Mr Catbert Writes
Posted by Callam McMillan On Friday, 8th January 2010 @ 15:22
While I said that I would not be posting anything else until my new site is published, this is a special announcement to mark the passing of my nan, Emily May Carden who died after a short illness and will be sorely missed by all her family. xx
Posted by Callam McMillan On Thursday, 1st October 2009 @ 15:27
Apologies for a lack of an update, however I have had trouble updating the database with this entry for the last couple of days. In fact, I am becomming quite tired of my web hosts, I am not asking for much, just for this site to run reliably.
Anyway, to finish off the story of my adventure, on Friday night, after Elsa arrived home from work, we took a taxi across to the High Spped Rail Terminal, which took us at around 180mph up to Taipei, where we was joined by Elsa's father who took us to their home city of Keelung in the very north of the country. First impressions of Keelung though were not good, although this may have something to do with the argument over the hotel rooms. Oh yes, the hotel, euphemistically titled a love motel, although when the bathroom is the same size as the bedroom (big) and has a jacuzzi in it, there can't be any doubts about what it is meant for.
On Saturday we was meant to go to Taipei and look around a museum before going to Taipei 101, unfortunately I didn't feel well and we ended up stranded on the outskirts of the city for about 3 hours. Instead we met with Elsa's cousin Mayi and had Ice Cream instead! After this we went and did a bit of shopping before heading over to 101 and up a 1000ft in the worlds quickest lifts with a vertical speed of 60km/h! Sadly it gets dark quite early in Taiwan, so it was dark only a few minutes after arriving at the top, which kind of spoilt the views somewhat. What I did find in 101 though was lots of art that I would like to have in my house. There is also some good photos of Elsa and I in front of the 660 tonne TMD (Tuned Mass Damper.) Before we left, we had a chance to stand outside at the top of the building, Elsa was cold, for us it was the most pleasant outdoors weather we encountered, cooler, with a nice breeze.
Sunday saw us go to the National Palace Museum with Elsa and her parents, however in the end we didnt end up seeing much of the museum, instead preferring to go to the tea room for tea and lunch, which was beef in soup and then some of the most interesting and delicious desserts I have tasted for a while. After this we gathered our stuff together and then went up to the coast where we would spend the next couple of days.
On Monday morning we met up with Elsa's aunt Jenny and cousin Sunny. They took us down the road to Yehliu Geopark, which contains interesting geological formations. After this we went to Yannick for ice cream and cake. Then Elsa's Mum and Dad came and took us up to a national park near us for a Japanese lunch and spa. Lunch was interesting, lots of little dishes that added up to about 7 courses. I thought the food was never going to stop coming. Then we went up to the spa, again, very interesting having to strip naked in front of other people, but then again the hot water and amazing views overlooking the valley and Pacific ocean was well worth it.
Tuesday morning we were joined again by Jenny and Sunny, who took us back to their flat above the English school they run. We had lunch at Frank's Texas Grill, which is like a Texan Restaurant lifted over to Taiwan, and given a few chinese characters on the menu. That and some un-Texan stuff like Salad! I got myself a large Taiwan flag which is now hanging over my bedrooms window. We looked in a little museum as well before going back to the flat to wait for Renee - Sunny's husband. He then took us to Danshui to watch the sunset over the harbour. We also had some dinner while we was out and got a little shopping done. Then it was back home to the hotel to pack our bags up ready to meet Elsa's parents in the morning. On the Wednesday we then did a bit more shopping in Taipei and then that was it... We went back to the airport, hopped on our plane and it was back to Hong Kong, where I wrote the previous entry in this blog.
Thursday and Friday were fairly uneventful, we arrived back home at about 8:30 on Thursday morning and I set about getting my stuff ready to come back to Loughborough. On Friday I had to get the Turbo hose on my van replaced, then I went down to my aunts to collect some furniture which I had been promised. I eventually got this home then loaded up my van with most of the stuff I would need for the first week in Loughborough and made the slow drive up here. I had been warned in a letter when I got back that there had been some water damage to the house, so the back bedroom is a little damp now, and there is some mould growing on the wall! Just what I really wanted to get home to.
Anyway, I am home now, and the house is starting to look reasonably tidy. I have a long list of jobs which need to be done once I am settled, but otherwise all is going well. I have 17 hours of Labs and Lectures, although by the end of next week once everything settles down I will have just 15 hours a week where I have to be at the university, with the rest of my time to myself.
