day 8..

It's finally sunday! (: Shing Min brought me to Cardiff Bay Barrage and the area around it this morning. It was a cold day, but lots of walking helped keep us warm. We set off from Severn Point at 9 in the morning, caught the 9.36 bus from the Hilton Hotel (which was 30min walk away), and got there at about 9.45.

That's the Millenium Centre. It says in English, In These Horizons Stones Sing. It was closed at that time, so I took a picture of it and we walked on.

That's a shiny metal thing that's outside the Millenium Centre. I later realized that it was a fountain that wasn't on yet. Shing Min says we look like sticks in this photo.

We walked around, and I was impressed by the amount of open space there was.

There's a red brick building. The tourist map didn't say what it is, but because it's red it stands out from the other buildings.

The name says it all (: I just love his books! I think I read all of them. I liked Matilda the best, and I would always dream of what it'd be like to be in a giant Chocolate Factory that Charlie was in and wake up hungry..

This marks the beginning of some trail/path thing that goes round all the way to Penarth and Brecon.

That's a sculpture. The oval thing behind it is called the Tube, it's the visitor's centre. It was closed at that time.

Walking a bit more, we reached the Norwegian Church Arts Centre. A pity that the art gallery was closed due to a meeting, but we were in for a surprise - there was a Christmas Sale going on just for today, and it was like a flea market thing in the small enclosed space. There was mostly art and craft, Christmas cards, notepads and stone jewellery for sale.

Everything else was closed and the place was very empty, save for a few people who were up taking morning walks/cycles. We headed on to the Barrage area. A sign said that the walk would be about 2km - 20min long.

There at the entrance of the barrage was a gate and a long wall. Someone stick words all around, and made it look like a Magnetic Words type of board.

a section of the wall

It lasted for quite a long stretch. Here's the whole wall:

The first part of the walk wasn't very nice. There's a fence on both the left and the right, and a path that goes forward. With the whole place fenced, it looked like we were walking in some concentration camp. Then later on, we came to a place which showed the development of the coal industry. Cardiff Bay used to be a place where coal was mined and shipped.

This is what they use to get the coal out, and
this is the structure of the land. The white dragon-like thing is just a mascot for Wales.

Can see E=mc2?

Then there's this, which is a cart that transports the coal. I vaguely remember sitting a roller coaster in Genting Highlands where we sat in these cart-like things and went really fast..


We carried on walking. The vast expanse of the sea and the stones was stunning. Along the way, we saw cute furry plants that were taller than us!

The sun was just beginning to awaken from its sleep.

This marked the start of the Cardiff Bay Barrage. We saw two ladies, who were so kind as to take a photograph for the both of us.


The sun was fully up by now, and the scenery was much, much nicer.

Look at the contrast! Green grass, blue sea and blue sky.. Lovely, isn't it?
There were many people who brought their dogs out, and their dogs were running around unleashed. I think Patches would enjoy running around ;P

There's an anchor on the ground, I think it's life-sized. I've never seen one before, and it's much bigger than I imagined it to be!
That's a photo of a happy dog. It was playing fetch with its owner. Its owner couldn't really be bothered with it, but it was still happy to be out nonetheless (: It was so clever! It would take the stick and bring it to the owner and ask the owner to throw it.

I didn't take any pictures of the Barrage as it was getting too cold and windy, but i'm going again two more times so I promise pictures by then!

We walked back to the Cardiff Bay area, which was more lively by now. The visitor centre was open, and we went in to have a look. There was also a free choir performance which we caught in the Millenium Centre foyer. Had Nando's chicken for lunch, first time I've ever tried Sweet Potato Mash. Yummm! The mango and lime chicken was a bit too sour for my liking but it was tender and not charred.

Headed back to town in the Baycar (bus). I went shopping at Primark, a budget clothes store (kind of like This Fashion in Singapore). Bought a wool top for 4 pounds, and a lovely black corset and velvet skirt. Yayy! Now I've got something to wear the next time I go out at night (:


Total damage done:
13pounds - Black corset top
5 pounds - Skirt
4 pounds - wool top (not in picture)

This shows a little area where people can sit down or walk around. The plants are nicely trimmed. The statue over there is that of Lord Bute.

It was starting to get dark, so I made my way back to Severn Point.
There's the winter wonderland (which I still haven't gone to) and the National Museum.

And here's a not-very-clear picture of the College. There are two blocks, the one shown in the picture is the older building. It's long and brown. The new building, called the Anthony Hopkins centre, was part of the Castle (or so people say). It is confusing because it looks the same on all four sides! Will take pictures if I get the chance to.

Got home about 4.30, and practiced for an hour. Left the house for church at 6.40, and I attended a church near my place. It was a tiny little church, and there were only a few people who attended the evening service due to bad traffic. It was quite strange, because they'd sing hymns and songs and say "Praise the Lord!" after every hymn or after every statement people said. I think they all said "Praise the Lord" at least two hundred times in that short evening service of 1.5 hours. Service ended a bit late, headed to the pub next to the church to meet my flatmates. Only one was there, but her friends were there with her. They're all from College, so I knew some of them. I was famished, but it seemed as though the pub wasn't serving any more dinner. Sat around for a bit, then walked home to cook dinner. A person asked me if Singapore was in Japan, another thought that Singapore was in Shanghai! Apparently our little island isn't well known enough :( A pity I missed the afternoon's match that Manchester United played in.. They won, so i'm not complaining (:

I watched my first rugby match on TV yesterday. Wales vs Australia. Wales won. My flatmates were happy, but I knew an Australian friend wasn't..

Tired! I'll have oboe lesson with Sandy at 11 tomorrow morning. I do hope I can wake up!