the jelly fish area, plus with some clever lighting, you get a feeling that the jelly fish are like floating around in space as you are viewing them.

Scarborough itself doesn't have much other attractions. Besides the beach, there is a castle ruin on the ridge separating the North and South bay area. It'll probably be more alive in summer, and more interesting to visit then.

In case you are wondering, there were only 5 of us who made the trip: me and 4 other British students. Yes, the Birdwatcher and Naturalist Society is a small one (ok, bigger than 5 as not all members turn up), and trips like this are more of an outing of like-minded people than a formally organized event. It is easy to form a society here in the university. Get another person who share the same interest, and both of you can register as a society. So, the smaller clubs like the BNS are quite informal, and events are casual and adhoc.

Secondly, I have been studying hard lately, yes, really. We are now deep into "Block 3" of the autumn semester. My exams for "Block 3" will be held in the first week of next semester, and since I will be spending most of the vacation in Austria, I am working hard now to make sure I understood all the materials. Then I won't have to panic when I get back from Austria after Christmas.

So, I will be in Austria, not UK, during the Christmas period. And I'm be coming back in the midst of a big shut down as everyone goes on holiday from Christmas till New Year. I've got to work out how I'm going to get food for that week. But that's a blog for another time, another day. Till then, here's wishing everyone a happy holiday season!