Posted by Callam McMillan On Wednesday, 23rd September 2009 @ 15:45
Sat in Hong Kong airport at the end of my Taiwanese adventure. The plane boards in 10 minutes and I lose my wireless. Update follows tomorrow morning!
Posted by Callam McMillan On Thursday, 17th September 2009 @ 18:07
Another post from the other side of the world on the fifth night of my Taiwan adventure - halfway through my holiday. Unlike anywhere else I have ever been though I won't miss the country when I get on the plane on Wednesday evening - perhaps Taipei and the coast will change my mind, but at the moment, I am only really here to see Elsa, the city as I mentioned previously is hot, dirty and smelly. The best way to describe Hsinchu where I am staying is like Birmingham, UK. There is stuff to do and things to see but you would never choose to go there for a holiday.
Since my last visit, I have met Elsa's parents, and while they don't speak much English, we get on really well. On Tuesday we met them for lunch - we went to the Ambassador Hotel in Hsinchu. The lunch was very nice, although one oddity was the starter, a plate of Lettuce, it turns out that it is an expensive delicacy here, so we had to explain how it is actually a cheap and cheerful vegetable over in the UK. A little embarrassing though since I dont actually like Lettuce.
After the lunch they took us out. We were going to visit a Safari Park outside the city, however by the time we got there we had missed the last Safari which was really unfortunate as I was quite looking forward to this. After this we drove up to the sea to the west of Hsinchu, we had hoped to see the sunset but it had already got dark by the time we arrived there. Not that this really mattered, the important thing is that I met Elsa's parents and we got on well together. After this, Elsa and I had some dinner together and Ice cream at ColdStone for desert.
One other person I would like to meet while I am here, but is probably best I don't is Elsa's boss... So I can tell him what I think of the way he runs his company and why his staff really would like to kill him!
Wednesday was another lazy day, not that many of the days here have been filled with energy. Having got up late we set about a walk around another couple of streets in the city, this time it appeared to be the Jewellery quarter. When we got too hot from walking around we headed back to the hotel via ColdStone for a smoothie. I don't think the staff there know our names, but they certainly know who we are and literally do a song and dance everytime we walk through the door.
A snooze in the hotel followed, and then we went back to shopping, this time in Sogo which is one of the biggest department stores in the city and a couple of minutes walk from our hotel. We had already been in there a couple of times to look at what was on sale. My favourite was an electrically operated toilet seat with heaters and water jets. I have decided that I want one of these on my toilets and yet I don't really know why, maybe that is the gadget lover in me! What we did end up buying, having determined that it would fit in my hand luggage is a Chinese cat money box. It looms really nice and photos will follow later.
This was followed by a quick snack at Subway. This has to be the ultimate expression of globalism, I walk into the Hsinchu branch of an American company, yet it looks exactly like the store in the UK, has a near identical layout and menu and when I order my regular BMT it looks a little different but tastes almost identical. Quite amazing. Sticking with the American chain restaurants, Elsa decided that we had to eat at TGI Fridays. So one cheeseburger later and I was as full as can be. We didn't even have ice cream.
Today was a little more energetic, just as we have the warmest day I have seen so far, the thermometer was indicating 36 in the shade and it must have been over 40 in the sun. I was therefore rather glad to get to the department store we was visiting. I didn't end up buying anything, just drooling over the stuff I didn't need and/or couldn't afford but never mind. My mum on the other hand took the opportunity to do some of her Christmas shopping, even managing to secure a 15% discount in the end! After the heat of the shopping trip, another visit to ColdStone was required for a cooling and delicious milkshake. Followed by a long walk as by this point it had cooled down somewhat.
This evening I met Elsa after work at the train station and took her straight to Sogo, where I bought her a new watch. I think we got extremely lucky here as the watch was listed at $5600 (£112) before a 20% discount which would have made the price just under £90. It would appear looking at the receipt though that I was actually given a %40 discount, making the price I paid less than £70. This I would imagine is the bargain of the week. The three of us then went to the restaurant upstairs to have a meal. After the meal we went for a head massage in a place next to our hotel. They wash your hair, giving you a nice massage in the process, then then dry and style it for you, all for about £3.50. After this, we went for ice cream and saddened the staff by announcing that tomorrow would be our last day to visit before we take off to Taipei and Keelung for the weekend. So more updates will follow.
