When in Bath ..

"When in Bath, do as the Romans do"
Bath, a spectacular & beautiful city on the River Avon among the hills of England’s West Country. The city is compact and has striking architecture - Roman baths and sweeping Georgian terraces - combine to produce one of the most elegant sights in Europe. The ancient Celts, who first inhabited this area, believed that Bath’s hot springs were sacred, but it was the Romans who built the temple and the famous baths - now restored to their original grandeur.

Arrived around 12 noon, pretty easy to get there. Parked at the Podium Shopping Centre. Magnificent architecture! Spent around £39 for 3A, 2K to go in the Roman Bath. Cool audio tour.

The Royal Crescent - a notable residential road of 30 houses, laid out in a crescent, in the city of Bath, England. Designed by the architect John Wood the Younger and built between 1767 and 1774. It is amongst the greatest examples of Georgian architecture to be found in the United Kingdom and is a grade I listed building.

London is approximately one hour and a quarter from Bath by intercity train, and Bristol is about fifteen minutes away. For those seeking quieter retreats, Bath is surrounded by beautiful countryside, with the Cotswolds to the north, the Mendips to the south-west and, just across the Severn Bridge, the Wye Valley and the Forest of Dean. The coast at Weston-super-Mare or South Wales is also within easy reach.
(http://www.bath.ac.uk/bath)

Stratford Upon Avon - Home of Shakespeare

Mummy & Shasya along River Avon. Me at the mooring area of boats. Ada juga yg meniaga.
Stratford-upon-Avon - a market town in south Warwickshire, England in the United Kingdom. Lies on the River Avon some 38 km (24 m),south of Birmingham and 14 km (9 m)south-west of the county town, Warwick. Town's population around 24,000.
The birthplace and deathbed of the playwright and poet William Shakespeare, receiving about three million visitors a year from all over the world. The River Avon is nice - have a walk around the river. We had a go, went round the church graveyard, up on the small bridges, by the river - with people jogging and kids with bikes. Not to mention, shopping! The shops are quite extensive, I was told some people go to Stratford to shop! We didn't go in though. Thought we gonna save it for next time when we travel to and fro Egham - Birm, when Mama & the gang are here. Hope the visas go thru guys!

And the next time we go there, I'm definitely gonna have a go at the fantastic jacket potato at the fountain again. Sedap siot!!

Raya Raya Malaysia

Aidil Fitri - what's that? Ask Muslims on the street and you'll get many answers. Ada kat Hari Raya Fitrah, ada kata merayakan kemenangan. Menang amende? Umat Islam semua duduk dalam longkang sekarang ni. So camana nak menang? Kembalilah kepada fitrah .. Islam tu fitrah. Semua orang Muslim sejak dari dulu lagi .. camana nak Islam: balik lah pada Al Quran & Sunnah Rasul .. baru la boleh futur.

Anyway, cakap banyak pun tak guna, kalau tak buat. So apa yg kitorang buat kat London? Emph! Raya macam kat Mesia lah jugak .. wal hasil balik asal. Tak pe lah .. musafir. Ni gambo2 raya sket. Kat rumah lepas solat raya. Solat kat church hall, I think dorang belasah je kiblat .. cantik je square hala dinding (2:177). Kat High Commissioner's house, with Datuk Amirsham & wife Datuk Faizah.

Adeena ngan baju baru pos khas dari Mesia, thanx to Pak Yang.

Triple-Witching Weekend

The weekend has been volatile & full with adrenaline pumping moments. For England that is. I call this post Triple Witching Weekend due to the 3 most important events for England this year. Not to mention it taking the name of the Triple-witching Day of the investment world.

Definition: "Triple-witching" day is the third Friday of the month that ends each quarter. It marks the simultaneous expiration, at the close, of stock options, index options and index futures."

Implications: The impact of "triple witching" has been associated with increases in the volatility of the market. The increased volatility increases the uncertainty about prices of the underlying stocks.

Stock options that are exercised, or the underlying stock bought/sold, creates large additional volume. With unwinding large volumes of stocks, there is an increase in index arbitrage (i.e., the simultaneous purchase of index futures and the sale of a basket of stocks, or vice versa, when the values of the index and the underlying stocks become "out of wack" with each other). Meanwhile, some investors are trying to unscramble whether to, say, buy/sell a position, in options or futures contracts, similar to their current ones (i.e., roll-over the existing contracts) or get into different ones.
(from http://www.morevalue.com/glossary)

Now back to the 3 events.
1. Football: England lost to Russia, 1 - 2
Implication: May result in England not qualifying for Euro 2008
2. Rugby World Cup: England lost the final to South Africa, 6 - 15
Implication: Did not retain the world cup won in 2003
3. F1: Lewis Hamilton finished 7th in Interlagos
Implication: World Championship went to Kimi (110 pts), 2nd Hamilton (109), 3rd Alonso (109)

I now wait for England jerseys to go on sale.

French Toast

Argentina opened table with amazing 17 - 12 scoreline against France. Now, in the 3rd/4th placing match, the Puma once again embarrassed the French. This time by a larger score line 34 - 10. It was sheer spirit and the will to win that has created history for this side.

Well, tomorrow - a different story. England, trounced by South Africa 36 - 0 (Note: the first England team not to score in a world cup match). And came back, bit by bit, each match almost a knock out match. They didn't have Wilko then. Robbo was about the only inspiration then, and tomorrow will be his last appearance. Tomorrow, Wilko will match kicking skills against Montgomery. SA with a tally of 33 tries in this World Cup, while England only 12. Habana needs 1 more try to delete Lomu's record of 8 tries in one tournament. Meanwhile Wilko needs 24 points to reach 1,000 points scored for England.

SA is brimming with confidence. England seems like a sufficiently improved team to avenge the blistering defeat. Papehal .. its the points that counts! So keep an eye on Wilko.