Posted by Callam McMillan On Monday, 14th September 2009 @ 18:26
Right, the end of my first full day in Taiwan, and the first thing I can say is damn, it's hot here. 30'C+ and a humidity of >70%. Worse still, it's like that all the time, so the only way to be comfortable is to be inside where it is air conditioned.
Other things worthy of note is that the sewer system isn't sealed, and with the temperature, parts of Hsinchu city where I am staying do stink a bit. Katie Melua wrote there are nine million bicycles in Beijing, well there are nine BILLION scooters in Hsinchu and many are used for highly inappropriate purposes (carrying children and dogs on the footplate for instance) Worse still, they share the same space as we do, because in many places there are no footpaths.
Despite all of this, we arrived last night at the Peach hotel in Hsinchu city, and having eaten on the plane, went to ColdStone - a very nice ice cream shop for something to eat. Then back to the hotel for a shower and bed. This morning, I woke early, had breakfast, and saw Elsa off at the train station. Come back to the hotel and got online. Then my mum and I went walking. It seems that every attraction is shut on Mondays and Tuesdays which is a little annoying, however we saw some good sights and got a couple of nice photos. These I will upload separately later.
After our walk, we returned to the hotel, took a shower and changed into dry clothes then ventured to the department store. 15 floors of stuff I would like to buy and enough for me to probably spend £100k in a day. They have a lovely casting of a cheetah on a branch, yours for NT$510000 or about £10000. Returned to the hotel, had a rest and worked out where to go to next, then ventured off out again. This is the best way to see the city, the heat is so oppressive that you can't be out in it for more than a few minutes before it becomes uncomfortable, fortunately almost everywhere here is air-conditioned, even the little shops that are no bigger than my bathroom.
After Elsa returned home from work (Late - as her company decided she should work a 13 hour day) we went in search of food. Unfortunately everywhere was closed until we found a nice little restaurant where I had a big bowl of spicy beef noodles in soup. Twas very nice if a little on the hot side. After this we went back to ColdStone for another ice-cream. This means there is no chance of getting thin while I am here.
All in all then, it was a good day, and now looking forwards to meeting Elsa's parents tomorrow.
Posted by Callam McMillan On Sunday, 13th September 2009 @ 08:35
Today is the first day of my Taiwan adventure, the time is 15:40 local time, it's 32 degrees and the humidity is high. Only problem is that I am not in Taiwan. I am sat in the departure lounge at Hong Kong airport waiting to catch the plane to Taiwan.
It all started last night, when the plane was late getting to the departure gate, which coupled with a 60 mile delay at Hong Kong meant we missed our next flight. The flight after was full, so we ended up on a flight two hours later than originally planned.
It was interesting to be travelling at 2am in bright sunshine over Siberia and into China, but here in Hong Kong, it is distinctly foggy. Oh well. The journey will continue. Next update soon!
Posted by Callam McMillan On Tuesday, 25th August 2009 @ 01:09
Ha! Ha! Ha! Take that Australia, we have the ashes because you were rubbish! Sorry, but I had to mention that, and I kept it short, crude and sweet just like the abuse we got beforehand. Also, congratulations to Reubens Barrichello for winning the European Grand Prix over the weekend.
In website related news, I am preparing a new article and looking at the next major release of the website (cmv5.1 - lightweight) which I shall explain later in my developers blog. In other news, I now only have 13 days of work until I go to Taiwan and ultimately back to university!
Now though, time for some more kitchen action (This is an inside joke for some of my colleagues who have too much time on their hands or are looking in all the wrong places on the internet - yes, you know who you are!)
This weekend I didn't put any new tiles on the wall, instead I finished a bit more of the floor, and cleaned up what was already on the walls. This meant that at 0830 on Sunday morning I was ready to begin installing the kitchen. With my fathers help we levelled and fixed the base cabinet into place, and put the worktop on top. The sink was cut into the worktop. We then got the fridge installed into position as shown below.
The picture doesn't really do it justice to how tight it is though, we got it fitted with millimetres to spare, and with the door frame where it was, it nearly never went at all! Either way, with that in we moved on and plumbed in the sink and the drains, with hot and cold feeds for the washing machine and sink, and a cold feed connected to a hozelock adaptor. Once that was done, we got the worktop pushed back to leave that side of the room as shown in the picture.
On the other side of the room, we got the cabinet by the cooker into place and bolted down, although this didn't get its worktop. What I did do is fit the door and drawer, and stood an end panel against it which gives an idea of the finished look.
While this is the reverse view and gives an idea of how tight this kitchen really is, every millimetre matters.
I tried to get a good picture of the worktop, but no matter what I tried I couldn't get the pattern and the colour. This is the pattern, although the colour is more of a spearmint 1950's green.
And to top it off, as has become the way in these entries, this is the view of the kitchen, which probably has another 5 or 6 days work in it to get it totally finished.
Posted by Callam McMillan On Saturday, 22nd August 2009 @ 02:26
I'm back in sunny Loughborough, well, it might be sunny here but I never know as I have gotten into a habit of not arriving here much before 1 in the morning.
Anyway, this is the big weekend, by Sunday night I plan to have a working if not totally complete kitchen, ready for my return to university. That said, at least I am coming back to university, from the sounds of it, many aren't even getting the chance to go in the first place, despite getting 27 triple A-stars in their A-Levels. All because Labour cant allow anyone to be labelled a failure - of course not, not when it is likely to cost them votes.
That said, I doubt the Ikea designers did A-Levels either, as it would only take a basic course in product design and market to realise the divorce range of furniture is all wrong. Even if they tagged it "Guaranteed to break you and your partner up in under 30 minutes or your money back." Long story short, I went to visit a friend and colleague of mine, who needed a shelf put up in her kitchen. What should have been a simple job actually required three people, two drills and a screwdriver. Come on guys, not really good enough.
However, we got the shelf up and I then drove for coming on three hours to get to Loughborough. So now I think it is time for me to get to bed!
Posted by Callam McMillan On Tuesday, 18th August 2009 @ 00:15
Time for another update on the story of my kitchen... Since last time, the wall by the window has been completed, save for a bit of cleaning.
The air vent is prepared and ready to be fitted. That will make the wall complete. Although a bit of skirting may be required once the floor is down.
As for the wall where the cooker will go, when I left it last week, this is how it looked with the first of the tiles on the wall.
...And after a weekends work.
I also started to lay the floor, I never realised how easy this was, all I had to do is line up the first tile, stick it down and then follow on with the others. This was so quick, a large part of the floor is done.
And this is a view of the whole thing now.
Oh well, that's it for another week. Next week, I'll be fitting the cabinets, worktops and sink. Then all I need to do is finish the tiling and the floor, install the cooker and the kitchen is done, then I go onto the bathroom.
Posted by Callam McMillan On Monday, 10th August 2009 @ 22:46
It would seem that a lot has happened in the month since I last wrote on this blog. In sport, we have won a game of cricket, we have lost a game of cricket, we have drawn a game of cricket. Thanks to the miracle of carbon fibre, Felipe Massa survived being belted in the head by a spring doing 150mph.
In politics it's pretty much business as usual, although I do note that Peter Mandelson is now the most powerful man in the country for the next week, and while I think the man is a bit of a slimeball, I do respect him, and I suspect that we may for a few days have a better leader than Gordon Brown.
Not that any of the above matters, because the really important news is that I have been redoing my house. Below is a photo of the kitchen before I started
It was finished in magnolia paint, with a white ceiling and 40 year old kitchen units. So I repainted the ceilings with a new coat of white paint, the walls with a now pale green (Dulux Forest Falls #6) and took up the lino. Ripped out the units and put a new light fitting in to leave the room a lot tidier.
Then I made a start on the tiling, I used standard six inch ceramic tiles, edged with a green tinted plastic strip and 6mm chrome edging. This is the work in progress - it's fairly straightforward, although some of the cuts where a bit awkward because none of the surfaces are level and various cables come through the wall.
This is the wall virtually finished, a couple of tricky tile cuts to do, put the last of the edging on, and grout and clean it - then I have tiled my first wall.
Finally, a close up of the edging, it's something I found in B&Q which quite nicely matches the style of the walls and worktop. Edged with the chrome instead of being sandwiched between two tiles seems to work quite well.
Another couple of days work and I should be able to get the opposite wall tiled, put the vinyl floor tiles down and then get the new kitchen installed. More photos' coming soon!